Fashion's dark side- fashion illustration #2

Hi everyone,

This week I am going to be talking about something a little heavier than usual, but I think it is always an important thing to address. This week in class we talked about how the fashion industry has a terrible knack for editing pictures and people's bodies past the point of reality, and how it makes the teenagers of our day feel paled in comparison to these photos. Please see my tab at the top of my blog that says "fashion research paper". It talks about the very same thing I am talking about here- how self esteem is affected when the industry makes something realistic look impossibly perfect. I didn't want to put it all in a post because it is rather lengthy, but I highly encourage you to go look at it when you get the chance. Some of the statistics may surprise you. And also I worked really hard on it when I wrote it last year lol. Also if you haven't seen Dove's Beauty Campaign video, please click here.

Although this is the industry that I hopefully want to get into someday, I don't fully support what they do sometimes. Their definition of beauty is way different than how regular people define it. Unfortunately we cannot change the fashion industry and put new morals into them. If we took away the right to edit photos into unreality like they so often do, that would be infringing on their creative rights, etc. If we said they cannot use stick-thin models anymore, that would make things much more difficult for designers and that shroud of "fantasy" the industry has over it would kind of be lifted. Super skinny models and photoshopped makeup- it's something we are all very used to seeing. It's a mystery, a fantasy almost- seeing all those glamourous models in the fancy clothes and in the beautiful makeup. If they weren't doing what they're doing, it wouldn't be the same industry that we are used to. The industry isn't going to stop what makes them so popular. It's how they sell their product, it's how they get all of their business- by making it look like you can look exactly like the models in the ad if you buy what they are trying to sell. We keep trying to keep up with the Jones' by looking at these models and comparing ourselves to them. We are all so used to it that there is no law or bill that can be passed that will make this thing better. The thing that we can all do to stop this epidemic is just informing our teenagers and our young people and even the kids that these images are fake. Start them off young, don't let them think they need to measure up to how skinny Karlie Kloss is or how flawless another model looks in a picture. Yes, they are pretty in those magazine ads and yes they are fun to look at, but these pictures are not real. Remember that video I linked in this post? You saw how pretty she was even with all that makeup on- she didn't need to be photoshopped. She didn't even look like the same girl after that. The fashion industry has a different way of describing beauty, but the important thing to remember is that everyone is beautiful in their own skin. God made all of us and therefore we are all beautiful. We don't have to conform to a standard that man has created and even sometimes idolizes. You can still look to the industry as a source of inspiration on how to dress, just don't compare yourself to it.

Just because I want to enter this industry doesn't mean I support everything that they believe. I hope that someday with my clothes that I make, a woman can feel confident in her own skin no matter what size or shape or color she is. I just want people to feel beautiful. I want my woman who wears my clothes to be able to know who she is and show it with her style, be 100% confident, and leave the store with her self esteem intact. She is still on trend, she still looks sophisticated and chic but she is staying true to herself. That is what I hope to achieve someday.

So let's start fighting the self esteem fight: let someone know they are beautiful just the way they are. Spread the word! Tell your mom, sister, roommate, friend that they're beautiful. Even the men in your life, let them know that you love them the way they are and they needn't look like someone in a magazine, that you love them for being themselves. If we start now, maybe someday the world's self esteem will be better. Maybe those encouraging words you gave someone will stop them from committing suicide. Maybe those words will change someone's life for the better.

Until next time, vous êtes beaux, tout le monde! (You are beautiful everyone).

Topstitching 101- Tailoring #2

Salut everyone!

This past week in my tailoring class we were talking about a wonderful thing called topstitching. What is topstitching you ask? Well... it's exactly how it sounds! Usually the goal of stitching is to hold the garment together without you seeing the stitching, but topstitching goes on the top of the garment to give it some texture or to give a part of the garment some emphasis without going crazy. Picture!

So these jeans are topstitched around the zipper, around the waistband and the pockets. This one gives more emphasis than usual, topstitching is usually done with matching thread. But it doesn't have to be, you can do whatever color you want depending on what look you want. This can give it a deconstructed look if paired with certain materials. It gives it some texture and some visual interest. And I think it gives a garment more personality. Garments are kind of like people- we all have a personality and our quirks and things that make us special, and I think topstitching gives garments that.

It is super simple to do too, all you do is make a little longer stitch that what you've sewn the rest of your garment with so it is more visible, and voila! You have lots of creative liberties with it, you can do a contrasting color, a matching color, you can do it all over your garment, only in some places, etc. It's pretty awesome! Typically where you topstitch is around the zipper of pants, on jeans the pockets are usually done, on jackets usually around the sleeves and around the lapel sometimes, I've seen it on collars on collared shirts and on the plackets of button-down shirts.

Fun Fact!!! You can tell a more high-end garment from an inexpensive one if it has topstitching. It gives it a much more crisp and polished finish. It takes a more time and more thread to do so that therefore would make the cost of the garment go up. That's why cheaper stores don't typically have those elements in their clothes. When you see topstitching on a garment you know it's better quality, because the sewer put more time and effort into it. The customer knows they get quality when the work is shown on the outside not just on the inside. And now... Picture time!

Well, I think that is about it for me! I hope the next time you go shopping you start to see topstitching on the garments in stores!

As always, vivre la mode tout le monde!

Sketch that, proportionally!- Fashion Illustration #1

Hello everybody!

So now that I am blogging for two classes, I'll get to talk to you guys about not only the fashion world from a clothing/ fit standpoint, but from a drawing/ 2D standpoint as well. Maybe you guys will get as interested in this as I am! As you probably guessed, I'm totally excited to be in a class in which we get to talk about fashion AND draw it too. My head is kind of exploding with happiness lol. But enough about me, I'm going to give you the quick nitty gritty for all you up-and-coming-fashion-sketchers, or maybe those who want to draw the human figure a little more realistically.

So the biggest thing in art and fashion both is proportion. You know the key to buying real estate is location, location, location? Well the key to fashion sketching is proportion, proportion, proportion. Lol. If your croquis, or flat fashion sketch, is way bigger on one side than the other, it will definitely confuse the viewer, and your idea- no matter how cool it might look, if the girl isn't proportionate, it won't be conveyed. Notice the picture on the left- imagine if your croquis was drawn like this! Ahh! You can't tell where her waist is, because it looks like her entire torso is her waist; and that's just not how women are built lol. Her neck is... creepily elongated, nobody's thighs and arms are that small, and her head looks huge. It's super creepy, because it is so disproportionate!

Now looking at the good example on the right, see how their waists are defined at one point only, and their hips are in line with their bust and the shoulders look the correct size in relation to everything else. And the neck is a normal length lol.

So the way we talked about keeping everything looking proportionally correct in class is by using a standard measure in which we can relate to every part of the body. Similar to inches, we use "heads". I'll explain that in a second. And so how we start, is we draw a line vertically down our paper, and then draw a normal oval for the head. It should be around an inch tall. And then draw 9 horizontal lines every inch down from the top of that vertical line and number them from 0 to 8. These lines will keep your sketch in proportion. Just remember what every line stands for: 

Good

Bad

0- top of head

1- bottom of head (the space between these two measurements is how the industry came up with "heads" as a measurement)

2- middle of bust

3- waist

4- where the thigh and pelvis connect

5- middle of thigh

6- knees

7- middle of shins

8- ankles

8.5- where your feet should end generally

I hope y'all see what I mean by "heads" now. They literally took the size of a head and measured it against every part of the body. And they did the numbering a little differently than I did, but I figured just a general representation would help those visual learners out there :) This is actually kind of an awesome picture.

If you stay in the ballpark of these numbers, your body should come out looking pretty proportionate. And just as a general rule of thumb, whatever you do to the left side, you do to the right side. That pretty much ensures a good sketch. Granted you probably want to use a ruler first to make sure everything is symmetrical, but once you get going you can do without it.

So I hope these general guidelines help y'all just starting out! For any who enjoy drawing but are a little wary of the human figure, these tips will help you too hopefully! 

As always, vivre la mode tout le monde!

New classes, new blog posts! -Tailoring #1

Bonjour!

Can y'all believe it is 2013 already? Gosh I can't. So here's the deal, I am in two fashion classes that allow us to have blogs now! Woo! So you'll be reading my stuff twice as much :) But don't worry, it's beneficial I promise!

So this class that I am in, Tailoring, is all about the fit of garments. Which is SUCH an important factor when buying or even making something. Because if it doesn't look good on the body, then why buy it? You want to look good, right? Then find clothes that fit. Pants specifically are something that a lot of people find difficult to fit. Hopefully this blog will point you in the right direction next time you are pants shopping!

This picture came out of our textbook Easy Guide To Sewing Pants by Lynn MacIntyre. This is such a great picture! Because I bet you, most Americans don't know that all pants aren't supposed to be as tight as skinny jeans. All pants aren't created equal, y'all! So first rule when pants shopping: Know the occasion. Let's say I'm looking for a new pair of work pants. I like a little more fit to my pants personally, so I would probably go with slacks. As you can see, they fit a little more under the bottom and in through the legs compared to trousers.

Now it's time for fitting. The part that you want to fit first is the waist. When you put on those pants, can you grab a whole bunch of fabric at the waistband? If so, those are too big. Get a smaller size! When you sit, does it gap in the back? If so, you probably should take it to a tailor and get the excess removed in the waistband only, if they fit in the hips.

The second part you look at is the hips. Make sure there are no wrinkles- those indicate a fit problem. In slacks, they are going to rest on your hips, but they aren't going to be snug like jeans, and they aren't going to be loose like trousers.

Now look at the booty. If it looks like you have a wedgie, those pants are too tight in the seat! We call that part the "shelf" in class. You need some more "seat" room. Easily fixable at a tailor or perhaps just see what the next size up looks like. And if you have a saggy grandpa hiney, then those are too big in the back and also the shelf.

I think it is time for some pictures of what I am talking about :)

Saggy under the booty? Bad fit

... He obviously didn't fit the waistband before purchasing

Well that's all for me, hopefully this will help you on your quest on finding the perfect pair of pants! Vivre la mode, tout le monde!

Oh, and let me instill one final piece of advice... plaids must match! At the crotch and at the sides. These pants here clearly don't match at the front crotch. Any print really should match, stripes or dots or flowers- depends on the size for the last two however. It really cheapens a garment if your prints don't match. I know that doesn't have anything to do with fit, but I saw this picture and I knew I just had to tell you anyway :)

Sleeves- Apparel design 1

Hello blog readers,

I feel like talking about sleeves today. Not the tattoos! No no lol. I mean sleeves on garments. When I was around 15 or 16, starting to become more fashionably aware, I thought that sleeves were for old people who wanted to cover up their arms. And because I was just starting to discover how clothes looked on the body, I thought that sleeves weren't for younger people, unless it was cold outside. Even then, I would want to wear something short sleeved under a jacket, because that is what everyone did. (Young teenager fashion doesn't really make any sense lol, that explains why I stood out in high school- I dressed better than most :p) But now that I am older and wiser (in regards to fashion at least, in life- definitely not.) I see that sleeves are just another dimension to a garment. Short, cap, 3 quarter length, long, raglan, puff, kimono, mutton leg, bell, and that's just the tip of the iceberg for the many different varieties of sleeves there are out there. Picture time, then I'll talk about other materials being used in the sleeves on the runway.

Flutter sleeves

Bell

On the runway recently, what's trending now is lace sleeves and even mesh. They are a way of creating a design on the garment but still having skin show through, so you can see the design better. Also, it is an interesting concept for spring or summer looks- having sleeves but they don't add much weight. 

I hope this inspires you to think of sleeves as a design element as opposed to just something functional!

Vivre la mode, tout le monde!

Collars and such- Apparel design I

Hello people of the Internet!

Let me just start off by saying, wow this year is going by fast! It's already November! I bet everyone is starting to wear their winter clothes :) except for Texas, because Texas is stupid and still thinks it's supposed to be hot outside. Anyway, today I am talking about collars. Collars on shirts, dresses, as necklaces, you name it! Collars are really coming back into style. They have a really cool ability to add sophistication to an outfit, while making it still feminine. I saw in my Teen Vogue magazine that collar necklaces are big now (although I was wearing them a few years ago, these are a little different).

I think these are super awesome! The next time I go shopping, I will be sure to buy some! I love the vintage one on the left. It is just enough to give a little wink to a bygone era, but not enough to make you look frumpy. Just be sure to make it modern, either with a nice red lip or a funky shoe or clutch. Don't look like a grandma! See, on the right they put a super bright shirt balanced with the darker collar necklace which is great for fall. No drab, dark outfits just because it is cold!


Now, collars on dresses are also very in, and very cute. Whether you have a mandarin collar, full roll, or Peter Pan, it's sure to look feminine and fashion forward.

So cute :) the middle dress paired with some black lace tights and red boots and a red coat would be awesome for autumn/ winter :) collared shirts don't have to look like the traditional prep school, starched white, uptight shirt. They can look cute and feminine in nice colors, prints and styles as seen below.

Okay, all of these shirts are crazy cute. They are all very classy yet they are not stuffy or uptight.

So that's for this post, I just wanted to share with you my new love of the modern collared shirt, and the bling collar necklaces :) Vivre la mode, tout le monde!

Fit for a princess- Apparel design I

Hey there!

So princesses have been on my mind as of late... Maybe I just need to watch a Disney movie or something. But the person isn't quite what I'm meaning, it's the seam! A princess seam. These have been coming in and out of style during the past few decades, and they're at a lull as of this season. However, they have many great qualities, and I think they should be worn more often! For one thing, they are super stylish! Bordering on asymmetrical, they add some cool visual interest that not many garments nowadays have- because we are focusing on clean silhouettes. These seams go down the middle of the shoulder into the waist seam or all the way down the dress, depending on what kind of garment you are looking at. They can be put in shirts or dresses, any kind of tops really. Another great thing about them, is they're great for fitting! Because they pull in right over the bust and through the midsection and the hips at the same time, they have the ability to be altered to one's body shape just by adjusting that one seam- which will give you a better fitting garment :) so let me show you some cool princess seam garments!

  

I think that white bridal gown is just gorgeous, and see how much more of a fitted look you can get with these really cool seams? And I love the leather jacket, the seam gives you a cool texture and it makes the garment more interesting without distracting from it's simplicity.

I hope this has shed some light on a not so well known type of seam, and I hope it encourages you to look for a garment with these and perhaps try it on and see how well it fits ;) Vivre la mode, tout le monde!