Costume Time

Recently, I designed a show put on by Althroughz Productions called Down in the Face of God.  The post-apocalyptic saga saw a lot of distressing, especially with our gal Gavi here, a homeless outsider in a town full of teenagers. The ultimate compliment I received was when the director saw her crouching in costume and thought she was part of the set. 

Photo courtesy Corwin Evans

Happy Mother's Day!

My mother and grandmother in Pasadena, 1956.  

on pointe

What have I been doing, you may ask? Well, I've been watching a lot of 1970's movies lately, which I've found are generally  either awesome or awesomely campy, and one of those was The Turning Point (1977), a terrifically catty movie that is also the original ballet film exploring obsessive rivalry.  It even includes a scene in which The Anne Bancroft and The Shirley MacLaine end a fight spanking each other! Only in the 70's.

The 1970's and 80's was a golden era of ballet indeed (this was also when Elton John wrote "Tiny Dancer," no connection), and Alessandra Ferri was one of its stars.  Here she is in  Giselle, with a nice grain filter on Photoshop to make it look extra period.  

Sketchy Lad

Mmmhmmm, that's right.  Representing the other half.

Scandal!

 Oh Rudi Gernreich, what are we going to do with you? 
His infamous topless bathing suit caused quite a scandal  but I never really thought it was that great of a design, so I didn't fully appreciate him until I went to LACMA's Costume Council talk "That California Look: Mid-Century Fashion Magic With Curator Kaye D. Spilker."  The lovely Ms. Spilker spoke of just how influential he was, and highlighted some of his other brave designs, like this one from 1965.

Wonder Bread

The introduction to LACMA's exhibit begins with a quote by Wallace Stegner: "California's American, only more so."  I think Margit Fellegi's little beach set for Cole featured in the exhibit reflects this perfectly.  Designed for warmweather, with primary polka dots that suggest both innocence and streamlined modernity, the outfit is a celebration of a post-war lifestyle.  Plus, it was mass produced for the lady sick of sewing.

Mid-Century Madness

This week, in honor of LACMA's exhibit California Design, 1930-1965: "Living In a Modern Way", I'm going to focus on Mid-Century fashion and all its glory.

1950's Hybrid

Sometimes when I'm designing, I have so many inspirational images that I adore, but are so incongruous that I don't know what to do with them.  So I end up drawing a pleated, tucked, ruched, satin, plaid, velvet number that looks like one of those hybrid animals I used to make back in the day: Twisty Critters.

I find that when this is the case, the best thing to do is to take a break, come back and then sketch again without looking at my research.  This is what I did for my 1950's dame, successfully inspired by Charles James, Frank Starr, and Balenciaga.

Setting the tone...

The trick with rendering skin with marker is to not be afraid to lay it on in there.  I usually use my lightest color first to cover a larger area, and then go back in with darker shades to slowly build it up.  With darker skin tones, your lightest color will already be darker than a paler skin, so you just have to not be afraid to go for it.

Now, if my hair could look like the bouffant all of the time, I'd be a happy gal. Of course, I can't say the same about the lips, I think she's had some work done... 

Toddler Trends

One of my favorite trends of late is to wear a large bow in the middle of your forehead, kind of like a toddler.  While some wonder why you'd want to infantalize yourself, I see it as too darn cute to resist.  And that's an excellent thing.  

To do it, get a scarf that is at least three feet long when folded in half like a triangle, and tie a bow right on your hairline.  The longer the scarf, the bigger the bow.

Cozy Scarf

My cozy scarf marker rendering is almost out of season, but not quite!  I find it fun to wear cold weather clothing, like my scarf with a print of a fox, with warm weather clothing when the seasons are changing.  A groundbreak idea, I know. I also enjoy how she looks like the amazing Kate Winslet.