The No Bad News Dress draws from a combination of Larry Krone’s enduring inspirations for design and art: country music, traditional American home crafts, love as expressed through obsessive hand-workmanship, and Tony Walton’s astounding, uber-embellished dress for Evillene, the wicked witch in 1978’s film “The Wiz”. The dress gets its name from Evillene's signature song, "Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News," and it incorporates two of Todd Oldham’s sublimation prints from the 1990’s—a photographic print of multicolored flowers and the other a collage of wood panels—alongside various scraps of cotton t-shirts, many with feminist slogans and some depicting country and rock artists. These reclaimed fabrics are patched together to form a loose, trapeze silhouette that will flatter a broad range of body types.* All the seams are finished with an eternity’s worth of hand-embroidery as are the hem, armholes, and modest V-neck.

The statement collar is made from two vintage Todd Oldham samples: raw silk pieces that have been one hundred percent encrusted with crystal rhinestones, glass and plastic beads, and anodized aluminum bouillon, crafted in India by Todd Oldham’s longtime collaborators, Lalit Ghera’s Mystic Beading. These two pieces were originally parts of the contoured bodice for Todd’s famous “bracelet dress”. When Larry joined the 2 pieces, he filled in some of the gaps in beadwork with some of his own glass “LK” beads as well as salvaged beads from Todd’s other collections.

*Extra bonus: the No Bad News Dress comes with two removable, snap-in modesty panels for the armholes, made with the same care and hand worked detail as the rest of the dress. Traditionally, House of Larréon frowns on brassieres, but these panels are for those of you who insist on wearing one or may be shy about showing some side-boob. We respect you!

This one-of-a-kind dress took over 50 hours to complete; joining and beading, replacing stones and sequins on the collar, hand embroidery over 20+ lengthwise seams, neckline, hem, and armholes.

Would you like to know more about this garment? Perhaps you have a question about its sizing, potential fit on your body, the history of its materials, or more information about Larry Krone and his process and techniques in making it. Please do not hesitate to contact us at staff@toddoldhammakershop.com, and we will be happy to answer your query as quickly as we can!