the secret to making a "one size" dress that fits sizes 2-8

Before I begin, this isn’t a Brandy Melville “one size fits all” situation.

Let me give you some context.

When I first moved to LA in May of 2022, I worked with the co-founders of a brand called “Styleguise” for a few months. Initially, they hired me to do social media for their brand, but they ended up closing the company and one of the co-founders hired me as a stylist assistant for a while. They knew I was a sustainable designer, so when they were getting rid of their inventory and fabrics, they basically gave me everything.

To this day, I’m still using some of the fabric they gave me - 3 years later. You might recognize some of these from my current or past collections.

Amidst the samples they gave me were these beautiful satin trousers. If you know me, you know I’m a sucker for anything satin - so these caught my attention instantly. Most of the samples were unusable because the stitching was off or the length of the pant legs was uneven.

I’m not much of an up-cycler because I like more minimal, clean designs and I find that upcycling feels more maximalist BUT I knew this fabric could be something more.

I took apart a pair of pants, basically separating it out into all four separate leg pieces. Since the front of the pants had a pleating detail, I left those out and only used the plain black pieces to start sewing.

I decided to just make a big piece of fabric and then drape it into something after. When using lighter fabrics like this, I like to use French seams for a clean finish but I accidentally started with right sides together instead of wrong sides together so my seam ended up on the outside. I kind of liked the look of it though, so I stuck with it.

Once I put about three pant legs together, I took it to my mannequin and started to play with different shapes. If you know me, you know I love anything draped on bias, so that was my immediate thought.

And of course, draping on bias never disappoints.

Essentially, I wrapped the fabric all around the mannequin until it met at a diagonal on the side back. I pinned it, cut it down to create clean lines, and eventually took it back to the sewing machine to get it stitched down.

I tried it on myself and was immediately obsessed with how this draped on my body.

That being said, I finished it off with a couple of straps that tie together, creating a nice asymmetrical back.

I debuted it at my New York Fashion Week show in September of 2022 and officially put it up on my website later in 2023.

Because I have a set amount of trouser samples, I could only make a few of these dresses. Honestly, they’ve been sitting in my pile of inventory for a while because I hadn’t been making much of an effort to market anything in my shop since I focused on custom orders for a while - BUT I recently launched a rack of my clothes at a new retailer called ATLAS at the Century City Mall and I brought some of those dresses over there.

My friend, Christine, came with me to the mall one day to help me film content at the store and she ended up trying on all of my pieces there. Truthfully, I don’t tend to have inventory made because I’m mainly a made-to-order brand, so seeing a friend of mine play dress up with my clothes was so much fun.

Christine is 5 ft 7 and a standard size 8 in most brands - I told her she should go ahead and try on the slip dress anyway because I had a feeling it would work for her.

She was skeptical because it’s one size only and fits me, a 5 ft 3 size 2 gal - however, she put it on and I think we were both gagged.

Firstly, I have to say, Christine is so incredibly stunning and I am obsessed with her, so naturally, she’s going to look absolutely immaculate in anything she tried on. That being said, I don’t think either one of us was ready for how amazing she looked in this.

She loved it so much she actually ended up purchasing it right then and there.

This dress has been a staple in my closet since I made it. I’ve worn it to so many events, constantly get complimented on it, but I know everyone is skeptical of the sizing so they’re more hesitant on purchasing it.

Here’s your proof that it works for a size 2 body and a size 8 body and looks absolutely scrumptious on both (if I do say so myself).

It’s available to shop here <3

xoxo, Natalia