dries van noten spring 2011 rtw

Alright, just got inspired. Look at how they treated the fabric here. We've all seen ombre by now, but this is new.

Guys. They bleached the denim all but for the indigo cuffs. And the waistband. And then for the floral print, the same thing was done. What an innovative way to expand possibilities with fabric. There are several ways to achieve color in a fabric - you can do stock dyeing, where the fibers are dyed before spinning into yarn. Then of course there is yarn dyeing, where the yarn is spun from the fibers and then dyed. You can also do piece dyeing, where the yardage is dyed or individual cut pieces from the yardage are dyed. And finally, garment dyeing, where the finished product is dyed as a whole. This is where this process would have been done - to achieve that "dipped in denim" or "dipped in floral print" look, but it was all done backwards - rather, the whole thing but one little Achilles heel of each garment was dipped in bleach. I may have to try this at home!

And these two have nothing to do with dyeing, but I just love these looks from the show as well.

A little in love with the shoe choice for these two. Overall, a fantastic show, Dries van Noten!

experimental design final concept

First of all, I apologize for my lack of time commitment this week - I have been so busy! Since I don't have any particular trends or topics on my mind, I'll show you what I've been working on all week long - developing my concept and five designs for my experimental mini collection. We will execute two of the final looks.

The collection is titled Defaced; the research behind it was a little extensive so I'll sum it up in a nutshell. I started by thinking about the concept of the human soul (the mental and emotional house of the body) and the spirit (the animating component of the body) and how without them, we are nothing more than lumps of flesh and anatomical parts, something strictly physical. Then I began thinking about what defines us as human anyway, and how humanity is something that cannot be learned, it is innate. And that one of the most defining features of a human being is the face - in terms of communication, that is. Without a face, it is hard to read emotions or even converse with someone. We put faces on everything - pareidolia is the name for when we find faces in clouds, discovered the "man on the moon", or try to anthropomorphize inanimate objects by giving them faces. We automatically identify with a stuffed animal more than a chair, yet both are simply physical objects; but because the animal has a face, we feel a "connection" to it. Babies innately learn feel an attraction to faces - a circle with a triangle in the middle gets no reaction yet a circle with two dots and a straight line does, even though it doesn't exactly resemble a detailed face.

Then I started thinking about people who have facial paralysis, or even face transplants - something I find horribly creepy and fascinating at the same time. There are only four completely successful full facial transplants recorded, and this amazes me that this exists. Patients often feel "different" after a full face transplant, because what they see in the mirror isn't the person they have been used to seeing and even though they are the same person, they look different, and have trouble identifying themselves after. And then there are disorders with the fusiform component of the brain that identifies faces, so some people cannot recognize a face at all. I stumbled upon a French film then called Les Yeux Sans Visage (Eyes Without a Face), a black and white movie about a woman who needs a face transplant after a car accident, her body rejects the face, and has to wear a white plastic mask with holes only for her eyes for the rest of her life. Here is a condensed version of the movie, with a perfectly creepy song in the background. I'd love to watch a copy of the full thing one day.

So that lead me to my ultimate concept, about how we are simply physical entities when we don't have the humanizing features of a face, eyes, a soul, or spirit. For my five designs, I chose to do a series of bodysuits that will be constructed with neoprene, to preserve opacity and create a sort of smooth "skin" over the body. I will distort the common human figure by adding sheer webbing between certain limbs and neoprene webbing between others, and then covering the faces of some figures with a thick knitted bodysock or oversize turtleneck. The knitwear will be done with unspun roving, to achieve huge two-to-three-inch stitches. All fabrics will be in varying, unmatched shades of nudes and skin tones. The bodysuits will have invisible zippers in the back for removal, and the suits will cover the face, hands (like a mitten, so no fingers are showing), and the feet (in a way that the heels the models wear will fit into the bodysuit so they have a covered high-heel shape instead). I don't think my models will like this because they will not be able to see, but that was sort of the point.

The two looks I will end up executing will most likely be the last two. I was originally going for the first and third, but during the critique my classmates mentioned that they look a little too human, and they are absolutely right. This is why critiques are so helpful! The fourth body suit has one arm enclosed within, and the fifth has both enclosed with the knitwear on top.

I am very excited to start this project. The neoprene will be an investment, but it will definitely achieve the look I want. I will keep updates on this!

beauty : bangs

I recently cut myself some Selma Blair-ish bangs, about three hours ago, and realized that bangs are one of the trends for fall beauty 2010 right now. So, why not look at bangs!

At Erin Fetherston ... remind you of anybody?

Shorter bangs with curls at L.A.M.B.



Backstage at Lanvin ... very Leigh Lezark!

The look is very 60s, in my opinion, and I love it - I feel like the 60s haven't made their resurgence yet. We've seen the 80s and 90s, and now the 50s, which is maybe why we're peeking into the 60s with this hair trend - a la Jane Birken. The style looks best with thicker, straight hair (which is exactly what I don't have, but hey, "make it work"). The effect always comes off very modern, which is probably why it is making its new debut this fall. It's a fresh take on beauty that isn't usually paired with 1950s styling. And I'm giving it a test run!

retro fittings 2010

On a slightly unrelated note, as this has nothing to do with fake fur, I was on the news this morning with a few of my fellow classmates! Fox 19 did a segment on the Retro Fittings 2010 fashion show, an event happening tonight showcasing the work of my classmates for our "St Vincent project". We were given a budget, a partner, and a mission to go to the St Vincent du Paul consignment store and buy pieces to deconstruct and recreate into something inspired by a famous duo. My partner Hillary and I chose Lucy and Ethel. You can read a little more about our project here. (And those are my drawings up at the top - nothing like my new croquis now, but hey, we all start somewhere!)

On the left there is Hillary, and on the right, me. As you can read in the article link above, we chose to use our creative licenses with color due to the fact that the show was in black and white. We also wanted to add a little modernity - my outfit kept the classic 50's circle skirt but I paired it with a strapless bodice (strapless hadn't been invented yet!) and the seaming and boning on the inside channeled the era's Merry Widow style bodice. I added a reversible halter-style strap to enhance the silhouette and link everything back to the 50s.

Here is the segment from Fox 19 if you would like to watch it. The press will also be at the event tonight, which has been sold out, to talk to a few of us about the project and the show. Only a few of us are modeling in the show wearing our own designs; the rest have others wearing them. There will also be other "scenes" in the show wearing garments found directly at the St Vincent store. It's going to be an exciting show!

trend : faux fur

Fur is making a huge resurgence this year, and the interesting thing about it is that half of what went down the runway was fake. Due to new technologies in synthetic fiber manufacturing (as my professor explained to us, each fiber filament has a colored core and then a clear outer shell for luster), the end result is a really realistic fur effect.

A few years ago, Fendi did a Fall 2008 RTW show with a pretty cool concept - gold fur. Not only was the fur visually gold, but it was actually soaked in a liquid 24-karat gold solution so the gold actually would adhere to the fur itself. The effect was pretty amazing, and we can all guess how much that skirt probably costs.

But then, even before that, fall experienced a very different thing with fur - I think everyone remembers the Prada Fall 2007 RTW show - that showcased none other than fake, unusually colored mohair. And plastered onto the fronts of cardigans and coats. Suddenly faux fur and plastic fibers were in the Prada house.

A very unusual show for about three thousand different reasons, but it really opened up the doors for alternative fur options, and sort of brought manufactured furs into the spotlight where it could no longer be frowned down upon. And now, our current fall season is taking advantage of this - it could be the economy, it could be the technology, but I think it is also just a more conscious consumer in general.

Glossy fur coats at Alberta Ferretti


Burberry Prorsum took faux fur to the next level along with oversized collars and this season's "it" shearling


Pressed fur and feathers at VPL


While Karl wouldn't dare use fake fur for Fendi (a line too famous for their luxurious, real furs, a smart move because he would only be competing with himself), he did dare to use them for Chanel, and said, "Technical advances are so perfect you can hardly tell fake fur from the real thing. Fake is not chic — we have got a new Chanel tweed to stop copies — but fake fur is”

Sounds like the king has spoken - no more shame in saving a little and buying a fake fur! Which reminds me, I have a vintage fox neck wrap somewhere at home that I should pull out of storage. Though it's real, and that makes me a little sad, it's ok because someone bought it first before it came to the vintage store and then into my hands ... that's how it works, right? Oh well, it is on trend and I'm gonna be a part of it this year.

obsession : bare shoulders

But not bare shoulders from a strapless dress or halter. I'm thinking more along the lines of this interesting detail that popped up a few seasons ago:

Michael Kors Spring 2010 RTW

Those, by the way, are from one of my favorite shows to have ever gone down a runway. Everything. Is. Perfect. But that's not what I'm writing about today. I'm writing about how undeniably sexy shoulders are, and how under-acknowledged that can sometimes be. Shoulders have been slowly becoming a new erogenous zone once more, and we've seen it in one-shoulder dresses, tops that gracefully slide off one shoulder at a time and bare a little skin, and now these interesting peek-a-boo silhouettes that are incredibly interesting.

It seems like this cut-out trend made its appearance around 2009, first in the spring and then oddly repeated in the fall, a season where cut-outs really aren't that common. Alexander Wang played it out well by giving us a few one-shoulder looks with a single preview of the new shoulder (and that infamous burn-out style knit sweater dress).

And as I mentioned before, fall of 2009 saw a little bit of bare shoulder as well. Charlotte Ronson was one that pulled it off particularly well.


And last but certainly not least, cut-out silhouettes at Elie Saab Fall 2010 RTW - a beautiful show, by the way.

Unfortunately, 2010 seemed to be as far as this trend reaches right now, but the shoulder is still playing a prominent role in terms of point-of-interest. However, I can't say I've looked at enough of the S11 shows yet to say it hasn't shown up at all - but I'm hoping it does. It's such an understated way to show a part of your body that usually gets shown completely - and somehow, covering all of it up but that tiny bit seems that much sexier.

a little bit about class

First off, thank you to everyone who has been reading! It is a joy to realize I have comments and can reply to them. Secondly, I apologize for being absent for a few days - this has been a bit of a rough week for me. But, as the poster with the crown on it says, "Keep Calm and Carry On" (and yes, I want one).

Still feeling a little uninspired, I figured I'd just post about something I've been working my mind around for my experimental design class (so this may be an all-text post, which I hate doing because I never read them myself). But oh well. Our next project (below you've seen the "origami" and "armored" assignments) is "architectural" - but as an extension of the human body. This can be interpreted so many ways, and I love it. Our professor wants us to translate into a garment the way the human body inhabits and affects space, using shape as an influential aspect. I have always been fascinated in the way we so heavily rely on first impressions. As someone who is newly single, it is suddenly on my mind that the way I look needs to accurately portray me to others. But this also applies to the whole world - interviews, meeting new people for the first time, how classmates perceive you ... and in a way, it's a horrible shame. Someone who is pretty is not always nice, and someone who you could be best friends with is not always as attractive.

I would love to think of the project that way - especially touching the matter of self-perception. Every day girls look in the mirror and think, "Ugh, my hips are so wide! My thighs are so fat!" - while the girl across the row in class from them may be thinking, "I wish I had her body, it's perfect". We tend to skew our own images of ourselves to an exaggerated point, and this would be very interesting to convey in fashion - a garment with grotesquely wide, masculine shoulders (I'm thinking of the padded bodies of Balenciaga S08 RTW) - a slightly ugly silhouette, but you have to consider ... if that's the way you see yourself, why shouldn't everyone else have to see you that way too?

It makes you think. I remember walking to class once (well not really walking, but booking it - I was late and I tend to "walk with a purpose"). And these two boys cross my path, and I hear one say, after I've booked it a little further, "I bet that girl's mean". And I stopped dead in my tracks and thought, oh my god, I frown when I walk fast. I have to constantly remind myself now, relax your face when you walk or else people will find me unapproachable.

The exact image that comes to mind about all of this is Lady Gaga - someone who does silhouette exaggeration very well. The oversize metal hips, sharp contours of pelvic bones and shoulders - it's ugly, and I'm obsessed with it. If there's anybody that knows how to complicate the female form, it's her.

experimental design sketches

Not feeling very inspired today, so I thought that maybe I'd just post a little bit about the sketches I'm working on for my experimental design class.

Note the word experimental ... the first dress was for our origami assignment, to use a material that is pliable. I chose to work with the ziploc component of a plastic ziploc bag, because you can snap them together and form strips to create something much like a Herve Leger bandage dress. The idea is a little racy, since the material is completely transparent, but that was the point - to challenge how she feels secure and safe locked inside, much like anything would be when placed into a ziploc bag, yet is completely exposed. The second dress is for the armored assignment, to use a material that can be linked together. This is supposedly a lingerie look, where the PVC pipes are linked to form a sort of cage around the body to cover certain parts, and then has a very fine-gauge copper wire "knit" billowing out from underneath. None of these things need to be doable or comfortable, so it is all in theory. I'm pretty sure no one would want to wear a pipe to bed. But, you know. Makes you think. I love to illustrate, and I love that you can design without financial or logical limitations when you draw.