Clicky Clicky Fun Fun Fun

New site addiction alert!  I really must be kept away from Style Shake.  The concept perfectly appeals to those 13 year old yearnings inside me for Cher’s computerised wardrobe in the film Clueless and also the 5 year old love of paper dolls and outfits (made them myself as I thought the pre-cut ones were cheating…). 

However, the premise behind Style Shake is not really childsplay.  Through the powers of a few clicks, you get to create your ‘dream dress’ on Style Shake’s design tool.  Like I said before, the tides are turning on ‘fast fashion’ and we’re (gladyly I hope…) seeing a return to bespoke clothes.  Not everyone is going to have a seamstress/tailor (or in my case…Mum!) to back up our wild dress ideas.  So now we delve into the addictive part of the site that I have unknowingly spent an hour clicking away at…

You first choose a fabric.  They have a selection of cottons and silks in various colours which are supposed to change regularly.  If you choose a cotton fabric, you can’t have different parts of the dress in silk so it’s a one material-based dress.

Then you choose an Upper Bodice shape.  This will determine the availability of sleeves and waists in the later stages.  Necklines are pretty varied too…

Then you get the sleeves.  You may not get any if you have chosen the sleeved upper bodice shapes.  Waist is again something that you may or may not get.

Finally, the lower bodice completes the overall shape of the dress.  If you have chosen to have no waist, then you get an empire line shape.  If you have a longer waist, the lower bodice shapes are shorter. 

Depending on your previous choices, you’ll get a selection of collars, belts, necklines and the addition of bows.  At any time, you can change the colours of the dress components. 

Science-esque process over.  As with any ‘click-to-customise’ interface though, obviously choice is going to be a touch limited.  You’re not going to be able to create a wild assymetrical fishtail skirt for example.  However, I’m giving this my vote of confidence because the creative director of Style Shake is none other than designer Romina Karamanea who I have met and couldn’t stop gushing how much of a fan I was of her work (raved about it here…).  I can see that some of the shapes she has developed for Style Shake are very much signature Karamanea and depending on what you choose as you set about clicking at bodices and sleeves, you could end up creating a quite Karamanea-esque piece.

Of course, final question and it’s a bit of a grumble.  What’s this all going to cost?  Price start from ¬£160 depending on fabric choices which will seem steep at first.  But then I look at dresses going for ¬£120-¬£150 in places like Topshop, Karen Millen and River Island…. supposedly these are high street price friendly and when you think about what a bespoke design usually costs, suddenly that ¬£160 can be easily rationalised away. 

I’m not saying that everyone will get a ‘dream dress’ out of this (I’d have to get my mitts on Givenchy’s whole atelier to even come close to producing that elusive dream dress…) but a dress that is that much more special that most?  It’s definitely possible.  With expanded fabric choices, more innovative shapes and customisation options, I can see Style Shake really taking that defunct Topshop Bespoke idea (whatever happened to that….!?) and making it work properly online. 

Or you can just get click-happy and create a whole bunch of dresses online that won’t ever get made….. that’s super fun (check out the gallery..)… *fingers itch to get back onto that site*