Some women usually change their wardrobes following fashion seasons and trends, disposing or donating what they don't see fit to use anymore and rotating their clothes completely by the end of the year, or at least every once in a while. On the other hand, some other women tend to simply keep all their clothes even when they don't use them, because you never know when they might come in handy and, after all, trends tend to come back. The latter is the case of my mother's closet.
Throughout the years I've received a few vintage clothing inheritances from my mom, some of which have become quite useful and precious to me. One of my favorite pieces is a rayon sun dress printed with a tropical pattern of flowers and leaves in blue, green, purple and black. The garment is made by Kosi Bali, an old clothing brand which specialized in rayon clothing. The sole fact that it's made of rayon makes me love it immensely, since it is one of my all-time favorite fabrics to wear and work with.
I had to make a couple of alterations to the dress in order to fit me properly. One of the spaghetti straps was loose and had been shortened, so I let go the other strap and used them tied up halter-style. I also added two side pleats to the midriff area to make it tighter-fitting, since it was a size L. Other than that, the dress was (and still is) in incredible shape. Thank God for rayon being quite a durable fabric! I'd dare say this dress is among the ones I use the most, since I find it very versatile. It works well-paired with a fancy jacket, a button-up shirt or a basic cardigan. Throw in a pair of heels, sandals or flats and they'll look amazing together. Wear them with leggings or pantyhose and it's a hit. Accessorize and comb your hair accordingly... anyway it fits!
For these particular reasons, and because I found a beautiful and similar rayon fabric stuffed in our old fabric stash, I decided to clone the dress and give it a twin brother. Perhaps the cloning technique that I used was a bit crazy, but then again I hadn't sewn too many things yet. Thankfully, everything turned out OK. I cut out two pieces: one for the front and one for the back. I split the back piece in two in order to insert the zipper. Also, it seemed like the fabric wouldn't be big enough, but I managed to work well with it and make the dress fit within its limits. This twin dress also features side pleats and halter-tied spaghetti straps.
When you look at both dresses side-by-side, they truly look like they come from the same fashion brand, but little do people know that one of them is a clone. Not only are these dresses versatile, they're also really girly, comfortable and flowy. Rayon is quite a soft fabric, not too sheer, but not too heavy. It's also both warm and fresh. That's why I love rayon fabric so much! In addition to these features, rayon usually comes in beautiful prints, like the ones seen in these dresses. I really think this fabric was meant to turn into a twin dress to the first one, because they're so, so similar. For a relaxed beach style, I paired both of them with black flats, a stingray barb necklace, dry petal earrings and a high side hair braid.
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