#the writing is fantastic btw AA

[bi-dazai]

dress design for everything you do

if youre seeing this on your dash, this probably wont make much sense. its for a fic im writing called everything you do. i havent posted it yet, i just need to post my reference design post so i dont lose it. ill edit this post to link the fic when i post it.

so i was initially going to look around various couture brands and oscars red carpet looks for a single dress to link, but unfortunately the specifc dress i was thinking of doesnt seem to exist in an actual couture brand physical form. since i wanted to have all the ideas for this dress in a visual reference form to describe and there was literally none, ive had to indulge my inner stylist and design dazai’s dress myself. 

1) firstly, some general style references. dazai probably would have bought this from dior, terani, or jovani since those are the main style and shape references ive pulled, so its designed kinda like it could be believed as a design from one of those brands.

2) i had to take in the way an amab nb person not on HRT would have to hide and embellish certain areas to pass as feminine and to hide dazai’s scars. aspects of this show in these details:

- the choker hides the adam’s apple (and the hanging scars), an idea found in flyby’s fic that i absolutely loved. flyby used a ribbon as a choker, which i thought was super cute but i didnt use 1) because it would be copying and 2) i dont think it would work with the rest of the look

- the hairstyle is still short but curled into 1920s remniscent waves. its basically a more feminine bisexual version of dazai’s canon mess of curls/waves (if he looked after them hed def be a 3a, i assure you), which is already a pretty bisexual cut so that didnt need too much effort

- the dress’ shoulders dont puff up, however are still vaguely angular which works towards a more androgynous upper shape. i liked the colour and open back of charlize theron’s 2019 oscars dress (plus her hairstyle was actually just converted into a curlier form for dazai’s look) but those puffy shoulders...i mean i hated it as a look in general but it especially wouldnt have worked here.

- dazai wears a bra with very thick padding to give him basically aa-b cup breasts. this would have shown through the jovani dress, and in a silk only version still would have shown through. generally if you already have breasts you put clear pasted covers on your nipples for these sheer tops and youre good to go, however since dazai would have been using a bra to essentially fake breasts, a bra would have been obvious through a clear material like silk or tulle. so the satin underlay (which can also create a beautiful effect with the satin being a slightly darker shade of blue)

- as a rule, you really cannot wear flats or low heels with a long formal dress. dazai isn’t particularly tall (some people may be shocked to learn that the height difference between him and chuuya is nowhere near as major as its made out to be), however he’s still going to be elevated above the crowd in heels no matter what. and hes also quite lanky! there are ofc beautiful tall ladies out there and thats literally not an issue, but here dazai wants to be gorgeous but not a beaming light - the mission technically isnt seduce chuuya, it’s a stealth mission. hence 3 3/4 heels.

3) ive split this into several parts. these include the top front, top back, and skirt. usually these will have multiple references in terms of colour and shape.

4) i refer to the satin just as satin throughout this post, but its actually specifically charmeuse satin, specifically just a few shades darker than this:

i also mention silk. i mean specifically very very thin transparent silk called chiffon. something along the colour of this (no photo since the website wont let me steal their photos.

4) why blue? no longer human is blue. thats it.

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so. my research process was this: i looked through various couture runways and oscars red carpet looks from the past few years of fashion from various designer brands like dior, terani, cynthia rowley, judy gao, elie saab, etc. i mainly focused on looks using the colour blue on moderately pale to pale models and celebrities.

the dress i ended up with most resembles terani 1611M0635. notable differences include a slightly different shade of blue, a less sheer top section made of a thin but opaque slightly darker blue satin underlay with lighter blue silk instead of beaded jewels, and a different style of skirt. the “belt” is also darker and satin in my design.

i ended up sketching my design for the entire look on a fashion sketch model i pulled from the internet. my drawing skills are not great so my apologies there. ive also pulled the saturnalia sapphire earrings from rodrigo otazu as well as designed my own simple choker, of dark dark blue velvet laden with pale sapphires the same blue as the saturnalia. head to the link and the third picture is a model wearing the earrings. 

so here’s my sketch design (btw sketch models tend to be elongated for some reason lol). the shoes at the back are seen because i need to show the back, but the actual dress flows over them.

the shape of the top front and the sleeves was taken from the above jovani 1611M0635. the difference is that the colour would be more this, and as i mentioned it would be a satin underlay with silk over the top which would drape into a cape at the back (ill get to that).

charmeuse satin colour:

i modelled the split at the front after the split in this image. i wont give the source because its for a cheap formal dress site which i refuse to promote in any way shape or form - usually if a dress like this is less than $150 its made of cheap material, the stitches are dodgy, and it will be v uncomfy. as you can see the top of this dress is very obviously detailed with cheap and scratchy looking lace. however the way it falls at the bottom is a fantastic reference, hence why i used it.

the shoes i chose are mostly ebiza in black by badgley mischka. the most notable difference is that i added a circlet loop at the ankle (like these) and full support at the back of the heel (like these, but without the detailing). the other difference is that i gave them red underneath. it looks like a weird sandal version of louboutins (if i was a real designer and tried to do this i would be sued to hell and back by louboutin lol), but its meant to be a subtle call to chuuya’s ability. chuuya also wears a touch of blue. both of these are meant to tie each other colour-wise.

the cape at the back descends from the shoulders. the shape is similar to the cape of this oscar de la renta wedding gown on the right. on dazai’s dress its silk and blue.

the back skirt basically looks like this back of the jovani dress ive used, but with the way the red dress’ skirt falls at the bottom as well. it’s made of the satin from the underlay at the top.