maxi-mizing summer.

So I'm a little bit enamored of maxi dresses right now. Some lovely vintage versions from etsy:

Modcloth just sent out a "How Low Can You GO" email touting maxi-skirts & dresses too.  Maxi's are hot.

Shannon & I have been talking about a maxi-dress sewalong (anyone?  anyone?)  

I remember distinctly the first time I saw a maxi in public (this time around; we'll talk about the 70s in a minute).  It was 2004 and I was at an airport, flying from Washington DC to Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Bet you didn't realize maxi's had had quite that long a shelf life, huh?  They had just been featured heavily in the fashion magazines, on a few celebrities, and were very much one of those trends I thought would never catch on, least of all with me.

Well.  Bit by bit, year by year my resistance has chipped away until now I seriously want one.  I'm especially enamored of the 70s prairie versions.  That may have something to do with this one:

That's my sister Desiree on the right, me on the left, and we're all spiffed up for some formal school function for my sister.  I remember thinking her dress was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.  I couldn't WAIT to be big enough to wear it.  I want to say my mother made it, but I can't remember for sure.  My mom made a lot of our clothes back then.  (Maybe she'll read this and chime in in the comments.  Hi mom!)

What's funny is I can't remember my dress at all. But I remember my sister's!  The tiny floral print, the pretty lace trim, the big ruffle at the hem.  Sigh.  It was like Renaissance princess meets 70s boho.

I remember girls wearing maxi's like my sister's in the mid-70s.  We lived in St. Louis until I was 6 and then we moved to Oklahoma; most of my 70s-era memories of people are from St. Louis.  You could see a LOT of culture on a public school bus, both on the bus and outside the window.  (My mother probably would have been mortified.) The dresses though...sweeping hems, florals big and small, long flowing hair, and flower chains everywhere.  Cat Stevens.  (heh.)


So after 25 years (oh ok, 30. Er, 33.) I'm ready to finally get my maxi!  I've been looking for a vintage pattern, although Burda Style has had several versions the past couple of years.  Anyone have a favorite?  My main requirements are...

**Some sort of shaping at the waist (lest I look like a walking tent).

**A biggish ruffle at the hem (this is just me.  I still want that swishy ruffle at my feet.  yes, I'm still 7.)

That's it. I don't ask for much.  Some vintage patterns I like...

These 2 are my faves:

Any of these are do-able.  Unfortunately not a single one is close to my size, so I'm still on the hunt.

What say you?  Maxi sewalong anyone?