Dress Illustrations

Of all my classes, the one that is hardest for me is fashion illustration. I am struggling a bit with both the "fashion" and the "illustration" aspects.

While I love fashion in the personal sense (I like shopping and dressing up) I don't pay much attention in the broader sense. Perhaps also it is a bit too open ended and I have too many ideas. How can I possible pick just one design? And once I pick one, what if it looks terrible or boring after I spend a lot of time on it.

The illustration part is difficult too. I don't consider myself a bad drawer (except for I still can't get my faces to not be terrifying) but I know what good drawing is and mine is not it. It is frustrating when what ends up on the paper is not a fair representation of what is in my head.

The cure for both is clearly more practice, and luckily it is a lot of fun to draw. It is fun to turn an idea into something concrete and to play with how small changes can make a big difference.



So last class, we were designing our own day wear dress. I wanted to take something a little girly (with puff sleeves and a collar) and make it a little more elegant and grown-up. What I ended up with was a waitress uniform. Seriously, all it needs is a frilly white apron and it is ready for a diner.

What happened to my cute dress? The biggest problems I saw were the skirt and the sleeves. The sleeves were maybe a little long and the skirt to full and stiff. I shortened the sleeves and made the skirt a little smoother and less pulled in at the waist to give it a little more sleek silhouette. I also brought the neckline up a bit, since it looked a little low for something you could wear to work (except if your work is serving malteds). I also shortened the skirt a little.

I think those small changes made a big difference and I am happier with this dress (although to with her tiny head and weird face). It would be further saved, I think, by the right fabric. It wouldn't look good in a stiffer cotton. I was thinking a swishier (it's a technical term) fabric, like silk. In fact, I think it would look especially cool in a partially sheer small polka-dot navy silk with a solid navy lining and white buttons.

I will keep practicing my drawing and will post anything I think is particularly good or interesting.