My Custom Prusa Dress - The Presentation, and a Bigass Bunch of Pictures

A quick edit (because I couldn't do this until the posts...posted): 

To read about my custom dress in order of when we first started in April 2017, 
start  at #1 here, 
then go to #2 here, 
then go to #3 here, 
then come back to the final post, this post!


Dress Delivery – 8-9-17

Tonight, Chloe dropped the boxes off. Not one, but TWO boxes! L had the guys over for game night, so I slowlllllly…opened each box and photographed everything as I was taking it out and examining it. The first thing was the envelopes, one with the final invoice, which L paid as his birthday present to me, plus a tip, from both of us, so that Chloe could buy herself something that she wouldn’t be able to afford as a student otherwise. In full disclosure (and for my future records), the full cost of the dress came to $1,500 + a $200 tip. Worth every penny!

You'll be famous one day!

 Chloe was wonderful to work with - she's a lovely person inside and out - and this was a truly rewarding collaborative experience.

Lovely presentation!

Because we’re totally counting on Chloe being FAMOUS (I hope she becomes famous and I can loan this to the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art!), she did a letter on her PRUSA stationery, that says,

“Dearest Sheila,

I had such a wonderful time making this custom piece for you. You have been so much fun to work with. Thank you for being the greatest client. I hope you enjoy this piece. I know you will rock the hell out of it.

Chloe Prusa [signed]”

Under the letter and invoice, the first things I saw were the circles of the insides of the bell sleeves – that gorgeous silk brocade! 

From there, I opened the dress out and gasped at the beading and embroidery. She’d cut flowers out of the brocade and appliqued them to the front of the dress, with dozens of little seed beads and larger beads all over the bodice – even the back had this detailing!

There was the little gold plaque (“PRUSA”) on two chains (the peplum has one as well), and even a small leaf added to the inside of the lining as an extra detail. You know I am all about The Detail! Smartly, she’d added a hidden zipper to the bottom of the rear hem to make the slit as large as needed for walking.

In the second box was a tiny bag, made of the same dress fabric and lining, filled with all the notions and beads not used, in case of future repairs. Aw! 

What a thoughtful thing to do!

It's like she knows I'll somehow do something to the dress...

And then there it was, the peplum!

It's very large!

Gorgeous fabric.

Of course, I had to try it on (even though it’s August and I’m sweaty)! We took a few pictures and I put on the Vivienne Westwood Anglomania + Melissa shoes (probably the best shoes I own for this dress…right now!) for a couple of auto-timer pictures. Sorry for cutting your head off, Chloe!

 

Happy designer + happy customer!

A good view of the high-low peplum there.

And there we go! I will probably tidy this 6-page Word document up a bit and post this when L and I are taking time off in October – I totally won’t be able to wait any longer, certainly not till my party in October! [edit: time off is in September!]

"We can take more pictures later!"

 I was so excited, I had to put it on right away and parade around for the (not very) impressed gaming dudes in my living room.

Yes, I am feelin' it!

 I just can't take it all in!

So awesome!

Chloe, thank you so much for this beautiful dress! I love it and will treasure for as long as I live. What a wonderful birthday gift to me...from myself, from L and from you. Thank you.

* * *

Some more pictures below, taken by L in August, and a few more detail pictures by me...

I haven't done my hair for these pictures, but here's a look at the four variations of the sleeves and peplum. L doesn't have a lot of patience (which is why I use a timer on all my blog photos), and it was a bright sunny day. So, your forgiveness for the photo quality - I am not a professional blogger!

 Sleeves on, peplum on. Our driveway rock wall, with reflected light off our building.

I have Major Sleeves!

 I just love the unexpected details of the beading and the contrasting fabric linings. I tied the peplum in a bow at the back for this look.

Looking at our neighbours' cars

 The full sleeve + peplum is a bit much - this is my least favourite of the four different looks I can create from this dress. Although I do still love this, don't get me wrong! Nothing exceeds like excess, ha!

Didn't mean to have a truck in the background...

 I would totally wear all of the pieces like this for a fancy event!

 Hands in pockets, check out that peplum action!

 L and I moved down our driveway, but the shadows mess with the colours.

Bright sunlight is not much better, but at least you can see it all.

 Peplum off (L wore it over one shoulder, what a trooper!). I really like how this looks. This is my favourite look.

 It shows off the beadwork and applique work that Chloe did.

Back upstairs, carefully remove the sleeves...and...

 Peplum back on! This my second favourite look.

 Hands in pockets. The peplum is tied in front this time.

 You are not imagining it - the peplum is lower in the back than the front.

 Easy to take off!

 And there we have the last of four looks: sleeves off, peplum off. This is my 3rd favourite iteration.

The little gold tag is hanging out there - klassy!

 Badass ink and a badass dress!

Thanks to L for taking pictures!

A couple more details shots. When I put the sleeves back on, I realized in a panic that I couldn't tell them apart! I had to go back through my "Yay, I have sleeves!" pictures and look at the inner lining of the bells to figure out which sleeve went on which side!

Sorry, Chloe!

 I had to mark them for future reference.

The beautiful beadwork.

 Crystal beads, more sodalite stone beads, the seed beads and the applique work on the back.

 What a piece of art!

The inside lining (not a visible seam edge anywhere!), and there's another little extra piece of hidden detail - another applique inside to stop the zipper.

This is the detail work on the front.

 So much work! I so appreciate this attention to detail.

A full look at the peplum's inside:

That single yard of the damask went a long way!

* * * 

That's it, my friends! I hope you enjoyed the surprise of these posts! I'll be back on Sunday with a wrap-up of my adventures during my blogging time off. See you then!