Date: 9/21/09 11:16 AM

I am pleased to announce PR's first Little Black Dress Contest!

This contest is to make yourself a 'Little Black Dress', or LBD. To establish a common base for the definition of a LBD, here is a description from Wikipedia:

Quote:

A little black dress is an evening or cocktail dress, cut simply and often with a short skirt, originally made popular in the 1920s by the fashion designer Coco Chanel. Intended by Chanel to be long-lasting, versatile, affordable, accessible to the widest market possible and in a neutral color. Its continued ubiquity is such that many refer to it by the abbreviation LBD. The "little black dress" is considered essential to a complete wardrobe by many women and fashion observers, who believe it a "rule of fashion" that every woman should own a simple, elegant black dress that can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion: for example, worn with a jacket and pumps for daytime business wear or with more ornate jewelry and accessories for evening. Because it is meant to be a staple of the wardrobe for a number of years, the style of the little black dress ideally should be as simple as possible: a short black dress that is too clearly part of a trend would not qualify because it would soon appear dated.

The rules for this contest:
1) Make a dress that fits the spirit of the description above.
2) The color should be similar to black. So black, dark chocolate brown, or dark charcoal would qualify.
3) A minimum of 3 pictures are required in your review: one of the dress unadorned, one of the dress as a daytime look, and one of the dress accessorized for evening wear.

A word on pictures: Taking pictures of a dark garment is a challenge. Taking your pictures outside during a fairly bright part of the day will help. If need be, lightening the unadorned pictures to show details can also help. If your pictures don't show your dress than people can't see what you want them to vote on.

*Rules that apply to all contests:

1. Contests begin on the 1st of the month, and all reviews must be entered for submission by midnight Eastern Time on the last day of the month.

2. Unless otherwise stated in the rules, patterns may be drafted, tweaked, and muslined before the contest date, but fabric for the pieces entered may not be laid out or cut till the start date of the contest. Fabric may be pretreated before the contest date.

3. Items intended for sale, or for which you were or will be paid to make, do not qualify for any contest, but items made for charity are welcome!

4. Unless otherwise stated in the rules, all reviews written for a contest entry must include a picture of the entry.



Contest Eligibility

1. Any member of Pattern Review, either paying (FoPR) or non-paying, who's been a registered member on the site for 90 days prior to the start of a contest is eligible to enter.

2. Any member of Pattern Review, either paying (FoPR) or non-paying, who's been a registered member on the site for 90 days prior to the end of a contest is eligible to vote in a contest.

3. Any member who's won a prize (1st or 2nd place) in a contest on Pattern Review ended in the previous six months is ineligible to win another contest for a period of 6 months.

Prizes!

Sponsored by

First Prize: Brand New Smart Lift Iron ( $70 value)
Second Prize: Brand New Easy Touch Iron ($45 value )
-- Edited on 10/1/09 5:26 PM --

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Date: 9/21/09 11:19 AM

Every gal needs a Little Black Dress in her wardrobe, so I'll expect to see tons of entries! I'll be sewing along too.

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Date: 9/21/09 11:26 AM

Nice! I entered the Wardrobe contest so I really don't think I'll have time to make a dress but I would have loved to! Can't wait to see what you lovely, talented ladies come up with!

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http://sewjune.blogspot.com

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Date: 9/21/09 1:58 PM

This one is going to be tremendously fun! I guess I've been committing a fashion faux-pas for years now, since I don't own a LBD. It's time to fix that :)

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Amy
http://www.quixoticpixels.com

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Date: 9/21/09 2:03 PM

Oooo...this sounds like fun. I wonder if I can squeeze this in along with the Wardrobe Contest. Hmmm....

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There will always be fabric. It is time we must preserve. -Deepika

Dressing is a way of life. It brings you joy. It can give you freedom and liberation, help you to find yourself and to move without restraint. Isn't elegance forgetting what one is wearing? — Yves Saint Laurent

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Reply to unfinishedprojects
Date: 9/21/09 3:25 PM

I'm severely tempted, especially since Burda already has me thinking of LBDs with the preview of the October issue.

My LBD is fictional only because I'm such a turtle where sewing is concerned. I have the RTW inspiration pic, Burda gave me the pattern and I bought the black linen.

What am I waiting for? This contest!

I'm in *scared and worried face*

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Fashion Maté, where I blog about what I (eventually) sew : http://fashionmate.blogspot.com

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Date: 9/21/09 3:47 PM

This sounds good to me. When does the contest begin and end?

Judy

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judyp

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Date: 9/21/09 6:50 PM

The contest runs from October 1-31, 2009. As usual, midnight Eastern time is the cutoff.

Since we have the added challenge of photographing dark fabric, you may wish to pretend that the deadline is a couple days earlier in order to have the time to take well lit pictures...

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Reply to unfinishedprojects
Date: 9/21/09 7:53 PM

This sounds like fun and something I can handle at my sewing level. I need a warm LBD as winters are cold and long in VT; are sleeves ok?

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Date: 9/21/09 8:06 PM

Wasn't it a little black dress that got a designer voted off Project Runway..
Lets hope we do better with ours.

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