Linen dresses part I

 OK I know I announced a lot of posts, or at least weekly ones, but of course life/work got in the way. I'm currently enjoying freezing in the streets of NYC for a quick 5 days and then I will be off to Guatemala. I made this dress before the end of 2013, and it is sort of an experiment than could be entitled "what happens when you let your boyfriend design your dress?".First of all, I have to say that he is very interested in women dressing. Like we shop together, for real. He does not wait around the entrance looking like he's trying to escape. He selects clothes on the rack, wait around the dressing rooms, gives his opinion about fit and quality of material, etc. I've never been so much of a group shopper but for some reason it works well and generally if I follow his advice I get a lot of compliments by strangers later... So ok I give in, a guy may have better taste than me to dress me... After doing a closet clean-out due to some weight loss and style evolutions, I talked him into defining a dress he would like to see me in.Overall no big surprises : it's short, it's fitted and in a solid color... Men... He also made the specific requirement that it should be linen (and navy). Which is good because it's the only natural fiber readily available in Haiti (at high cost though).For the pattern I used the made to measure lekala 5166 that I used for my little 90's dress. I altered the pattern to make a sleeveless dress (bring the underarm seam up and in), removed the back seam and its shaping so it's a bit more loose in the waist, raise the neck line and create a placket opening, and finally lengthen it  a little. I'm sticking to my strategy of working based on Lekala patterns, and it has been very rewarding so far!  Construction was fairly simple, I finished the seams with french seams and the front placket unbuttons down to the waist so no need for other closures. I fused the placket pieces and the opening on the dress. Unfortunately I only had white interfacing but it's on the inside so it does not bother me too much. Since I made that dress well over 3 months ago, it got a lot of wear already. Comfortable + flattering + easy to wash = heavy rotation!!  Overall the experiment was a total success so we tried a second time. I already have the pictures of that second (linen... again...) dress and should be able to post it soon! What about you ? Have you ever let someone else decide on all the aspects of a garment you were going to sew for yourself? Is your partner a good source of advice for clothing or does he run away when you say you are looking for constructive criticism ?