Anything Vionnet scares me. Madeleine Vionnet is one of the most influential designers of all time and that being said any of her pieces are masterfully made. This is not only intimidating but fascinating. The visual illusion of this dress proves to be a precise art that I will have to master.
The main question of this dress is: does it have seams? The fringe in the fish scales patterns is merely attached to the outside of the dress. There is no seam work so my question was where is the closure and where are there seams. By close examination the first time, I came to the conclusion that the piece was draped on the bias and was done in one solid piece. You can see that I imagined a pattern piece as such but that would leave a center back seam.
On further research and looking closely at my book, I realized there was no center back seam, however I could detect a side seam and in the slightest angle I believe there to be a hint of side seam going down into the scales. The seam would be easily hid by the fringe but seems invisible in any picture. I will discover more as I drape the sample. However, my mock up fabric is a dark navy and the final fabric is a beige crepe. Hopefully I can still sense the right seaming of this dress. I found fringe and I've made note on how it grows bigger as it goes from waist down.
This pieces overall should slinkily slip right on and I will need to think of that in draping. The finishing hems will be important to make blend in and I will have to consider the fact that the fringe has different colorings in it that I may need to dye myself. A true masterpiece.