The Kimono Dress Project (Duro Kimono Dress)

Courtesy of Barney's NY.

Duro Olowu won the British Fashion Award in 2005 -New Generation Designer.

You can see his original dress here on Dress A Day.

From NYMagazine.com from his 2007 collection.

"Since arriving on the London fashion scene in 2004, Nigerian-born Duro Olowu has impressed the right people with his vibrant mix of African prints, seventies tailoring, and unlikely color combos. A high-waisted patchwork boho dress—known as the “Duro”—put the brand on the fashion map, and became a cult item in 2005 after being discovered by American Vogue editor Sally Singer and Julie Gilhart of Barneys."

Then there were the other versions...

Drew Barrymore in the movie "Music and Lyrics"

This is the one that made me take notice of the dress, I liked the side panels and contrast fabrics.

That set me out to look for patterns, and there were a number of bloggers who had already made their own versions using these..

McCall 5137 OOP

Butterick 5031 OOP (but still available on the McCalls website)

Simplicity 4072

Butterick 4849 OOP

Serendipity The Torii Tunic Pattern 

McCalls 5137

So how is McCalls 5137 like the Duro?  

It has kimono sleeves, neckband, hem band.

How is it not like the Duro?
The skirt is more A line with a curved hem, the Duro is more like a dirndl the side seams are straight and the hem is straight across with no curve.

The waistband is wider and has a tie, the Duro has a narrower waist band and no tie

The neck facing is wider on the pattern.
There is no back neck facing on the pattern.

There is no option for a long sleeve version on the pattern.

NEXT

Butterick 5031


How is Butterick 5031 like the Duro?

The neckband is closer in width to the original dress
It has kimono sleeves
The hem is straight and the skirt side seam is straight
It has gathering at the skirt under the band
It does not have a tie on the back, but a zipper as the original
It has a long sleeve version

How is it not like the Duro?
The top crosses instead of having a facing
There is no shaping to the waistband
The contrast bands are narrower than the original
It has gathers under the bust over the waist band

Note: The contrast sleeve and skirt bands on the right photo of Butterick 5031 are not hemmed the pattern was intended to look like the pic on the left.


I played a little with the proportions to see what would suit me best.

From left to right.

Far left - hems are not folded

Middle - skirt hem is folded

Far right - sleeve and skirt are as originally intended following the pattern instructions.

In the end you have to play until you find what looks best on your body.




You'll also notice on the Duro, that there are no gathers under the bust, in the Butterick 5031 version it was the same but really didn't suit me at all, so it had to be tweaked.

There was something about the bodice fit on the kimono dress that was bothering me. When my arms were down there was excess drape around the breasts. So I played with it a bit, wrapping the tie, playing with the widths on the front facing and yoke, and for this version finally settling on a shoulder adjustment.  The adjustment also improved the unfortunate pattern placement making the two large flowers on the bust area look a little less obvious.

Playing...

Once I pinned the shoulders up, things started to look a bit perkier :), and without the excess it makes the outside bodice line more streamlined, it also resulted in less width at the sleeve opening as well as less of a blouson back. Most Importantly it raised the neckline as well, which was a concern. If this pattern were made in a stiffer cotton, it might be ok.

Added the shoulder slant and shortened the front & back bodice.

So it meant reworking the back facing

Now we are really finished.

Donna Karan Vogue Inspiration with OOP Vogue 2813 and Butterick 5756

It's black (slimming), it has pockets (practical), it's cotton (feels good against the skin), it has spandex in it (comfortable but manages to hold wrinkles but not a sharp pleat), it's poplin (so it's lightweight).  

  It rustles a bit like the nuns gowns.  When I was putting it together I was reminded of the pleated plaid skirt I had to wear in school.

Here it is without the hem band (way too short).

Here it is with the hem band fully extended (way too long)


The waistband is 1 1/4" wide, and contoured, so I had to make the changes to the curve for a swayback adjustment. The new pattern pieces lie beneath the originals.



As you can see it sits nicely.

Here are the details on the pocket from Butterick 5756, which are hidden in the side seam pleat.  

This is what it looks like inside out.

Here are the pattern pieces for the body of the skirt, they are rectangular.  The round shaping achieved at the band is through the angles of the tucks at the waistline.


We have front and back pieces here with the side seams facing each other.

As you can see, there is a tuck that bridges the side seam front and back piece.

First you add the pockets to the front and back side seam.

You join the side seam as you would any other, about 2" down from the waistband, then from the bottom opening to the hem (see pins), then around the pocket pieces.

Then you open up the seam...

And sew in your tuck

The pocket sits within the fold of the tuck, out of view.

Sorry about the black projects, they are nearly impossible to photograph.

I will say that the nice thing about these pockets is that if you have something in them, the fullness in the skirt camouflages the contents, which might be a nice feature when travelling.

I bought the skirt pattern (Butterick 5756) in the hopes I had found a workable solution for that Donna Karan shirt dress on the Vogue cover back in January, it had some of the elements I was looking for but falls a little short.  It's almost there but not quite.  So a little more tweaking.  The black shirt from Donna Karan OOP Vogue 2813, the Butterick 5756 skirt.

The Vogue dress for reference

On the runway

I need a wide belt to go with it, but there's no way I can make it out of the scrap that's left.  I did a really good job of getting all of the pieces cut from a limited amount of fabric. So the skirt has a similar silhouette, and it has the bottom hem band, but in black you can barely make out the pleats or any details.

What this really needs is a skirt that's not as pleated, maybe just one pleat to hide the pocket on the dress, and a fabric with a bit of sheen.  Something way happier than this dull black. 

Front - medium width belt

Back - medium width belt

Front - Wide belt

Back - Wide belt

I think I like the narrower belt for this version, so back to the drawing board.