Diana dress idea! Quick sketch

Sat waiting for my uni interview so sketched my new (and possibly final) idea for Diana! Thinking now of what Elicia said the other day about keeping the tailored aspect and having a pencil skirt that follows on from the corset, same material, maybe casings as well so the wicker sticks can go through the skirt as well? I've only got until Monday to finish it...so time is ticking! Better settle on an idea pretty soon, and I really like this one!

Changing Diana dress...again!!!!

To be honest, I'm sick of this dress! Whatever I do I can't seem to get it to look how I want! Grr....

I've changed it again. Desperately trying to figure out a way to fix the skirt up!

You can see the bustle a bit but I think it needs to be bigger and have more volume!

I put wicker sticks where the front of the cream cotton would be hemmed to see if this would make the train stick out but no such luck :(

This makes it look like a sack of potatoes...maybe not this!

Right down to business! This is the current design and I think....just THINK, I might actually stick with it this time...maybe...

trying to go for something a little like this wedding dress with the drapes.

Diana dress so far..!

Making a bustle out of elastic, net, organza and bubble wrap to make the bum stick out and create a womanly silhouette.

added a soft net frill to the top....but I'm fairly sure I don't like it! Looks too...maid Marion / renaissance bar maid!

Using the fabric more as a cape and train rather than skirt, so I can use a different fabric and focus on using it all as the skirt instead of trying to make it stretch to be both a skirt and train.

Experimenting with ways to attach the skirt fabric...

Redesigning Diana dress

Since those cool (and not so cool) designs, I'm changing things up a bit because I'm beginning to get bored and I can' afford to coast! 

Changed my mind about the draped brown cotton...too dull and heavy. Found this nice greeny brown fabric, not exactly light weight but not as heavy as the cotton. Drapes well and looks nice (feels nice too, kinda furry), only I need it to cover the back somehow...hmm

Pulled the fabric up round the front more so that there was more of a skirt, but this doesn't solve the problem about the back of the dress...

It really does need a back, so I found some other natural colours and added them in, making a bigger train and giving the dress a back!

Contrast of loose skirt to structured top

Hearing what everyone had to say about my garment got me thinking... for starters it needs a skirt! So I had a play about with the excess fabric from the corset, trying out ways to hang it to make a draped skirt.

So since the corset is very tailored and fitted I thought it would look good for the skirt to contrast this and be floaty / drapey. I used the same fabric as the corset, but it's quite a heavy cotton so not the best material for draping...maybe I should try something else! Also, having the skirt coming from the top of the bodice it would cover it up too much, not showing off the corset enough.

After the lesson I sketched and painted a quick design of what this could look like if the skirt was a different colour. It's not easy to get across in a sketch unfortunately and I don't like it!

So I did another illustration for a different kind of skirt

But this looks too much like an evening gown...I need to funk my designs up a bit!!

Then I went on to doing some small sketches and adding a bit of felt tip pen for colour. These are more extravagant, more like sculptures rather than boring dresses.

Hope you can read my scrawlled notes!

Reflecting on my work so far with the help of my peers!

So today (actually about a month or so ago...I never got round to publishing this!) we set out all our work so far and let everyone in class critique it. We weren't allowed to speak, so all we could do was write down what advice they were giving us. This worked really well and has set my ideas a little straighter in my mind. It's good to get some other perspectives on your work, so you can actually see if other people are getting the theme / message you intended. The comments on my work were as follows:

- it's very different

- neat and tidy, like a tailored garment should be

- natural, can see the emphasis on change and metamorphosis

- needs more colour

- needs to be busier, embellished

- more pieces, wanting to make a skirt as per my designs

- more wicker and natural items such as leaves and grass, natural shapes

- experiments for fabrics and techniques, more complex materials

- leaves would disintegrate ---> metamorphosis, the garment would be constantly changing

- 2 different skirts? Separate from the corset. One tailored and one flowing? Just to see the contrast and which one I prefer

- OR best of both worlds and have a fishtail skirt? Both tailored and flowing

- expand sticks down arms?

- maybe stage it with hair, makeup and lighting and photograph it instead of it being a performance piece?

Making the corset

Pinned the corset pieces together with the boning casings in between, ready to stitch. Left about 1 inch of the casing showing on the outside of the garment.

Starting to make Diana dress

So here's my design for Diana, using wicker sticks as boning and have them go over the shoulders, with a full skirt. You can see a quick sketch of what I'd like the Diana dress to look like, along with a sketch of the corset plan and what sizes to make the boning casings.

I want the boning casing on the outside of the corset to show the structure which will reflect the power that Diana has and how she has to carry herself as a "Goddess".

Starting to cut out the pattern! I chose a pattern that I've used before because I know basically how to make it so have a better understanding of how to adjust it if needed. I'm using brown twill cotton which is quite thick and therefore will hopefully have the strength to create the structure I'm wanting.

Strips of fabric to create casings for the boning sticks.

Feeling inspired...more designs :)

so following on from my 1950's research and that awesome design that I did...

I did some more!

 Really like this one but I'm thinking I'd have to make a whole wig so that the hair colour matched exactly...but it's really cool I think. I wanted to show the aspect of Diana bathing, she would be naked, obviously, but that would mean making nothing, which isn't really the point! The hair shows femininity yet it's revealing, showing her vulnerability. The garment wouldn't be made of actual hair, but I was thinking maybe satin, organza and net? Satin would shine but might be too heavy for the light, floaty feel I'd like it to have.

I love this design but I don't think it would look as good if I tried to create it, maybe it will just have to stay as a design :(

This one I wanted to show power and strength, sort of based on a cockroach (ew!) but also sort of based on this garment I found under "wearable sculpture" during a google search.

Kirsten Fletcher - makes wearable sculptures for performers! Her work is amazing!! This particular piece is Venus, Goddess of the Sea.

http://www.kirstenfletcher.com/