PRODUCTION OF DINNER GOWN USING SHIFFON AND LACE FABRIC

INTRODUCTION
A dinner gown is a long flowing women’s dress or gown usually worn to a formal affair. It ranges from tea and ballerina to full-length. Evening gowns are usually made of luxurious fabrics such as chiffon, velvet, satin, organza, etc. Silk is a popular fibre for many evening gowns. Although the terms are used interchangeably, ball gowns and evening gowns differ in that a ball gown will always have a full skirt and a fitted bodice; in contrast, an evening gown can be any silhouette—sheath, mermaid, A-line or trumpet shaped—and may have an empire or dropped waist.
Evening wear, sometimes also known as court dress based on its creation at royal courts, for women has its origins in the 15th century with the rise of the Burgundian court and its fashionable and fashion-conscious ruler Philip the Good. Wool, in various weaves, was the most dominant fabric for dresses, and the ladies of the court often simply added a train to their kirtle for formal occasions. Rich fabrics and fibres were usually the domain of the nobility, and clothing was still used as an identifier of social rank and status. The dawn of the Renaissance slowly changed the rigid social rank system, and allowed wealthy Patricians and merchants to visibly display their success. The art of weaving silk was firmly established in the Mediterranean around 1400, and as a result, silk weaves became fashionable for those who could afford them. Dresses for court balls and similar festivities were often made of intricately woven silk and trimmed with expensive furs to highlight the wearer’s social status.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Fashion is essentially the most popular mode of expression. It describes the ever changing style of clothes worn by those within cultural status, a pieces of fabrics or clothes of fabric or cloth becomes fashionable through the use of hands and other devices by the fashion designers who give it the element of style, creating trend in the world of fashion.
A fashion trend occurs when others mimic this clothing styles. Today a fashion trend starts with fashion designers who design a spring and fall collection based on cues and inspiration they have gathered throughout the season.
It is important to take note of what we put on and how we merge the fabrics and colour together. Chiffon can be merge with lace fabric for the producing a dinner gown.
This research work is to examine the relevant of chiffon and lace fabric and to bridge the gap between the Western and African style and also to enlighten the designers that lace is not only used as traditional attire. (Wikipedea, the free Encylopeadia: Evening gown Jane 2013).
A dinner gown is a long flowing dress or gown usually worn by women to dinner parties. In 1870’s dinner gowns in vogue were made of Luxurious fabrics such as chiffon, velvet, satin, organza, silk and lace etc. since the economy of nation reflect in fashion trends the researcher have decided to use the chiffon and lace fabric as a medium of producing an affordable dinner gown.