CLASS DATE CHANGE to April 17 & 18!
Draping the
Madame Grés Gown . . . the third class in the series from the amazing Dutch draping book!
This is the dress!
A New Class, April 17 & 18
A year ago I took a class in Paris with Madame Pico, the last of the drapers at the House of Grés, so you will see the samples and secrets of the Grés technique in both draping and construction!
Register here - 15 spaces.
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A New Book!
We are beginning to reprint more of our Library and this rare design text is first on the list! Go to our store for more details. I have actually heard Kenneth King say that he personally thanks Harriet Pepin for his start in the industry!
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Newsletter Archives
Now you can look up forgotten links, ideas, patterns, tips, photos -- all those things you meant to write down!
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Finally,
It's Spring!
And this letter is late since one's presence was required in the garden, weeding -- the alternative was an expensive GPS system to find the office!
The 2010 shows are over and fashion, as ever, reflects reality even before people do and so what can we detect? The bullet points in the reality department are: - more A-line and wider hip silhouettes (like real women)
- more neutrals (to go with what you have)
- better fabrics (to last longer)
- warmer fabrics and layering (for heat conservation)
- more collars and sleeves (for the age group that has the money)
- lower heels (for the same reason)
- multi-purpose and multi-season (justifies the price point - still high)
- more 'suits' (2 part looks that get you the job)
- more matching (matching is risk adverse)
- more dresses (for the same reason)
- more leg looks (they're the last to go!)
- no belts, no waist (for obvious reasons)
Jil Sander.
Sounds dull, right? But here's the interesting part -- after years of pure theater, loads of esoteric theory and little practical value, we may be about to welcome the return of talented people who can think of it themselves AND and cut it -- so it looks great AND works. Working includes aesthetic success, as in not dull. The task is tough, requiring lots of technical and artistic background, executed within the narrow parameters of higher expectations of value from wearers and the need to be more competitive than ever. Stay tuned, but it will not be coming to an outlet near you; fast fashion is for those who are 12. Expect to pay more and get a lot more -- something that will 'work' for years and be compelling the whole time. It is possible, just hard to do. For proof. check the first shot of the majors on Style.com. |
Julian Roberts 2010 Tour, US and Canada - Julian Roberts returns to the
 US and Canada in June. The dates are firm: Kent State Studio NYC, June 10 - 12, where he will team up with J.R. Campbell, Chair of Kent State's Fashion Design School and internationally known textile digital print artist. Julian will then be at Ryerson University, Toronto, June 13 - 15; Kwantlen University in Vancouver, June 17 - 20 and down the pacific coast with possible stop in Los Angeles. Check out Julian's Work of Eye.
- New Vionnet Classes. The next one will be an in-depth intensive for textile artists at the Textile Art Center In Minneapolis as part of the Surface Design Association meeting there in early June, 2010. It will be hands-on draping and focus on using art fabrics in the Vionnet Way. Also, save the date for next November when I present Vionnet, the Art of the Cut (including lots from the recent Paris show) at the De Young Museum in their Saturday morning lecture series sponsored by the Textile Arts Council.
 Universal Design. It is with great satisfaction that I welcome Universal Design/Inclusive Design to the fashion main stream, to the educational institutions where it is a featured department in their curriculum and to our focus here. As pattern designers, if we adopt the inclusive thinking of UD/ID, we join a leading edge of the pattern design field. This can be as simple as asking: "are these buttons/zipper pull accessible to both athletic and arthritic fingers?" Elizabeth Kaino Hopper (www.ekaino.com) is researching this field for her MFA work at the University of California at Davis. She can be reached at fashions@ekaino.com. As the world opens to more and more markets, take note that this market is huge and non-competitive now -- a wonderful niche in which to find a future.
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New Products- The Paper Half Scale Dress Form.
 This form is a wonderful thing! It comes in 4 large printed card stock sheets; you cut it out and tape it together. It stands on its own, is about a size 8 - 10 and is perfect for trying out ideas done in flat pattern. Remember those dart manipulation problems that kept you awake at night? Also great for product display in convention booths (saves shipping), for shop samples and ideal for use in a classroom where funds are limited and students need to see it to believe it -- a problem for many students and customers!. Check the product page and see the Buy in Bulk link for discounts.
- Barbie MySize As A Dress Form. We now have the cover pattern and instructions for the MySize Barbie so that you can use it as a 36" tall dress form. Most people find them on Ebay but they are available
 at toy stores. Amazingly, they do conform to half scale measurements and offer the advantage of full body draping with arms and legs. Just think, cool sleeves and pants!
- A PWStudio Page for information about techniques with the software, new classes, Vista fixes, tricks and tips -- all the magic possibilities.
It is up with basic info -- more coming this month. Let us know if you
are interested in forming a class using your laptop and the $20 demo! P.S. A new version is coming out -- time to learn the new one.
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Events SPESA EXPO, Atlanta, GA, May 18-20. The industry's largest and most comprehensive event of 2010, covers everything from concept to delivery. Fashion and sewn products executives and professionals will gather for a one-stop shop of materials, machinery, technology, and supply chain services while gaining valuable insight through seminars and networking. This takes the place of the old Bobbin Show and is a blockbuster -- you can't really be in business without having been there at least once. Details.
- SAIC : Fashion 2010, Friday, May 7
Nick Cave, professor and chair of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's Fashion Design Department, announced that SAIC 's 76th annual fashion show is coming up. For the first time, the fashion show takes place in the critically acclaimed Renzo Piano-designed Griffin Court of the Art Institute of Chicago's Modern Wing, marking the return of SAIC's annual fashion show to the Art Institute of Chicago for the first time in 15 years.
Fashion and art lovers from across the nation will have the opportunity to enjoy a spectacular runway show featuring cutting-edge garments by the next generation of up-and-coming designers who have themed their designs around Piano's stunning architecture.
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Lessons  Don McCunn has been in the pattern design teaching business almost as long as I have and has had a good book out for many years. Lately he has offered bra, bikini, and lingerie classes in San Francisco and it is always hard to find instruction in that area! Shown here is an ingenius way he has of trying out ideas on a wine bottle -- those ideas could get wilder as the bottle gets lighter! Try a magnum! See his website
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Special Items
 Genevieve Sevin-Doering is a costumer who has received recognition lately in Kathleen Fassenella's site and in other pattern spots. Her work also deserves notice here. While I'm not certain there is current work and I do know that others, J.R, Campbell to be sure, are working in the same area, the pattern designs, which are usually of a single piece, are quite striking and definitely give one the urge to cut them out. http://sevindoering.free.fr/ -- Use the Google translate service.
- The CoPA Archive. Our 3-month time block is up at the end of March but we are working to bring it in as part of our on-going service -- should know more about that in a month or so. The CoPA Archives at the University of Rhode Island is open to all and we will purchase more group access in the future. I'm leaving this line in this month -- still true: The
patterns and their layouts will make you delirious! Thousands of them!! It is an amazing collection.
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Here we are for the most important message: It's  sustainability for what is known as the 'Long Now'. Don't buy what you don't need, re-purpose what you do, insist on good work, take the time to figure out what is uniquely beautiful on you, WEAR CLOTHES THAT FIT, patronize designers that get it. Next month, lots on the newest and most exciting frontier -- Zero-Waste Design.
"If I knew I should die tomorrow, I would plant a tree today." Stephen Girard
Thank you.
Sandy Ericson
Center for Pattern Design
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