My long term relationship with the shirt dress

I stumbled across this Vogue 7415 shirt dress pattern in my collection recently that is quite possibly from the 1990’s -well, maybe not that old. I was drawn to this pattern again; the slightly larger collar and broader shoulder looked appealing and fresh. 

I have been making and wearing shirt dresses forever. A shirt dress is polished for work but laid back for weekend, social and travel wear. A shirt dress is almost always appropriate. Besides it’s versatility- a shirt dress is an enduring style in any iteration.  You can fiddle with collar size, sleeves, fitted or oversized silhouette, straight or flared skirt, etc.  Whatever spin on the shirt dress you choose, you will always look smart. That’s why I am committed long term to the shirt dress.

Why hadn’t I made this pattern up previously? It is a “stretch knits only” pattern, and that may have been a stumbling block previously. But today, there are so many choices for knit. I used a perfect stretch fabric from emma one sock- seriously the best.  It is lightweight and even though it is stretchy it is super stable with great recovery.  The project was super quick- there are only a few pattern pieces.  I could have been done in a few hours if not for my mix-up with the sleeve placket.  The actual sewing of the placket was easy and successful….EXCEPT- I put them in backwards.  So, I had to do some seam ripping.  I seem to be refining my unpicking skills these days more than my sewing tricks.  I believe when I was younger, I would have settled for backwards cuffs- but now I have the patience and perspective to take another minute and get it right.

See- the plackets are in correctly now and perfectly functional and lovely. I feel very laid back and at ease in this comfortable dress. But, it is also very boss looking- probably should be leaning in to the work week.

This pattern has a great cut and fit. And with a multitude of knit fabrics to choose from, I intend to makes this again. I have no doubt this will be a wardrobe mainstay with the winning combination of polish and comfort.