Embroidery Trending

Embroidery is everywhere. It's  the most exciting trend I have seen on the runway and stores for quite some time. Wearable art is exciting, provocative, decadent, and beautiful. I especially love the indulgent statement pieces.  Are you ready to create your own statement piece?

Dolce and Gabbana is doing it.

Gucci is doing it. 

Dior is Doing It.

Yves Saint Laurent is doing it.

TV/ Game of Thrones is doing it .

Are you doing it ?

There are two types of embroidery here.  Classical embroidery which uses timeless designs, often sewn with silk, gold, and silver bouillon thread for the needle work.  The other is  Folk art style which comes from the "street".  Casual designs that capture the mood of the artist in daily life, politics, current events, nature,  and even emotional statements.

Back in the day, wealthy women would embroider lavish spectacular creations to be worn or displayed.  The needle art was handed down through the generations by mothers or tutors.  Today England has the Royal School of Needlework, training new needlework artists. 

Even youtube has embroidery directions for the novice. It is my belief that people  are searching for more individual and one of a kind looks. A backlash to the high volume boring looks that have saturated stores, the runway, and life in general for years now.

What better way to create a statement piece but with  art?

My introduction to embroidery comes from a more humble place than an academy.  It was the dining room of my friends home. Back in grade school days, my best friend Wendy and I  wanted to embroider some flowers on our  Fred Segal jeans.  Wendy's housekeeper Maria, generously introduced us both to the art of embroidery.  Maria was a master of the craft, and her talent sadly under-appreciated in a world of machine embroidery.  If only I  could thank her again for the introduction to hand embroidery she gave to us.  

As an adult,  my embroidery was mostly limited to making children quilts and pillows as gifts. For these, I created free-hand designs inspired by fairytales and nursery rhymes. But life with raising a family and work got in the way.  I barely had time to read the paper, so I simply stopped embroidering. 

A few years ago I was yearning for a creative relaxation  to watch TV with.  So I began to embroider once again. While sourcing for design inspiration, my enthusiasm was peaked by a book called American Denim-A New Folk Art  by Peter S. Beagle. 

Denim  lends itself to this art form, especially for daily wear pieces. So I pulled out my favorite denim shirt and began stitching away. It started with a few whimsical flowers.  However  I was throughly  inspired to keep going . With each new design I completed, a new idea popped in  my head. All of the designs had a personal meaning to me: There are references to the Fibonacci golden math rule,  saving/protecting water, as well as several spiritual and mystical symbols.

*The denim shirt that started out to just cover a few sharpie marks  above the right pocket.

When my denim shirt was  finished, I began with my next project : A  linen shirt-which  had a few tiny tears at stress points. What better way to save an old favorite?  I diligently covered each tear with a new design.  Sadly however  each time I wore the shirt,  more tears appeared.  

For this embroidery rescue  I quickly learned,  the linen shirt was passed saving . The fabric was just too fragile.  Lesson learned. 

Not one to toss out all the embroidery, I grabbed scissors and  cut all the stitch work off  before tossing out the remaining shirt.  Now I'm attaching the needle work to a new linen safari jacket. 

*My new linen safari jacket with transplants from my old linen shirt.

*I attached each embroidered piece to felt for extras support. Then attached the felt patch to the new linen shirt jacket.

Now my embroidery has gone beyond just a TV watching hobby. It's hard  for me to put down. I'm so glad to have this back in my life.  It soothes my inner soul, and has become my creative therapy. 

Currently I am embroidering tarot and playing cards.  These designs I discovered while searching  for  unusual and unexpected versions of the cards.  Eventually these will be attached to yet another

jacket in my closet.

A Royal Flush 

Tarot 

My goal is to be whimsical, fun, and embroider designs that are meaningful to me. 

True folk art pieces are meant to be one of a kind. They are statement heirloom treasures in their own right.   Machine work does not capture the depth, dimension, and irregular movement of hand embroidery.

Couture is not daily wear knock around  fashion. It's for special occasion.  These designer collections are spectacular because of all their hand work done by skilled artisans.  It takes hundreds of hours of work to create these hand embroidered collections.

  

The more casual  RTW designer looks are created with machine embroidery and will never be  the real deal of folk art .   So if you lack the funds to buy couture, or want real folk art in your life,  pick up an embroidery needle and start your own personal statement piece.

#GucciHoodie  #DiorTarot  #YSLJeanJacket  #DolceAndGabbana  #OneOfAKind  #GameofThronesEmbroidery  #AmericanDenim  #FolkArtEmbroidery  #HandEmbroideryArt

Spring Overview 2014 RTW

Even with small upticks in the economy we can't seem to shake the stale silhouettes that show no interesting or exciting design elements.  

For my Spring RTW 2014 overview, I  randomly chose a selection of  five designers to sample the season. My picks here are TSE, Chloe, Brandon Sun, Just Cravalli, and Victoria Beckham. It was my hope that something would pop as the next trend from these runway shows. Like eating empty calories, I was left unfulfilled and craving something delicious.

  TSE

 For the TSE house, the color palette was white, and more white. The color white can be used as a money and empowerment color. However these designs didn't reflect either for me. The sack look (photo left), for the most part doesn't look good on anyone, including the runway models. The outfit on the right was my favorite for this TSE show. Not original or exciting , but classic and very wearable. C +

                                                                       

Chloe 

The Dumpy Pieces

This collection was a plethora of incredibly dull colored sack combinations. A sad mess. D-

Chloe - 

The Few Good

 These were my favorite pieces from the Chloe show. They were sharp interesting and actually flattering. B+

Brandon Sun 

Frumpy and Poorly Fit

Once again a designer with an attachment to the sack look. Clearly this look doesn't even flatter a skinny model. The orange stripe skirt has great potential, but it gets lost under the black leather sack top. On the right, the black leather dress landed on my banish list because it wasn't fitted properly to the model.  The dress hangs so low it appears that the models breasts  are sagging. Poor fit seems to be a continuing trend with many shows on the runway.  D+

Brandon Sun 

The better pieces

I chose these two outfits from his collection because of the interesting pop colors and a marginally better fit. The orange dress needs to have the waist positioned better. It's not a defined drop waist, just droopy .  B-

Just Cravalli 

The Bad

 Looks like a mess culled from fabric scraps with no design thought whatsoever.  D-

Just Cravalli 

Almost -but not quite

 Here is an example of how combining different fabrics can work and be fun. I really wanted to like these dresses, however the fit is horrible. None of these dresses fit the model in the chest area and need a step alteration. This poor fit, creates that droopy, saggy breast look. Is this the design trend of the season?  D

For those wondering what does a correct fit look like, here are examples from four different eras, 1950's - 2013 . 

      Victoria Beckham

 One dress that barely made the cut 

This was the only dress from her collection I liked albeit marginally.  Not exciting, but very wearable. Ditch the wide ugly white belt, it does not compliment this tall model's boyish shape.  B-

Victoria Beckham 

The Bad

 Boring sacks  and uninteresting  80's flashback looks. 

D-

Retro-Modern Wedding

Dolce&Gabbana runway for Winter 2013-14 was clearly influenced by the budget conscience festivities of the Vatican for the new Pope Francis. True to his priestly vows, this Pope has proven to be more humble and frugal than past Pontiffs.  

In my opinion, if the Pope can cut back for the biggest celebration of his life, no bride should shy away from  saving a few dollars for her nuptials. Creating your own beautiful dress that can be worn again for other occasions, is a good place to start. 

The D&G Winter collection is a great look to use as a direction for a retro modern wedding. To my eye the collection was very Byzantine religious icon meets 1950's-'60's styling.  For this blog, I selected two chic and sophisticated white lace dresses that would be easy to re-create for your own wedding. 

These dresses lend themselves to a second life in your closet and can easily be worn again with some added accessories. That's smart and modern thinking. Ironically it's also retro thinking  from the pre-Victorian era.  Years ago women would wear their Sunday best dress to get married in, and then would continue to wear it.  They did not put the dress in a sealed box  , and store it in the back of the closet.

After the wedding over, the short lace dress on the left  could

 be worn with  black leather pants underneath and a black obi at the waist . The dress on the right could be worn with a red leather belt  or a great chunky necklace to any cocktail party.

 I found this white cotton lace on Etsy under "crochet lace".  However don't hesitate to hunt vintage or thrift shop  for  old wedding dresses and repurpose the lace from them. Some beautiful expensive lace can be found at a bargain.

The best selection of vintage patterns can be found the internet.  It's easy to see how these patterns  above and below can translate to the D&G  looks.

Remember go by your bust size when buying patterns as all the companies use American standardized sizing.  Store bought clothing sizes  are vanity sized, and not accurate to patterns. 

As for the bridesmaids why not polish off the whole sophisticated wedding look with D&G influenced red brocade or lace dresses ?  

Just a little note I would like to point out, the model  in the middle wearing the red dolman sleeve style dress, needs alterations over the bust. Perhaps she wasn't the original model intended for that dress. Either way,  I would recommend using a set in sleeve style for a better fit when using brocade, because of the thickness of the fabric.

The lace fabrics above here are from Etsy and 

the brocades below are an example of random searches. 

FASHION NOIR for LOST SOULS

For this post I am writing about the dark side of fashion.  Truthfully the Fall RTW 2013 has left me underwhelmed.  In my opinion it is a mixed bag of desperate attempts to grasp at a new fashion direction in our flat economy.

That said, I selected a few outfits from the runway that had some promise in the most unusual way.  Using photos of criminals from a bygone era, I coupled those runway looks for these past fallen angels pictured below.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$  MURDER $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Murderess Barbara Graham

When lost souls fall, sometimes it's into a bottomless pit of no return. For murderess Barbara Graham she started her pitfall at a young age.  She had a sad life growing up, and by the time she was a teen she was in reform school. Shortly thereafter Barbara  got married, had two kids, divorced and lost custody of her kids to her ex-husband.  By 22 she was working in a  brothal.   

Her desire to acquire the finer things in life often led her to criminal actions.  She was finally executed in 1955 for robbing an elderly woman, then pistol whipping and smothering her with a pillow.

There was some confusion as to whether Barbara was fully guilty of this murder as there were three other accomplices. Her lover turned states witness to save himself from the gas chamber.  At the end of the day, all involved with this deadly robbery were executed, except for Barbara's lover.  

Perhaps If her court appearance was today,  Barbara would have used her crime money to find a better lawyer and  buy this Band of Outsiders RTW 2013 dress below for her court date.  Even the makeup on the runway model seemed to be reminiscent of her mug shot photo which shows her with a black eye.

Band of Outsiders Fall 2013

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ROBBERY $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Sixty two years ago, bad boys Kenneth Christiansen, John Schultz, and John Debellis were arrrested for robbery. Quite stylish for thieves, we can see here from their fedoras to their suede buckskin shoes and penny loafers,  the boys were clearly into fashion. 

If they were plying their trade today, perhaps Prada, Burberry Prorsum, and Calvin Klein might be found in their closet. Below are updated versions that any bad boy would would want .

Fall RTW 2013

Prada Black leather jacket ; Burberry Prorsum olive wool coat;  Calvin Klein grey wool zip jacket

Stetson Longshoreman cap ** Stetson Stratoliner 1940's fedora ** Stetson Inwood Fedora

Vintage 2011 Comme Des Garcon pants cuffed up  to show off the shoes

Clarks Vexation Casual * Lloyds Hectors suede lace ups * Timberlands Earthkeeper Penny loafer

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ PROSTITUTION $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Madam Brenda Allen

Madam Brenda Allen was famous for her discreet approach to running a call girl service. She had started as a teenage streetwalker and moved up from there. Eventually she  took over a call girl service from the madam she worked for. Under Brenda's management the business became extremely profitable. She payed off both the mob and the police for protection.  In addition Ms. Allen had  an ongoing affair with Sergeant Elmer V. Jackson which helped to keep her business dealings above the law. Their relationship was eventually discovered,  revealed  to the public, and Brenda  landed in jail.

For Brenda's court appearance , I thought she might appreciate the 3.1 Phillip Lim pant suit shown her on the runway with the type of sunglasses she had an affinity for.

Although sans make-up in prison, Brenda still wore her heels as seen in the photo on the left.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ MORE PROSTITUTION $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Sheila McDonald and Gloria Jaffee were both hard working girls who enjoyed their furs. If they were working today I could see them wearing the Marc Jacobs or Christopher Kane furs (photo below). However working their trade in California, these gals would need to keep those furs hidden under the covers of their bed . Wearing furs in public today could prove to be more scandalous than hooking. 

Read more on Barbara Graham- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Graham

For more about Brenda Allen-  http://articles.latimes.com/1997/nov/30/local/me-59191/2

The Sensuality of Noir

This year I've been immersed in costume designing  a TNT series called "Mob City", which centers around Los Angeles in 1947. The series is based on the book "LA Noir" by John Buntin, and  details the true accounts of police and gangster corruption in Los Angeles from the 1920's-1960's. The pilot script was written and directed by Frank Darabont.

The beautiful clothing style of the 1940's era have always fascinated me.  Fabric was rationed during the war, so people learned to make do with less. Creative details using minimal fabric brought forth some beautiful designs.  Over the years, I  have collected several pieces .

The film noir look of the 1940's was not driven by the latest fashion trends, (unless the scripted character called for it, and that was usually reserved for a femme fatale or a murderous gangster). For the most part noir films were shot in black and white.  However there were a precious  few  shot in color  which have been given the name "sunshine noir".  These stories typically revolve around the average working stiff  who is often driven to corruption by a femme fatale.   Details such as the texture of the fabric, the shadow of a hat, or the slit on the skirt are featured in those films. The overall look is very simple, and even at times quite bleak.

For the captivating pilot script of "Mob City",  I spent one hundred days and nights captivated in the world of  noir.  Long before my official prep time, I began my research and savored this extra time.  The more I read and researched,  the more I was drawn in. The sensuality of the clothes and style began to flow through my veins, and I became addicted .

Since we have not yet aired, I can't reveal any of my designs . But I can show some of my inspiration. Shooting a noir look in color is challenging, as a single wrong hue can throw off the entire look. As a native to Los Angeles I decided to use the iconic Malibu tile as my color board. The beautiful hand painted cuerda seca tiles were frequently used in Spanish style homes throughout the city during the early 20th century.

    A selection of Malibu tile

                                             Examples of modern "Sunshine Noir" films

                   Chinatown with Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway

                                  Body Heat with Kathleen Turner

The  design of evening dresses from the 1930's and 1940's  are mysterious and alluring, yet not overly revealing. Noir has a smokey sensuality to it and the clothes highlight that. The slim cut dresses ( bumps and lumps  smoothed out by the proper under garments) glide over the body.  When a woman walks  around in one of these dresses, the fabric moves around her with a graceful fluidity.

While filming our nightclub scenes for Mob City, the men on the set kept commenting how beautiful all the women looked.  Today many of the club dresses are cheap short tight knits that reveal every body flaw a woman can have from back fat and bellies to chubby thighs and knees.  These kind of stretch dresses do nothing to compliment a figure. The dresses of the 1940's were designed to compliment the body.

Then "Femme Fatale*  Veronica Lake     Now- We have looks from The Kardashians and Snooki

Jessica Rabbit -the ultimate femme fatale

*A femme fatale ( /ˌfɛm fəˈtæl/ or /ˌfɛm fəˈtɑːl/; French: [fam fatal]) is a mysterious and seductive woman^[1] whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art. Her ability to entrance and hypnotize her victim with a spell was in the earliest stories seen as being literally supernatural; hence, the femme fatale today is still often described as having a power akin to an enchantress, seductress, vampire, witch, or demon.

 My next Blog: More on the style of Noir