Inspiration in Texture and Color

I thought I would share some images I took from one of the projects I am working on. Every so often--or perhaps more often than I admit-- I get inspiration from a garment as it evolves. Or in other words, in the act of creating a garment, the garment itself takes on its own surprising identity. That is, you really never know how something will be until it "is". And often, it "is" very different than imagined, and often even better than originally designed.

If you haven't gotten the gist yet, I like to philosophize about the creation process!!!

Anyway, back to the images at hand. The first image is a picture of a an acordian sleeve of a mini bolero jacket. The fabric is hand dyed silk by Ana Lisa Hedstrom and it is backed by a blue metallic silk organza. As I sewing it I was so taken by the inside of the jacket that I had to take a photo. I love how the organza adds a hue and a stiffness to the silk below and gives it a painterly feel when seen up-close.

The second pic is a pile of seam allowances that were trimmed from the same jacket, and I love how all the colors blend together in this little pile.

New Vagadu Labels

Been away for a while because I was working on my Aug. 30th deadline for the photoshoot for the "Varda's Women" fall gown collection. The last two weeks have been really intense working at least 10-12 hour days to get the dresses ready! But now that it happened and went well (photos to come soon) I am working on the little details for the dresses.One of these details being the all-important LABEL!!!!

I mean, without a label who are you?
So, I got crafty and came up with an idea for the next series of Vagadu tags. I may have mentioned this before but I love working with the heat press and doing dye transfer with it. The heat press is often used for T-shirts, but Ana Lisa Hedstrom and I have been playing with this machine using shibori techniques for months now and having some real fun!

I needed a Vagadu stencil so the easiest solution was to use one of my hangtags that have the Vagadu stamp on it (these tags are great because they are made of a nice heavy duty stock) and use an exacto knifee to cut the letters out of it.

Then, I used it a bizzilion ways on my fabric (which once was a little girl's bridal dress). You can see in the pic how much fun I had. And, so the next step will be to cut the individual labes out and seal the edges ..... although if I were a label-whore I might have to make these Vagadu fabrics into a bag or hotpants ;-)))) !!!!

IQ tops....the latest versions!

I have decided to name the Ana Lisa Hedstrom silk crepe scrap blouses "IQ tops" because these garments are like the Rubik's cube for fashion. The combination's of how to wear them are countless the depending on the creative the mind of the wearer. One of the reasons this is true is silk crepe has the best drape of almost any fabric and practically any way it hangs looks good.

Another bonus in showing off the latest of the tops is that you can see my latest haircut which I call "boyband meets Joui!" Go and look up young Justin Timberlake and you will see what I mean. And my boyfriend mentioned that we both have the acronym JT!!!

*Note* each strip of photos represent one blouse...yes it is true just one blouse! It is my way of showing you the tip of the iceberg of the 1,000 ways to wear these tops! And YES! they are for sale, email me if interested.

Click on images to enlarge

The Latest Recycled Vest...

As usual I like to share the latest recycled vests as they come down the pipeline.

This particular vest is exciting because it is a new version of the series I did in a previous blog.

With this vest, instead of piecing different blazers together to create one look, I simply used the bottom of the jacket to create the ruffle around the collar. In the other vests, the ruffles were created from selected scraps. In this piece the only scraps used are in the draped fabric piece that works its way around the bottom.

The scrap fabric used is by Ana Lisa Hedstrom and is one of my favorite details with this vest.

I also like how the lining of the jacket accentuates the under-collar portion of the neck ruffle.

Very Versatile Clothing

I recently created a series of flowy tops that are constructed out of fabric remnants from Ana Lisa Hedstrom's Shibori collections. Due to the design of the blouses and beautiful drape of the fabrics it allows the wearer to wear the shirt in multiple ways, front, back, twisted, sideways, inside-out, etc.

To some the prospect of so many possibilities in one top is daunting. To others, it is a gold mine of constant creative discovery.

Below I have photographed myself in three of these tops, demonstrating the multiple styles you can get from each one. Where the .... symbol occurs, it means I am in the act of changing the position of the top. There is something very poetic about lingering in transition and using it as a fashion statement. I don't know about you, but I personally love to rearrange my whole outfit so that by the end of the day my earlier look has a totally new feel.

The Serpent Dress Continued....

As promised in an earlier blog I am now posting the result of the important design change that we made to the "Serpent Dress", now known as "Serpentina".

The design issue for the bodice of this dress was addressed by opening up the lines from the original tubular ending. As seen in the photo below, the original lines ended abruptly at the base of the bodice. We needed a smoother transition connecting the top of the dress to the bottom, so we opened up the lines to transition smoothly to the front yoke of the skirt. As you can see--from the pictures below--choosing the right fabrics was key to completing this concept. In the photo on the right, enclosed around the glowing circle, you can see how the matching fabrics unify the top and bottom. Look carefully, even though the colors are the same, the yoke fabric (as seen in photo to the left) is stripped and the skirt fabrics are dots. I like the subtly of combining the different patterns together in one piece. For me, it allows for the wearer to constantly discover all the multiple elements that constitute this garment.

Let me also remind you that all these different patterned fabrics were hand dyed by Ana Lisa Hedstrom so "Serpentina" is really turning out to be a gorgeous labor of love!

Starting the next collection

After months of rest and rejuvenation I am finally embarking on the next VAGADU collection.

2009 is definitely a year of change for our world and for me. I have decided to restructure Vagadu and simplify the model. I am returning to my original muse, and will be exclusively making make eco-formal wear based on the collages of my grandfather, Jean Varda .

I am very excited to be returning my roots again. Varda's art and life has been a major force for me the last 2 years and it feels right re-explore his work with some real experience and focus, that I lacked when I first attempted to make clothing from his art.

After three collections I have learned a lot all kinds of lessons. Most importantly, I learned not to get ahead of myself. This time, I am approaching the collection in a very slow and methodical way. Normally, I create by pure hands-on experimentation. That can be a fun way to work, but it does make it harder to create a more cohesive collection. For now, I am going a more traditional route. I am conceptualizing, drawing and draping before I use any of the fashion fabric.

One of the many reasons I am choosing this method is because my mentor-- textile artist Ana Lisa Hedstrom-- is letting me use remnants of some of her hand-dyed fine fabrics (as pictured above and below). These precious fabrics are in limited quantity so I just cannot risk any mistakes .

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For the last two weeks I have been staring at Varda's collages and finding themes that I plan to use. As you can see in his art, he is very geometrical and bold, angular shapes are a constant in all of his work.

Within the stark shapes though, his women embody a curvy sensuality. He focuses on accentuating the bust, hips and curves of the female form. Therefore, I am envisioning the dresses featuring angular dimension along with soft accents.

Another element I see in his art is that some of the women in his art seemed to be wearing more traditional garb. Since Varda was Greek I decided to do some research. When I found a book on Knossos (an ancient city on the island of Crete) I wasn't surprised to see the women dressing like they were from one of his paintings.

I have also been taking note of all the different color palettes and combos that arise in his work. Quite simply, I went through around 30 of his works and sketched out all the different color sets that appeared. I then separated each color and took a tally to see which colors dominated his art. Various shades of red and gold were the definite winners.

In this preliminary sketch below you can see a dress that is using the color palette, along with some triangles and softer lines.

I'll have more sketches next week, they are great!