preparing a gown for a shoot

Recently Sam sent off a few of her collection gowns to New York Magazine.  Twice a year, they have a special issue ... devoted just to weddings.  One of the dresses ended up being shot!  We don't know yet if it will be in the issue, but this is already pretty exciting.

Before sending the dress off to the shoot, we wanted to make sure each dress was perfect.  This meant checking each gown for a tag, loops, and finishing touches (even on the inside) to make sure nothing had come loose or was missing.  Here are some photos of the gown I worked on!

 Creating some loops for hanging (just make 4 loops of thread, tightly secured and not too loose, and blanket stitch across them).  These are handy for hanging strapless garments - the hanger loops used to hang them alone cause the front of the bodice to fall forward.  Place two loops in the front of the dress (like along a princess line) and slide the hanger loops through them.  Hangs nicely!

Sam and I have the same tags!  Mine are black with white writing.  (Good job mom!)

 Lining the bust cups with lace for a pretty, vintage finish.

 Adding a grosgrain ribbon to the edges.

 Check out the beautiful waist stay in the corset of the gown - used to keep the dress from sliding up or down the waist.

All ready to go!

wedding dress alterations and a sneak peak

The other day a woman brought her dress over to Sam's for some alterations.  I got to work a little bit on it myself - I removed the (horribly sewn on) covered buttons and restitched them (well, all but one that went missing.  Went to a covered button factory today and the replacements will be ready tomorrow!)  I also removed the zipper.

Now, I consider myself a very good seamstress.  However, when you get the rare chance to look inside of an expensive garment, it is a real treat.  And when you get the even more rare chance to take a seam ripper to an expensive garment, it's really scary.  Here are some action shots.

 It feels so wrong.

Taking something apart is one of the best ways to learn how to put something together.  You have to be pretty meticulous though - seam rippers are notorious (at least when I'm using them) for piercing through and ripping fabrics.  I also think, when dull, they pull unnecessarily hard on threads before cutting them, stressing the fabric.  So I used thread clippers.  One wrong clip, and you're done for!  Fortunately, there were no wrong clips.  But it was so strange to watch the dress come apart before my eyes - it's amazing what difference a zipper makes!  

I also had a really unique opportunity today to work on something - it will be finished tomorrow, but until then I'll torture you with this:

 Marc Jacobs Spring 2011 RTW

garment district bead and trim hunt

Sam is looking for the perfect trim to build a beautiful beaded belt for a gown.  Today I went into the garment district to look for ideas and gather some resources.  I also took a vintage beaded collar with me - we are in love with the faceted flat-back black beads, and would love to find something similar in an ivory or champagne shade.

better watercolor photos

These paintings were shown before, but now I have better full-shot images in better quality.  Just thought I'd share!

Today I tag-teamed with Sam to put together Molly's wedding gown (the champagne / pinkish colored one, for the plus-sized bride).  We got a lot done!  I will take some pictures tomorrow, and will also be coming home with some beautiful, finely knit gray jersey fabric!

In the coming weeks, some fun projects are coming up - working with Ann Taylor LOFT for their new campaign photo shoot, and Swarovski.  I am so excited!

new bridal sample finished

 Silk tulle (drapier than the other silk tulle though) with silk organza and tulle flowers, lace pieces, and beading

This week I've had a fun project - working on a magazine to display Sam's portfolio!  There is a wonderful website, MagCloud, that allows you to upload a PDF and have it printed.  I did lots of editing to make sure everything was perfect!

To the family - I was wrong, Victoria Beckham is September 7-10th.  No wonder!  Makes a lot more sense.  To everyone else - consider that a really awesome sneak peak to a really awesome end-of-summer thing with which I'll be involved. 

continuing the bridal samples

 

Today I finished sewing on the flowers and beaded the centers of them.  You can see how the flowers are concentrated at the waist and "burst" outwards and follow along the neckline - Sam joked it will be hard to beat this one, the bride will probably want her dress like this!

Here are some quick shots of the next sample - on a different silk tulle (with a very different hand and texture), with flowers that have a touch of lace.

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!

5th avenue

Do you ever look on designer websites and feel your heart sink as you realize that a $5,000 pair of shoes being sold out means there are enough people out there to afford that item?  Well, I experienced that a lot today - but it was exciting.  I explored 5th and Madison today in Manhattan, where many designer flagship stores are located (Oscar de la Renta, Prada, and Chanel to name a few) and it was quite an experience.  Did you know these stores have guards to open the door for you while maintaining watch over the whole store?  They are very intimidating - makes me feel guilty for looking around and touching.

But regardless, I looked around and touched, a lot.  First stop was J Crew Bridal (which has more than just bridal).  And oh goodness, everything in this store was divine.  Wouldn't it have been funny to find the gown I made a version of?  I didn't, but the gowns I did see were simply beautiful.  The store also has many jeweled belts, shoes, bridesmaids dresses (that you could wear again, but really), shorts, and sweaters.  I was not allowed to take pictures here so I simply observed.  It was interesting to view this price bracket for bridal customers - to me, personally, the things in that store were very high end ($300 for a pair of silk shorts, thousands for dresses).  Yet in parts of the bridal industry, J Crew Bridal may be considered lower end or in a more affordable bracket for the non-designer customer, and the quality is quite different.  None-the-less, I thought they were perfect.  There was one navy and black silver-beaded dress that was just divine.

Next I hopped across the street to Oscar de la Renta.  Again I could not take pictures (but I snuck one).  Inside was a woman trying on a long mermaid gown in white with red and green flowers.  Another woman was buying accessories like they cost nothing.  I creeped around to the room in the back with all the long dresses and stole a couple shots of a beautiful beaded pale pink gown.  The garments in the store were from the Spring 2011 RTW collection.

 On the runway!

Afterwards, I noticed J Mendel across the street and wandered over there.  As one of my favorite bridal designers, I thought it necessary to look at their boutique.  Their hours were late, so I couldn't go inside, but I did manage to get a few shots of their window display.

Bergdorf Goodman is a wonderful way to see a bunch of designer garments and collections in one spot - so that was my final stop.  Among the designers represented were Alaia, the Row, Vera Wang, and Marni.

 I KNOW.  My life is now complete.  (The colors were so amazing in real life - trying to sneak a picture means bad lighting and photo quality!)

 Gorgeous detailing from The Row.  This is where my friend Megan is interning for the summer!

Terrible photo but beautiful gown from Vera Wang.

 

I also bought a clutch in BCBG Max Azria (I don't own one - now I do!) during which a piece of construction equipment fell onto a display window and the whole thing crumbled to pieces. 

 

This one here, but in a fun print!

Happy Friday everyone!