New Blog Post! The Margot Robbie Vivienne Westwood Gown - Get the Look

If you've been paying attention to the latest red carpet looks showing up on the cast of the new Barbie Movie worldwide premiers, then you're more plugged in than I am. I live under a rock in a cozy nest made of patterns and only hear about glorious fashion moments when a friend is kind enough to unearth me from my hole and show me pretty things.

Today, I was introduced to the show-stopping Vivienne Westwood evening gown worn by Margot Robbie to the London premiere of the film that she both stared in, and produced! I would REALLY love to show you a photo here of that glorious gown, but unfortunately, I do not have Miss Robie's consent to use her image and that is something that copyright law and I are in definite agreement on. Be sure to click on the link above so that you can admire this marvelous gown properly.

My rubbish sketch of the gown hastily done while drooling over Vogue and GQs websites will have to do for the moment to illustrate the point.

The design was inspired by the “Enchanted Evening” Barbie, first sold by Mattel from 1960-1963 and later reproduced for rerelease in 1995, which was actually when I was still playing with Barbies. (Yes, my Mama DID make sure that I had the Barbie Pink '57 Chevy Convertible for her to drive around in. Dang, I still wish I had that!)

Enchanted Evening Barbie 1960 Fashion and Doll Reproduction

According to Vogue, "Imitating the doll’s glamorous evening wear, Robbie wore a Vivienne Westwood Couture draped corseted dress in blush-pink satin, which came complete with side while tulle train and fuzzy white stole. To accessorize it, Robbie chose matte ivory opera gloves, and finished off the ensemble with a crystal rosette at the waist." You can see a few behind-the-scenes photos of the dress being made at Westoods Aterlier, including the beautiful original Westwood sketch of the gown, here.

So to get this look, how might one go about sewing their own Enchanted Evening ensemble?

You could start with a rough draft of Depew #5712 using the skirt, skirt drape, and even the bodice, depending on how close you want to get to the boned corset bodice in Vivienne Westwood's creation. You could leave off the shoulder drape and either adapt the bodice on 5712 with an array of bones stitched inside, or drape/ draft your own corset bodice.

Another option for a more structured bodice would be to alter the corset bodice from Pattern No. 2048 and drape an upper section over it to match the Westwood neckline more closely.

But what about her marvelous accessories?

To replicate the effect of the original Barbie's white fur wrap, Robie instead kindly chose to wear a beautiful, frothy confection that appears to be made of layers of animal-friendly ruched tulle. Left unlined, of course, such an accessory might be quite itchy but if one started with a 1950s capelet wrap pattern as a base layer, and then arranged lengths of already-ruched tulle, organza, or other fabric over it, it would be much more comfortable.

McCall's 1161 includes a solid capelet to work with, or with the budget in mind, Depew #3041 has the perfect shape already in Version 1 at left, which could be made from faux fur, velvet, satin, tulle, or other.

And that just leaves the opera gloves. One can make their gloves but they can also simply be purchased to save time. Depew #1016 makes a great basic pair of gloves that can be cut to two lengths, or lengthened. However, this pattern from Shakti Patterns on Etsy looks like it would be much faster and easier than the one we currently offer here.

How about you? Are you considering Barbiecore, as it is now being called, a viable fashion trend? Or do you think it will last about as long as a movie stays in theaters?

Personally, I can't pull off pink but I think that we could all welcome a little more of Barbie's glamor and chic into our lives...

Barbie London Premiere: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and More Stun (YouTube)