I Love Lucy Black & White Polka Dot Dress with Apron

Since today is Lucille Ball’s 100th birthday, here’s a project I had 4 or 5 years ago. I had a client ask for an I Love Lucy costume and she brought me this picture of the Franklin Mint Lucille Ball Vinyl Portrait Doll:

I had a lot of fun building this dress & apron and it is always extra satisfying when a costume ends up looking just like the inspiration picture.

The completed costume on my dressform

The secret to any well executed period look is all about the proper underwear giving the costume the correct silhouette!  Like with Camille’s wedding dress, I again used the ’50s style petticoat from Petticoat Junction – it really completes the authentic fifties look by making the skirt truly A-line.

View of front & back

UPDATE 1/21/12: I have recently found one of my photographs being used (without my permission) on a retail site as their own merchandise.  I do not work for any retail company and have never made any samples of this dress, so I can not promise that you will receive the same quality dress if you order from another company using my picture.

I have replaced the above pictures with watermarked copies (something I had forgotten to do when I originally wrote this post).  This blog post is the original source of this custom-made dress and it was made by me.  If you use my photos elsewhere on the internet, please link back to the source.  Thanks.    ~ Brooke