I should have documented this process better, but I'll try to share my project with the blogger world. The inspiration came from the first photo you see with the brownish jacket with velvet buttons and the dress underneath. I ended up not using that jacket at all (after I cut it up) but it served its purpose with inspiration. I have come to realize that my design aesthetic has a certain, specific silhouette (see my previous creation for Product Runway) although it didn't occur to me until I saw the finished piece.
Job one was to create the strapless dress, which was the base of the whole look. Using mostly the skirt bottom of the dress, I pleated a strapless bodice on the dress form.
From a different dress I cut the middle part to use as the high waistband of the coat that would wrap around the dress. The first layer of the skirt for the wrap coat was a vintage wool skirt in navy/hunter. I left all the edges raw, and even left the fringe on one side (I love asymmetry). I had begun with the idea of creating a voluminous avant garde neck piece but abandoned it (after submitting my sketch) to return to my best friend, the shrug.
Next I added a plaid cotton skirt as the first layer on the dress (so that it would feel soft against the model's skin, rather than wool),and eventually two more layers taken from vintage wool skirts - one red and one hunter green. I specifically used the wrong side so that the bias tape hem on the bottom would show. I put a 22" zipper up the back and actually sewed a strapless bra into the top for support. Then I hunkered down to add layer upon layer of vintage wool skirts to the coat wrap until it weighed about 30 pounds.
The bolero/shrug came together in an afternoon so I don't have any photos in process. I started with a women's button down shirt with shoulder pads (which I kept). I removed the sleeves, cut the high front and cropped back shape and added elastic to the hem all around to keep it tight to the body. the puffy bubble sleeves were made from the same vintage skirt that became the top layer of the coat wrap (maybe I planned that, maybe I didn't, but I like that they match), and the collar was the top of (yet) another vintage pleated kilt-like skirt, so the pleats were already built in to create the cone shape. At the last minute I used the lining of one of the skirts to add the black ruffled neck edge. At one point my husband's opinion was that it looked like a female braveheart but I thought it looked like a plaid scarecrow.
Finishing details included swapping out the metal buttons on the wrap coat for more prominent rounded silver ones, tightening the fit to accentuate my model's small waist, and making accessories for styling. I gave her knee highs cut from a pair of extra large, metallic black spandex pants, with the exposed seam in the back like in the 1940's. (Antoinette, they do look like boots in the photos!) I also made a pair of wrist cuffs out of scraps of plaid and some black suede I had in my stash. the buckle came from a skirt I had planned to use for the wrap coat, but decided that the shade of blue really didn't fit. Still I was glad to have the tiny buckles. Were you counting? I think that totals 12 garments deconstructed. All recycled, and under budget at $42.
I love the photo of my model on the runway with two of the judges asking questions. They let the judges get up close and personal as part of the scrutiny, and I'm told they were impressed with the construction. However, during the sequestered deliberation they asked to see it again, to be sure that all the raw edges were raw on purpose. Kim from Bouncing Wall was one of the judges, as well as my friend Dominic, but they both told me it was a collective, unbiased decision. One of my prizes for winning was to have the garment on display in the front window of Bouncing Wall for a week! If you're in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, check it out.
