Royals Week: Day 1

Apr 26, 2011 | 47 Comments

In celebration of the upcoming nuptials of Wills and Kate Middleton this Friday, I thought it would be fun to do a theme week!!

ROYALS WEEK!!!

ROYALS WEEK!!!

Today’s inspiration…Kate’s engagement dress by Issa!!

Kate's Issa Dress

Kate's Issa Dress

I loved the way this piece fit her and the fabric, the flowiness…it was a total hit and it cost $535.  Here’s my version…

I found my blue flowy dress at the pile sale by me for a mere dollar…

Issue one: broken strap

Royals Week: Day 1 - Before

Royals Week: Day 1 - Before

Issue two: ripped skirt

Ripped skirt!!

Ripped skirt!!

Kate wouldn’t be caught dead in this!!  But we’ll take care of these problems…

First thing I did was pin the ripped strap!  Unless there was going to be a little burlesque number going on, this wasn’t going to do…

Pin that strap!!

Pin that strap!!

Once the strap was pinned together, next came the pinning of the skirt!

Pinned it together!!

Pinned it together!!

Once these two pieces were tweaket, out came the sewing machine and everything got stitched up!!

Sew time!!

Sew time!!

This week came at a perfect time because I went to hang with some British friends of mine!

Royals Week: Day 1 - After

Royals Week: Day 1 - After

I borrowed their beer of choice, as it’s from the UK, to be my prop…

British Beer!!

Tennent's!!

…loved that it matched so well too!!

The back of the piece looked a little like this…

The back!

The back!

I got my hand on NK’s UK passport and pretended I was getting ready to head to London.

Passport!!

Passport!!

Luckily for me, all I have to do is turn on any channel to see live coverage from London all week.  I mean Tim Gunn’s even there ‘making it work’ with ABC covering the spectacle!

Tim Gunn!!

Tim Gunn!

More tomorrow!

In all
  • Linda

    OMG you make me laugh!!! Hahahahaha. You should have worn your Cadbury ring to represent Dian….er I mean Kates ring.

    • Anonymous

      Ha!! Yes, I totally should have!! How hard did I try to find a knockoff of that navy ring :)

      • DinaB

        I work part time at Michaels Craft Store in New York and we have “The Ring” for only $9.95! Go on line and get a store coupon and you can save up to 50% to boot! Happy Shopping.

  • http://iwilltouchthesky.blogspot.com Lauren @ Pineapple Pizza

    That is such a gorgeous dress! I would love to have one just like it!

  • Julia

    very pretty! I love the color and the fabric looks very nice too!

  • Anonymous

    As always lovely dress! Just curious, wouldn’t you love if that dress could talk and tell you how it got into that torn state?

  • Btejkl

    I looooove the dress. The essence of Kate’s dress was definitely showing. I was going to ask earlier why you wear jeans under all of your “before” outfits but now I know why:) Otherwise we’d really have had a little burlesque going on – LOL

  • Tracy

    I love the dress! Though, I thought you might’ve added a blue slash around the waist. Either way, it’s beautiful and you look great!

  • http://profiles.google.com/magyarjessica jessica torok

    Nice job.
    Love how you’re capturing the royal moment.

  • dosfashionistas

    Perfect dress to sub for the Royal Choice. Equally attractive. I cannot wait for the Big Day to see what you will have for us.

  • Robert

    Where did you get the Tennets?

    • Anonymous

      I’m on the prowl trying to find out from my friend whose house I was at where she procured said elixir :)

  • Kissem37

    I was hoping you’d tackle that dress! Love her version, love your price tag! Great job :)

  • MJ

    LOL your posts are always so funny :) I live in London and am slowly also getting infected with Royal Wedding fever ;)

    • Anonymous

      Aaaahhh!! I’m sure that’s the only thing you’re hearing right now!! Everything here on the news, on entertainment shows, etc is wedding related, even the local LA newscasters are in London?!?!

  • alcessa

    A great idea and a lovely dress for sure!

    But you do make me wonder what your William remake will look like? :-)

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_MJPB445UOWNOS5UILEAOY6LWDY Odile

    OHHHH my gosh… you can’t imagine my surprise and joy when I saw your theme week!! ROYAL WEDDING!!!

    I loved your dress!! So cute… and it came from something so gross. WOWWOWOWOWOW! (I’m so happy right now.. .lol.)

  • http://thatuncomfortableitch.blogspot.com/ That Uncomfortable Itch

    Love the flowiness you have going on there. And it is always best to accessorize your drinks to match your outfit.

    • Anonymous

      I mean, tis the best accessory if you ask me :)

  • Laura

    Yea!!! I love this theme week! And I loved this dress ever since I first saw it. :) I loved how yours turned out! I’m hoping there is going to be a wedding dress some where in here this week too. :)

  • http://daisiesnchains.blogspot.com Jenn

    Best Theme Week ever! My mom and I are having a wedding watching party — I wish you and your dress could come! :)

    • Anonymous

      Me too!! I may have to live blog :) Send me pics of you and your mom! I may have to collect and share.

  • DinaB

    Another winner! I love your California version of this dress, sleeveless for the warmer climate. It’s great that you found the perfect color and type of fabric for only a $1.00! It just goes to show you that you can truely find a treasure in the most unlikely places.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Hallie-Yamamoto/1398750783 Hallie Yamamoto

    WHOA WHOA WHOA. Where in the whole wide WORLD did you find Tennants???? That is my FAVE beer, and when I had it in Scotland, they told me it is only sold in Scotland, and it is only sold on tap. I need to have your secrets. Please.

    • Anonymous

      I will find out from my friend – her dad was a fan and scored it somewhere in the Los Angeles vicinity. Keep you posted Hallie!

  • Melinda

    Love the dress! Very cute!

  • Roadsidehouse

    You are so talented. This week is going to be one of your best. What an inspiration you are. Thanks.

  • Christine

    This is one of your best yet! LOVE it!!!

    p.s. Secretly hope you make a copy-cat of Kate’s wedding dress….just a thought. ;)

  • http://thegirlintheheartglasses.weebly.com/ The Girl in the Heart Glasses

    yeah royal weddding week!!!! great job! I hope you make some sort of tiara this week :D

  • http://pioneerprincess.wordpress.com/ PioneerPrincess

    I know one of my fails is to often give up on a piece and throw it out because of a rip or some other fixable problem… I got out of the habit of sitting down to fix them when I was working full time as a teacher… but thankfully, now I have a little more creative energy to pour into little projects! I love your connection to the styles that are happening *now* — it’s blogs like this that make me feel a little more connected to fashion!

  • kristen

    This is so cute I had to comment! Very much enjoy your creations!

  • http://twitter.com/onelovelivity Terri Henry

    Marissa you are just too cute! Super dress, super fun.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EMV2CIRIJU4IQNO3EOGEO7RFDY erin

    love it!!!! what a fun theme week idea.

  • http://www.wom-mom.com Wom-Mom Ethne

    The sweet thing is aside from fixing, you didn’t have to do too much to it. I’m also totally into this royal wedding. I displayed my faux diamond and sapphire ring on my blog today – you need one! ~Ethne

    • Anonymous

      Yum! I love it…checking it out now!!

  • Christie

    Hello, Ms. Fabulousity. Love it! and I am loving your plan for a theme week. I’ve been suddenly caught up in Royal Wedding Fever and am thinking about taking Friday off. :D

    • Anonymous

      Do it!! Or…get up early and just show up to work slightly tired. I mean, you were attending a wedding :)

  • Allisonwoods

    Love the dress–though agree with Tracy that it needs something across the middle. Since you probably don’t have any more of he blue fabric, maybe some similarly silky flowy scrap fashioned into a sash of some sort. Not sure about the bow things on the shoulders–might be a little prommy.

    This should be a fun week to watch.

  • http://tarot-girl.blogspot.com Tarot Girl

    This turned out so nice! Isn’t it great to run across a “broken” dress and realize that only a few simple fixes will make it amazing again?

  • Mrstakeebie

    I love this dress!

  • LucyMarie

    My biggest question is when did you get the dress? It is crazy how similar it is to Catherine’s dress and I am amazed no one else snapped it up (even with the problems)! Did you get it before she wore it for the big announcement or after? Keep up the wonderful work and if you should ever go into alterations as a business, I have many things I will send to you to fix up for me :)
    Blessings,
    LucyMarie

  • Mary

    I think it looks great! I disagree that it needs anything across the middle – you nailed the (slightly modified) cross-over detail from Kate’s dress. Classy and simple :) Love it!

  • Bekyip

    Tennent’s !!!!!!
    Brilliant Dress

  • NedUvas

    Thank you, thank you for having a Royal Week. Can’t wait to see more!

  • DesperateMom

    The only thing missing is your saphire ring.

  • Scarlet

    That’s pretty good for a mere dollar and some hard work. Nice job!

  • Anonymous

    Really really beautiful! Love the color.