Balenciaga by Jill Danyelle

I had wanted to make a little black dress from umbrella fabric and now that I had some confidence behind the sewing machine, this was the perfect opportunity. With rain predicted in the forecast, I put out a call for people to send me their broken umbrellas. Then one blustery, rainy day, I walked home across Manhattan collecting broken umbrellas. I continually stopped on the sidewalk, snipping the fabric off of the mangled frames, receiving random odd glances from passersby and, finally, just taking whole umbrellas. I was shocked by how many I was coming across. By midway home I was completely loaded down!

Inspired by the inky black "fabric" and the bubble silhouette Balenciaga popularized in the fifties, I set myself to work drafting a pattern. When it came time to cut, I laid the pattern to let the many existing seams of the umbrella work to provide interesting and subtle geometry to the dress. I recycled a black sheet to use as the facing of the neck and armholes and utilized a vintage belt at the waist. The dress has a side zipper and two snaps at the right shoulder.

While I am a neophyte with a needle and thread and the word couture scares me, I was encouraged to enter, so here it goes. I am honored to participate in this competition and thank you for your consideration.

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