ok so it's not THAT bad...

my CAD class was a disaster.  the software (kaledo) is the least intuitive program EVER, the teacher had her busiest semester in life, and the school computers couldn't handle the complicated software so it constantly shut down.  thus, my creative endeavors were thwarted and i learned very little.  luckily, i could use my trusty photoshop/illustrator combo to complete the final project with a little help from my flats rendered from tech drawing.  [borrowing for the sake of time is ALWAYS ok when its from your own portfolio, right?]  as mentioned back in february when i assembled the mood board, this is an intimates collection for anthropologie, drawing inspiration from beach/storms/miu miu.  our CAD class was geared toward textile/print design, so all prints and plaids designed/altered by moi.

and here's my excuse for absence....

finals at a prestigious fashion school are not the typical 1 week whirlwind of deadlines.  finals are a month long event that consume all hours of the student's life, breeding a hoard of blistered-finger, unshowered, sleep-deprived hermits.  the upside? there are things to show for it besides exam grades. (click to enlarge!)

my construction 2 final was based on the Egon Schiele collection posted previously.  techniques/features included? twist, shirring, elastic waist/legs, hidden pockets, invisible zipper, bias lining.  whew!!--much more exhausting that it appears.  unfortunately, i lost my back view, but basically it looks the same, just add back-bodice darts, and tie the ends of the twist in a small bow/knot.  fabric: silk/cotton voile.

fashion drawing 2 final consisted of two mini-collections.  one commercial, and one more avant-garde.  these drawings make more sense with the swatches included, but my teacher still has them for grading purposes.  i re-drew these MULTIPLE times, but my over-achiever, people-pleasing self could not stop until my favorite teacher was happy.  he wanted me to challenge myself by loosening up my line quality, so this is 'messier' than my usual work.  i can dig it, but it will take some practice.  oh--and my teacher STILL said i have a long way to go (notice the awkward far-right figure in both collections--haha!).... too bad class is over.

tech drawing final had to be a small collection using more complicated flat drawings, patterns, and various color fills.  i misunderstood the due date and did 90% of this in one night---the first of many sleepless nights this past 10 days.  my collection is another spin off of the Egon Schiele inspiration, but presented as pajamas/loungewear/lingerie.

i still have one more to go, but i'm not particularly excited about it, so it will not be shared. :) and my other two were a fashion history exam and a paper on sustainability applied to the magazine industry.  maybe i'll post the 10 page paper, but i doubt anyone has the attention span to read it.

and now time for some well-overdue sleep. goodnight, loves!

egon, meinen lieb!

translation: i heart egon schiele.

self portraits by schiele

i've been swamped, again.  (so goes fashion school finals), but here's a brief on one of my favorite expressionist painters and a quick flashback to when i was a fine arts student... ah the good ol' days of oil painting, screen printing, and live figure drawing.

i am enrolled in a fashion history class that fuses art with fashion.  PERFECT for me! and our final project? a presentation/paper on an inspiring artist with a mini-collection that fuses MY design with the ARTIST'S essence.  first thing i've been legitimately happy with since fall semester finals:

[SCHIELE SLIDESHOW COMING SOON]

A pioneer of the Expressionist painters, Egon Schiele created grotesquely beautiful renditions of the figure.  His stroke was both heavy and fluid, contrasting the realistic renderings of art prior.  Curving around the shapes of the body, the line ceased to delicately depict a subject, rather becoming at least as important as the figure itself.  Scheile’s understanding of the human figure allowed him to manipulate the traditional portrait into the ultimate expression of humanity.

Born in Tulln on the Danube, Austria, in 1890, Schiele was a child prodigy who sought the teaching of Gustav Klimt and attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.  Drawing inspiration from Art Nouveau and the Impressionism, Schiele produced twisted figures with underlying themes of existentialism, death, and sexuality.  The images were disturbing as the poses were foreshortened and unnatural.  The figures were frail, suffering from the hardships of the first World War.  He gained notoriety for his expressive style, dominant artistic talent, but also his pornographic imagery and underage models.  His erotic female nudes and barely-clothed figures depicted his wife, lovers, and coming-of-age girls summoned to his studio.  For this, he received much criticism, opposition, and even an arrest with almost a month in jail. 

Despite the controversy, Schiele managed to make a positive impression on early twentieth century art.  In his short life of twenty-eight years, Schiele produced over 3,000 pieces of stunning expression.  He and his wife both succumbed to the Spanish Influenza in 1918, making his large body of innovative work even more impressive.  With so much emotion sealed into such a young body, his heavy themes may have been too much to have sustained beyond his prime.

My own work has largely been figurative since I picked up a pencil, but my hand has always been delicate, precise, and noticeably feminine.  Through art school I was challenged by my professors, peers, and myself to make something “ugly”.  This deemed a near impossible feat, so I compromised with a contrast of “ugly” subject matter depicted in a soft and “pretty” style.  With this approach, I find Schiele to be a perfect source of inspiration.  I have taken his grotesque and provocative and interpreted it as lovely and delicate without losing his essence.  Many of his figures are shown in lingerie, so I also pulled elements of turn-of-the-century undergarments into my details and silhouettes.  The raw expressive line would be created by wires inserted in the seams of the garments, and the sheer organdies and organzas would reveal not only the construction of the garment, but also the frail figure underneath.  Asymmetry and heavy draping suggest undressing.  Though inspired by such a tragic artist, my garments should make the wearer feel beautiful and sensual rather than tasteless and destitute. 

mood board

my mini-collection

so there ya have it.  dark and twisted becomes my delicate fantasy.... i think i'm making the 2nd one from the left for my construction final! yay for having a summer romper just in time for school to get out!

give me SOMARTA!

on my way to the FIT bookstore for a [MUCH needed] patternmaking book yesterday, i detoured into the school's museum to check out their current exhibits: his & hers, vivienne westwood 1980-89, and japan fashion now.  i have little obsessions with pieces from each of the three exhibits, but something incredible attracted all of my attention for the last two days, even though i had seen the japanese display back in november.


japan fashion now showcased the pioneer japanese designers of the late 70's, 80's and early 90's [note: rei kawakubo and issey miyake].  after circling around the masters, i entered into a room of 20+ present japanese designers and lost all hope of catching my breath.  so much variety, ingenuity, and perfection in one room.  but SOMARTA was the epitome of them all.


founded in 2006 by designer Tamae Hirokawa, a former member of issey miyake's design team, SOMARTA is a highly conceptual fashion line.  It is a sub-brand of SOMA, hirokawa's art direction, graphic design, sound, and fashion.  


the images featured are from the S/S 2009 collection.  FIT displayed the first piece (first TWO images), entitled "the jellyfish ensemble" (or something like that).  look closely and you can see boning used to shape the skirt like a bubble + tentacles and trimming down the center reminiscent of fossilized fishbone. i love the idea of translucence, revealing the infrastructure of the garment to be just as beautiful as its exoskeleton.  she could seriously just float away.  i literally gawked at this piece for several minutes...and that HEADPIECE! primo.  but it doesn't stop there, so i picked out two other skeletal faves from the same season.  click the SOMARTA links in the last paragraphs to visit the official website and facebook page for further exploration of this innovative brand.

sourcing:
info: fashion japan: SOMARTA
images: zimbio.com

welcome back, spring! {and childhood}

the snow in NY has finally melted and my spring fever is more severe than EVER! i can't get away from pinks/girly pastels in my work...which is totally out of character.  but i get to go crazy with the ruffles and flowy details i've always adored as they won't be hidden by freaking down jackets!

for my technical drawing midterm, we had to design a (basic) line.  totally free range, but the flats had to be PERFECT.  mine are not, but hopefully you won't notice the mistakes for which my prof undoubtedly docked my grade.  my inspiration was a little girl's tea party: pastels, whimsy, clean, and feminine.  it's a spring collection, so the materials are very light cottons.  only the leggings and dolman tee are knits.  unfortunately, the color reps are supposed to be on the presentation board, and the black+white's are supposed to be on the spec sheets (aka "design cards").  

hope you enjoy my simpler/more sophisticated side....enough to buy it one day.  [click to enlarge]

**note: i'm not the biggest fan of the long peg skirt, but it was 3am and i needed one more garment for this project.  

....and now to start patterning/sewing one of these babies....

delayed final

so my teacher stinks at timeliness. here's my final project that was JUST NOW RETURNED! from my fashion industry design course--entitled Dressed in the Dark.


Customer Profile/Line Info

Brand Name:  ell.

Age Range:  22-32 years old, but mentally/emotionally suspended between childhood                        and adulthood.

Occupation:  She is a young professional, working a 9-5 for wages to fund her valued                        free time adventures.  She may be in advertising, copywriting, public relations, or                        architecture.  She loves her job and dresses professionally, but the                                                majority of her wardrobe consists of “play clothes” for adults that she                                    sports after work and on the weekends.

Annual Income:  $35K—$50K

Education/Institution/Degree:  She graduated from the local state university with a bachelor of science in communication/advertising/marketing.  She chose this school based on federal grants and in-state tuition so she could graduate without debt.  She was involved with the school paper/radio, and she interned at a local television production studio.  Education was an important accomplishment, but 4 years was plenty for her to begin her career.

 Residence (type/location):  Her single-floor, 1,200 sq foot, suburban house is a century old, slightly lacking in stability, but making up for it in charm.  Decorated mostly in clean neutrals and muted pastels, her home is a soothing escape with whimsical flair, boasting abundant handmade accoutrements from the local market and vintage trinkets acquired via inheritance or thrifting. 

Marital Status:  She has been planning her wedding day since she received Dream Bride Barbie, but if she has not yet tied the knot, she’s not necessarily in a rush to do so.  If she’s met her “Ken”, they are newlyweds just beginning co-inhabitance and compromises while still very much infatuated.  If he hasn’t popped the question, or even come along yet, she’s a dreamer and patiently waiting for Handsome to ease his way into her simple life.

Spouse’s Occupation:  If hubby exists, he is in civil/environmental engineering.  His job pays him well enough to support a single-income family (but she works anyway). He works for the city, trying to make civil structures more sustainable, and environmentalism infiltrates his entire life—work, play, and home.

Children (ages):  Since she still feels like a child, she has no children….yet.

Leisure Activities:  She loves to go on a nightly bike ride with her husband after dinner. On the weekends, the couple travels to nearby nature reserves for hiking, swimming, climbing, or just skipping rocks.  It’s not unusual for the couple to be spotted on the playground at the neighborhood park or throwing Frisbees into the river for their dog to swim-fetch.  They are also avid indie-film movie-goers.  Her long list of favorite activities is indicative of her sporadic and spontaneous personality.  She thrives on unpredictability, risks, and the instantaneous.

Vacation/Travel:  She saves 10% of every paycheck so she can look forward to her one week of paid vacation per year.  She only travels to conferences for her job, which are held in larger cities throughout the US, so she chooses paradise and relaxation over sight-seeing adventure for her time off work.  She finds the best paradise deal on travel websites and hops a plane to vitamin d, sea breeze, and exotic            sights.

Favorite Designers:  She loves environment-conscious Stella McCartney.  Alexander Wang, Fendi (except for their furs),  and Miu Miu are other favorites, but she looks to these designers for inspiration, only buying limited classic “must-haves” from higher-end brands.

Favorite Stores:  She shops on a budget, but not for cheaply constructed garments, so she looks to J.Crew, Gap, Madewell, and Zara for her shopping fix, only stopping ever-so-rarely at Saks Fifth Avenue and Barney’s New York (only during trips to the City for the occasional Stella McCartney or Alexander Wang).  She could window shop yuppy, semi-urban/urban boutiques for hours if given the freedom to do so.

Current Trends:  Current trends that really capture her attention include sustainability, soft materials, sheers, simple lines, wearability/versatility, and simple palettes/dark--neutral tones.

Demographics

Age:  22-32

Gender:  female

Income/Socioeconomic Status:  single [$35K—$50K, middle class], combined [$70K--$120K, upper middle class]

Marital Status:  single or newlywed, no kids

Ethnicity:  not specified

Location:  suburban America

Garment

Year/Season:  Fall I/2011

Store to Sell: Stand-alone “Ell.” boutiques, select Bloomingdales. stores

Price Range:  contemporary, $160—$300

illustration

flats

fabrics

lost time

so i may have been lazy in my posting, but last night i submitted a wedding dress design to a contest sponsored by BRIDES magazine, so i haven't been completely worthless.  winning is certainly a long shot, but i've adopted a new optimistic and aspirational mindset and i want to embrace every opportunity to create.  here's my entry and description.  let me know what you think! i love design feedback.

Finding inspiration in galleries of vintage and antique wedding dresses, i felt that every one of them belonged inside a glass display box at a high art museum.  My bohemian dress applies the nostalgic, pre-loved quality of the ivory/antique cream color with cascading tiers of crinkly silk chiffon and grandma's crochet lace.  A bow front adds a touch of modern romance, but both the loops and tails are artfully tied twice to wrap the bow from front to back.  The free spirit of a woman in love is timeless, and not just reserved for the wildly romantic tales of your grandmother's youth.

and just look at what cute little diddy popped up after my submission! that illustration!! i die.  couldn't resist sharing.

sourcing:

submission illustration--operationdreamdress.com

chloë does cute

well this was a good weekend.  

after writing about lulu, i went and commented on her blog.  not even 3 hours later, she had replied via email that she appreciated + loved my write-up and placed a permanent link to my blog on the sidebar of her's!! dreams do come true.  now i just need to set up an interview :)

on my artist-high, my sickly body (blah winter crud that lasts forever) miraculously regained the strength to tackle williamsburg in three fantastic days.  while three days IS enough to fall in love, it is NOT enough to claim that i am finished exploring.  i will post on this artist's haven after i am more fully exposed to its wonders.

and if those two beautiful happenings weren't enough, my friend chandra and i headed down to opening ceremony in soho.  friday night was the launch of a particularly special line, and we had the itch to meet the designer, lovechild of indie film + edgy fashion, chloë sevigny!!  

this was an extremely exciting event for me, since this relates back to my very first explorations in fashion.  spring 2008, i took an independent study with UT's artist-in-residence, munro galloway (one of my biggest art-school influences/mentors).  he had a little more knowledge in fashion marketing/illustration/design than our tenured professors and he challenged me first with a piece based on chloe's upcoming line.  i would show you, but being my first intentional fashion illustration, i'm not confident sharing. hah.  

you should enlarge the images so as not to miss out on all the chloë-splendor.

for those who aren't familiar with this explosion-of-talent, chloë has been in the alt-culture's eye since the mid nineties, playing in edgy/controversial indie films such as kids and boys don't cry. {confession: i've never seen either}, but she's also been in zodiac {which i DID see and love}.  Sure she's a fab actress, but she also modeled for sassy magazine, and has collaborated with multiple designers/fashion houses/celebs in creating clothing lines.  In 2009, she launched her own line for opening ceremony, a boutique carrying high-end, cutting-edge, drool-all-over-myself fashion.  


friday night's launch was for her pre-spring 2011 line, full of flirty femininity.  if the price points weren't higher than my current checking balance, i would've swiped up EVERY ONE of her dresses {particularly the paisley version of the grey bibbed dress--2nd row, left side}.  the prints were classic with the perfect combo of vintage + girly.  the colors were pretty neutral (go figure. everything is grey these days).  the fabrics were flowy.  then she added her chloe-esque touches in patterned tights, leather pants/jackets, ridiculous platforms, and a little punk-glam. plus she's modeling her own line, so BA.

in utter admiration, i approached the towering blonde and made a fool of myself, telling about my assignment on her and then gushing over her paisley dress, but i knew i'd regret not interacting with a style icon. she was perfectly poised and gratefully receptive.  the paparazzi (probably just the opening ceremony blog people) even took our picture together. several times. I'M FAMOUS! heh. and as dumb as i was, i don't regret it.


sourcing:
me + chloë at opening ceremony
    openingceremony.us blog
general chloë collage, clockwise from left (excluding the logo)
    prettylittlevintage.blogspot.com
    trendland.net (supposedly from nylon mag originally)
    thevintagerack.com
    thevintagerack.com
    trendland.net (supposedly from nylon mag originally)
pre-spring line for opening ceremony
    becomegorgeous.com
    for more images of the collection, click here.