Translating the Trends: Cutout Dresses

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Sexy cutouts are all the rage on the catwalk these past few seasons, and there are now more options than ever to bare your toned abs or lateral obliques. Consider these gorgeous numbers from Anna Quan, Dion Lee, Staud and Jonathan Simkhai:

McCall’s has certainly been paying attention to this trend, as it has put out several offerings recently for cutout dresses. First up, McCall’s 8175, a pattern for a dress with side cutouts that resembles the Staud dress above:

M8175 line drawing.PNG

It should be pretty easy to detach the bodice from the skirt portion and add a ring to connect the two pieces, like in the Staud dress.

Next, McCall’s 8152, while not a cutout dress per se, offers a tie-front top and skirt that comes close to the look of the Anna Quan and Dion Lee dresses:

M8152 pattern art - resized.PNG

In terms of fabric selection, for formal versions of the cutout dress, I would stick to silk satin/charmeuse or hammered silk, like this orange silk charmeuse, sunny yellow silk satin or kelly green hammered silk satin:

For more casual day dresses, I would recommend using a rayon crepe like this navy one or a crisp white poplin for an easy, breezy version.

I’m looking forward to making a version of the Staud cutout dress for myself over the next few months. How about you — are you jumping on the cutout dress bandwagon?