Gabby in Action

Gabby wearing my finale piece: 

The look consisted of a black and white plaid dress with a red visible zipper down the back and black rib knit around the armholes and collar. The bottom of the dress is black chiffon that was tied up around her waist until a certain part of the song when she would then untie it to reveal that it's a floor length dress with a front slit. 

The corset has a black visible zipper down the front and a soft grey cotton trim along the top of it. The panels are made from the different plaids from the rest of the collection with black cotton for the front and the black and white plaid from her dress for the back panels. The inside of the corset has black, white, and red ribbon for the taping of the bones. 

I made the headpiece in London at the London College of fashion for my final piece for my Millinery course. It's a black wool piece that I covered by hand sewing black fabric (that has a shine and a ripple texture). I hand glued all of the red swarovski crystals to the veiling and then sewed the veiling on to the piece. I dyed the ostrich feathers red, curled them, and glued & sewed them to the side. For the final touch I added a white and black butterfly I bought at the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the V&A to the side on top of the red feathers.

Picture courtesy of Brian Powell "Fashion Show Freebies." 

Senior Collection: Finished!

Pictured L/R: Tim, Eric, Sarah, Gabby, Brianna (Me), Dairius, Megan, Kevin, Greg.

On Saturday, April 2nd, I showed my senior collection at 11am and 3pm. My song was Lydia by Highly Suspect and my choreography was pretty simple. During the song Gabby would untie her skirt from around her waist transferring her look from a short draped dress to a floor length evening gown look. I have a few really awesome shots of her in action that I will post soon.

Overall I loved my collection. I got really lucky and my models were amazing people. They were always attentive, on time, excited, eager, good listeners, just the whole nine yards of awesomeness. They also all got along really well, which helped me because I was never stressing out about them or their looks. They all had the same eye makeup for the show, but the girls had red lips while the guys had their lips look as though they were sewn shut. I felt that without hair and makeup and accessories, the outfits could go very punk or very prim and proper. Which is one thing I loved about my looks. Drawing inspiration from bands like My Chemical Romance and then from the classic looks of French tailoring. I really liked playing with accessories and makeup to get the full effect. I like to think my models would make awesome characters in a MCR music video.

My aim was to have the guys have really similar styling but they little differences. For example, they all have different patterned socks and Dairius has a hat to add more black into his look. I wanted the girls to all be different with their styling. For the red and black dress I chose a simple gold ring and a men's pocket square to tie around her wrist. She also got black thigh highs with bows and black ankle boots. Gabby's look had a lot of patterns and my head piece I made in London, so I chose simple black triangle earrings and black heels reminiscent of the Spice Girls style. Megan's look has a Harley Quinn feel to it so I gave her one white glove and some black and white striped earrings. Her heels are cutesy with the t-strap and little black bows, but they're covered in gold spikes for a more dangerous vibe. I am in love with how everything turned out and I can't imagine changing any of it. 

When I get the more professional pictures I'll post those, especially the action shots!

Fashion Show Shenanigans in Photos

Close up of Gabby's makeup.

One of my lovely models getting her
hair done in a faux Mohawk style.

 

Some of my guy models waiting
for their pictures to be taken.

A detail shot of Eric's black and white plaid trousers,
 striped socks, and punk shoes. 

Ready for the show!
Makeup inspiration was from the band
My Chemical Romance when they did
their "The Black Parade" album.

Model & Designer 

All lined up and ready for the show to start!
For the runway they would be entering from altering sides (left/right).
So the first 4 models in line enter from the left and
the second group of 4 enter from the right.

Senior Collection & More!

My Shot for the Program.

Hello Everyone!

The fashion show is 33 days from now and I'm not freaking out at all, which is slightly surprising. I have a model practice tonight and I'll be able to see my line up and see how everyone's patterns look together. I'll also get to see the fit again and if I need to make tiny alterations. I'm pretty excited to see the clothes and shoes and what I've done so far come together. As of now I still have to cut & sew 1 pair of pants and 1 corset. Besides that everything is already cut and in the process of being completed. My goal is still to have everything done before spring break, which is in 12 days. 

Besides my senior collection I'm proud to announce that I've landed an amazing job for part of the summer. I will start late April and work until mid June at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis at a 1st Hand. I'm really excited and can't wait to start! I'll be working on 4 productions and I'll get to do little apprenticeship type classes- millinery is 1 of them! But I think it's a wonderful opportunity and I did everything to make sure I could accept it, which included getting permission from all of my professors to spend the last 3 weeks (including exam week) off campus. I'm very lucky to have their approval and I can't wait to share my progress and projects! So stay tuned for some really awesome things!

Decisions Made: Men's Shoes

Dairius modeling the shoes.

While putting my senior collection together, I've decided to take a more punk rock turn and move away from the polished and sophisticated route my collection was headed. I picked out hair and makeup to help ease my collection further into a punk rock vibe along with my music choice, Lydia by Highly Suspect.
One of the big things that was keeping my collection more polished was the men's shoes. Originally I was going to have them all wear their own black dress shoes, however, when I looked at fit pictures after the break it just didn't seem right. After a while, I considered getting converse for all the guys (5 male models) but I was pretty hesitant in making a final decision. When I discovered these black canvas shoes online at H&M on sale I just went for it. 
I'm pretty happy with the results and they all fit the models- which is pretty great since 2 guys had to go down a half size so that I could order the shoes. I can't wait for all their looks to come together. I'm still pretty positive that I don't want to be an apparel designer and that I'd much rather go into costume design or writing, but I'm having fun with my collection and that's what matters.

First Look for the Show

All of my looks were due this past Monday and I managed to finish everything on time. I decided to do a little post about each one.

For my first look I made a pair of plaid trouser pants that have 2 front tucks and a plain black zipper. The shirt is a long sleeve white button down with a black collar and cuffs. I chose to make the buttonholes black as well to make the overall look more interesting. I am in love with my black and white buttons and chose to use them for everything except the shirt has a small white button up by the collar.

Overall I love the look and I am really looking forward to making the blazer for it next semester. It will be a lot of work but my goal is to create the perfect tailored blazer.

Menswear Fittings Part 1

Today I had my first fitting for my senior collection! I had two of my male models come in and try on their muslin mock ups for fit. My first model is wearing a button down shirt with trousers and a suit jacket (pictured in muslin to the left). My second model is wearing a t-shirt, trousers, and a cool band style jacket (think My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade look).

Both outfits had a couple little problems, mainly when I drafted all my patterns (that's right all drafted none draped) I didn't drop the armhole enough so I just need to bring it down about an inch or so on each upper body piece. Besides that it was just minor things like a too short sleeve or too long hem allowance on a shirt. All things I can easily adjust.

My other 2 male models for the semester will be coming in this Wednesday so I'll have their looks done in muslin and hopefully have less adjustments to make. So far I'm happy with how things have turned out and I'm really excited about all of my fabrics I've gotten for the collection. I'll definitely be posting more on everything once I start the looks in fashion fabric.

Some of My Senior Collection Designs

Shown above are 5/10 designs I created for my senior collection presentation. I am still up in the air on the ratio of men to women for my collection, but these are my favorites out of what I've designed so far. We will be making 3-5 in class this semester, but I'm really hoping that I can make like 4/5 men's looks so that next semester I can focus on the women. Right now I have 4 models: 2 guys and 2 girls. I will post some updates when I get the chance! We pick the 5 we're making this coming Monday and then go to Chicago for fabrics on Wednesday! 

Ready For the Semester

Jessica (L) and Me (R).

The school year is almost here! My classes start August 24th and I'm really excited to get back to a schedule and get down to business for my collection. I have some pretty great ideas and just want to be all moved in and set up my sewing room. I'll post about my new place when I'm all settled in and ready for the semester to start!
The picture to the left is of my friend Jessica modeling my red dress for the fall Red Dress Event at Purdue (2013). It wasn't made for her but my model was out of town for the weekend of the Red Dress Event's fashion show so my friend Jessica let me style her and she walked in the show for me. I styled her differently than how my model Gabby was for the actual fashion show in the spring. I'm hoping that I can make another lovely dress for the event but go with a bright red dress instead. We'll see what happens! Stay tuned for more throughout the semester, there will definitely be a lot of progress related posts.

Weekend Plans: Preparing for Fall

A clutch I regret not buying
 in Bath for my senior collection.

I know it's barely summer but I'm already starting to work on my senior collection for next year. While the fashion show isn't until spring 2016, we have to present our collection ideas about the second week into the fall semester. I've always had some sort of idea for what I want to do for my collection, but now that I've actually started working on it I am overwhelmed with ideas for various potential collections. For instance I've considered doing a Marie Antoinette pastel collection, a Dracula themed one, and a fun colorful printed floral collection. There are just way too many options, I kind of wish I had gotten to do my "mini" collection this past spring like the other juniors and how they can do 2-3 looks for the fashion show. I think my solution right now is to just go ahead and sketch every idea I have running through my brain and then pick the strongest collection. Luckily I haven't gotten a part time job yet so I have some free time to work on my collection. I'm just really excited for my senior collection even if I haven't quite figured out what to do yet. I still really want to do 5 female models and 4 male models, and also work with a variety of patterns & textures, but I still need my main big idea. Hopefully I can use all of my time, especially when I'm being lazy on the weekends, to work on my collection. I'm sure once the school year starts I'll just start complaining about how much work I have, but I have very high goals of what I want for my collection, so I'm just going to have to deal with it. We shall see what happens!  

Spring Fashion: Sustainability

In between shows. 
Me (L) & Gabby (R).

One of the "requirements" for when you study abroad during a spring semester is that you still have to participate in the fashion show. This year they had wanted a separate section of the show to be purely for sustainability, so we had to make a look for either the runway or the art gallery that fulfilled the requirements for being sustainable. I chose right away that I wanted to put my piece, whatever it ended up being, on the runway. I enlisted the help of  my friend Gabby, who had been my model my sophomore year (& will hopefully be a model for my senior collection) and she agreed to model my look. I wasn't sure if I'd be there for the fashion show but I planned my trip abroad so I could make it and see everyone, and help Gabby if she needed it on the day of the fashion show. I was really glad I made it back, it was amazing and I got o see my friends' senior collections and others' pieces on the runway & in the gallery. It was also cool to see how they managed to pull it off in the new area it was held- the co-rec gyms. Overall it was amazing and I'm really glad I got to see the first show & hang out with my friends, and treat Gabby to Starbucks in between the shows since it's always a crazy day.

Back View: Gabby on the runway.

My look for the show consisted of two pieces: a layered lace skirt and a button down top. The skirt was made from a dress. I took the dress apart and recreated it into a skirt. It was also a XXL so I redid the waist completely and hand stitched the ribbon waistband that ties into a bow in the back. I was hesitant (and insanely lucky it fit) because I didn't include any closures on the skirt. Luckily I got the measurements perfect and she could pull it over her head, tuck the shirt in, and tie the bow. For the top I took a button down blue & white striped shirt I had gotten from the costume shop sale and made it my own. After washing and ironing it I decided I wanted the look to be kind of retro and cutesy feeling. I cut a heart in the back of it, had a tiny pleat at the bottom of the heart, and sewed a turquoise fabric for the heart area. I also got the fabric at the costume sale for free and it's see through with glitter turquoise dots on it. I outlined the heart with a curvy white ribbon and also added the same ribbon to the front of the shirt on the left breast pocket. I had a few other ideas but I didn't want to go overboard and I also did a lot by hand and only had the fall semester to finish the look. I completed everything in time and it all fit and looked great! I'm really happy I decided to put it on the runway because it was one of the only fun outfits, and by fun I just mean that a lot of peoples' looks were more edgy or sophisticated and mine was just this lacy pouf skirt and bowling-esque shirt. The whole show looked great & it was neat to see everyone's take on sustainability and how it can be more included in fashion. Freshman year we had done a goodwill project and this reminded me of it and I'm definitely one of those people that already takes things they bought at goodwill & redoes some of it. Sustainability doesn't just mean making dresses out of newspapers or duct tape, it has a lot of different ways it can be done & it's wonderful to witness the variety!

Better Pictures

I have decided to add some more pictures from last year's fashion show. I know it's been a few months (7 months actually) but I just love these pictures and wanted to share them! 

I wrote an article over the fashion show titled Fashion Show Weekend and it covered my experiences, what I took in my bag, a few pictures, and more. Click on the title to read more about it.

The first picture is of my friend, Eric, who is modeling a pair of plaid trouser pants, a grey jersey knit top, and a lined striped vest. The lining and back of his vest is the same satin fabric that is used for the evening dress my friend gabby modeled.

The second picture is of my friend Gabby walking down the runway. I really like this picture because you can see the movement of the bottom of the dress. I chose to sew squares of the satin and chiffon to ribbons and then sew the ribbons in-between the dress and its lining. I love the whole look, from the blinged out earrings and bracelet to the black patent pumps and long gloves. I was going for a fancy Breakfast at Tiffany's feeling to both garments when next to each other. I am thrilled with how both looks turned out and how they look standing together.

My LCF Application

I officially applied to London College of Fashion! After a lot of confusion, a late application to Purdue, and lots of rushed scheduling of meetings, I applied! 

The application is a lot like other applications. It asks for your information, college, GPA (both accumulative and major), transcripts, a picture for your ID, an essay, and then 2 letters of recommendation. There's a few more pieces of information it asks for but that's just medical and housing type stuff. But the part I wanted to share is the pictures of my 5 pieces of work I sent with my application. I had to pick 5 pictures that show a variety of my work and it took me a while to figure out what pictures would show off my skills and a variety of work. 

So here they are:

1. Starting with the picture above on the left- it's of my models Eric and Gabby from this past spring's fashion show. I chose a picture of the back because it gave me the best view of Gabby's dress and how his vest matches her dress. Also, I just think they look really great like this!

2. My shoe project from over the summer! (above on the right) I think it's a good variation of work because who makes shoes out of cardboard and paper that you can walk in?

3. On the left is my collared top I made for class last semester (spring 2014). It has a black lace bow with a tortoise shell button.

4. On the left is a pastel piece I did in AD114 last fall of a sculpture I made.

5. Lastly I uploaded a picture of 2 pages from my portfolio. It's a project from last year where we created a line of dresses using optical illusions as inspiration.

Fashion Show Weekend

Eric (L) and Gabby (R) posing.

First things first, putting on a fashion show is a lot of time, effort, and manual labor. There's a lot more than you think that goes into running a fashion show. It takes our whole major (about 80 -90 students) plus some extras to be able to put everything up and running. This year we held the fashion show at Purdue's Ross-Ade Pavilion in the Shively Club. It was great because we basically had a really long, rectangular room to work with for the runway. It was the perfect set up compared to last year's show held in Mackey arena. Last year it was too much space and the seats were too far away from the runway. This year, in Shivley, the front row was basically at the end of the stage. It was amazing and perfect for taking pictures!

On Thursday we had a dress rehearsal for the underclassmen in Shively without the stage and everything. Then on Friday we set up the entire area. We did staging, lights (lanterns), drapery, and more. It was a lot of hard work but actually a little fun. I was there after my 8:30 class, so about 9:30am until 6:30pm. Granted I had an hour lunch break around noon, but I was there doing a lot of the manual labor aspect. I worked a lot on our flower panels we put at the beginning and end of the runway.

The day of, Saturday, started early for me. I woke up around 7:30 am and got ready. I had to pack my huge H&M bag for the day. For a glimpse into what a designer carries around with them here is what I took:

• A can of hairspray
• 2 pairs of heels: Snakeskin black & white, and then maroon, suede ankle booties
• fray check, little scissors, and safety pins
• mints, pens, hand lotion, body spray, hand sanitizer, chap stick
• phone charger, wallet, keys, planner, and small notebook
• little bag of makeup including different lipsticks for my model to try
• tights, other shorts, and a black blazer my friend was going to borrow but then didn't wear
• jewelry for my model in Tupperware containers, 2 different pairs of gloves for her to chose from

There was also probably some other things that I can't think of now, but I probably threw in there at the last second. 

Before the 7pm show, my models relaxing.

Now more about the day of, my models' hair and makeup times were 9am-10am. For Gabby I chose natural makeup but with a cat eye and then the faux-mohawk up do. It turned out really well, definitely more sophisticated than I expected, which was great! Then poor Eric had to go through being doted on by all the girls because they were super excited to have a guy in their chair. They put foundation and powder on him, did stuff to his hair & eyebrows, put mascara and eyeliner on and to top it all off, put lip gloss on him. He looked great, it was just weird to see him with makeup on. I laughed and told him he was wearing way more makeup than I ever do. We had to wait a while until they could dress & get ready for the show.

Gabby on the runway.

Finally, at 1pm the show started. It was great because I got to sit front row with my parents since there was an open seat. I loved being really close to all the designs. Plus, since the major is small I was basically narrating the whole show to my parents pointing out designers and fabric choices. They didn't even need the program.

After the show my models changed and I took them out to lunch with my grandmother. Since we weren't allowed to have food or drinks in the facility food was very much needed. We all went to Potbelly's and then afterwards went back to the stadium because our picture time was scheduled at 5:24pm, a very specific time. However, it was very chill and we didn't do pictures until after 5:30. Then we just hung around and tried to not be bored. We were all very exhausted. Then the show started, it went more smoothly than the first and was faster. I sat 2nd row and definitely wish I could have sat in the first row again. I couldn't get a lot of decent pictures of my models walking down the runway. It was still great to see it a second time.

Me (L) and Gabby (R)
behind the scenes.

After the 7pm show I went to dinner with my boyfriend and grandmother, it was a lot of fun. Then Sunday morning I went in to help take down everything. I helped with the runway and with the chairs. Then went to the lab to unload the truck of everything we took up to Ross-Ade from our lab/rooms in Mathews Hall.

I had an amazing experience this weekend, it was a lot of work but worth all my time. I am hopefully going to London College of Fashion next spring and will not be participating and the fashion show next spring. If I was here at Purdue I would be making 3 designs for the runway and 2 art pieces for the art gallery. 

I'll keep you posted on my plans, I won't be applying to London till the fall around October.

Final Art Gallery Entries

It's been a while but be ready for a bunch of fashion show posts!
Starting off will be a post of my 2 art gallery entries that I submitted last Friday for the show. The show is March 29th and besides the 2 fashion shows that day we have an art gallery open for everyone. As a second year student I have to create 2 runway looks and 2 art gallery pieces.

I decided to use my art piece from my drawing class last semester. It's a collage of various magazine cutouts with a fun striped background. How it was created:
1. First we made a collage of our cutouts.
2. We had to get the collage on to transparency paper.
3. During class we had a projector set up where we traced the outlines of our cutouts onto our paper.
4. Finally time to draw and color and make the piece amazing!
To the left is my final piece. I had to cut down a little on all the edges to fit it in the frame but I like how it feels as though it fits perfectly in the frame. At first I didn't like my drawing, but after not looking at it for a while I really really like it. It's a drawing I'm actually proud of, and that rarely ever happens.


For my second piece I had been wanting to decorate shoes forever so I finally did it! I took a pair of blue cloth heels I bought at Goodwill for $8 and added my own personal touches. I sprayed the shoes with pink glitter spray and the electric blue took on a more purple tint with the pink sparkles. Then I hot glued white pearls to the heels with a few pale pink ones mixed in. They were looking like they were missing something I started playing around with my options. Finally I decided on pearls going up the back and then the left shoe has a white bow while the right has a couple pink hearts. Also, not pictured, the inside of the heels have pink hearts. I am not entirely thrilled with this decision of the hearts on the inside but I didn't like how the pearls just stopped and I didn't have enough pearls to completely cover the inside.

After a few weeks of hard work, my pieces are done and turned in!

Red Dress Event

The dress on Jessica before
hair and makeup.

Yesterday evening was the Red Dress Event at Purdue. It was run by Pharmacy students and they had asked us to put on a little fashion show featuring red dresses/garments. I was stressed because I wanted to participate but I thought my dress for the spring sow didn't count as red, however, my professor said it counted! This past Wednesday we had a snow day and I went in to the lab and worked for about 7/8 hours before the only thing left was hemming the dress. Another problem I had was my model or the show, Gabby, was planning on going home so I needed someone who could wear the dress. My friend Jessica Cork said she'd be willing to try the dress on and was willing to walk in the show. Well the dress fit, obviously not the same as it will on Gabby since Jessica is at least 5 inches taller than Gabby. The darts also aren't perfect, but it worked! It was a fun time getting Jessica ready, she did her makeup and I curled her hair. I was going for a very classy, slightly Parisian inspired look. I think we succeeded. 

Me and Jessica at the event.

Jessica walking during the show.

Jessica staying classy.

Perfect Plaid Pants

I've been working these past couple weeks on making a pair of pants for my guy model, Eric. In class I drafted a pattern and then made the muslin pants, then adjusted my drafted pattern and from that made a sloper and final patterns from the sloper. After some exercises in class I decided I wanted to lower the waistline a few inches and then not add pockets or anything too fancy. I want the focus to be on the vest, which I haven't really started besides having some patterns for it.

Just a little off, so redo.

After all of this I needed to start working with my fashion fabric, so I had to cut everything out. Easier said than done int his case. I had to line every horizontal line up on both the front and back with the notches being on the same lines. Then I had to make sure that the middle of the front and back had the same vertical line. I did a lot of double and triple checking. Then had to cut the 2 pieces out again and then the other pieces like the fly shield and extension- also lining those up with the front leg pieces they'd be sewn on to. I spent my 3 hour long class on Thursday cutting out all the pieces. then I attempted to sew the outer seams...not my best work. I had to seam rip my work and re pin it and try again. I just wanted everything to line up perfectly but no luck on my second try. My boss, Joan, suggested I use a walking foot to help keep the fabric in place with my pins. Best advice ever, they are looking great!

I spent a majority of yesterday working on them. So far I have the outer seams, and am almost done attaching the zipper and finishing that whole front crotch area. After I'm done with that I have the inseam and back crotch to sew shut, then just the waistband and hemming the bottom. I meet with Eric Monday morning so he can try the pants on and I can see how much I need to hem and I also need pictures to turn in with everything else for the pants (they're due Monday at 5pm). It's taken a lot of hard work and time but I am really loving how they're turning out. I can't wait until I make the shirt and vest and everything just comes together. The t-shirt is a grey jersey and the vest will be black with thin white vertical stripes and the back will be the same fabric as Gabby's dress. Also, I plan on trying to see if I have enough plaid left to make a dress for the day of the show for me. I can make a detachable collar out of scraps from Gabby's dress and use the same ribbon to tie it so my ensemble would match my models' and the pictures would be so great!

Look at those perfect horizontal lines!

Menswear Update

For the fashion show I am making an evening dress for my girl model (Gabrielle) and then for my guy model (Eric) I am making trousers, a jersey t-shirt, and a vest. All of which I make from using their measurements to make patterns, by either drafting the patterns or draping.

The shirt sloper and then some of the patterns.

Showcase is a class for my major where we're all divided into teams to work on different parts of the fashion show. I'm on the Publishing team and we take care of the booklet and ticket design/layout. Well, back to the point, in Showcase we have a team called Quality Check (or QC for short) that has checks for points for the class every week. Today all patterns were due, so I had to spend most for the past 2 days working on all my patterns for Eric's shirt and vest. Since I've been working on the pants in class I was basically done with them. I had a few problems with some of the measurements but I think the patterns turned out well. The next step is to make Eric's shirt and vest out of muslin and see how they look with the muslin pants, or I guess start making the pants out of fashion fabric. I haven't quite decided what to do yet, but I want to be done with them soon. I'll decide this weekend while I'm trying to finish up Gabrielle's dress, I still have to do the bottom skirt to make it a floor length dress.

First Pants

For my Apparel Design 2 class we are starting off the semester by making pants. Now we don't just go buy a pattern and make pants, oh no, we do it all from scratch. First we take our model's measurements then draft a pattern for a sloper using those measurements. Then we take that pattern and make it into a muslin pair of pants and have a fitting with one of our professors. Next we make any changes from the fitting to the patterns. After that we can make a sloper using those patterns. Using the sloper allows us to create a final pattern where we're able to add design details such as a waistband, pockets, zipper, and more.

 I started with my model's (Eric) measurements and was able to create my drafted pattern. There were a few times where I was nervous that they wouldn't turn out correct. For example, the waist to hip was 5 inches and my professor told me usually for guys it's 7-9 inches, so I was a little worried. But then I made the muslin pants and eagerly awaited the fitting. I only had to add 1/4 of an inch from the hip line to the crotch line, so I did pretty well for my first pair of pants. I am pretty happy with myself because I thought I would have to make a lot more changes and I didn't expect them to fit as well as they did.

You can see the muslin pants on the left, they're pretty basic. My lines didn't match up so it makes me nervous for when I use my actual fabric because it is black with white plaid lines and I have to be really careful and take my time so that all of the horizontal and vertical lines match up and are perfect. I really want these pants (and his whole outfit) to turn out really well so when I apply to London in the fall for the spring semester I will have a variety of garments that will be (hopefully) well constructed. I don't plan on sending London bad pictures of poorly constructed garments because then I definitely wouldn't get accepted, but I would love it if all the pieces I make this semester to turn out amazingly well.

Back to the pants, after the fitting I was able to tweak my patterns and start on my slopers.
Here they are:

They are the Back and Front pant legs in oak tag. I have all my lines drawn and notches notched. Now I am waiting for class on Tuesday to see what else I need to do. I've copied my slopers on to pattern paper but I know I need to add more to the patterns and am unsure of how much space I need so I might actually have to redo my patterns, but no big deal since I have my sloper.

I will keep you updated as the pants progress, I think the final pair are due the first week of February but we've already had an extension so it might be later but I hope to have them done quickly, I'm just so excited to see the outcome.

Evening Dress Progress

Front View

I have been working a lot on Gabby's dress and finally, after a lot of time and effort, she tried it on today. The bottom, which is only pinned, is too long. this is why I chose to pin it and not sew anything yet!

She's wearing black patent heels with the dress and I will (hopefully) be able to find some great black accessories. As of now I'm thinking of these combinations:

• Black pearl necklace (long and lots of strands) with her hair up and  with black feathers in it and a big cocktail ring and matching dangling earrings.
• Black elbow length gloves, long dangling earrings with her hair up and with feathers.
• A wrap of a contrasting material (fur or velvet maybe?) and then short black gloves and earrings. 

Side View

I'm also going to see about a long cigarette similar to Audrey Hepburn's character from "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Although, I haven't quite decided if I'd actually want her to walk down the runway with it. Although it would be a really great prop to take pictures with and possibly walk down the runway with...

I want the end result to look polished, sophisticated, but very kind of daring. For example, in the movie "Coco Avant Chanel" Coco Chanel wore a black dress she made to an elegant party when all the other women wore "happy" colors. I want her look to command the attention of a room without her saying anything. 

Now I just have to finish it!