Cal Patch Dress

Back in April I had the great good luck (and persistence, and willingness to donate money) to win an item in the Artists Take Action auction benefiting The Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights. I've won a number of artworks in past auctions (indeed, now I think of it, several can be glimpsed in the photo above! pictures by, from top to bottom: Christine Buckton Tillman, Alice Wu, Cindy Monaghan, Emily Neuburger (the Martha's Vineyard map by Archie's Press and bottom black-and-white photo by Amy Friend were obtained elsewhere).) but this one was a bit special and different. My prize to be claimed in this case was an entirely custom-designed bespoke dress to be made just for me by the inimitable seamstress and teacher Cal Patch. Using the designs on her site as a guide, Cal walked me through all the different variables I got to pick: overall style of dress (I chose the smock dress), scoop of neckline (higher), sleeve length (three-quarters), skirt length (mid-calf). I sent her my measurements so it would fit perfectly. And, perhaps most exciting of all, I got to peruse photos of her fabric collection to find the perfect material (a Vlisco African wax print). As you can see, the results are pretty gosh darn amazing. One other detail that I didn't know about until I received the dress -- and that's hard to see in the photos -- are the capacious pockets, which are semi-circular in shape. I have a great many dresses I dearly love, but it's not an overstatement to say this is my new favorite.