Matching prints is necessary!!- Tailoring #4

Hello people!

I am going to discuss something with you that is VERY VERY important. Not only will it prevent you from looking like a nub, but it will open your eyes to seeing quality in your garments. One key thing to remember when buying a plaid or a stripe, *if it doesn't match on the side seams or the arm sleeves, don't buy it!* So, look at these pictures for a second and see if you can guess why I said each was bad or good.

Good

Bad

Bad

Oh my gosh bad

Good

So bad. I'm cringing.

So can you tell what is wrong with the bad ones? The prints don't match!!! Whether you have a stripe or a plaid or even a dog pattern, they have to match on the side seams and the arms, or else it will look very bad. My favorite example? The last one, the plaid dress... thing. The plaid doesn't match at the bust, at the bottom, and I'm pretty sure there is a random princess seam going along from the waist to the hem- because there is another chunk of plaid there that doesn't match. Oh gosh this dress has problems. 

What you are supposed to do is when the striped garment is being worn, the stripes should continue from arm, to middle, to arm. Those horizontal lines should all match up. If the stripe is vertical, then they should match up at all seams. *you can tell a cheaply made garment if the plaids or the stripes are a little off*, like the green and gray plaid swatch. If you have a plaid, the most dominant colored lines should match up both vertically and horizontally. Unless you are doing something decorative, but I'll talk about that in a minute. 

If you wear plaids or stripes that don't match, you run the risk of looking like a nub- as in a goofy person who can't tell quality in garments. So do yourself a favor and match your prints! (or you might see a picture of yourself on here, and me making fun of it :P)

Here's a way to not match your plaids but in key areas:

Turned pocket

Plackets, pockets and cuffs that are turned are acceptable. And they aren't crooked or off center, they are turned with a purpose. So just be aware next time you go out to buy a plaid or a stripe!

Hope this informed you guys on the proper way to wear a stripe or a plaid! Vivre la mode, tout le monde!

Adding personality!- Fashion Illustration #3

Howdy everybody!

So we were talking in class about adding personality to your drawings. You don't want them all facing forward with their arms out, do you? No, silly. Sometimes you want your illustrations to be sassy, or romantic, or fierce. It just depends on the mood of your garment, and how you want your customer to feel in it.

This figure is static and boring

Versus these figures which have movement and attitude

As you can see, movement can do a lot for your garments! The clothes on the left may be cute in person, but because the girl in the drawing looks bored and uninterested, I'm going to assume that those clothes will make me feel also bored and uninteresting. But the clothes on the right look dynamic. I can assume that I will feel edgy and confident in those clothes. So lesson learned- Movement makes your clothes look more interesting!

3 quarter-turned head

Front facing head

Same concept, the 3 quarter-turned head is more interesting to look at than the frontal face (although both of these are beautiful).

How to draw what I am talking about: When sketching, like in one of my previous blog posts, you start with your center front or balance line. When turning the body, move the center front line. The key to getting movement is to angle the lines of your hips, bust, waist and shoulders. The girl in the gray dress, her shoulders and bust are tilting down on the right side, while her waist and hips are tilting up on the right side, giving the body movement. When this happens, one side typically "crunches" in, ie her right side (as i am looking at the image). The girl on the right is a little hard to see, but it looks like her shoulders, bust, waist and hips are all angled down to the left slightly- because she's almost completely turned sideways. Her center front line follows the curve of her torso, and starts at the base of her neck; so it will be curved like a big C from her neck to her pelvis, and that ensures that her body stays balanced.

Leg positioning can also give you personality. By crossing them, keeping one bent, sticking one out, or anything within the realm of human flexibility, you can add a completely different dynamic to your look. I think this picture below is really awesome, and it is a good representation of leg positioning.

Well, I think that is about it for me this week! I hope you enjoyed! As always, vivre la mode tout le monde!

Waistbands!- Tailoring #3

Bonjour world!

Today I am going to talk about that little strip of fabric on the top of your pants called waistbands... yay! Waistbands are very exciting because that is where you can add some more personality into the garment itself, and it is essential for the fit of the pants, shorts, skirt, whatever the garment is. If your waistband is too big, your pants will probably be too big as well. If the pants are smaller around the waist, then your waistband will pucker trying to fit onto the smaller size. I had the opposite problem when making dress pants in my tailoring class, my pants were a little big around the waist and so when I put on my tailored waistband, it puckered a little because the waistband was smaller. But I fixed it for the most part :)

As you can see, her waistband is too big for her

Now, there are two kinds of waistbands: curved and straight (theres also elastic and custom and some other ones but we'll get to those later). A curved one looks like this laid flat:

Whereas a straight one looks like this laid flat, just a simple rectangle:

A curved one will give you some more fit because it will be able to hug the natural curve of your body better than the straight one. But the straight one isn't bad by any means. It is a classic shape and it gives a classic and polished look to any garment- especially to men's suit pants.

Now I will talk about what I meant when I said there are more than two kinds of waistbands. In tailored  or nicer garments, you don't use elastic or casings. You use the separate ones like the curved or the straight waistbands. But if you have a simple little skirt or something, elastic and casings are perfectly fine. They look like this:

In the picture, "regular" is what I would describe the straight waistband. Contour is kind of like the curved, but it is a little bigger in the front. Don't worry, I have real examples of all of these :) Casing is something you do in, say, sweatpants. The top of the pants are folded down to make a kind of tunnel, and you slide the elastic band through there and stitch it all closed. Elastic is where you take the top of the garment again, fold it down over the elastic so you can't see it, and do a stretch-stitch directly on the elastic. This could also be used for sweatpants or maybe a quick little skirt.

Contour

Elastic

Casing. You can see the elastic on the inside.

Adding personality to garments by waistbands. This is fun to do if you have a striped or plaid pants, you can turn the direction of the print and make it on the bias or at an angle... So say your plaid is going straight across. To make it more fun, turn the plaid at a diagonal. That's what I did with my pants :) you can also add some fun linings on the inside, make it a contrasting print or something different entirely, or do a contrasting color stitch if you have an elastic waistband. You can also do varying widths. Make it a thicker waistband for a touch of whimsy with a printed skirt. Make it a thin waistband maybe for dramatic effect. You could even add some piping around it or something for a little fun touch. There are lots of options!

Print

Colored lining

Turned waistband

Matching waistband

Skinny waistband 

Well, that's all for now! Vivre la mode, tout le monde!

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 :)