Anthropologie-Inspired

Anthropologie. 
This would be the best store in the world... If I had Oprah-money*.
My paycheck could maybe pay for one rhinestone off of a hair clip. 
Maybe.
However, they're into simplicity, which makes it very easy to knock-off their designs.
Something I'm good at.
My new sewing machine (holla!) is going to be very busy.

Well, maybe I'm stealing, but I can totally make their things, and that's their own fault.

So, ha.

*Oprah-money: enough money to give away cars, have my own cable network, magazine, show, etc.

Meow Meow

 My Kitty Clothing Line

I made this mini fashion line for a school assignment, just like a 5 year-old.

Assignment

Should your obsession cause the class to worry about your well-being by the critique?  Maybe…

With a target budget of $45 (you may spend a little more or significantly less) on materials that will be of a highly substantial quantity and can be manipulated and altered from their original form.  

These should be NON-Art materials at first glance.  Remember artists Tom Friedman, Tara Donovan, etc.   These could be multiples, or large chunks/masses. 

Piles and piles and an overflowing box of materials.

This is a full time job. We want to see evidence of 40 hours worth of work on this one!  

The visual translation should show:

1. multiple processes and or material investigations

2. an obsessive working physical action  (cutting, folding, scraping, sanding,carving, crushing, stretching, tying, piercing, punching, pounding, hammering, gluing, grinding, biting, chewing, spitting, tonguing, gnawing, stepping, stamping, stomping, dripping, dabbing, brushing, shaping, molding, painting, patterning, gridding, weaving, crocheting, beading, sewing, filling, counting, aligning, ordering, or arranging). 

3. a subversive, or slightly skewed relationship with the subject matter.

4. a dedication to hyper intricate and powerful craftsmanship

You see...

 just like a 5 year-old. 

Materials Used

Fabric, Thread, Zippers, One pearl, Ribbon, Bra, Elastic

Process

For this project, I created a vintage inspired fashion line, using fabric with pictures of cats all over. 
The prompt was obsession, as in developing an obsession for the sculpture and its elements. 
However, I started with my obsessions in mind, cats and clothing, and further developed it for the rest of the project.

This project was probably the most strenuous for me, rivaled only be the dream catcher sculpture that is bigger than me. I spent more than 40 hours, and much more than $45 (the suggested budget and timeframe) on this project. I worked every day, even over Thanksgiving break, for hours. I did become obsessed, to the point where I stopped sleeping. I spent whole nights working, just to get my pieces finished. The project took over my life in a way, and I spent a lot of time trying to perfect the clothes. I ended up making three dresses, a hair bow, a skirt, a tie, panties, and a bra.

At one point my sewing machine broke, and I spent over 5 hours trying to fix it. That was a pain, but it worked with the idea of obsession, since I was so obsessed with finishing the clothing, that I called every seamstress I know for help.

The dresses were hard to make at some points. The worst part was lining up sleeves on one dress, and I eventually took the sleeves out of the design, which actually was an improvement. 
All the patterns I used were vintage-inspired and leaned toward the conservative side. This ties into the obsession theme, too, since I love vintage clothing, such as Peter Pan collars, and high-waisted things. And cats. Always cats.

Peter Pan Collars

Peter Pan collars, quite possibly the best thing this world has ever seen. 

The Peter Pan collar: a flat, round-cornered collar without a stand, popular for women’s and children’s clothing in the early- and mid-20th century. The rounded Peter Pan collars are generally but not always worn without ties or bows (Wikipedia). Peter Pan collars were super- duper fashionable in 1960s, and now... 

they're back! 

Now some of you may be asking, "But oh wise and all-knowing one, what makes a Peter Pan collar better than other types of shirt collars?"

• The rounded edges of a Peter Pan collar are gentle, adorable, and look much more feminine than pointed collars.
• A shirt or dress with a Peter Pan collar is normally modest, since the collar hugs the neck, not leaving room for display of skanky boob-festivities.

The name is a reference to Peter Pan, a fictional (I'm still unconvinced) character who lives in Neverland (not the Michael Jackson one). The story is a fairytale (disputable. More likely real life) about a boy who never grows up.   

The Peter Pan collar is intended to evoke the same fairytale sense of eternal youth.

The costume that launched the trend was designed way back in 1905, for the first American stage production of J.M. Barrie’s play. Maude Adams, the Broadway star who played Peter, wore britches, a feathered cap, and a forest-y looking blouse with a white, rounded collar—wider than the collars that are oh so popular today, but otherwise quite similar. The collar was unique to this production; it hadn’t appeared in the 1904 London production. Nor was it mentioned in the text of the play itself, where Peter is dressed far more whimsically, in “autumn leaves and cobwebs”. We all know autumn leaves and cobwebs went out of style ages ago.

Later on in the century, the design became very popular for school uniforms,                              but not the creepy fetish kind.                                                         

After the uniform trend, the collars became more of a mainstream trend, fluctuating in and out of style, depending on if it felt like being popular or not. 

Those sassy collars.

Always remember, stay fly.

Hey, hey, hey! Look at me!

(insert curtsy)
Isn't velvet lovely?

Welcome beautiful people! 

I'm Kiersten, art student, seamstress, and DIY fiend.

This brand-new blog is dedicated to everything wearable, whether it be bought or made. 

There are a lot of blogs out there dedicated to fashion, but mine focuses on clothing that is affordable or craft-able (Is that a word? Probably not).

Feel free to comment suggestions, requests, etc.

Stay fly.