New look for the autumn term Fashion Fixes

Photo Amanda Thomas

I hope you liked the shot of my new dress in the Museum amongst the glassware. I got some funny looks that day, especially on the near misses of being caught changing costume in a public stairwell.

Amanda Thomas took these shots. Amanda is a fashion and lifestyle photographer I have worked with on numerous shoots over the past 4 years and I'm thrilled she's on board.

I wanted to share this extra shot of the aztec collar I featured a while back. Although it seems like an outlandish piece, it is surprisingly wearable. So I thought I'd get it out once again and give you a styling idea.

Photo Amanda Thomas

Fashion Fix: Making a new garment using your existing clothes as a pattern

THIS IS MY FAVOURITE DRESS

In every girl’s wardrobe there is that one faithful dress that fits every occasion, attracts compliments and envious glances. Mine was a French Connection navy blue silk shirt dress. After 5 years of faithful service, it was undeniably on its last legs, and would have been in the bin years ago had my mother had her way.  The idea arose to reincarnate the cut and style of the dress in a new fabric by dismantling and turning it into a pattern for countless replicas.

Day 1:‘Oh no NOT that dress!’ were the horrified words from friend and fellow seamstress, Bianca. She had been called up to the studio to administer the dress’s ‘final photoshoot’ and had managed to convince me in a matter of minutes that this was a bad idea. I sent her on her way, unpicked the seams and looked to the future. It is only when you deconstruct a garment that you see the true cost of years of wear - the fabric was so threadbare in places it was almost indecent. 

As painful as it was to say goodbye to such a beautiful garment I couldn’t wait for the project to be realised: I had picked out 2.5 m of an Erdem-inspired floral print from Biddle Sawyers Silks on Berwick Street, Soho.  It is advisable to take along your garment when picking out fabric as you will often be surprised at how much you need. Erdem has pioneered the importance of prints, his acid bright colours have supercharged the generic floral print and his careful placing of pattern on the body has introduced a new way of sculpting fabric into a garment.

Day 2: I was left with a raggedy set of jigsaw pieces, which quickly needed to be labelled before I forgot which bit went where. The best way to create a pattern from a previous garment is to cut the original pieces out along the seams. Once pinned to calico and cut out you can then place that upon new fabric and create your own seam allowance. Make sure to mark out all darts and other details on to the calico piece. Using a chalk wheel I marked out the seam allowances on my new fabric.

Day 3: there is a lot to be said for doing this project over a short amount of time. I had only a fading recollection of how the original dress was put together and felt rather overwhelmed at where to begin…I couldn’t shake off the impending sense of doom that I had just cut up my favourite dress and was arrogantly assuming that I could recreate the masterpiece. 

By that evening I had managed to create the basic dress structure at an alarming pace. Once you get into a rhythm of piecing the puzzle back together, your own instincts and memory of the original garment take over and it is really quite straightforward. That is the advantage of working towards a finished product you know so well as opposed to starting cold with a new pattern.

Day 4: in dissecting pieces like the collar and cuffs, I was met with the challenge of inserting ‘facings’ to stiffen the pieces. Again, this was pretty straightforward and it wasn’t until inserting the button placquet down the front that I really faced some resistance. Too much close work was turning me blind so I sent for reinforcements: I cruelly roped in my friend Polly to cover some buttons and shout encouragement from the sidelines.  



After some tussling with the sewing machine and a quick flick through the manual we achieved button-holes. The covered buttons were sewn on, and there was my favourite dress staring back, reincarnated in the fabulous Biddle Sawyer print.  

We all know the power of a print: horizontal stripes can broaden the figure, whilst vertical lines can lengthen. Erdem’s sections of block colour and patterned prints give add shape and texture beyond the seam structure of his dresses.  I specifically chose to create ‘rings’ around my sleeves and skirt, with the stripe in the Biddle Sawyer fabric, adding elegance and breaking up a dense print.

Erdem

 Next time when looking for fabrics, take special notice of the print and see how you can make it work for you.

Here is the first of my new style of finished shot. 

Amanda Thomas and I spent the day hopping about the exhibits of Bristol City Musuem to create some interesting backdrops for my Autumn Collection

photo Amanda Thomas

photo Amanda Thomas

Remember me...

I have been kept away from my blog for a good few weeks now, but not for no good reason! I have been working with Davy and Kristin Mcguire on a really exciting new work

Sprite Symphony.

 By Davy and Kristin McGuire 

PACCAR Room, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon 

16 November 2013 – 2 March 2014

Sprite Symphony takes you on a journey around the theatre into a world of magical fairies and sprites. Follow the trail to find enchanting fairies trapped in jam jars and the Queen of the Fairies' haunted dress. Discover a cabinet of curious sprites in the foyer and listen to their enchanting music. 

Created by award winning artists Davy and Kristin McGuire, Sprite Symphony combines animation and projections with costumes and props made by the Royal Shakespeare Company, recomposed to invent a brand new contemporary fairy tale.

I have designed and created a piece that is central to the installation…It opens on Saturday and I can't wait to spill the beans on it all next week!

Vintage Glamour, Rare photos of 1940s showgirls

Circus Showgirl, 1950. Courtesy Taschen

I've just found these on the internet and have fallen in love with them! For me, these are far more exciting than the models covered in Milk currently doing the rounds.  I thought I'd share some of my favourites with you.

Aerialist Pinito del Oro, 1953. Courtesy Taschen

There is something incredibly disorientation about seeing a world that you've only ever known in black and white suddenly presented in 'glorious technicolor'  These shots of circus show girls were shot at traveling camps in the ’40s and ’50s, and are a marvelous inspiration for costume and fashion lovers.The girls have an incredibly real beauty about them and sense of fun and empowerment

Circus Performer Couple, 1954. Courtesy Taschen

 I think some of these images are going to have a huge impact on some future design projects! one for the scrap book.

Mardi Gras girl, 1952. Courtesy Taschen. Courtesy Taschen

Aerialist Pinito del Oro, 1953. Courtesy Taschen

Handbags from Heaven: A Chat with Jo Hodge

A few months back I had a great time utilising my Free trial from Handbags from Heaven. I had a chat to the brains behind the idea, Jo Hodge, to find out a bit more about the very modern phenomenon.

Jo Hodge is a 34 year old mum of one and Founder & Director of handbagsfromheaven, she describes the forward thinking company as allowing women to hire 100% authentic designer handbags for the same cost as a daily cappuccino! 

Jo started a career in IT in 2000 and spent the next 7 years working her way up the corporate ladder gaining experience in the project management and internet support fields.  A lover of luxury labels she treated herself to a gorgeous Mulberry designer handbag in 2005 with her year end bonus.  However in 2006 when invited to a neighbours wedding she struggled to purchase an outfit that would match her bag.  At that wedding she got talking to a friend who had the same predicament, so they decided to borrow each other’s designer bag for special occasions if the outfit they bought accessorised it better.

Over the following months more and more friends joined the “designer bag borrowing club” and Jo had a flash of inspiration.  If most of her friends needed access to a range of designer handbags then how many more women were out there?  handbagsfromheaven was born. 

Launched on 6^th June 2007, handbagsfromheaven allows women all over the UK to borrow a bag from top fashion houses such as Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Prada and Chloe.  Prices start from as little as £1.80 per day and handbagsfromheaven offer an unrivalled membership scheme which not only allows women free hires and the opportunity to purchase stock but also discounts on products from carefully chosen companies which will give women added luxury in other areas of their lives such as cosmetics, clothing and footwear.  They also offer a pay as you go service for a no commitment, no hassle designer bag hire service.  

The borrow a bag idea was relatively new to the UK but  Jo found her sales go through the roof in May 2008 when handbag hire was featured in the first Sex and the City film.  Since then the company has gone from strength to strength and are now even hiring bags to TV and film productions (their bags have been featured in series 2 of Secret Diary of a Call Girl with Billie Piper and series 4 of Skins to name a few).

Jo says there isn’t a typical client “we have women in their early twenties who are members and hire a bag each month as they are Fashionistas and love having the luxury labels they couldn’t otherwise afford.  We also have mid Thirties ladies in client facing occupations such as Solicitors, PR Account Manager and suchlike who again hire bags on a monthly basis to project that professional, successful image.  A large proportion of our customer base is also the “pay as you hire” ladies – women who want to borrow a bag for that special occasion; wedding, christening, job interview or holiday.

Whatever the reason for hiring with gorgeous packaging, next day delivery to all parts of the UK and the ability to shop from the comfort of your own computer at any time of the day or night handbagsfromheaven is fast becoming the number one website for fashion conscious females.

Copy supplied by Jo Hodge.

Fashion Fix: How to weave a lanyard and chain link bracelet

Ros spent time at American Summer camps rounding up children, and it was here she learned of the woven lanyard friendship bracelet (or 'boondoggle' as they called it). 

Adding a chain link fastening turns this childhood obsession into a gorgeous pop of colour on your wrist. AND AN EXCELLENT LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS PRESENT.

When I made this the first time round, Ros told me it wasn't good enough and I had to start all over again.  I've realised this is a worldwide institution so I tentatively give you this woven bracelet Fashion Fix.

You will need:

• two 1m long 2mm wide pieces of yellow flat plastic lacing
• gold chain bracelet cut to size (long enough to be wrapped halfway around your wrist)
• pliers
• scissors
• all purpose glue

How to do it.

1. To attach one end of the lacing to one end of the chain, thread both pieces of lace through the end loop of the chain. Position them in a cross ready to begin. (See Pic below)
2. Try as I might I dont think I could instruct you any better than to follow this online tutorial I found.
3. weave the lacing as shown in the video. Continue until it os long enough to fit just over halfway around your wrist.
4. cut the chain to length to close the chain around your wrist. attach the lacing and chain ends as you did to start. 
5. Poke any loose ends through the holes in the bracelet and pull tight. Keep pulling these ends tight every ten minutes. 
6. When you're happy with the tightness of the weave put the finished bracelet around a bottle for a day to help keep its shape.
7. Add a thin coating of all purpose glue to the ends to make it extra secure.

Close up of the starting cross 

Wear your bracelet in a cluster of colour and matching metal

Davy and Kristin Mcguire

photo from Davy and Kristin Mcguire

I am lucky enough to be working with Davy and Kristin Mcguire, paper architects and projectionists extroadinaire...They create intricate paper sculptures and bring them to life with animation and projection.

Photo Davy and Kristin Mcguire

Have a look at their site, it will quite literally blow your mind. www.davyandkristinmcguire.com

photo from Davy and Kristin Mcguire

I am contributing some set and costume design to their latest project...but my lips are sealed! All will be revealed soon!

photo from Davy and Kristin Mcguire