So when I started the research for this dress the hardest part is finding other images of a single dress. I know that the Met has the pictures of the dress on their site, as well as in this book, but sometimes there are no other pictures of a dress.
Luckily, on the Met's site there were several takes of this dress from all angles. Most importantly, they had shots of how this dress is just a single fragile layer of fabric over a slip and otherwise is completely sheer. This helps me know not only to make a slip but to make sure that the fabric layers I choose are as light as air to stay consistent with the main dress.
First I identified that there were 12 "stripes" in this design. You can see in my notes on the book that there are varying amounts of each type of stripe so I made sure to mark out which is which, this will be crucial for the draping process. I mainly identified sequins in black, blue, and gold as well as a black geometric lace and a gold geometric lace. The difficulty is finding a lace similar to the lace used in this Chanel dress that is not floral but an abstract geometric design.
I was able to find some amazing swatches on Mood Fabrics and ordered them right away along with many others for my project. In the meantime I was able to go through all the extra fabric and scraps I had from over the years and got all I needed together to drape a sample of this dress in the meantime before ordering the real fabrics.This technique helps me not only troubleshoot the design but it helps me estimate the correct yardage of the design so that I don't overspend on fabric.
The next main step will be draping the piece and working on design of the zig-zags. It will be crucial to get the corners correct and work with the sequin fabric mixing with the lace. Wish me luck.