Operation Lady Tux, Part 1: Big Reveal and Inspiration

Helloooooooooooo!

Here I am, having made yet another stupid formal thing for a not-nearly-that-formal work party. 😉 As per usual, it was quite a journey from starting the project to the night of my party, but overall I’m pretty pleased with how it came together. I’ve got a lot to say about this project, not just because things got a little fuck-y, but because IT’S THREE SEPARATE PIECES. So I’ve decided to do a 3-part series: the first installment will cover the big debut of my Lady Tux and my inspiration; Part 2 will cover the jacket; Part 3 will cover the camisole and trousers.

I am also tossing this thing into the ring for Designin’ December, after not playing along last year but finding very definite designer inspo for my 2017 look(s). 😀

Inspiration

So how did I end up with a Lady Tux? Honestly, it took me some time to figure that out. My biggest issue this year was what type of “Thing” to make. After last year, where I had a very firm idea of what I wanted that was carried over from the prior year, 2017’s outfit was a bit of a second-guess fest. I waffled about what to make starting immediately after last year’s event! Aside from the tuxedo look, I also considered these ideas:

Vogue 9253; image is property of BMV Patterns

“The Dress” from Atonement in all its glory! (Image not mine.)

I had fabrics suitable for both looks, but ultimately decided against them. (I was afraid the Vogue pattern would look too much like a robe or caftan in my black and ivory shibori-dyed crepe-back satin fabric, and couldn’t decide how best to approach the Atonement dress from a pattern starting point.) I had the tux fabrics as well–bought with that intention in mind–and decided I might as well make that for my party! All I had to do was decide on what I wanted it to look like and how to style it–you know, little stuff. 😉 My main inspirations were these two outfits:

Amazingness! (Image not mine.)

I mean, COME ON! (Image not mine.)

That is Evan Rachel Wood in Altuzarra at the 2017 Golden Globes, and Gwyneth Paltrow in Balmain at the 2008 UK premiere of Iron Man. (Honorable mention: Octavia Spencer at the 2017 Golden Globes–her navy tux was fabulous as well!) ERW wore tons of tuxedos for events recently, and I was very inspired by just about all of them. And Gwyneth’s 2008 Iron Man premiere outfit is still one of her best-ever looks, IMO–I remember seeing coverage of that outfit at the time and haven’t forgotten it. (Or those fabulous square-toed satin McQueen pumps, because goddamn.) I made this Pinterest board so you all can see more of the looks I was inspired by while I was planning out this thing!

Lady Tux: The Big Reveal

So okay, I wanted a tux. But what would it look like? That was the hard part. In the end, I decided on slim-but-straight trousers with front slash pockets and “racing stripes,” a jacket with a peaked lapel that was single-breasted with one button and which would fall below my high hip, and a lace camisole for underneath (my nod to the Paltrow outfit, basically). I’ll have more detail on all of these things in the next posts!

I used 3 patterns for this outfit: 1 for each piece. The jacket is a Burda pattern that was originally in a magazine but is now available for download: #127B 11/2012. Originally I was hoping for something less shaped and slightly more “boyfriend” in the cut, but there doesn’t appear to be a pattern in existence that fulfills my wants! 😉 This was close enough, especially since it came with jetted pockets and a peaked lapel AND was longer, which I really wanted; I was willing to endure a more feminine cut for those things. The trousers are the pants portion of V9160, aka The Jumpsuit of My Dreams That Wasn’t. Here is where I made a mistake, but more on that later. The camisole is the much-loved Ogden Cami by True Bias.

And as you saw in my teaser photo above, those three pieces came together to make THIS ridiculousness:

I won’t go into construction details of each piece here–that’s what Parts 2 and 3 are for–but I’ll share my general impressions with you now.

You can see the Altuzarra inspo in the lapels, which are peaked and done in a contrasting satin-finish fabric, and in the pockets, jacket length, and single-button configuration; my trousers also have the trademark “tuxedo stripe” down the side seams. I didn’t make my trousers wide or flared though, and obviously the styling is a bit different. The Paltrow outfit inspiration is less direct than how I interpreted the tux, since it’s a dress! But I think it looks like I was inspired by that dress, even if I didn’t make the same kind of outfit.

Overall, I’m basically happy with this outfit. I wouldn’t want another sewer to look too closely at any piece of it though–it’s definitely not my best work. I do think I achieved the “look” I was going for: it’s feminine-ish, but very much has that masculine edge because it’s a tux. One of my co-workers commented thusly: “Girl, you are cold-blooded. For real!!” That made me feel like a fucking badass, you guys! (Especially since that co-worker was wearing a totally amazing sequined dress and is enviably tall and gorgeous.) I will say this: I’m not 100% happy with this outfit as a representation of my work, but it does show well. 😉

Here are some shots from the party: