Google doodle celebrating Eiko Ishioka, 2017. Image: Google.
In memory of Eiko Ishioka, who would have been 80 this year, a look at costume patterns based on her work.
Eiko on Stage (Callaway, 2000) Image: abebooks.
Eiko Ishioka (1938-2012) is best known as the costume designer for The Cell and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, for which she won an Academy Award in 1993. Her last film project was Tarsem Singh’s Mirror Mirror, starring Julia Roberts and Lily Collins.
Poster for Mirror, Mirror (2012). Image: IMdB.
McCall’s and Simplicity both released patterns based on the film. McCall’s 6629 came in adult and children’s sizes. (Out of print, but details still on the Cosplay by McCall’s site.)
McCall’s 6629 / 240 (2012) Image: Etsy.
On the left—view D with collar E and feathered backpiece F—is Julia Roberts’ wicked queen. Ishioka’s original gown has panniers and miles of cartridge pleating:
View B (top right) is clearly Lily Collins’ Snow White, but so is view A. It’s the dress with floral basque and skirt, seen early in the film, which Ishioka topped with one of the most memorable capes in cinema.
The Costume Designers’ Guild gave Ishioka a posthumous award for Mirror Mirror. (For more on the production, see Wired.) And since her on-screen version, all yellow capes seem to point back to Snow White’s.
Vivien Solari in Anne Klein’s Fall 2015 ad campaign. Photo: Nathaniel Goldberg. Editor: Laura Ferrara. Image: Instagram.
Have you seen the new Fall patterns?
Scarlett Schoeffling in Vogue 1597 by Anne Klein, Vogue Patterns lookbook Fall 2018. Image: Issuu.
Vogue’s cover look is a cropped trench jacket by Sharon Lombardo for Anne Klein. Trousers also included:
Vogue 1597 by Sharon Lombardo for Anne Klein (2018) Image: McCall’s.
The cropped trench is a signature Anne Klein piece, seen in the Fall ’15 (above) and Fall ’16 campaigns. (See my post on Vogue’s Winter/Holiday release.)
Anne Klein Fall 2016 ad campaign. Photo: Annemarieke van Drimmelen. Model: Guinevere Van Seenus. Image: Behance.
From Badgley Mischka, a day-to-evening sheath dress, with cuffed sleeves cut in one with the bodice:
Vogue 1595 by Badgley Mischka (2018) Image: McCall’s.
The original is a navy poly-spandex crepe.
Navy crepe dress by Badgley Mischka. Image: Rent the Runway.
Brocade with a rose gold sparkle is the star of this Badgley Mischka cocktail dress with pleated sleeve flounces.
Vogue 1596 by Badgley Mischka (2018) Image: McCall’s.
A closeup view on the designers’ site, with a different pattern placement:
Detail, bell sleeve brocade cocktail dress. Image: Badgley Mischka.
The flounce sleeve featured prominently in Badgley Mischka’s Fall 2017 collection—in black lace for the opening look.
Two looks from Badgley Mischka Fall 2017. Photos: Umberto Fratini / Vogue Runway.
Paco Peralta’s new design is an edgy LBD with two-way separating zipper.
Vogue 1593 by Paco Peralta (2018) Image: McCall’s.
Plus, a men’s shirt from the team at Koos van den Akker. Make in a single fabric if print mixing isn’t your thing.
Vogue 1599 by Koos van den Akker (2018) Image: McCall’s.
A look from Guy Laroche Spring 2017. Image: vogue.com.
The new designer patterns for Summer 2018 play with texture and special fabrics. Lace, seersucker, matelassé, waffle georgette, even a laser-cut textile makes an appearance.
The matelassé cocktail dress with shaped hemline and flounce sleeves is from Nicola Finetti Fall 2016.
Vogue 1587 by Nicola Finetti (2018) Image: McCall’s.
Finetti also showed a longer, front-zip version of V1587. Just trim down the A-line skirt and add a midriff panel:
Nicola Finetti Fall 2016. Images: Not Just A Label.
This season’s backless showpiece is by Adam Andrascik for Laroche: a long-sleeved dress with front bodice drape and slim, layered skirt. Use a semi-sheer fabric for the full effect.
Vogue 1589 by Adam Andrascik for Guy Laroche (2018) Image: McCall’s.
The original is textured silk georgette in a chartreuse-tinged shade of La La Land yellow.
Guy Laroche by Adam Andrascik, Spring 2017. Image: vogue.com.
Andrascik showed two takes on the backless V1589 dress. (A famously backless, ’70s Guy Laroche gown is a perennial inspiration for today’s Laroche designers. French actor Mireille Darc’s gown, worn in the 1972 comedy Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire, also informed Hilary Swank’s Oscar dress.) Here, the V1589 dress is seen backstage:
A post shared by Guy Laroche (@guylarocheparis) on
On a black, sleeveless version, bead chains dangled from silver appliques:
Guy Laroche by Adam Andrascik, Spring 2017. Image: vogue.com.
Judging from the pattern number, the second Laroche may have been delayed from Vogue’s spring release. From Marcel Marongiu, it’s a long-sleeved dress with contrast collar, cuffs, and curved contrast panels in front and back.
Vogue 1577 by Marcel Marongiu for Guy Laroche (2018) Image: McCall’s.
Revered American designer Claire McCardell was the inspiration for Marongiu’s last collection for Laroche. The V1577 dress was shown both long-sleeved and sleeveless:
Guy Laroche by Marcel Marongiu, Spring 2015. Image: Guy Laroche.Guy Laroche by Marcel Marongiu, Spring 2015. Image: Guy Laroche.
As a grey and white coat dress, it swaps the button placket for jumbo exposed zippers:
Guy Laroche by Marcel Marongiu, Spring 2015. Image: Guy Laroche.
Marongiu’s shift dress version, with giant paillettes, was featured in the Laroche advertising campaign by Steve Hiett. Hiett also photographed the V1589 dress for Spring ’17:
Guy Laroche Spring 2015 by Marcel Marongiu. Images: Guy Laroche.Guy Laroche Spring 2015 and Spring 2017 ad campaigns by Steve Hiett.
New from Rachel Comey: the Popcorn dress. The Comey staple is shown in Spring 2017’s seersucker.
Vogue 1585 by Rachel Comey (2018) Popcorn dress. Image: McCall’s.
The pullover dress works for both solids and prints—even print-mixing with contrast skirt inserts. The current version is black rayon.
In her Spring 2007 collection, presented at the Altman building during New York Fashion Week, Comey showed the dress both loose and belted.
Rachel Comey Spring 2007. Images: ELLE.Backstage at Rachel Comey Spring 2007. Photos: Randy Brooke/WireImage.
A closer look reveals the print-mixing. There are only two prints here, with one, reminiscent of Biba’s famous banana print, in three colourways:
Rachel Comey Spring 2007. Images: firstVIEW.
The Summer patterns include two lace looks from Rebecca Vallance: a cutout dress and the Dolce Vita jumpsuit. (There’s one dress left at the Outnet.) The Dolce Vita is a cropped, wide-leg jumpsuit tied with grosgrain ribbon:
Vogue 1591 by Rebecca Vallance (2018) Image: McCall’s.
The jumpsuit is from Rebecca Vallance Summer 2016.
Simplicity’s latest from Cynthia Rowley is a flounce-sleeved lace dress with two neckline variations. Choose from off the shoulder or scoop neck.
Simplicity 8599 by Cynthia Rowley (2018) Image: Simplicity.
Rowley presented her Spring 2017 collection in a “feathered snow globe” at her West Village townhouse. (See WWD.) As photographed by frequent collaborator William Eadon, the S8599 dress is layered, maximalist-style, under an appliquéd satin smock:
Cynthia Rowley Spring 2017. Photo: William Eadon. Image: vogue.com.
The original dress had a contrast back bodice:
Seeing designers’ alternate looks for the Spring/Summer pattern designs, it’s striking how Vogue no longer provides variant views in their designer line, whereas for Simplicity, it’s built in to the business. But armed with reference photos, it’s easy to transform a design.
Catherine Nako wears a Tracy Reese dress at Red’s Jazz Shoe Shine Parlor, Detroit. Photo: Ray Rushing. Image: Instagram.
Have you seen the new designer patterns for Spring 2018?
Badgley Mischka are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary this March, so it’s a treat to see their work on the cover of Vogue’s Spring lookbook. (Click their portrait for my 2013 Just Married post.)
Badgley Mischka dress V1579 on the cover of the Vogue Patterns Spring 2018 lookbook. Model: Ana Kondratjeva. Image: Issuu.
The Spring collection also marks the return of Tracy Reese. (The Detroit native was last seen in Vogue Patterns in 2016.) The new Reese design is a dress with contrast yoke and sleeves—great for those matching sheer/opaque print combos:
Vogue 1578 by Tracy Reese (2018) Image: McCall’s.
Sew Today’s latest issue tipped us off to Reese’s comeback:
Tracy Reese dress on the cover of Sew Today, February 2018. Model: Ana Kondratjeva. Image: sewdirect.
The dark floral was a signature print in her Fall 2016 collection, where it could be seen on dresses, sheer blouses, and a long, cuffed skirt:
Tracy Reese Fall 2016 collection. Image: Vogue.comTracy Reese Fall 2016 collection. Image: Vogue.com.
Reese was inspired by Detroit for this collection, and she opened her presentation with a short film starring local model Catherine Nako:
The film stills are by Detroit-based cinematographer Ray Rushing.
Catherine Nako in Tracy Reese Fall 2016. Photo: Ray Rushing. Image: Instagram.
Bonus: I published my Winter/Holiday post before the McCall’s Winter release, which included two Nicole Miller patterns. This asymmetrical top and flared trousers look to be from the Spring 2017 collection:
McCall’s 7692 by Nicole Miller (2017) Image: McCall’s.Nicole Miller Spring 2017 collection. Image: Vogue UK.
Miller’s Gladiator gown uses contrast binding to punctuate the classic goddess dress. (Still available in white from the designer’s retail site.)
McCall’s 7685 by Nicole Miller (2017) Image: McCall’s.
The original was silk chiffon.
Nicole Miller’s Gladiator gown. Image: Rent the Runway.
Notes: The original was silk. Skirt has bagged lining. Calls for fusible interfacing for the collar, cuffs, etc.
Notions: 3 small buttons, 7 smaller buttons + additional for concealed skirt closure; contrasting thread for edge stitching, bar tacks, piping, and belt loops.
Stay tuned for the submissions gallery: the contest closes March 30th, 2018. (Deadline updated.)
Paco Peralta has seen some major milestones lately. Last fall, the Barcelona couturier became Vogue Patterns’ first Spanish designer in half a century, and this year his blog, BCN – UNIQUE Designer Patterns, is celebrating a decade online. (Like Toronto’s YYZ, BCN is both the airport code for Barcelona and shorthand for the city itself.)
The licensing deal brings a new audience to Peralta’s precision-cut designs. Peralta himself was already a pillar of the online sewing community, both for his fine sewing tutorials and as a purveyor of couture patterns, all hand-traced in his studio not far from Gaudí’s Sagrada Família basilica.
Born in Huesca, Aragon, Peralta studied at Barcelona’s Institut Català de la Moda before apprenticing in some of the city’s couture ateliers, who kept alive the traditions of Balenciaga and Rodríguez. He became interested in commercial patterns in the 1980s, when a friend gave him a copy of Vestidal; his first pattern purchase was a Vogue Individualist design by Issey Miyake.
Peralta may also be the world’s foremost collector of Yves Saint Laurent patterns, and his blog doubles as a window into this private archive. As regular readers of this blog will recognize, any high fashion sewing history owes much to his work.
Couture designs from Yves Saint Laurent’s Mondrian and Libération collections. Images: Etsy / Paco Peralta.
Vogue Patterns introduced Peralta with two designs in last year’s holiday issue. (Click to enlarge.)
You can skip the buttonholes with this short-sleeved jacket: it has a midriff inset instead. For the original ensemble, Peralta used a double-sided Italian wool twill-crepe for the jacket, wool-cashmere for the trousers, and for the shirt, a sturdy Egyptian cotton.
Peralta also used Italian satin-backed wool twill-crepe for his wrap skirt and coat-length jacket. The latter sports a tuxedo-style shawl collar, while the pussy-bow blouse, made in silk crepe de Chine, has French cuffs:
This tunic and pants ensemble was the summer bestseller. The long version is a heavy linen, while the short, gaucho version is a lightweight silk/rayon. Both have silk organza insets.
For the holiday season, mix and match with party separates: a dolman-sleeved top and winter-weight handkerchief skirt, shown in cotton knit and silk-viscose duchesse satin.
Vogue 1567 by Paco Peralta (2017) Photo: Tim Geaney.Image: McCall’s.
Coming soon: even more Paco Peralta designs exclusive to Vogue Patterns.
A look from Adam Andrascik’s Fall 2015 collection for Laroche. Photo: Yannis Vlamos. Image: Vogue.com.
From Guy Laroche to Paco Peralta, Vogue’s designer patterns for Winter/Holiday 2017 offer a range of festive looks for the coming season.
The new Guy Laroche is a skinny jean and party top, recommended for lamé:
Vogue 1573 by Adam Andrascik for Guy Laroche (2017) Image: McCall’s
The ensemble is the first pattern to be drawn from Adam Andrascik’s debut collection for Laroche.
V1573 by Adam Andrascik for Guy Laroche on the Fall 2015 runway. Photo: Yannis Vlamos. Image: Vogue.com.
Gleaming tartan jacquard is the star of this ensemble from Anne Klein, now designed by Sharon Lombardo:
Vogue 1571 by Sharon Lombardo for Anne Klein (2017) Image: McCall’s.
Guinevere Van Seenus wore a similar look for the Fall 2016 campaign, photographed by Annemarieke van Drimmelen:
Anne Klein Fall 2016 ad campaign. Photo: Annemarieke van Drimmelen. Model: Guinevere Van Seenus. Image: Behance.
Like fall’s V1561 jacket, the two Zandra Rhodes offerings are from the Fall 2016 collection, which was sponsored by Kraftangan Malaysia. (Kraftangan is Malay for ‘handicraft.’) As always with Rhodes’ work, the focus is on textiles, here on a double-sided fabric such as metallic jacquard:
Vogue 1566 by Zandra Rhodes (2017) Image: McCall’s.
Vogue chose three of Rhodes’ Songket pieces—a dress, peplum top, and trousers—for the Winter/Holiday collection. Songket is a traditional metallic brocade produced in Southeast Asia.
Paco Peralta’s latest design for Vogue is a dolman-sleeved knit top and handkerchief skirt. Festive and versatile, the skirt even has pockets:
Vogue 1567 by Paco Peralta (2017) Image: McCall’s.
I have some Lurex in my stash, don’t you?
If you’re fresh out of shiny fabric, you might be interested in Gorgeous Fabrics’ farewell sale. Last weekend, owner Ann Steeves announced that she is closing shop after 11 years in business.
Amanda Murphy wears Laroche by Adam Andrascik, Miss Vogue supplement, Vogue Paris, September 2015. Photo: Lachlan Bailey. Editor: Géraldine Saglio. Image: Guy Laroche.
