Channeling Marilyn

My daughter had a murder mystery party to go to over the weekend.  The year was 1949 and her character was supposed to be both a socialite jewel thief and art thief.  She decided to base her character on Marilyn Monroe given the timing was correct, and she wanted "that dress" .  I already had New Look 6557 in my stash, so this was my starting point.

I then set about trying to come up with suitable fabric that wouldn't break the bank, given that this was a costume and therefore a one hit wonder.  I tried every Op shop I could think of and in desperation visited my favourite fabric shop, Fabric Vision.  I must have dropped in on the right day because sitting on the $3 table was the largest roll of duchess satin in white....perfect!  For a total investment of $9 I had a dress, minus the trimmings of course.

I have made this dress up before here  This time however, I needed to add fullness to the skirt, like the original.  The original however was pleated and I wanted to gather.   So, I ended up making a fusion of two skirt patterns,  New Look 6557 and Simplicity 2443.  I liked the fullness in the Simplicity pattern but needed the shaping at the waist of the New Look pattern.  I added the sash/belt as the original also had a small sash/belt of similar proportions.  Unfortunately, all of the curling of hair, makeup and nails took longer than any of us anticipated and she was running fashionably late and forgot to put on the belt.  It was a shame but, oh well, know one else noticed!