50's-style party dress, or knock-off of a knock-off

I saw this beautiful dress some time ago on this blog. It was a knockoff of this Oscar de la Renta dress:



It was actually the knockoff, not the original that grabbed my fancy. I just loved the floral print and the tutu-like silhouette.

The February 2011 issue of Burdastyle magazine featured this dress pattern:



I had a wedding to go to in 2 weeks, so what better excuse to go shopping at Britex Fabrics where I paid a relative fortune for the perfect print in 100% Japanese densely-woven cotton and I made this:



It had a deep 4-inch hem so it puffed out pleasingly, but I think I will need to make a petticoat with tulle layers to get the appropriate tutu silhouette.

My mother-in-law just emailed me directions on how to make a petticoat so that's what I'll be attempting this coming weekend. The dress looks fine without the petticoat, so there's no pressure to get one done, but it sure would be fun to have one made in time to wear to the wedding. I'm suddenly into tutu silhouettes because of this new book I got:



I am in love with all of the dresses in this book, which all have the 50's-style skirt that requires a petticoat for the shape.

Stay tuned for an update if I get the petticoat done and it works out!