One more thing...

Another thing I had forgotten to mention. My blog is now public. Before it was private, but towards the end of the project, since it wasn't violating anyone else's privacy, I decided to make it public since it was much easier than adding all of my evaluators. Enjoy everyone!

The finished product

Sorry this is so late! During my presentation, I realized that I had left my shirt at home after trying it out. It's a pity I could only show you one of the pieces that I had completed. Here is the other one...

Last Post

This is my last post, and farewell. I've decided that I won't give you any updates now until my presentation. There's one more dress to be completed, so you'll just have to wait and see! It'll be a surprise!

Library Book 4

Fashion: Color, Line, and Design
by Susan Geringer
Third Edition

This book has SOOOO much info!! I have been using all of these library books since I got them, but mainly looking for specific things, and not just flipping through idly. I won't be able to take notes on this one like I did on the other ones, because otherwise I will be writing all night long. To give you an idea of the breadth of information that this book covers, I'm going to try to summarize
1. Color
a) Psychology of color and symbolism- how color makes people feel, and traditional colors (white for a western wedding)
in order of preference from liked to less liked, colors are ranked as such: blue, red, green, violet, orange, and yellow
People usually like light more than dark colors, and primaries (red, yellow, blue used to mix all other colors) and pure colors more than intermediates (combination of colors) and grayed ones
introverts like neutral, extroverts like bright, neutral considered more sophisticated
hot climates, cool colors, cool climates, warm colors
Color gives messages and causes reactions- increase heart rate w/ red, decrease w/ blue
favorite colors show personality (my favorite is orange/yellow- orange is exciting and glowing, yellow, most luminous, is cheerful, creative, intellectual, but also least liked because think of sickness and cowardice)
bright colors, good mood, dark colors, bad mood
color/patterns must be used either traditionally, or very unorthodox

Chapter 2- Clothing Details
gives an overview of standard shapes and cuts in clothing (A-line skirt, camisole, dress shirt, draped, blazer, bomber jacket, mandarin, nehru jacket, sweetheart neckline, kimono sleeve etc) and construction detailing (beading, bias, braids, buttons, cording, darts, embroidery, facing, fringe, frogs, hem,  piping...) It goes on for a while, and is very dated (grossly dated... sometimes it makes you cringe. Seriously, a safari jacket?? Pedal pushers?????), and is pretty much vocab, and lists pretty much everything they can think of, so we shall skip this part, though some of the names are funny, like peplum" (pretty much a tunic and a pencil skirt as a suit), however the names are the same as in Library book 2, so that's reassuring!

Chapter 3- Design Lines
Pretty much how to draw... Did you know an S shaped line is called an Ogee? They also talk about angles, silhouettes (tubular, hourglass, bell, etc), proportion, balance, emphasis, rhythm (repetition in pattern, color, trimming, etc), harmony (unity of the look)

Chapter 4- Fashion Drawing
Basic figure drawing, proportion of human body, and the balance line (your spine), drawing clothing around curves, draped cloth, making it how the customer wants it, body size and figure, and color and texture... I think I got this part down

FINALLY
Chapter 5- History of Costume
Pretty much half of the book, and what I was waiting for.
Reasons to wear clothes: Protection, modesty, adornment, status, belonging to a group, sexual attraction (ooh!)
People either like skinny girls, big buts, or big boobs, or a combo (I'm just turning the technical language into straight forward wording, I promise!)
skinny tubular figure was popular when women had power- look like man, popular in ancient Egypt, flappers, WWII, 1980s
Big bust/waist (bell silhouette) when women were weakest (Victorian times, Southern Belles before Civil War, and 1950s poodle skirt)
Supposedly studies by Harris, Uphan, and Co. to show that women's hemlines were directly proportional to the stock market (also mentioned in Lib book 2)
in the 20th century, fashion inspired/influenced by celebrities and films

Egyptians (2800 BC-300 BC)
sun inspired- rays of the sun in pleating/jewelery
body=soul's temple- well kept- sheer, form fitting clothes showed off body, removed body hair, wore wigs, heavy make-up around eyes (mirrors to the soul)
black kohl around eyes also protected from sun
Men wore shenti around waist- triangle shaped like pyramid
women wore transparent linen gowns, or kalasiris, with pleating and collar

Cretans 2500 BC-1100 BC
vain/proud of bodies, small waists, sew own garments so they were original
considered best dressed women in history
small waists due to soldering belts on children at age six for hourglass figure
chiton- two rectangular cloths attached at shoulder, laced at waist
puffed cap sleeve, bolero jacket, and other styles adopted from neighbors

Greeks influenced by Cretans, esp w/ chiton
himation was outergarment- intricately wrapped, social status implied by draping and control of wearer

Middle Ages- we all know how that looked
However, crusades brought eastern cultures
**gothic movement caused pointy cone hats to emerge, or hennin (think princess hat)- sometimes so long needed servant to follow w/ pitchfork- law passed- length determined by husband's profession
Chopines- extremely high platform shoes
bliaud- tight boddice, full skirt, and long, full sleeves w/ low waistline- most common 12-13 centuries
Maternity became popular at one point due to belief that they had found the Virgin Mary's tunic- pregnancy pillow to look pregnant
*codpiece- sac at men's groin which were decorated and stuffed with fabric or even coins :P
16th century
farthingale- stiff structure under skirt to make it poof out
vasquines- iron corsets w/ bolts to flatten breasts, stomacher flattened stomach
perfumes to disguise that people didn't bathe
big ruffed collars- needed long utensils to eat
Pumpkin breeches- for men, padded on the butt so that resembled pumpkins
Seventeenth Century
"Sun King" Louis XIV
lower necklines, massive hair, small cap for mourning with deep point on forehead known as widow's peak
Men wore huge pants, so padded they were like skirts, and a thin cravat, or tie
18th Century
justaucorps (think Mozart)
wigs less popular
after French Rev, outlandish fashions- long tails, jacket left open because too tight, double breasted buttons, trousers completely visible (no tunic), ankle length, not at knee
youth mocked formality of the king- wore more wrinkled, careless look
... goes on and on in great detail on how the fashion transformed slowly over time...
19th century
Greek look
Godey's Lady Book as first fashion magazine
Dandies- well groomed me (think Napoleon)
Sports wear created
painful lacing and bodices, considered distasteful for women to eat in public- fainted
hourglass figure became more popular, some removed ribs to become thinner, monobosom- leaned forward
20th century
confining garments abandoned after WWI (example, "hobble skirt")
flapper emerged 1920s
1930s thin, long, formfitting (evening gown)
WWII manly look w/ suit w/ big shoulders- display of wealth was tasteless
skirts shortened
gloves popular
miniskirt
two-piece suits
hippie
warp dress
punk/disco
90s layering and drabness...



By the way, I think that this is a textbook, since it has "projects" to do after every chapter. Should have done those...?

Sew Green 6/7

Today I was going to go to Sew Green for an hour after Carrie's presentation, but her community evaluator never showed, and it ended up running late by HALF AN HOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thus, I was unable to go to Sew Green, since by the time I actually got there, it wouldn't have been enougth time... This sucks, since Sew Green is closed on Thursday, and now I won't be able to sew all week. I guess it's okay though, since I need to finish my bibliography and research commentary, as well as my research, so I guess it's okay. This will give me more time...

Library Book 3

Fashion Designer
By Miriam Moss

This book looks at the career and life of a Fashion Designer. It's dated, but a mine of info!!!!

The first chapter talks about how some designers create expensive, extravagant haute couture clothing, and others create ready-to-wear "designer label" clothes using fine materials and taste, and lastly, there are mass market ready-to-wear materials made from cheap materials.
Fashion designers have to constantly adapt to the changing styles, and be able to be under the pressure of many deadlines and long hours.
Chapter 2
Most designers go to design school, where they learn technique as well as art. They also choose whether to specialize in women's, men's, or children's clothing, and then what category to specialize in; sportswear, evening wear, lingerie, knitwear... Many have internships, and enter design competitions for exposure in the field, and eventually jobs.
Many start out as assistants
There are three ways of working as a designer: Free-lance (sell to stores, fashion houses, manufacturers, and are labeled by the companies that buy the clothes), work in-house (designers are employed full time by company), and lastly, designers can choose to start their own company. Some designers don't even have formal training, some do, some are lucky, and some never break out.
Some designers used to be architects... Paco Rabanne "It is very important to have access to other ways of creating because all creation is the same gesture. If you can design a dress, you can design a piece of furniture. You have a feel for technique." This is like my thoughts for learning to make clothes! I know how to paint, now why not try clothing?
Chapter 4
Betty Jackson- "Sometimes you rack your brains for the muse to strike and she doesn't and you get in a panic thinking you'll never think of anything again." I really like this quote, since after Judy said at Carrie's presentation that you must force yourself to create everyday, and you can't wait for the muse, it made me feel guilty. I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets blocks in thought!
Designers don't just sit around and sketch all day. They usually have to meet deadlines, budgets, cope with stress, and work long hours.
Since designers work for seasons, they have to start a season about a year in advance
Each collection has a theme for inspiration
A team: Fashion designer designs shape/style, knitwear picks color combos and patterns, fabric designer designs fabric for fashion designer, assistants, sample makers, pattern makers
Sketch or drape to work out design, or use old patterns
Think about market, season, and cost
Paper pattern, then MUSLIN- muslin copy called toile (Autumn calls it a sloper), then cardboard copy
Inspiration/FUSION
French designer Jean Louis Scherrer inspired by trip to Rajasthan, India- pant suits, turbans, silks
Brit jewelery designer Dinny Hall inspired by classic domes/spirals
Jean-Paul Gaultier inspired by skeleton
JEAN-PAUL GAULTIER

 



















Isaac Mizrahi inspired by Matisse
Irina Burmistrova uses black plastic, gray foam, garbage bags, cable...
LOOK UP ROMEO GIGLI

Chapter Four
Fashion show- buyers come from all over to view completed collections- buyers, rich, and magazines
In Paris, lasts ten days, with over 40 shows, anywhere from the Louvre to the banks of the Seine
Jean-Paul Gaultier used an abandoned bomb shelter
SEARCH AZZEDINE ALAIA

 YOHJI YAMAMOTO

Major Events

fabric exhibition @ Interstoff Clothing Textiles Trade Fair in April and October- new colors predicted two years in advance

Italy (Milan)- clothing is a large industry, purpose to make sleek designs (Georgio Armani, Versace, Benneton)

London- young, innovative fashion, resist conformity, no barriers

*** One of my favorite London brands is All Saint's*** very edgy- you'll have to see the store, 'cause I couldn't find any good pics online

New York City- led by multimillionaires (Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Christian Lacroix, Oscar de la Renta***)

***LOVE Oscar de la Renta!!! One of my first magazine clippings (see wedding dress post) was a dress by him- see images below

Paris- ship samples to New York for Americans- showcase streets are Fifth Avenue (NY), Bond Street (London), Boulevard Saint Germain (Paris)

Funding

financial backing is difficult- as expand, need more money for materials

international- i.e. French designer financed by Japanese, and manufactures in Italy

several price levels so affordable- same look, different fabric, less extravagant cut

Clarification on Sections

It's easiest to read this blog in sections if you wish to separate the research from the reflections and the sketches from writing, however, as a pdf, this is impossible. I'm still pondering on how to separate it. Anyway, I wish to clarify on the sections and simplify them, so that when you are reading this and looking for certain aspects, you can see where everything is.

Research is categorized as follows:

• Research
• Learning
• Notes
• Inspiration

Hands-on work is under the following:

• Sewing
• Sketchbook
• Flat Sketches
• Learning

In Class and Mentor Meetings have their own separate sections
Planning is usually under Planning, but is sometimes under Research and the sketching sections as well

Fabric Paint

Curious about what the fabric painting book said, I decided to search how oils were different from fabric paint. I found the link below.
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4612055_fabric-paint-differ-oil-paint.html

It seems as though oils will be stiffer, and dry slower. They also crack if they are too thick. However, they are also very permanent.

Library Book 2

Fashion 101: A Crash Course in Clothing
By Erika Stalder

This is pretty much an illustrated encyclopedia of different types of classic garments. Everthing from the little black dress, to cargo pants is included in this book. I flipped through here, and got many ideas of how to do fusion, and who created these designs. The garments are divided by type (dress, shoes, pants, jewelery etc), illustrated, and then have blurbs titled: "What they look like," "Who made them," "Who made them hot," and "How to Rock Them."

I learned a lot about the names of these classic cuts, and could thus explain my ideas more clearly. For example, for my cowl dress, I wanted an A-Line skirt, which was first showed in public by Christian Dior in 1955, and was made popular by the fashionable London girls in the 1960s.

The book also contains small blurbs on certain periods and revolutions of fashion. For example, "The Shake of Youthquake," which talks about the 1960s fashion revolution in coralation to the women's liberation movement, civil rights, and protest on the Vietnam war. Instead of following the adult's fashion trends, the youth started their own lines, and created the mini-skirt.
Speaking of the Miniskirt
It was designed by Mary Quant and Andre Courreges separately (much like Newton and Leibnitz arguement over calculus, except less argued)
Made popular by British stars

I focused mainly on dresses, since they were the most fun for me to look at.

Some of my favorites:

Bubble Dress
Created in 1957 by Pierre Cardin
Worn by many stars, including Jessica Alba
Should be made of material that holds its shape

Cheongsam (after which my shirt is inspired)
Traditional Chinese dress made from brocade
First worn by Chines men in a loose-fitting version
Westerners adopted the style for women and made it tight-fitting in the 1950s
Calendar girls of the 1930s first introduced the dress to Westerners

Little Black Dress

Coco Chanel coined the term in 1926

Meant to be adaptable to flatter any body

Black previously meant for mourning- cuased an uproar, but became popular easy coctail dress

First commonly seen on Betty Boop. Most famous one is seen in Breakfast at Tiffany's

This book is so interesting, I would love to write a summary of the whole thing, leaving out no detail for you all, since history is something that truly fascinates me, however, I will now end with the blurb "Defining Dresses of the Decades," which had a chart stating which style and body type was popular during which time period

1950s- shirt style, hourglass figure

1960s- shift style, all body types

1970s- wrap style, curvy figure

1980s- pouf style, slender figure

1990s- slip style, waif figure

This book dates itself- it doesn't have the 2000s, but I would say mini style and thin and tall figure for today's dress code

Wait!!! There's also a page on necklines! there's the boat, cowl, crew, keyhole/cutout, mock, plunging, scoop, slit, square, sweetheart, V, butterfly, convertible, Peter Pan, and mandarin

Sleeves: Cap sleeve (I used this on my shirt!), doble cuff, french cuff, kimono sleeve, knit cuff, puff sleeve (on the design for the nest dress), single cuff, and three-quarter sleeve.

In short, a recommended read!

Library Book 1

How to Paint on Fabric: Freehand, Tracing, Stamping, and Stencil Methods for Beginner and Advanced Craftsman
By Marge Wing with N. Mahr, L. Young and G.G. Grimshaw

This book was attrociously old-fashioned. The pictures were really granny-like, and the paintings on the fabric were tacky. However, what I wanted was not how to paint, but how to apply paint to fabric. In this book, instead of using special fabric paints or acrylics (note, this book was written when drying machines were not commonly enough used to be mentioned in the book, and synthetic fabrics were considered new), the book uses oil paint, which is prefect, since that is the medium I work with best. It suggests that one puts a layer of cardboard, to pin the fabric to, and then paper to prevent the paint from seeping through. This is probably the most important information in the entire book. It also says to use enamel, and that without enamel, the oil paint is not permanant, however, a quick wiki search showed that enamel and oil paints together can be substituted with acrylics, which might be easier, since this way it's a one-step process. It also says to use "mineral spirits" as a paint thinner. If using oils, this is the equivalent of turpentine. If using acrylics, one can just use water.

Favorite Designers

DUDE!!!!
I just noticed, and I am severely lacking in photographs compared to how I started, and I haven't posted ANYTHING about my inspirations! Perhaps that should be saved for the presentation...? Nah!

1. Alexander McQueen
2. Oscar de la Renta
3. At Sew Green yesterday, we were working with tulle to make fairy tiaras (see Sew Green 6/2) and there was this show that had dresses made of tulle that were SOOOO COOL!!!! They were from www.style.com and the designer was Victor and Rolfe for Spring 2010. Check it out! This is deemed as "ready to wear." Like anyone would wear this on the street!!!
http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/S2010RTW-VIKROLF 
(by the way, the reason why I didn't put pics up for this website was because blogger doesn't let you do copy and paste, and the pictures were not entered as separate .jpg sites

Sew Green 6/2

Today we made tiaras for the Ithaca Festival to fund raise for Sew-Green. We took a metal band, and then tied tulle around it, with flowers and ribbons. It was a lot of fun, and I ended up doing it for the whole time I was there. It was nice to take a break from sewing and give back to Sew-Green.