Coat? Dress? Coatdress?

So. Katryn has decided that instead of a skirt, she wants a dress. I am interested in working on something from her, because she has a really different body type from me, and I think it will be a great challenge to design something for someone else. But, it will also be hard. She likes this coat. She likes this coat as a dress. I am not sure if I can see it. The thing is, it will have to be in a relatively stiff fabric. She wants to wear it for an event in May, so it can't be wool. Most stiffer fabrics that are not wool are upholstery fabrics. Katryn picked out a bunch of toiles and big florals as potential patterns, and to me those are way too couch-like. Although I am tempted to go with this monkey one.

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to do it.... I will need to start out by draping a mannequin with a similar design, and then fit the muslin on Katryn. At that point maybe we will get an idea of how flattering the design will even be. Maybe that will also help us in envisioning which patterns will work best. If we can tweak the design so that it has a placket, and no buttons, and if we can find a good pattern, I think it could be neat.

Or, she may just end up looking like a flasher.