Designer Look for Less: The Burberry Thalia Body Con Dress
It’s time for another designer look for less.
I saw this amazing dress on Kenya Moore for the Season 14 Finale of the Real Housewives of Atlanta. She wore the dazzler for the “Fashion Show with Fashions” (IYKYK). It was instant love for this dress for me. A little cyber sleuthing helped me find out that it was the Burberry Thalia Sequin-Embellished Bodycon dress. I was ready to order it and get it into my closet posthaste until. . . I . . . saw. . . the price tag. Please sit down and get your pearls ready for clutching. This dress retailed for $6900. Yes, that is in US dollars. And Yes, you read that correctly. It was time for a reality check: that was NOT in the budget.
One of the things I love about sewing is that I can absolutely re-create designer looks that are just not in my price range. Now, there is a myth out there that sewing your own clothes is a great way to save money. That’s not always true. Once you take into account time and materials, sometimes you were better off purchasing. But in the case of a nearly $7000 dress with a fairly straightforward silhouette, making it was definitely a money saver. (But I’ll definitely write more about the myth at a later time).
After the sticker shock wore off, I got to work. I shopped my pattern drawer and found that @simplicity #S8982 would be perfect. I used View A and added the mock turtleneck piece. I wanted to the skirt to taper in a bit more than the original pattern so I used a hip curve to narrow the skirt silhouette toward the hem
Next, I needed to figure out what fabric would be comparable to the original. I loved the silver Kenya wore but for me, I really wanted something rose gold. As a Minerva Brand Ambassador, I am fortunate to have access to amazing fabrics and this rose gold sequin fabric was exactly what I needed.
A little more about this fabric:
Pros: the sequins are fused to the fabric. Unlike previous experiences with sewing sequins, my house wasn’t showered in sequins when I was done.
Cons: the sequins are fused to the fabric. Why does this present a challenge? Typically you would remove sequins within the seam allowance of a fabric to reduce bulk and decrease the chances of the needle breaking. These sequins are NOT as easy to remove as strung sequins so the best option was to sew through them with a microtex needle.
Pro: The fabric has a great amount of stretch
Con: If you stretch it too much, the sequins will pop off. You need to keep this in mind if you are making something that is extremely fitted. You can, however, use this to your advantage to try to remove some of the sequins in the seam allowance.
Photos by Images by Bolu