White Coat Ceremony Dress

A White Coat Ceremony is an event put on for new medical students as a sort of "pre-induction" into the medical profession. Speeches are heard, the oath of a student physician is administered, and the short white coats worn by medical students are donned while our families look on and applaud.

During the weeks leading up to the ceremony, the one big question going through my mind was "WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR UNDERNEATH TO COMPLIMENT MY WHITE COAT?" It was a perfect opportunity to flex my designer's muscles in an effort to achieve the perfect blend of unique, professional, chic, flattering, along with something that screams "ME!"

I was highly pleased with how the dress I made for the first day of school turned out.  Since the pattern I used had many different options, I figured I'd try out another one for this event. For the last dress, I had used a V-neck and 3/4 length sleeves. This time I thought I'd opt for the mock-turtleneck and cap sleeves. (Note to self: try that cowl-neck for the next dress!)

While going through my fabric supply, I found the perfect one. My school's seal has 2 shades of blue as well as a bright yellow in it. I found a cheerful yellow fabric that I just had to use. Funny thing, it had been sitting in a drawer for 10 years! I purchased it while I was living in Japan and made a pair of very cute trousers. I don't know what happened to those (lost in one of the 10 moves I've done since then, likely), but I had the rest of the fabric!

One problem: there looked like there wouldn't be enough. Ugh.

But with a little spatial creativity, I managed to cut all of the pieces out that I needed. The scraps I had remaining attest to just how close I cut it. And I got quite lucky, considering how weird the cross-hatching stripes would look if I didn't have them in the right direction. 

It was a couple weeks before I finished constructing the dress. Med school is not exactly easy, after all. The afternoon before the ceremony, I had the dress built.

But something was missing -- I needed some extra pizazz. So I put the rest of my to-do list on hold, ran across town to Michaels, and grabbed whatever I thought might add a little flair. After a few different options were tried, I ended up with some asymmetrical detailing including a belt, a ribbon on the shoulder, and a few oversized, fabric-covered buttons. The green conveniently matches both the stripes on the fabric, and my lovely green eyes

Here I am on stage, with one of our professors helping me to put on my white coat. 

And here's the reception afterwards, where I am enjoying the celebration with my dear grandmother Shirley, who flew up to Portland just to see me!

And look -- see what I mean about the yellow matching the color on our school seal? It really does tie it together well if I do say so myself. Very well done, Holly, very well done. 

First Day of School Dress

The date: August 1st, 2012. The place: University of New England in Biddeford, Maine. The occasion: My first day of medical school! Here is the view I had arriving on campus. Follow the arrows to orientation...

I made a dress to wear to the first day of school, which was planned out to meet the dress code for our photos. Using more fabric bought on ridiculous discount at the Joanne's going out of business the year previously, I tried out a new pattern that turned out beautifully!

I ended up being too busy to remember to take photos until I got home -- sweaty and exhausted from a long day and a long campus tour in the summer heat (I'm still baffled as to WHY they scheduled the walking tour for the day they specifically required us to wear professional attire and footwear?).

Exhausted, but satisfied!

Class of 2016!

Moving Day Dress

You know those days when your to-do-list is about 2 miles long and no matter how hard you work you can't seem to check off more than one thing at a time? Well, sometimes when those days roll around I often toss my entire to-do-list out the window and pick up a new sewing project instead!

And thus the "Moving Day Dress" was born.

Back in July I had already been packing for a couple weeks, and I was running out of steam as moving day approached. The day before I hauled all of my stuff up to Maine in a U-Haul I could have cleaned up my room, moved the last few boxes downstairs to be ready for the truck, or done anything to continue getting ready. I could have done any number of things that don't involve sewing. But clearly I HAD to get out my unused fabric and go through all my patterns and pick a gorgeous new ensemble to concoct.

I decided on a striking calico pattern I had grabbed in the last days of my local Joanne's closing sale last year, which I love for summer because it reminds me of Japanese lantern festivals. The pattern I picked was an old out of print pattern I'd bought for a song some untold years ago, and *gasp* have never used! Such a simple, retro style that would clearly flatter me and I haven't once touched it? Shocking.

Within a few short hours I had a gorgeous dress.

But something was missing! It was a great dress that would serve well for many a summer occasion, but it lacked a certain flair. After much brainstorming and perusal of various sources of inspiration online, I decided that my dress needed an oversized, floppy bow.

The first iteration of a proved a resounding failure, and I'm pretty sure I've discarded all photos of that disaster (placement was too high, weight dragged down the silhouette, utterly unflattering). But it gave me one significant eureka moment: the bow must be removable! A waistband and a large snap closure provided the removability, and voila the dress was finished. 

And here I am, showered and exhausted after a long, sweaty day of moving, enjoying my new apartment in my dress made just for the occasion.