RTW Knockoff Competition Part One - Inspiration

I've entered the Pattern Review RTW knockoff competition which runs through the month of July. I've been feeling a little unproductive lately and I think this will help me get back on the horse, so to speak. I'll be documenting the process here and writing a review over at Pattern Review with links back here.

The idea is to take inspiration from a RTW garment or outfit and create an interpretation or copy of it - mine will definitely be an interpretation rather than a direct copy.

First, my inspiration. In this month's Australian Marie Claire, the ONLY garment that caught my eye was this dress from the Calvin Klein Fall 09 RTW collection.

Image from Style.com (second from the left on the bottom row).

I love that it is flowy and loose but without looking like a sack. The pleat down the front will give a strong vertical (and therefore slimming - I hope) line and also gives extra fullness to the skirt. I also love the shaped hem line.

A quick search turned up side and back views, which is handy!

Image from Newsday.com.

Image from wwd.com.

I'll be making some changes to account for the fact that I am not a 17 year old supermodel.

1. I'll add cap sleeves to balance my hips.
2. I'll keep the shaped hem but make it less extreme so it's a bit longer in the front.
3. I may or may not lower the front neck - I'm not sure how such a high neck will look on a d-cup bust.
4. It looks as though there is a plain band around the hemline (but I can't exactly tell), I will most likely add a hem band and I will make a feature of it.
5. Finally, and most obviously, I won't be using an evening fabric (the inspiration dress is some kind of wonderful silk-metallic-burnout-velvet) I will make it in suiting to wear for work
   

I am pretty excited about this project, I think it looks deceptively simple. I reckon it will be a challenge to get it to look sleek and not frumpy, and the front pleat may introduce some grainline issues that could be a problem. Also the shaped hem means that the inside of the dress will be seen at the hemline, which means I will have to come up with a clever way of finishing the inside. I think I'm up to it though. The next stage is to find and modify a pattern and make a toille.