I am obsessed with this dress, have been for years, I will never afford it - please help me find something like it I can...

[user23124]

https://pauw.com/en/products/a-lijn-jurk-11201301199a700
I have been obsessed with this dress since I saw a woman in the navy version at an event years ago. I accept I will never have the ££ for it. Is there anything I can do to get a dress like this but under £250?

You are all so talented at finding things! Thanks for any help :)

Have you considered having it made? It looks like a simple design.

It doesn't fit the model at all well on her chest, does it?

I agree that you could quite easily have it made.

Does it look simple? I have no clue about these things. It was a really thick stiff silk and looked amazing on.
How would I go about finding a dressmaker and or fabric? Sorry to be an idiot!

It looks as though it's made of a polyester satin (15% silk, 85% polyester) and is A-line in shape.

It looks as though it's made of 4 pieces plus the sleeves - a front, a back, and two side pieces with the majority of the shaping done with two seams on the front and the back of the dress. If I am honest I think the seams are having to work too hard and it looks like they're struggling - it would be better with more darts.

I wonder whether you could find an a-line satin long sleeve dress and then deal with the bow/sash once you had obtained the dress? If it were a longer dress than you needed you could potentially sort the bow from shortening the dress.

Otherwise I agree that I would look at getting it made, though I think £250 might be pushing it including materials, though TBF polyester satin isn't too expensive, though it looks fairly heavyweight.

Jasper Conran has a similar-ish one on sale here

This Ouku one is also similar-ish. More fitted, and you'd have to make your own Obi belt to tie around the waist but that would be easy.

It is beautiful but £895 ?! It must be all silk for thar but wondering how the bow remains stiff.

That one looks much better. The one the OP likes is too stiff and shiny.

Keep your eye on second hand?

https://www.vestiairecollective.com/women-clothing/dresses/pauw/#categoryParent=Clothing%232_brand=Pauw%234304_category=2%20%3E%20Dresses%2315_gender=Women%231

It's not, it's 85% polyester.

Bugger that then 😕

I like the stiffness of the fabric - it looked amazing on!

I would see if you can try it on yourself in person and then approach a dressmaker.

Shein lets you upload images and finds you similar dresses

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-celebrities-attend-jerry-hall-and-rupert-murdochs-wedding-in-st-brides-101788189.html?imageid=F2DF6336-E149-43EF-82BE-FBCF5DC64672&p=215289&pn=1&searchId=b2cd8c4c924041d290c0c394cb54985a&searchtype=0

I loved this one first - but it is even more expensive and was only available for one season 😂

Sorry that is a crap photo

The stiffness is definitely key to how architectural the dress looks. I am not sure if it would just be the weight of the fabric itself that means it is that stiff or if it would also need to have been starched or similar.

https://www.croftmill.co.uk/stretch-duchess-satin-black?tab=reviews

This looks like it would be the right sort of weight of fabric. Some stretch might be advantageous in terms of making the dress more wearable but I don't know if it would make the fabric less structural. It would certainly require the purchase of various samples I think to find something right.

I don't think it would be cheap to get a dressmaker to make it. They would have to make a pattern first of all which is pretty time consuming and would add a lot to the cost. Might be worth asking but don't expect it to be cheap from someone professional.

Edit to say I've approached a dressmaker before and the cost was a lot more than I was expecting.

Have you had a look on Vinted?

This one is lovely and so many great colours. I wonder if you could get a more structured look with an underskirt beneath one of these.

I've been thinking too, and I wonder if it's got an interlining in it, which I imagine would add significantly to the cost. I just can't imagine you could get that level of stiffness from even something like taffeta alone?

Where do you live OP you could easily find heavy, stiff, ALL silk, black fabric in London. I expect it would cost you £200-300 in fabric. You would need some lining for the dress and some interlining for the sash. Possibly some horse hair for the hem and a zipper. All that would be another £60-90.

A seamstress would probably charge about £200 to sew it.

So unless you want polyester and to sew it yourself, it wouldn’t be cheap.

@Sibilantseamstress thanks for this - yes this was my thoughts - it won't be any cheaper

I have had an ebay search for years and none have turned up - I had not seen vestaire before - I'll have a look

Have you tried putting the photo in Google lens ? Tyen adding ' shopping'

Are you in NL? If so, check the consignment stores in The Hague, Leiden and Wassenaar. Potentially Amsterdam Zuid, Hilversum and Haarlem. There tends to be loads of Pauw available secondhand, especially party wear and they don't seem to retain much of their original value.