Well, my friend picked up her dress a few weeks ago, and while it's still not as fully trimmed as she (and I) would like, it looked great on her for her event. To the left is a photo of the finished dress. It's so dark that it's hard to see the trim details! The main body of the dress is navy blue, and it's trimmed in black, with a rhinestone and black beaded clasp at the waist. Pleated black satin ribbon topped with narrow black velvet ribbon trims the edge of the collar, sheer black flowers are placed in a line down the pleated and pointed satin panel on the front, which is also tipped with a black tassel, and 6 black braid-covered shank buttons follow the line of the skirt overlap, which is actually sewn closed underneath. My friend also had some plain black velvet ribbon that will probably be used to edge the satin waistband and cuffs, but I really think that the dress needs more silver/rhinestone/bead accents to make it a little less dark!
The pattern also called for a neckline insert, but my friend forgot to bring the fabric for me to make it, so she ended up wearing the dress without the insert and it looked fine. She was worried that the V-neckline would be too low without it but it wasn't, so that was a relief!
The pattern also called for a neckline insert, but my friend forgot to bring the fabric for me to make it, so she ended up wearing the dress without the insert and it looked fine. She was worried that the V-neckline would be too low without it but it wasn't, so that was a relief!