Whew. I finally finished the black version of Vogue 8633. Unfortunately my photographer is out on the town so I only have dressform pictures at the moment. The artificial light doesn’t really do justice to the fabric, which is a stretch twill with a wonderful sheen.
This dress was one of the things I wanted to make when I first bought a sewing machine. Not this exact pattern, but the style and fabric combination.
A long time ago, when I was first working, I bought a black dress from Oasis. It was slim and sleeveless with an invisible zip at the front and another one in the skirt vent. It was pretty expensive for me at the time but totally worth it because I wore it about once a week for years. It was the perfect combination of comfortable, smart, and little bit different. It was finally retired a few years ago, but I couldn’t bear to put it in the bin so it went into the box of retired clothes that lives under the bed.
When I started sewing I knew I wanted to make a dress like it, but it’s taken a long time to find suitable fabric. A knit wouldn’t have the right effect, but very stretchy wovens are hard to come by. The one I used turned up in Stone Fabrics‘ swatch club a few months ago. It’s perfect. I wish I’d bought more of it now!
Here is the Oasis dress for comparison.
Now I look at it again, it’s not really very like Vogue 8633. The Oasis dress has princess seams, cap sleeves, and is unlined. The Vogue has darts and no sleeves. But I have copied the zip in the skirt.
I’m so pleased to have my favourite dress back. Hopefully I’ll have some better pictures of it next time!
Catherine Daze's Blog 
Your ‘little black dress’ looks wonderful – very elegant and chic and exactly right for wearing just about anywhere. Congratulations on recreating your ‘favourite dress’!
I love it. So cool to be able to replicate our favorite things. 🙂
Lovely! Well done for making an elegant and a graceful homage to your favourite dress.
It looks wonderful so far! I’m a big fan of the Stone Fabrics Cloth Club – I’ve bought several different pieces of fabric there, recently. As you say, when you’re looking for that something just right their swatches are a big help.
It looks great on the form and I can’t wait to see it on you. It’s great to have a dress that you can put on any time and feel great in.
Looks like a great dress, and I love the zipper idea.
It looks great on your dummy. Please post some more picture when you can.
Finding one of those perfect garments that you wear to death is a rare and wonderful thing isn’t it. Great that you have been able to recreate the Oasis dress. It is looking pretty fab on the dress form.
I had to smile. I have a box of favorite retired clothes too. Ones that I love so much, but they are getting too shabby to wear. Ones that I plan to duplicate someday, when I find the right fabric and have the time. A sleeveless black dress is so versatile. It sure looks good on the dress form.