twelve

Do you know the sound a sail makes when the wind fills it up and it snaps full and tight? For some reason, the stripes on this Brooks Brothers shirt immediately got me thinking about that sound. And of sailing....

With its nautical coloring and crisp, thick fabric I had images of a breeze blowing a skirt full in profile; filling it out with air.  It belonged to my brother-in-law who, as far as I know, doesn't do a bit of sailing, but somehow the shirt, once it was removed from him, had an identity of its own.

  



















I decided I also wanted to play with the stripes of the fabric a bit so I decided to turn them horizontal for the bodice and keep them vertical for the skirt. 

 The button placket panel was one piece of the six-panel skirt located on the side of the dress. I wanted to be able to open the dress and lay it out flat (which will be nice for ironing). In order to do this, I also placed a button on the side seam of the bodice, aligning with the skirt buttons. This was made from one of the cuffs of the shirt and I maintained its functionality so that you can adjust the sizing of the bodice just as you can make a cuff tighter or looser on your wrist. 

The straps were taken from the sleeves of the shirt maintaining the small buttons for openings at both shoulders. I decided to top stitch them onto the back of the dress as a modern nod to the sailor style.