Obsessed with Embellishment

This morning I opened my email, and Georgene, a fellow Sewing Diva, had sent all of us a link to this blouse - fabulous, yes?  And not that hard to replicate either.  Pattern-wise, you could use any peasent blouse pattern such as Simplicity 3887, or  Hot Patterns Poetry in Motion Tops. The flounce is just some elastic on the sleeve.  A subtle feature of this peasent look is that there is no gathering at the shoulder and the lace insertion lies flat - I like that.

 What really makes this work is the seemingly elaborate embellishment, but if we break it down we can easily see what’s really going on:

• Notice the pearls are the same tone as the fashion fabric and lace insertion.  This is a great idea and is going straight into my idea notebook!   Pearl beads come in all kinds of colors, and this is easy to copy because you can dye fabric and lace to match the pearls
• There are only two pearl shapes: teardrop in one size and round in small, medium & large
• There are just four embroidery colors: a medium dusky green for the leaves, bright pink and dark bright pink for the flowers, and a lastly a pinky-beige leaf color that matches the fashion fabric and the pearls
• Only one embroidery stitch is used for the flowers and leaves:  a basic padded satin stitch. Georgene hypothosized that there might be some cording instead of padding under the satin stitching outlining the leaves, and I think that’s certainly possible too.

Pretty simple right?  So how does this all work together so perfectly?  It’s all about the transiton from one material to the next, and how they are used.  If you look closely, you’ll see the pearls are also used as centers for the flowers, and the tone-on-tone leaves  also act as a bridge between the brighter fowers and the fashion fabric.  Some of the leaves, both tone-on-tone and green, are outlined with pearls as well.  The transition between materials is hugely important to making embellishment work, and to keep it from looking “stuck on”.

The heavy embellishment is also mostly confined to the top half of the garment, and when you look at the other views on Net-A-Porter you’ll see the lovely drape created by the beading.

This blouse is a brilliant example of the sum being greater than the parts.   Thanks Georgene!

For the most part the red carpet parade at the Oscars was pretty much what I’ve come to expect. Starlets, old movie stars, previous winners, industry types - the tabloids will cover it better than I ever could. Nothing really made me crazy, fashion-wise, although the level of glamour was uniformly pretty high. Penelope Cruz, who is always one of the best dressed women in Hollywood, looked great as always in a fluff of Versace, Ann Hathaway was adorable in Valentino, and I loved the wit behind the brooch over Catherine Deneuve’s Gaultier heart, stabbed with a saber and trailing symbolic blood.

But - then Cate Blanchett showed up and I gasped in amazement! Her Armani Prive gown was a masterpiece of couture embellishment and color! The deep, rich gunmetal color was gorgeous against her pale skin and I’m convinced the inspiration for this magnificent gown was the Art Deco bronze & ivory figurine “Starfish Dancer” by Chiparus The above photo of Cate really doesn’t showcase the gown as much as I’d like, but in HDTV it was easy to see that it was heavily encrusted with beading, crystals and even mirrors. A stunning work of embellishment, just like the original Chiparus bronze from the 1920’s. Nice work Cate!

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If I could have music on my blog, you’d now be listening to “Rock Lobster” by the B-52’s! I just love this jacket by John Galliano from the Dior Fall 2006 couture collection.

I like it because it really does look like a lobster. I live in New England and I’ve been eating them all my life. I know lobster anatomy!

And the lobster tail hat! ! It’s very Surrealist, and very Elsa Schiaparelli. I have only one complaint - it’s not 3-D, as you can see from the runway shot. But when I win the lottery I will have Dior make mine a true hat.

So the big question is - what can we learn from this thing? First off - the beading is really witty and wonderful, and there are lots of ideas to steal. Pearls, of course, are perfect for a garment with an ocean theme, and the mix of different size pearls (ivory and colored), crystals (marquis and round) adds a lots of interest while keeping the embellishment toned down just enough. I also like the little paisleys and curlicues beaded down the center front of the jacket and along the edges of the lobster shell. Zoom into the jacket on the larger photo and notice how the different sizes of beads, pearls and crystals are combined along the edges. The feathery edges themsleves look like bird feathers.

My guess is that all of this embellishment was added after the garment was sewn. There must be a backing underneath the fashion fabric because this embellishment is likely on the heavy side.

I’m sure some people think this garment looks like a costume from a Disney On Ice production of the The LIttle Mermaid, but you just can’t deny this is something really spectacular. Sure - it’s waaaay over top, and is probabley a perfect example of what most peope think is wrong with modern couture, but I think the embellishment is magnificent!