Interpreting Architecture in Fashion
This blog post is a companion to my Foundations Revealed 2019 contest entry. The 2019 contest is architecture themed, and there are no restrictions on what kind of garments could be made, though corsets are one of the primary types entered in the contests.
As an artist, I always try to design projects with some kind of personal connection. For last year's insect-themed contest, it was remembrance of someone I lost. This year, the personal connection comes from using a building as inspiration, which is in my favorite city in the world. I used to work for Disney on Ice, and had an amazing solo vacation to Prague in 2011. It’s a city with history and art in every step you take, and Frank Gehry’s Dancing House is a perfect choice for this theme. I wanted to use inspiration that was secular, and something I’ve actually seen in person—plus, this shape is begging to be a corseted outfit! I considered various other styles, garments, etc, but kept coming back to the Dancing House.The curves and textures lend themselves to making a corseted outfit, and the glass wrap on one side and offset windows on the other are both dynamic and deconstructed. My trip to Prague was during Easter week, with stunning weather, and apple blossoms round every turn, which I featured in my hair and rosy makeup, even though my photos were done on a frigid day, with another of Gehry's buidlings, Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management, right in my hometown.
Dancing House Night view, Dancing House Dancing House from below
Starting with a look at the Prague of my memory, here are some photos of my trip, primarily focusing on why I brought in the flowers and pink shades in my makeup design. I really like to look at creating a story with what I make, and so I'm essentially capturing the memory of walking down an apple blossom-lined street to find this glass and concrete modern design, plopped among so many old buildings.
St Vitus Cathedral, Prague Apple trees at sunset, Petrin Hill Apple blossoms at Prague Castle Apple blossoms in Prague Rose bush, Charles Castle courtyard Blooming trees at Charles Castle
I decided to challenge myself in a variety of ways, from using a formal wear pattern from Vogue for the corset, to bunches of new to me techniques: first over bust, first sequin corset, first time cutting spiral bones, first time bending flat steels, first hand sewn eyelets, first vinyl garment... Added challenge came from discovering that my once-used pattern had lost the side front (#3) and CB panels somewhere during my travels, so I had to draft them myself. Most of the materials for this outfit were either remnants from Joann Fabrics, or fabrics in my (excessive?) stash. I did order boning, busk, lacing ribbon, satin bias tape, EL wire, & the eyelet-boning channel business in between the layers of the CB panels, which I hand bound because of the sequins. I wanted the materials to create a design that was more evocative than literal, playing with shape & texture to re-imagine this deconstructionist hotel.
"Ginger" corset & skirt outfit A view from below "Ginger" "Ginger" close view "Ginger" front view "Ginger" "Ginger" back view "Ginger" "Ginger" "Ginger" "Ginger" and the Weatherhead "Ginger" & the Weatherhead building
While I know I’ve made mistakes and/or there are things I could do better in the future, I’ve learned a lot and might be about ready to tackle the draft your own pattern tutorial. I don’t think I’ll be doing a full sequin corset again any time soon, but I think the hand sewn eyelets were the right choice, and overall I am happy with the pieces I made and the journey I had in doing so. This was my second year competing, but in a way, it feels more like playing show & tell with friends, than competing "against" anyone... For anyone on the fence, I would repeat what I said last year: doing this can be a form of self care in that you're feeding your creative side, and add to that not to be intimidated by what you see anyone else do, because you're really just taking yourself on a journey. If you're competing against anyone, it's yourself!
Comments from the team at Foundations Revealed:
"It's wonderful to see you entering again and stretching your wings with a whole bunch of new techniques. You've achieved a nice shape with the corset, particularly given that some of the pattern pieces had to be recreated. The sequin fabric makes for a glam choice and the embellishments are interesting and unusual."
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