Dress Design for Shabby Apple Dresses

Below is my collection of dresses for Shabby Apple Dare to Design Contest:

Presenting...

The Mid-Century Collection

This collection overall was inspired by mid-century designs with clean silhouettes. To keep consistent with the Shabby Apple Brand, there are fantastic floral prints, pleated details and bows. I was also inspired by these three colors:

The vibrant orange is a great color, contrasting with turquoise. The dark plum color acts as a neutral to ground out the intensity of the other two. Of course, these colors are quite bold, so there are accent colors which add variety.

Dress 1: Aalto

Inspired by Alvar Aalto and his vase designs, Aalto is a dress which is flattering to many different body types. To add feminity to the simple silhoutte, three pleated bow details adorn the bodice. An empire waist flares to an a-line skirt which ends at the knee. The sleeves end at the empire waist, continuing the horizontal line.

Dress 2: Bertoia

Inspired by Harry Bertoia diamond lounge chair, Bertoia is a dress which is flirty and affordable. It has a wonderful drape jersey knit fabric. The detail of contrasting patterns and colors adds interest. Notice the sublte ruffle at the elbow-length sleeves and knee-length bottom.

Dress 3: Eichler

Inspired by pre-fabricated designs by builder Joseph Eichler, this is a simple shirt dress. Eichler takes more design influences from the working blue-collar industry. The orange plaid is practical, contrasting with delicate pin-tuck details and turquoise buttons. The puff sleeves and button detail create a figure to balance out the straight simple outline.

Dress 4: Eileen
Eileen Gray is one style icon whom every fashionista should be aware. Not only were her furniture designs elegant, she marketed it to high-end society. Eileen is slim, sleek and sophisticated. The sweetheart neckline accents a curvy figure, or creates curves if there are none. Constructed from a pattered floral, the busy dress helps to disguise imperfections. In the back, a pleated pencil skirt is practical and completes the entire dress.

Dress 5: Florence

Florence is the dress which fully embodies the spring-time color theme. It has a patterned full skirt, simple top and pattern to tie both together. Although it appears as two separate pieces, Florence is one complete dress. Inspired by Florence Knoll, the Florence dress has a high-waist, pleated skirt, pockets for practicality. The jersey knit top is a simple neutral plum color since most of the interest is in the skirt.

Dress 6: Ray

Ray Eames may be most familiar as a household name. The Ray dress is a flirty color-block dress. It has a full circle skirt to add fullness, to disguise or balance full hips. The sweetheart neckline reminds one of classic 1950 fashion. This dress is versatile in many different colors, but I have sketched it in a flattering yellow, with plum and soft gray accents.

Now that you have seen the Mid-century collection , what do you think?

I have put a lot of thought into every one of these designs considering the consumer, price point and how each fit within the Shabby Apple brand.