Silk gazar

Jackjack worked with silk gazar this fall in NYC and I finally got to see it at Mood. This stuff is incredible. If you can imagine a quadruple weight organza then you're getting close.

Wikipedia says:

Gazar (also gazaar) is a silk or wool plain weave fabric made with high-twist double yarns woven as one. Gazar has a crisp hand and a smooth texture.

Gazar was developed by the Swiss textile firm Alexander in collaboration with Basque couturier Cristobal Balenciaga, who featured silk gazar in his collections of 1960-68. Balenciaga's mastery of this gleaming, lightweight fabric with its "claylike" ability to hold its shape was exemplified by the trapezoid wedding gowns in his collections of 1967 and 1968.

Dior Couture Spring 2013

Balenciaga 1967

Oscar de la Renta Resort 2011

Jason Wu...I just want to have this. 

Watch looks 28 and 44 move from the Dior Couture show.
http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/S2013CTR-CDIOR

Easter Couture

I don't get a new Easter dress this year, but I thought I'd dream a little and pick at least one dress from each Spring 2012 Couture show. I'm not raving about all of them, but I decided I had to choose one from each, some wouldn't load, so there you go. I added some Oscar de la Renta, which isn't a couturier, but de la Renta is just so feminine.

Alexis Mabille

Armani Prive

Bouchra Jarrar

Chanel

Christian Dior

Christian Dior

Elie Saab

Elie Saab

Elie Saab

Giambattisa Valli

Givenchy

Maxime Simeons

Oscar de la Renta

Versace

Oscar de la Renta

Project: V&A Lucile 1910s dress

Do you remember this little number that I'm in LOVE with?

Well, on 11 November Cecile Pelous (page 6), the former first draper at Dior during the best Galliano years, came back to BYU for her third year. She stops by because she's friends with one of my costume professors and she works with students who bring in sketches of what they want to drape. In general if you bring in a really interesting sketch (or in my case my soulmate dress) she'll basically drape it for you. With this dress she had a lot fun (I hope) figuring out the bodice. She went on about how you should really drape in jersey for a dress like this, but it worked out. I learned a lot from watching her and she would have us pin and mark when she went to help other students.

starting with the skirt

the bodice and "sash" are in one piece, the CF really takes a drastic turn to make this happen

Sadly we had to drape on a size bigger than myself because that's the only form we have an arm for.

I did drape the back skirt, so hard, I know.

absolutely every detail needs to be marked bc it's a big fat mess once you take it off the form

DEV is French for CF (center front)

so gratifying and artsy

I have taken the muslin off the form and done the pattern for the bodice and sleeve. It is still a big fat mess. I'm anticipating needing to redrape once the general shape is cut out. I'll post another entry about patterning. I also just got back from the L.A. area and purchased two jerseys from Michael Levine's to do a "mock up" and a final dress. I figure I'll make a dress from the pattern I get then see about scaling it down for my size. Right now I'm just going to make a cocktail length dress bc everything is on the bias and I'm anticipating needing 8-10 yds just for a short dress. Plus, I'm going to struggle to find an occasion to wear it short, where would I ever wear it long? My wedding? yes, but that's awhile off still.

favorite picture: vintage dior

I've had this photo in my cache for ages and am still hopelessly in love with it.
the hat, the waist, the blouse, the make up, the skirt, the jacket (which I'd die to see more of) and just the staging overall. This is one of my dream outfits on a very long list that I need to make for myself.

source

Winter dress

I have a lot of summer dresses, and a lot of junior type dresses that I've made in the past out of cutesy cottons and florals. I've been making a shift to more streamlined adult silhouettes in my wardrobe and am looking to make a winter dress (with at least 3/4 sleeves) for the upcoming season. I have some raspberry wool jersey I'm fixin' to use along with some black sweatshirt jersey I was going to use to make a jacket, but I think it might make a really cool formal but cozy LBD. I've gone through the vintage patterns at the costume shop but am not crazy in love with any of them...

BUT on Friday, Cecile Pelous, ex first cutter/draper at Dior (all of your favorite Galliano years) is making her annual visit to BYU to do her workshop, so if I come up with a design I can drape it on Friday under her excellent and watchful eye.

SO...I know I'm usually the one that comes up with the pretty things for you to look at, but if you want to help me out and make winter dress suggestions I'd love it! I'll for sure do research of my own, but would love input and opinions.