This is the back of the dress. The embroidery is from the opening title of one of my absolute favorite movies, "The Man with the Golden Arm". It's based on Nelson Algren's book of the same namesake and is directed by Otto Preminger. It features Frank Sinatra playing Frankie Machine, a heroin addict, card dealer, and drummer. I'm particularly drawn to Saul Bass' opening titles for this movie. There's something so alluring about the sharp contrast between black and white. Bass' opening titles often feature cutout imagery and Golden Arm certainly is no exception. Add to that a wonderful soundtrack by Elmer Bernstein and you've got the bestest movie ever. Perhaps I'm a little biased.
I'd always wanted to do a piece of tribute clothing, yet it took me a while to figure out where the arm could go. Down the front? Mmm... no. That's just wrong. Up from the bottom? Uh, no. It seemed that any place I thought of it just wouldn't look "right". But I finally figured it out and the Dress with the Golden Arm was born.

Fabric: Black cotton twill
Plain white embroidery floss
Velvet pumps by Christian Louboutin

I feel like I could add needle embroidery to the back.