No, this is not a dress for cats of indeterminate breeding, it is, in fact, my Mother of the Groom dress, which became known as the Moggy dress!
My dress is based on Vogue 1542, which I bought in LA when I went shopping with PammyOh.
I think this pattern is rather gorgeous, however, I knew the fit would be off so took it to my patternmaking class where Sarah and I completely changed it. For a while there I thought the only original part was the shoulders, but the skirt is pretty similar.
So, what did we change? For a start, we got rid of the princess seams and redrafted the bodice so that it was completely on the bias. This also meant that I didn’t need a zip at the centre back. We began this whole process in July, 2017. I was so organised, but I still didn’t finish it until a week before the wedding, so it was actually ten months in the making!
I spent a lot of time worrying about this dress. Was it appropriate for the MOG? I did a lot of research and lace, sequins and suits featured heavily in fairly subdued colours. I am not really a lace or sequins person, although I do have both in my wardrobe, and I prefer bright colours. I also began to worry about the weather, and how cold I might be, and also how much weight I had gained during the last three holidays, which made that bias-cut dress get shorter and shorter. I did a lot of worrying!!
To the dress then: I made it from this rather brilliant blue wool crepe, kindly provided by Sarah from her rather epic stash and dubbed “bluetiful” by my friend Sophie. The mustard rouleaux are made from wool also from Sarah’s stash, and the murky green bits are derived from some grey wool crepe which I dyed with correopsis.
The dress lining was separately drafted and is made from some beautiful silk I bought in India. It is also cut on the bias and I could not believe how much it dropped, hanging at least 20cms below the dress by the time I was finished.
This photo is taken with Tom’s Godmother, Suzanne, whilst we waited for the bride to arrive. I am wearing a wrist corsage which I made and which didn’t survive the ceremony! It is even looking rather sad here.
I have only two photographs from the actual ceremony, so all the others are taken later. In this one I am examining Bridgette’s bouquet. She had a miniature made with her beloved grandparents’ photo in it, which she attached to the ribbons with some blue ribbon. I gave her a new silver horseshoe charm, and lent her a black cat brooch of my mother’s dating from the 1940s. This all became her “something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue”.
I got Suzanne to take a photo of the back of my dress when we got back to our accommodation after the wedding (very early hours of the morning). Due to the fact that we eliminated the zip, I was able to take the decoration around the back, which pleased me hugely. Sarah and I added two darts either side of the centre back to give more shaping in the back.
The rest of these photos are taken at home, after the event, so no proper makeup or jewellery, but you’ll get the idea. I might add some of the professional photos when they come.
My neck decoration is slightly different from that of the pattern, but I really like the way it sits.
The only bit of bling on the entire outfit is this tiny bead inside the flower. I suspect that not a single person saw it!
For most of the evening I just wore the dress, but I did make a wrap, which was drafted from Mark’s mother’s fox fur, as per the blue one in my previous post. However, instead of self-lining the wrap, I found some silk in my stash that I had bought at Potters, and dyed it with correopsis. This turned out to tone perfectly with the mustard accents, whilst feeling very luxurious.
As you can see I found some mustard suede shoes in Cos, which were just perfect for the outfit, and I also took a bag that my mother had made back in the 1960s. The colours in the bag toned in perfectly and I love that tapestry design.
Whilst not being twirly, the skirt was quite flirty and it felt fabulous whilst dancing, with the bias cut providing just enough movement to be interesting.
A last photograph (for now), where Mark was making me laugh!
So the wedding is over, and it was fabulous. The weather was very threatening with thunderstorms predicted, and given the actual ceremony was planned to be outside under trees, it was all very stressful, and Plan A was abandoned, with a Plan B and C put in place. However the weather was really quite nice so we didn’t need to go past Plan B. The wind dropped and the sun peeped out, so all was well.
This is such a beautiful dress. I love how you completely changed the pattern and yet kept the original silhouette. And congratulations on the wedding!
Thanks Tia, the success of the changes is thanks to my awesome patternmaking teacher. I’m not sure I could do this by myself.
outstanding Moggy
Lol!, thanks Marieke.
A great Moggy (MOG) dress! I love the cording and the swirly skirt- something high and something low. I too wrestled with the MOG dress dilemma and ended up with this dress. http://creatingembellishment.com/ post #28. Isn’t nice to feel comfortable in dress up clothes?
Oh, your dress is beautiful, and you’ll also be able to wear it to other events, which I think is a bit essential. It is important to feel comfortable, whilst looking glamorous.
Beautiful dress and wrap and lovely accessories!
Thank you Marianne, I loved the fact that my Mum’s bag toned in so well.
OH, a great Mother of the groom outfit. I like everything of it.
Thank you Mema. I was so worried about it.
beautiful and what a great fit. love the shape of the dress on you.
It’s a nice shape thanks to the bias cut, I think.
Just gorgeous.
Thank you Christine.
Love your MOG dress- so classy and awesome color combo! You looked fabulous!
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Thank you. I know I will wear it occasionally, which is what I wanted. I didn’t want a dress that I never wore again.
Absolutely stunning. You are so talented and creative Sue!
Thank you Caroline, it helped to start with an interesting pattern.
I love everything about this dress, right down to the perfectly matched lining on the wrap. Your natural dyeing has become truly amazing! I’m so pleased the day was so wonderful. I look forward to hearing all about it x
Can’t wait to catch up and fill you in Meg! The dress is so wearable, I might even wear it for coffee…
Hi Sue, I really love your Moggy dress, absolutely perfect for the day and for you. Amazing how you radically changed that dress for the better…so was the body and the flounce cut on the bias. Such an interesting post…thank you for sharing.
Suzy xx
Such a gorgeous rendition of this dress. You look amazing.
Thank you so much Tammy, I am really pleased with how it turned out.
What a lovely outfit. So much work but so worth it. You looked lovely.
Thank you so much Vicki, and bonus points for the fact that I can wear it often without needing a special occasion.
You have out done yourself with that beautiful dress and wrap. It is exquisite. Couture quality. I envy you having Sarah to help. I could definitely use her help. I do enjoy your posts.
Thank you Lois, Sarah makes a big difference as I am hopeless at fitting myself and not terribly good at this sort of hack.
Your dress for the wedding is beautiful and looks amazing on you. So pleased you had a beautiful day.
Thank you Marjorie, how was your day? Hoping to see your MOG dress soon!
Just magnifique. You really made this dress a success with Sarah and achieved a designer style that is certainly not the usual MOG kind of dress. And your styling, wow! What a great conclusion to this epic 10-month project! xx
I was so over it by the end that I was having second thoughts about the dress, but so glad I saw it through. I felt nicely pulled together and reasonably glamorous, so objective achieved! x
Stunning! Sue you look stunning, your dress is gorgeous. I love how everything happily toned in together. Best wishes to the bride and groom!
Thank you so much Roma! I felt quite good on the day but feeling nervous about the photographs. The bride and groom are so happy it’s a joy.
This is such a lovely MOGgy dress! I love the style, it is chic without being tarted up or prissy. The colours give interest and suit you so well. Sounds like the perfect day to celebrate your son‘s wedding. Congratulations! May their life together be happy and long!
It was a beautiful wedding and I felt stylish without being over the top. I was pleased to find matching shoes and I’ve seen nothing else that would do since I bought those mustard ones.
I like your dress better than the original! How clever of you to make such changes. You’ve mixed the tones just perfectly and the style of the dress and the jacket are perfect for a wedding or any other special occasion. Well done!
Thank you Linda, those princess seams would have looked terrible on my rectangular body. Putting it on the bias also meant that I could take the embellishment round the back, which I liked.
I struggle with princess seamed dresses. I never really knew why. Is it because of my body shape too? 🤔 So much alteration for fit and then it never looks right. So I just stopped making them. It has taken me a while though to figure out what lines are right for me and sometimes I still stray into a look that isn’t flattering so off to the charity shop it goes!
Such a beautiful colour and the perfect style for a Mog dress if you ask me. I had to google Mog dresses and I am pretty sure most of the dresses I saw are more ball gown than garden wedding and looked more suitable for the bride in any case. I wouldn’t have thought of putting mustard with the turquoise blue but it really works and looks fabulous especially with the shoes. I hope you get to wear it again!
I hope I get to wear it again too – frequently! Blue and yellow are the colours of our local football team, so not such a stretch to put them together, but probably not such a good idea either!!
The outfit looks wonderful, and you look happy and comfortable whilst wearing it – so important but often overlooked in the importance of the event. I’m sure you will wear this again and it will evoke some wonderful memories.
Well done.
I am determined to wear this again and again, and yes, all the memories will be there! Thanks Kim.
This is such an one of a kind beautiful dress. The details are so well made. Your matching shoes are amazing.
Hi Sue, I love the cut, the colour and the silhouette of this dress. It fits you perfectly and the detailing on the neckline is gorgeous. You look stunning (and I have serious shoe envy over the suede courts).
You are a stunning and stylish MOG. Congratulations!
…and congrats also on the acquisition of a Daughter-in-Law.
Thank you Rachel, I have those shoes on again today, which pleases me. I am very pleased to have a DIL!