The very day that I wrote my May 23 Thrift-Shop Thursday post, which included a section on color-blocking with fabric remnants, guess what arrived in the mail? My Women’s Wear Daily, featuring a color-blocked gown from Christian Dior’s newest Resort 2014 collection! Here it is:

Christian Dior color-blocked dress. I love the mix of fabrics, as well as the use of color. Personally, I’d line that lace panel, though. I’m just saying. (Photo courtesy of Style.com; click on the photo to see this dress in the Resort 2014 collection slideshow.)

This dress perfectly illustrates my suggestion of mixing textures as well as colors, when planning a color-blocked garment. (Although the silhouette is different in Butterick 5852, one of the dress patterns I showed in the last TST post, it’s remarkably similar to this Dior dress, in the way color-blocking is used vertically.) And how fun would it be to create your own original version of this breathtaking designer dress— especially if you could do it with fabric scraps and remnants?

Click here to see the slideshow of the entire Christian Dior Resort 2014 collection, in which you’ll find many examples of artistic color-blocking, from a simple contrast-color waistband on a pair of pants to structured daytime dresses. I hope this inspires you as much as it does me!