Swan Lake dress

This dress is something I am most proud of. It took a lot of time to make and was all done from scratch. The making and development process is documented at the start of this blog. Here are some of the final images taken by my lovely friend Calum and modelled by another lovely friend of mine, Rachel :)

FD Fashion Show, Newcastle College SS11

As if i have just noticed that I never actually published any photographs from my final catwalk show last year, my tea cup inspired collection. So here's a little over view of the garments and accessories that I made :)

p.s. the catwalk photographs were taken by my lovely girlee smiffle :}

My shirt dress - light weight cotton with a dusky pink silk dupion section, edged in cream chiffon with tiny mother of pearl buttons.

This is a close up of the rose which I drew by hand, then had it digitally printed. I then machine embroidered it onto the shirt dress.

Little close up to show chiffon edging and tiny pearly buttons.

This is the back of my dress. I drew the rose then created a repeat print which was then digitally printed onto a light cotton fabric. The dress is again silk dupion and the printed fabric panel is edged with cream chiffon.

My favourite garment!!
These palatso trousers are made from a cream chiffon with a dusky pink silk dupion waist band.

My dress is made from a dusky pink 

silk dupion and a floral printed section, edged with a cream chiffon. The print was hand drawn by myself and created into a repeat pattern.

This is just a little boob tube top made from appliqued digitally printed roses to be worn with my trousers.

Catwalk Show SS11:

Tea Cup Collection

&

'Swan Lake' inspired evening dress

 

 

Final Garment

After sewing the lining to the main body of the dress and general fraying of the fabric, my garment became too tight for the size 12 mannequin just above the waist. The following photographs are taken on a size 10 mannequin, which was slightly too small around the bust, however I am very pleased with my final piece. The garment is almost identical to my sketch and I feel it has been created in a professional way with a high quality, clean finish.
 

Toile Creation Continued and Portfolio Development

My final toile with one layer of net to see how it will be stitched onto the main body of the dress. Some layers of the net and organza will be creased and crumpled to add more volume. The fabric for the corset top and for the joined skirt will be in a silver/grey duchesse satin. The layers will be of a white and grey net, grey crystal organza, a light grey organza and a silver organza.

The research page of my portfolio, looking at the 'Swan Lake' story, the natural swan form, traditional costumes from the ballet and atmospheric imagery.

 

 

This is another research page, similar to the first but looking at traditional ballet silhouette, modern design and an abstract, atmospheric images and 3D details.

 

These are a few of my initial thumbnails, based upon my chosen 'Swan Lake' theme. I started my designs by sketching the way evening wear looks to me, then by taking influences from my research to develop my silhouette and to add details that relate to my theme.

 This is my fabric research page. I have added a silhouette idea and styling illustration help connect the images.

This is my fabric page. I have created small samples with lengths of fabric to give my pages more depth. I have added a styling illustration to make the pages relate and an abstract image to create atmosphere.

 

This is an illustration of my final garment and another design with some fabric samples to show colour.

Sketchbook development

This is just a little research on designer Anh Mao, who I am currently working with at college through a work based project. This page needs a little more work.








This is a double page giving a brief history of Haute Couture, which I have highlighted with sketches, flats and close up drawings of the fabric.

This page is part of the Marchesa s/s 2011 collection. I love the laser cut techniques used in some of the garments which adds a modern twist to the lace trend which will be revived this spring/summer.












This is a work in progress page looking into the upcoming trends in spring/summer 2011. I have looked at 'sheer' and 'lace', sketching some closeup details and creating fabric samples using varying shades of organza.

My theme is Swan Lake. I am taking influences from traditional ballet costumes, the natural silhouette of a swan, and the colours and the shapes of water.

This is a small sketch in my note book of a silhouette and make up idea for my collection. I want to create an evening dress that has  aspects of a traditional ballet silhouette but with my own modern twist.