I bought the Alcott Dress from Cashmerette almost as soon as it came out. Wrap top, flutter sleeves and defined fitted waist? ALL THE THINGS I LOVE (and have defined as ‘my style’ during my Curated Closet exercise). This is actually my second version of the Alcott, the first being a navy blue silk jersey that I haven’t taken nice photos of yet.
I made this star print version of the Alcott Dress to wear to my dad’s surprise 75th birthday party in Florida and to DC Frocktails (coming up this weekend).
The fabric on this is silk jersey which is in my top three cannon of favorite fabrics (wool jersey and cotton-silk blends are fighting it out with silk jersey). I can’t quite identify the name of this print, but it’s a common motif in Ankara / African wax prints. I bought it at Mood Fabrics in New York about six years ago. Silk does show everythaang, so I did line the skirt in black knit tricot to smooth things out a bit.
The nice thing about Cashmerette for me is that I know what my changes to the patterns are (bicep width, straightening the hip curve, small swayback and full seat adjustment). For this version, the flutter sleeves negated more width in the sleeve, the skirt is super flowy so the hip curve wouldn’t show. My first version fits well enough, but for the second version, I made a swayback adjustment and a full seat adjustment. The full seat adjustment added more flutter to the skirt, so it’s especially swishy.
This is also more cleavage than I’m usually comfortable having out on display. That’s ME not the dress. I’m wearing a very pushupy bra and have pulled the wrap bodice a bit below my bust to allow for more depth, and some cleave. It’s easy enough to pull it back and cover up more when I need this dress to for a professional event.
There are a few things I would change in the dress construction. I think the neckline must be understitched to prevent flipping out. I would also tack down the empire waist elastic at the side seams as it has a tendency to twist a bit when pulling the dress off and on.
I wouldn’t normally think I could wear brown, especially one this warm (is that right? I think it’s warm??) but it’s different enough from my skin tone and provides a nice contrast with the teal stars. The navy blue stars keep it in my narrow color palette, so it will work with other items I’m making.
For sure, this one is a staple for me.
Miss Celie's Pants 
The dress is lovely, as is the picture of you and your father!
Very pretty dress, almost as pretty as you and your dad.
Absolutely, positively STUNNING!!!!! It’s a beautiful color and print and fits so well!!!
Oooh silk jersey, wonderful fabric! The dress looks great on you! I would love to hear about the DC Frocktails event.
Thank you! Frocktails is this Saturday in Hyattsville — near the University of Maryland. It’s currently sold out, but I’ve heard about people getting tickets through the waitlist. https://www.dcfrocktails.com/tickets-1 I
On Tue, Jan 28, 2020 at 12:43 PM Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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Beautiful dress! It is perfect on you. I love the pic of you and your Dad. Keep celebrating.
You look so happy in this beautiful dress!
I love the brown on you especially with the blue stars. It’s definitely your dress. Where did you buy the black tricot jersey? I have a piece of black, of course, rayon matte jersey that needs a lining for a dress.
You said “Black, of course”, LOL. I don’t remember where I got it. I think at Fabricmart or a random warehouse. I bought many many yards of it because I planned to make slips, and I like to line my knit skirts now. It’s extremely wide so somewhat unwieldy at 108″.
I like this color combo too and would like to maybe wear it with red shoes (not that I own a pair of those either, ha!)
On Tue, Jan 28, 2020 at 3:56 PM Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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You look beautiful and joyous! Congrats to your Dad. He is a very handsome gent.
Thank you! He honestly had the time of his life. It’s good to see him so happy.
On Tue, Jan 28, 2020 at 8:47 PM Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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Fabulous! And the photo with your dad is very sweet.
Thank you! I have to get it framed. I think it’s the best photo of us I have. He was so overwhelmed that night.
On Tue, Jan 28, 2020 at 10:55 PM Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous… the dress isn’t bad either!
Thank you! It also just felt good to be appropriately dressed!
On Wed, Jan 29, 2020 at 4:00 AM Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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Lovely! You and the dress look beautiful!
Thanks, Vicki!
I really love those colors. They look great on you. I’ve never been able to find colors that look that good against my skin. I’m impressed!!