Here is my actual contribution for the #literally20dollarlolita challenge on Tumblr by @20dollarlolita, not that the cottagecore bread pouch wasn’t adorable enough on its own. But this is an actual project I had planned for like four years and the fabric hoarded in my stash for over five years, if not closer to ten. I have always wanted a dress from the classical lolita brand Juliette et Justine, the one classic brand I don’t have any item from because I can’t fit into anything by the time I finally got Juliette et Justine money and also they don’t really show up on the secondhand market much because they’re so expensive and rare. So I bought these fabrics with random ideas in mind, but I knew in my heart it was going to be a JetJ dress because seriously, what else could I make with them lol.
Materials: satiny polyester lining fabric (faille), smooth silky synthetic shell outer fabric (charmeuse?), butterfly and roses satiny synthetic fabric from Joann’s, long black zipper, (not shown: hook and eye, double-faced satin ribbon), Otome no Sewing book 6 for motivation, New Look dress pattern that I used for lolita and cosplay dresses, also not shown a headband base that I’m not sure about
Inspiration photos from Lolibrary
This is the Amour d’amants Robe and is basically the dress I had in mind to recreate. A few other western indie brands made similar classical painting dresses which I also covet, but I’m sure they got their inspo from Juliette et Justine.
Since it’s so simple, I just used a New Look dress pattern that I’ve been using for years, and altered the bodice shape to fit my new measurements using some scrap bedsheet fabric, which will turn out to be a mistake. I also did a rounded neckline instead of rectangular. The skirt portion was referenced from the Otome no Sewing book, I used a gathered rectangle instead of a gathered trapezoid as in the New Look pattern.
Test fit of the bodice, not looking great because the original dress had the princess seams rather far away (as opposed to too close in Japanese patterns). So I sewed the princess seams a little closer together by 1/8th inch, bringing the bodice circumference down by 1/2 inch, still fitting my waist with plenty of ease, which I assumed would be good enough.
Test fit of dress so far, unhemmed skirt. You can see the issues emerging now. While the dress is made exactly as the pattern describes, the waist is right above my natural waist as intended, but the inspo dress has a higher waist, not underbust, but halfway between the natural waist and underbust, therefore my dress seems unflattering on the mannequin, which is not even as dumpy as me in real life. The skirt is also long, closer to mid calf, and not very full in comparison, however I don’t mind a more normie looking skirt for this particular dress. At this point, I had no choice but to follow through…
The completed but not quite finished dress, with petticoat. FYI, the waist seam allowance was bound with satin ribbon because the shedding would not have been stopped with overcast stitching. The zipper I had on hand was 2 inches too short and so I sewed the hook and eye at top and also added satin ribbon for a fancy closure to distract from the 2 inch gap lol. One of the many reasons I hate zippers is that they’re impossible to pull up with ease, especially if you’re old and have arthritis and no maidservant to dress you like you’re the queen, and this was no exception. The ribbon was supposed to help but I don’t think it does much. Also I had a time trying to sew the zipper on my sewing machine with slippery fabric and catching the folds evenly, because one side had the zipper tape sandwiched between lining and shell while the other side was lapped over and had the edges bound with zigzag stitch, not my best idea I’ll admit. I ended up handsewing some parts of the zipper. Except for the inner seams of the skirt and pocket that should have been overcast or French-seamed, the construction is finished and this devil fabric can stop shedding black fluff everywhere!
I made a simple headbow from the small scrap left of the butterfly fabric, demonstrated on a headband base, but I don’t like how this looks and may just put it on a clip. And let’s not forget a pocket sewn from the inner lining on the right side of the skirt, demonstrated here with a wallet. Now that was a great idea for once lol.
The total cost? Free! I already had all this stuff. But except the patterns, let’s break it down in imaginary cost…
- High shine faille, 1 yard remnant: 12.99 x 50% off
- Butterfly print fabric, 1 yard: idk, it’s $10 on ebay now
- Mystery silky fabric, 1 yard remnant: not sure but let’s say $7 max
- 20 inch zipper: $2.99
- Hook and eye: $2 for a pack of 10
- Satin double-faced ribbon: $4.99 per spool and I used 2 different colors but didn’t have to
- Headband base or hair clip: $2 max probably
Total (imaginary): $35.47
In the end I was over by $16, but in my mind, it was free.99.
Now is this dress actually lolita and would I include it as part of my wardrobe? Yes it’s based on a lolita dress, but no, I wouldn’t wear it, not yet. There are no worn photos because I decided to make one major change to the dress to make it look better on me. As mentioned, the natural waist design causes the dress to look unflattering, and the sharp divide between black and sky blue/pink/brown print only heightens the width versus height, no favors being done to a short, round person here. I do need to emphasize it’s mostly me and my aging body which is definitely not the hourglass silhouette of the idealized young woman’s figure. Even so, a handmade dress should still flatter the wearer somehow, that’s the whole point of making your own clothes. Some options might include corset boning after taking out another inch from the bodice, but since the fabric is so drapey and silky, adding stiffness would be silly and uncomfortable. Another option is adding some elastic back shirring to slim the bodice, but there is a zipper on the center back so shirring would be both difficult and ineffective. My solution is to raise the shoulders of the dress by 1.5 inches, thereby raising the waistline to closer to the inspo dress and helping with the bagginess under the arms and giving the illusion of a thinner waist without me doing anything to the waist. However that is one of the more difficult changes (although not the most difficult) and would require another evening of work. It obviously wouldn’t solve the fact that I’m dumpy, but it would match the inspo dress and appear more flattering and that is good enough for me.
What do you think? Would you wear a dress like this or the original Juliette et Justine classical painting dress? How would you style the dress and bow-thing?
Edited later that night…
Coming back with the final dress pics, tailored as mentioned previously and styled a little bit so you can see what I am imagining. I opened the shoulder seams, cut about half inch on the front and back halves and then folded the front shoulder strap over the back and topstitched down which is obviously not the ideal solution but there was no way I was opening the whole dress up to restitch it. The difference looks minimal on the dress form, but the fit is much better and still gives me some freedom of motion. With this styling, maybe some more pearl accessories and sheer black tights and plain black boots, I think it looks classy.
