Susan's Plum,Tangerines, and Cherries

 

I can't wait for you to see the rest of this gown, because many of you might wonder about a combination of plum and tangerine and cerise, but there is a really good reason, and a nice cohesion to this rich, warm gown!

 

So, here is the explanation!  This tropical floral print was brought in by Susan, and it was a great starting point, providing the vibrant and unusual color palette for her new ball gown.  Susan trained as a ballet dancer and came to ballroom later in her career.  From watching her dance just a bit here in my studio in testing her costume, I image she is a beautiful, joyous, powerhouse on the competition floor.   This bold print and it's vibrant colorway seem just perfect for her.

When she arrived for her design meeting, Susan had this piece of fabric and a dark purple piece she thought might be an underskirt that would be visible from beneath the floral print.  I asked her to take the purple piece home.  I really enjoy working with prints, but experience tells me that a busy print requires careful design handling to be successful.  When the entire gown will not be the print, the colors used in conjunction need to be from the middle value range in the print.  Either end of that range (in this case, the white or the purple) is too much contrast, and the print and strong contrasting colors war with each other for focus.   This gown has several textures and details, but they all flow together to create an interesting whole, primarily because of the value choices.  I also find that it possible to use shapes with prints, but they must be similar in feeling, and since this print is very organic, a straight purple line at the hem would have been a clash in intention.  The diagonals, and flowing, color-shifting drape we used, have the same shapes as those in the print, and the dynamics compliment each other nicely.

Susan seems the sort to be a good performer as well, so we created a primary impact point at her face with the jewelry design, using the pale pinks in the Crystal AB Swarovski to exploit the power of contrast as a focusing tool.  I also image her port-de-bras is excellent, and the cuff bracelet will draw attention to beautiful arm use.

 

We also carefully kept the cutting of the fabric to a minimum with the design of the skirt shape, to allow it to be seen without interruption of line by seams any more than necessary.

 

Thank you Susan!  I really enjoyed making this gown and working with your beautiful print, and I love the great action shots Helen sent to me.  You really are a glorious dancer!

 

Karen's Magical Hologram Sequin Cloth

Karen visited my studio with her friend Jeannie, at the design meeting for Jeannie's velvet Tropical Paradise gown.

While Jeannie and I worked, Karen fell in love with a swatch of fabric. Not just any piece of fabric, and I wish, wish, WISH!, I could show you this fabric in person, because no photograph will ever do it justice.

Karen's fabric is a stretch mesh, covered with hologram effect turquoise sequins. The holographic diffraction on these tiny sequins works in the same way as the miniscule spiraling ridges on a CD.  So image thousands of teensy turquoise CD's, about 1/4 inch in diameter, sewn onto cloth and you have the general idea of the amazing magic of Karen's fabric.

This is not a fabric for all body types. It magnifies and amplifies body shape. Fortunately, Karen is trim and
fit, and can afford to have her lovely curves highlighted. This fabric must also be cut and fit carefully to lie smoothly on the body with the fewest possible seams.

Karen is a past Mrs. Minnesota, who created her own pageant gown and is a capable seamstress herself.  She had looked at silhouettes and knew approximately what shape she wanted her gown to take.  I agreed that her idea was a good one, and refined it a bit for her.  She chose a asymmetrical bodice, with a soft (and shiny!) full skirt, to enable it to hold it's own against the dazzle of the sequin cloth.  Since there was no prefect matching color for the turquoise of the sequin cloth, especially given that it changed colors itself, Karen found an electric green georgette, and we layered the two fabrics to get an nice match, as well as providing visual interest for the skirt in movement. 

Given the all-over glimmer of the fabric, we decided to define and embellish the edge of the bodice with texure and color, rather than more sparkle, and chose two colors of acrylic cabochons that again, blended to make a perfect hue.  Karen agreed to do the embellishment of her gown, once it was finished, and did a great job of applying the acrylic cabs.

Karen wanted co-ordinating jewelry, and we wanted it to stand out as different from the border embellishments, so we chose to use both some of the large cabochons and Crystal AB Swarovski as an accent, and again, Karen did her own embellishment application. 

 And finally, here are a few shots of Karen from her performance, with teacher James Woods, at the Snowball, January 2012.

Ember's Icy Skyline

Ember is an accomplished woman, with a busy life as the Chief Advancement Officer with Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. Known for her work as a broadcast political analyst, she is also an attorney, former Minnesota state senator, former radio personality, and enjoys acting in local community theatre productions. 

After some years away from competitive ballroom dance, she visited my studio last fall to ask my professional opinion of several gently used gowns she was considering buying for use in a local "Dancing with the Celebrities" charitable event. I gave her my thoughts and we artfully adjusted her choice (a Made for Movement gown) to fit. She looked great in the gown. and dazzled the crowd at her event with her winning performance.  Here you see her with her Dancer's Studio teacher Chris Kempainen, (also wearing a Made for Movement ballroom suit) holding their trophies.

She must also have been having a good time, because she decided to return to competitive dance and asked me to design a custom rhythm gown for her for the Snow Ball, which I was glad to do. 

As her career would suggest, Ember is a conservative woman, at home in tailored suits and not really interested in ruffles or overly-feminine details on her clothing.  As a dancer, she has both good performance skills, and long, attractive lines to display.  Ember wanted a gown that would be reflective of her stately elegance, and also her joyfulness at her return to dancing.

We wanted her gown to have simple, sleek lines, and be all one color.  Ember chose fuchsia, (a very popular choice in the last year) and it certainly is a joyful color.  We wanted her rhythm look to flatter her body and be tasteful and appropriate to her age.  We chose a longer, soft skirt with nice movement, but not fussy frills or ruffles, and sleeves to connect her slim arms to her body and emphasize her long lines. 

Ember is dancing here with her dance professional and teacher, the wonderful Scott Anderson, who is also the organizer of the Twin Cites Open. Ever an aware guy on the floor, he noticed me with my camera, and moved closer, so my photos are a little better than usual here!  Ember has a lovely hourglass figure with a very small waist and we planned to reveal her waist while de-emphasizing her bust and hip with diagonal design lines, meticulously placed in fittings to flatter and define.

Although her skirt is long, we used a diagonal hemline to allow us to see her legs and knees in action.

When it came to embellishment, in keeping with Ember's dislike of the overdone and fussy, I let her look through a collection of prom dresses. She found one with details she liked, and I used those details as inspiration for the rhinestone application, as you can see here.

I applied the stoning to the top of the bodice, and my partner Michele did the hip line.  I thought (perhaps influenced maybe by working on this gown in January) that the detail looked like icicles on a roof.  Like the story of the blind men and the elephant, Michele thought it was a lovely representation of a winter night time city skyline.  I'm fond of the cuff detail as well.

Ember was a joy to work with, and we look forward to seeing her again, when she is ready for her next custom gown.

Celebrating 25 Years!

Made for Movement was born 25 years ago this month, in 1987, and a little celebrating is in order.


We have had 4 different locations, and by my estimate, created nearly 1000 costumes for Twin Cities competitive ballroom dancers in those years.  I believe I have managed to make the things I love the most; 3 dimensional design, beautiful fabrics, all things sparkly, and dance, into a perfect career.


As I finish the last of three new gowns for the Snowball this weekend, I wanted to look back a little, and look ahead as well.

First, let's look ahead.  Of greatest importance, I want you to know that we are raising our rates this year.  Each year, the cost of rhinestones, fabric and notions goes up, but Made for Movement has charged the same hourly rate for our labor since 2005!  After seven years of holding the line, it's time for an increase.  But for all of you who book with us by the 15th of January, for any project for any time this year,  we will honor our 2005 rate.  So stop by our display at the Snowball and make sure your projects for this year are on our schedule to take advantage of this offer.  To give you an example of the savings you can get by scheduling NOW,  I just finished a new gown at a cost of $2050.  At our new rate, this same gown will cost $2300, so book your costume needs for 2012 by the 15th of January, and save!

Now for a quick look back!  In 2011, we made 22 new gowns, dressed 15 men in either Latin, Smooth or Standard attire, and sold 12 Gently Used gowns, plus did several "renewal" projects, (a new skirt, a new sleeve, a new look for an older gown) working at our usual project-a-week pace.




The average new, custom-designed Latin or Rhythm Gown cost about $2000 and the average ballgown cost was $2450, which makes us a huge bargain by industry standards, and this will still be true when our new rate is in place.

For those of you looking for an exceptional price on a beautifully made gown, I just got a couple of new Gently Used listings, and they are being cleaned and readied for the rack on Friday, so, VISIT US AT THE SNOWBALL!










OH!  And here's a little sneak peek at a detail on a new gown that I am loving.  I can't wait to see it (and it's lovely and talented owner) dance!

Cathy's First Gown

Cathy is a confident and lovely young dancer at Arthur Murray St. Paul, and her teacher Nate suggested she visit me when she was ready to have her first ballgown created.  Both Nate and his wife Rachel, also an Arthur Murray instructor and counselor, offered their ideas about what the general impression of Cathy's gown should be.   Nate said, "poised, regal and elegant" and Rachel offered "demure, lighthearted, and clean."  Cathy brought me lots of mages all of which featured cool, peacock colors and most of which also had floral motifs.  We decided that purple was the right royal touch, and used jeweled floral lace to ensure the gown had a youthful and lighthearted quality.



I see what Nate meant by "poised."

Cathy did lots of rhinestone application on her gown to help keep costs reasonable.  I finished her necklace and earrings for her, to show her what I had in mind for the lace.

 Then, using the lace as a guide and doing a sort of "paint by number" process, she spent about 20 hours, over a 10 day period, adding stones to the lace on the front...

...and the back of the bodice...

... the cuffs,

... and the barette.

  Because Cathy's hair is dark, we backed the barette with black ultrasuede, so the jeweled flowers could appear to sit neatly in her hair, which I think worked out nicely!

Then Cathy returned the gown to me, after a practice session to assure that everything worked as expected and to give her time to get used to the idea of wearing the gown.  She was so sweet, telling me how hard it had been to dance in it the first time without trying to watch the dress move in the mirror instead of concentrating on her dancing, and how exhilirating it was to feel fabric swirling around her legs and seeing the cuffs sparkle as she extended  her arms.  I can remember those feelings well, and some of my professional clients intentionally get new costumes for big competitions, specifically for the added sense of excitement and discovery they provide.

 I finished the gown by placing the less-fun-to-apply, but equally important, amethyst stones on the gown bodice, and then, I installed a delightful detail.  The electric blue pearl chiffon underskirt provides flashes of color in movement and adds a great deal of depth to the layers of skirt.  I was fortunate to see her dance at her showcase event on Sunday, and take a few photos. 

And that is Made for Movement menswear on Nate as well.  Don't they look wonderful?

I love working with first-time clients and Cathy did an wonderful job of both the rhinestone application, and with trusting me and the Made for Movement process.  I look forward to working with her again!

In the mean time, as Rachel suggested to Cathy when she called after wearing the gown for the first time and was sad to have to take it off, "It would not be entirely wrong to watch TV in it some night..."

Bonnie's "Illusion of Suspended Elevation"

I always ask my clients to bring me a word or short phrase that describes what their gown will be.  Bonnie brought me a unique phrase, compliments of her coach Paul Botes.  Paul tells Bonnie and her partner/fiance, (tall and dark Ed) that they must be floaty, lightweight, and ethereal, creating an "illusion of suspended elevation."  Thanks Paul!  That was a really fun phrase to work with!

We had to immediately dash several ideas.  Like, deep, dark sapphire blue, which was Ed's hope, but sadly will probably never be an obviously lightweight choice.  Bonnie had polled both of her coaches about what her gown might include and teacher Scott Anderson suggested she "Go Gold!" Given Bonnie's beautiful light blonde hair, we decided on a soft platinum gold, (the third gown in my golden autumn trifecta) and went hunting for fabric that was light and metallic at the same time.  Bonnie found this beautiful gold-embossed organza locally, and I approved!  I offered the metallic gold slinky for the bodice.  I was pleased that Bonnie chose asymmetrical style lines for her gown, and happy to balance and support them with the diagonal hemline of the overskirt and  the creamy french vanilla mesh of the left sleeve.  Asymmetrical gowns are visually in motion before the dancing begins, and usually a plus for the wearer.

Bonnie showed me the hemline of a beautifully detailed British gown with bits of feather and fabric floating along the topskirt hemline and I created some organza leaf shapes and vanilla spiral fringe to make our own floaty statement at Bonnie's hem, applied to a pale gold charmeuse underskirt.

This beautiful detail repeats on the opposite side of the gown on the draped mesh sleeve top, nicely in balance and the perfect justification for each other's presence.

Bonnie did her own rhinestone application, after we applied the large sew-on jewels to the edges of the bodice and skirt for her, and did a great job, while keeping the cost of her gown reasonable.   She did all the Crystal AB fill-in at the borders, as well as the guilding of the metallic gold slinky bodice and sleeve with Swarovski Light Topaz AB.

Bonnie's gown needed to serve for both  American Style Smooth and for International Standard.  Standard style dancing is done in hold so the costumes often include wings or floats for the ladie's gown.  We created detachable floats (very "floaty" floats, given the lightness of the organza!) for the gown that will be used for Standard and removed for Smooth style dancing.

A super treat for me is to be able to show you Bonnie in her new gown, (in its International Standard Configuration) dancing with Ed!   You can see their Quickstep at Minnesota Madness by clicking on the link below. They begin their heat at the far corner of the room.  Enjoy!   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItwWoyU52Mc&feature=youtu.be

Anne Rocks a Spanish Look!

Ok, so this is not a photo of Anne.  As I write this, she is debuting her newest Made for Movement gown at the American Classic showcase tonight.  And she came through for me with a photo from the event as requested!

When we began work on this gown, her ideas were "rock and roll" and "Spanish influence." Because she dances in formation with Karen, who owns a black gown, she wanted her dress to work with Karen's as well.  We chose the pink addition to the black because it is very important to be visible on the floor and all the men are already wearing black, so black gowns must either be super sparkly, or have a color accent.  That hot pink and black combo seems very "rocker" to me as well.  The sparkle is achieved with black sequin cloth and will be supported by jet Swarovski crystals on the lace, which Anne will do for herself, (with my guidance, but she's had lots of experience on several previous gowns and does a great job!)  keeping the cost of her look more resonable.The lace gave us a subtle Spanish feeling and Karen's black gown is primarily lace, so it's an additional tie-in for formation dancing.  Do you see her ideas reflected here?

I enjoy working with all of my clients, but Anne is a special favorite. She is very trusting and collaborative and enters into our process with gentle ideas about what she wants, while allowing me lots of space in which to work as well. I think that is part of the success we have together.   We met twice to design this gown, the first time got us close and the second meeting changed placement of components around to better serve the fabric use,  The bow and lace godet developed as we worked together through fittings.  Her relaxed trust and self confidence really allow us to stay fluid and try ideas as we go.

I am thinking she needs a pink rose for her hair!

For me, the best thing about this gown is the trendy skirt hem. I am seeing lots of beautiful, curly edge details this year in ballgown hems, and I am really pleased with this one. I kept spinning the dress form and being HUGELY pleased with the movement at the bottom. The pink organza underskirt is 4 times more full than the black satin chiffon over skirt, and the look is amazingly eye-catching. Fortunately, I think Anne uses her feet well as a dancer, so when the focus is on them, as it will be in this gown, the results will be flattering.

I'm also really pleased with Anne's necklace.  This is the first demi-choker I've done for her, and it really works beautifully on her neck, and adds a touch of elegance to the look.

According to my records, this is the 8th custom gown I have created for Anne, and I am going to decorate this post with a few shots of some of our earlier projects.

That's Tom, Anne's partner and husband, and I also made (or to be more accurate, my partner Michele made) the suit he has on.  The genesis of this gown was a shirt Anne owned and liked.  And this one (below) was a personal favorite!

And here is one last gown, a more recent collaboration, with some details I really love!

This beautiful blue gown should be for sale soon, so if you are interested, give me a call and I'll see if I can have it ready for you to try on!