Less is more...

The lovely Kelsey brought me her mom's wedding dress to see what I could do. It had (of course) a high Victorian neckline and long prairie sleeves, but also a heavy overskirt in yards and yards of synthetic stretch knit. An ominous tag inside the dress informed us that it was "highly flammable when washed" (!). This project was truly a process of subtraction, editing away the neck and sleeves, re-appliquéing some of the lace around a new scoop neckline and along the shoulders. To refashion the skirt, I made a new skirt layer out of ivory silk organza, which preserves some of the dress's original drama but at one tenth the weight. The synthetic stretch knit was permanently retired--hopefully to the same place where pet rocks, shag carpet and The Hustle went.