hand stitching and bridal swatch samples

These two dresses had recently been used in a photo shoot, so today I redid some of the hand stitching that popped during wear (models aren't always the most careful with the garments!)  I tacked down some fallen pleats on the dress to the left and restitched the edges of the waistband ribbon, and tacked down some loose flowers and pleats on the dress to the right.  It was extraordinary getting to work on dresses like these!

For the remainder of the day, I worked on a fabric sample to show brides when they meet with Sam.  The samples (this particular one is a gathered silk tulle with flowers, but could also be beaded samples or gathered and ruffled samples) will help brides have a visual idea of how they can customize their gowns.  Forgive the lighting - but isn't the silk tulle marvelous?  I'd ever only had an image of tulle in my mind as a crunchy wirey fabric but this is something else! 

Last night I was finally getting inspired again for tailoring - my inspiration?  The splitting migraine I went to bed with!  After a horrible night of not being able to sleep from the worst migraine in the history of my life, it got me thinking - the way your head feels, how movement almost hurts, the stifling pressure, the confusion - wouldn't that be interesting to put into a garment?  The coat design features very tightly gathered and pleated panels that originate from a stiflingly high cowl-neck collar (that presses the head upward, uncomfortably) and the pleats slowly come undone and cowl over one sleeve.  The "confusion" comes into the way the industry would view this garment as a men's coat (due to the closure being left over right), but all visual cues tell us it is for a woman.  The gathering would carry through to the back, where the center-back seam would be at a 3/4 position like the front.

Just one idea - but now I have many!  I was discussing with Sam my color options today for this - she asked if I was still interested in that orchid wool I had found at Mood.  Then we started discussing options for linings (fun bright colors perhaps?) and the question came to mind - what color is a migraine?  So tonight I may try to find some brain scans online or just research the brain in general or how pain might read if it were a color, and maybe get some ideas out of that.  Perhaps the inside of the coat will reflect the internal aspect of the migraine as well.  Who knows!  Many directions to take now.

I also came to a realization last night after feeling a little discouraged - I wanted to visit FIT but forgot all museums are closed Mondays, so I visited the public library instead.  However I am rarely inspired by historical things, and trends don't always influence me as well.  So after feeling a bit down I opened up my McQueen book from the exhibit and read the entire thing - it was breathtaking.  It reminded me that it didn't matter if my ideas were relevant to the past or future, what mattered was that I was inspired to create them and that they are personal to me.  And this is helping me to realize that I am very much a conceptual designer - I am obsessed with learning something new and taking it to the extreme and finding out everything I can about that one thing - and then trying to turn it into something visual like a garment.  I enjoy the research process and ideation process more than anything in fashion design.  Perhaps a more experimental route (or at least a more conceptual route of design, as in not just creating wearable garments but garments as art or with a story behind them) is where I belong. 

More sketches soon!