For the Love of Frivolity

markers, ink a lil photoshop =)

Draping Midterm

10 sketches by Sir Dan, 10 students. We drew lots, I got #7, didn’t like it and swapped with Kacci so I ended up with #3. Not as easy as I thought it would be. 4 hours, a few yards of red and black chiffon/georgette and about a bazillion pins and pinpricks later, I finished.. the front part.. sort of. Theres still some wrinkly bits in the front part that I will redo later. Here’s how it looks so far:

There’s just no escaping maths..

Ice Breaker

Dahlings, it’s summer, and it’s getting hot! So for your next challenge, you’ll be designing outfits for a week in the Alps! It should be be able to function in outside at a ski resort, and inside for the cabin. Remember, you can design outfits not just ski wear. Also, keep in mind function as well as fashion.

I designed an outfit that I would wear should I be going to the Swiss Alps anytime soon. Willemina is my model again.

Sorry for the lack of proper names for the fabrics since I don’t really know much about special fabrics yet. Anyway..

For walking outside where it’s probably windy and bitingly cold, she is wearing a charcoal overcoat with carmine and black details. The outer layer made of a sort-of ribbed, diamond quilted, thermal, waterproof and lightweight, luxurious material which I forgot the name of.. it’s not as bulky as wool and twice as effective in keeping the cold and wind out. It’s lined inside with super soft carmine cashmere. The outer and inner layers are sandwhiching another layer inside made of thinsulate ultra. The short ties along the collar and and waist are made of some durable material. She also has thin black leather gloves lined with thinsulate.

While hanging out inside the log cabins, Willemina should remove her coat. Inside she is wearing a mohair knit dress with 3/4 sleeves. The hemline and cuffs are elastic (like the upper bits of the socks) but made of the same material.. The skirt part is still mohair knit but all bunched and scrunched up with thin lines of elastic underneath.

She’s also wearing red tights and metallic silver wedge boots line with thinsulate inside.

So here it is:

Fashion Victim

Everyone knows not to make these fashion mistakes…but everyday someone does. Your next challenge is to design an outfit that is based around a fashion faux pas that I will assign to you. These things rarely work on people, and it’s your job to make them work.

I was assigned “a humongous weekend bag” and I got Willemina as my model again. So I designed a huge striped canvas weekend bag with leather trimmings.. big enough to fold and stuff Willemina in.

The story is this: Willemina is going to spend the weekend with some friends at a beach resort. This is what she’ll be wearing while travelling to the resort.

A drop sleeved , very loose, silk knit jersey top knotted at the back. The red bikini top worn underneath has hooked straps that can be attached to the back of the blue top to hold the loose top in place. There are places along the edges and inside that blue top that you can attach the bikini top’s hooks to. Then she’s wearing charcoal stretch drainpipes with cutout details. The cutouts are the same stretch demin fabric that the drainpipes are made of turned inside out.. that’s why they’re darker. The look is finished with gold bangles and bracelets, long necklace with yellow stones, gold-strapped wedge sandals and two-toned sunglasses.

Her hair is blown out for volume in the style of the big wind-blown beach hair associated with glamorous Italian women walking down the streets of places like the French Riviera and St. Tropez.

The design:

New reality show to premier tonight: On the Lot, Star Movies 9-10pm. Should be fun to watch. If the show will air for only an hour at most each episode, I wonder how long the movies made by the contestants will be- or if there will be movie clips to be made.

Speaking of new shows, I wonder when the Gossip Girl TV series will be aired here. Here’s a little preview:

White Party

The most recent challenge for Project Designer is to design an outfit that can be worn to P. Diddy’s annual white party. It must all be white, including the accessories and must be inspired by our model’s nationality. I got Willemina and since she’s of English descent, I got inspiration from the boned corsets of the 1800’s and Scottish luxury cloths. I made everything out of traditional Harris tweed. It’s a corset top pencil cut dress- slashed very high up on one side. It has two strips of leather running down the front and back. The leather serves as straps and that part is lined with white velvet underneath. Willemina is also wearing pumps and carrying a wrist bag made of the same tweed as the dress. The only jewellery she’s wearing is an antique cameo neck piece. Here’s the drawing:

The procrastinator in me made me rush this last night. It was due May 8th 5pm central and I was up until 4am finishing this and submitting it. Lol.

Anyway, yesterday I was looking for a new pair of glasses. And I think I realy really love this pair from Bebe:

What do you guys think? I really love the how it’s slightly angled toward the middle. It looked nice on me when I tried them on. If I don’t find anything I like better, I’m getting a pair next week. We always get our eyeglasses and contact lenses and some sunglasses (my whole family) from George Optical. We’re the only ones they give discounts to every time we buy because we’ve been patronising them for so long.. lol.

Oh yes, this is my other drawing from the other challenge.. I didn’t like it at all, though.. So I wasn’t all that happy about it. I made a mistake in choosing which outfit to deconstruct and base my new outfit on. (Click on it for the a larger view and the full description.)

I’ve been baking like a mad pastry chef this past few days.. weeks. After almost half a dozen batches of cupcakes, I believe I have perfected The Cupcake. I like my cupcakes moist inside and topped with fun, surprisingly flavoured toppings with cream cheese and butter cream bases. Other than that, I’ve baked a French Apple Crumble (dad’s request- it’s a variation of an apple pie), a flourless chocolate cake and will be baking brownie-like cookies later. Lol. Pictures coming soon.

I am working on a ton of projects which I hope will all turn out for the best. I’ll give you guys a hint on one of them though: I will be attending classes in this institution very soon: Instituto di Marangoni. It’s one of the very best fashion schools in the world. I want to go to the campus in Milan. Just their placement services is to die.. take a look at this:

In 2005, we arranged over 600 between internships and job offers at top fashion houses including: Gucci, Giorgio Armani, Dolce&Gabbana, Prada, Alberta Ferretti, Gruppo Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Jil Sander, Valentino, Missoni, Versace, Alessandro Dell’Acqua, Costume National, Roberto Cavalli, Helmut Lang, Bally, Bottega Veneta, Calvin Klein, Gianfranco Ferré, Etro, Celine, Ferragamo, Marzotto, Gruppo La Perla, Erreuno, Jean Paul Gaultier, Moschino, Krizia, Blumarine, Capucci, Lancetti, Furla, Gilli, Mandarina Duck, Luciano Soprani, Mariella Burani, Max Mara, Replay, Mila Schön, Romeo Gigli, Gusella, Lonsdale, Guru, Ungaro, La Rinascente, Gaetano Navarra, Kookai, Vestimenta.

Oh. And I have almost finished (just a few more tweaks) a commissioned theme for Beauty and Minerals. They sell mineral makeup- makeup that actually does good for your skin. See it here: Beauty & Minerals. Serious individuals or groups interested in having a theme or complete website made specially for them, contact me directly at crisel@crichi.com. (Note: this is not a free service.)

This is Natassja mauling Santa Bear til she rids him of his stuffing.. awww.. lol. Crazy puppy.

Moi

Just a rendition of myself (as a fashion sketch).

Liquorice (Project Designer)

Project Designer Competition First Challenge: Sweet Tooth.
We were told to design (1) a couture outfit and (2) regular underwear (as opposed to lingerie) to go with it. Each designer was assigned a model and a sweet. I got Ivanka (med. length dirty blonde hair, green eyes) and LIQUORICE. I hate liquorice. Anyway, this is my design.

The first is a red and black halter/mermaid gown. The strap is attached to the right side of the dress and goes over the shoulders, around the neck and attaches on the left side of the chest. It is made of some heavy, very black material like leather. Red velvet piping is stitched to it spiralling around and around. Liquorice earrings, a twisty arm piece and a red satin-lined black fur stole completes the look.

The other is regular underwear. A red stretchy camisole lined with black velvet. One side has regular straps and the other has only the black velvet strap used for the lining. Ribbon detail. Bottoms are red and black striped boyshorts with stretch black lace lining. Behind is a letter “L” embroidered on. (L for love or liquorice or both.. up to you =p ) A necklace with leather straps and an “L” pendant, liquorice earrings, a twisty armpiece, dark nylon stockings and high heeled red pumps complete the look.

*cross fingers*

Drowning in Prints

Lots of prints. Corseted strapless gown, quilted wrap with sheer print hood, bunched up bustle/train.

Keywords: fashion design, illustration, fashion croquis

Immersed in Art

..is how I feel. Which is good… very good.

This is the still life watercolour plate I made in Freehand class last Thursday. Watercolour is very annoying.. Lol. It requires a lot of patience (and tissue) and you have to keep in mind that you must preserve the translucency of the watercolours. Some people just lather on layers and layers of paint, as if they’re using acrylics or poster paint… Lol. They ended up with weird-looking paintings.. nothing like watercolours at all..

Anyway, I’ve done colouring four new sketches.. Just four for now.. Still not done with the others.. How are these ones? =)

See larger versions on my deviantart account: http://cwizzle.deviantart.com

Apple green, black and shiny mustard

A look sort of inspired by the 300 movie I’ve watched twice..

Salmon, and shades of blue..

Nude colours.

Keywords: fashion design, illustration, fashion croquis