sketch

Iconic Wedding Dresses #9: Elizabeth Taylor (1975)

Iconic Wedding Dresses #9: Elizabeth Taylor (1975)

It’s amazing considering Liz Taylor got married 8 times that she managed to make a fashion statement every single time!  This is one of my least favourite of her wedding outfits, partly because I still struggle to love 70s fashion (too many bad fashion choices as a child) but I had the most fun drawing(…)

Sketching Sunday

Sketching Sunday

I wish I’d had a bit more time this weekend. I had so many things I wanted to do, and so many ideas but I’m guessing you know what it’s like, life just kind of gets in the way! What with being a mum, being a daughter, being a wife I only really got half(…)

Strictly Sketching Sunday

Strictly Sketching Sunday

I can’t tell you how nice it’s been today to have some free time to relax and do some sketching. I haven’t done any drawing for months, things have just been too busy, but I do enjoy it. I also find the costumes in Strictly Come Dancing really inspiring. Yes, they’re gaudy and covered in(…)

Rather cruel caricature of Coco Chanel from 1919

Rather cruel caricature of Coco Chanel from 1919

I realise caricatures are generally quite unflattering, but this seems to be quite poisonous for no apparent reason! The artist was Georges Goursat (Sem) and the piece appeared in Le grand monde à l’envers in 1919. The caption reads: Mam’selle Coco j’voudrais un beau chapeau pour le Dimanche Which, if my schoolgirl French suffices, translates as(…)

1960s-inspired red and white sketch

1960s-inspired red and white sketch

I did this sketch a while ago and forgot to post it. I love the combination of red and white, so clean and vibrant, but difficult to wash without colour-run in real life! Both of these dresses are sixties-inspired and I’d love to be able to make them myself, but sadly I don’t really have(…)

Fashion sketch: 1930s vs 1950s

Fashion sketch: 1930s vs 1950s

I’ve been messing around with some painting recently especially while I was away on holiday, and this is one of my fashion design experiments. A 1930s day dress (although realistically it’s probably a bit short for that) and a 1950s fit and flare outfit with a fitted leopard print jacket. I’m not overly delighted with either(…)

1950s gown vs a party dress for Princess Leia

1950s gown vs a party dress for Princess Leia

This sketch started out being a 1950s evening dress, but (being a bit of a Star Wars geek) the folds and draping just really shouted ‘Princess Leia’ to me so I couldn’t resist adding bagel-bun hair and a cape just to make it a little more sci-fi. What do you think? Would Leia wear this(…)

Fashion sketch: sixties mod shift dress

Fashion sketch: sixties mod shift dress

I thought with all the monochrome sixties shift dresses around at the moment, I’d have a go at designing my own. What do you think..? Here are my other sketches, if you want to take a look 🙂

Fashion design: a demure 1950s wedding dress

Fashion design: a demure 1950s wedding dress

Now that it’s the Easter holidays and my little boy’s off school I’m getting the time to stop for a while and do fun things – more sketching, more exploring and hopefully some time to relax too! This is the first sketch I’ve done with some fabulous new watercolours I had for my birthday, what(…)

Fashion design sketchbook: 1930s evening dress

Fashion design sketchbook: 1930s evening dress

Another 1930s-inspired design, this time a pale blue satin evening gown with a beaded silver and gold deep V neckline. I’ll move onto another decade soon – any suggestions or requests? You can see the other designs from my fashion design sketchbook here. You’ll note the one shoe – sorry! I still haven’t got any(…)

Vintage fashion design: 1930s day dress

Vintage fashion design: 1930s day dress

I’m still going through a bit of a 1930s craze at the moment (I blame it on Dancing on the Edge) but for a change I thought I’d have a go at designing a day outfit instead of a glamorous evening outfit. I love the mix of muted colours and smart tailoring to make something(…)

Fashion design sketch: 1920s sailor dress for Louise Brooks

Fashion design sketch: 1920s sailor dress for Louise Brooks

I’ve been getting lots of sketching done over the past few days, and I’m really enjoying it. Sitting there sketching and painting is also encouraging my 6-year-old to step away from the 3DS and get creative too. He’s not drawing clothes, he’s concentrating on dinosaurs, but it’s very satisfying!

Fashion sketch: 1930s dress design for Jean Harlow

Fashion sketch: 1930s dress design for Jean Harlow

I haven’t posted a design for a while (so much for my New Year’s resolution eh?), but this is one I did a few weeks ago with Jean Harlow in mind – the dress would be made from a gorgeous ivory satin with draping around the neck and a (faux) fur stole with tan Mary(…)

Fashion Sketch: Flapper Dress for Clara Bow

Fashion Sketch: Flapper Dress for Clara Bow

I felt like designing something 20s inspired, but couldn’t be bothered with drawing all the beading and fringing you normally get in a flapper dress, so here’s an adaptation of the tennis-dress I designed for the ClothesBox competition. It’s just a bit simpler and a bit sleeker and I thought Clara Bow would look great(…)

Fashion sketch: dress design for Grace Kelly

Fashion sketch: dress design for Grace Kelly

One of my new year’s resolutions this year is to do more drawing, so I thought I’d start by designing a dress for one of my favourite fifties fashion icons: Grace Kelly. What do you think? Would she have looked good in this? (Obviously she would have looked good dressed in a bin-liner but you(…)