Tracy's Emerald Vine

It's easy to make a beautiful gown for a beautiful woman.  Tracy fits that description.  The ideas for her gown came from video clips on You Tube, featuring one of her favorite Latin dancers, in three different but similar costumes.  We picked and chose components from each of the gowns, she chose her color, and we ordered Zircon dance crepe and stretch satin from Dance Sport International in England.

Most of the fabrics I use come from England, where ballroom dancing is a much bigger part of life than here in the US.  It is very hard to find fabrics in this country that meet all of the requirements of competition dancewear, and there are no suppliers devoted specifically to the needs of the ballroom.  First, we need richer, more purely intense color than is available for street clothing, since the objective is generally to be easily visible and vibrant.  Secondly, I usually need fabric of several different kinds for each gown, and usually I want these fabrics to match.  For example, this gown required a supple, soft stretchy crepe for the bodice, and a shiny, lightweight poly satin for the skirt.  Neither of these things is available at my local fabric shop. Finally, I need fabrics that have been created specifically for the rigors of competitive dance, and will stand up to sweat, not tear in aggressive movement, will travel without wrinkling, and wash easily without needing to be dry cleaned.

In the upper right, my usual favorite nude mesh, and in the forground, the same mesh with a gold metallic finish.

In this particular case, one of the fabrics we used came from a New York City supplier, Spandex House.  Tracy wanted a portion of her gown to be sheer and appear to be nearly nude.  But Tracy is a modest woman, and wanted her nude sheer not to look TOO nude.  So we used a metallic gold stretch mesh for the right side of the bodice.  The metallic sheen helped the eye focus on the surface, and not so much on what was just beneath.

This gown is also conservative in terms of visible skin, but by no means a gown that is not exciting on the floor.  The high back allows the design elements to lead the eye around the body, plus there is a wide "slit" of sorts at the skirt attachment at the left side, that is decidedly sexy.   The over-all impression is that of elegance, with a touch of racy indifference.  It was super appealing on the dance floor!  Let me show you.

From the right side, this gown has an elegant feel, because of its strapless look and length.

From the left side, this gown has a sexy flirtiness, and in action, shows lots of beautiful leg. And that metallic gold is clearly gold, and not skin.  Tasteful, but tempting, I think!

I apologize for the quality of my iPad photos.  When I am trying to both man my costume display and sneak into the ballroom to watch my clients, there is not much time to set up a tripod and deal with appropriate camera settings. But I think you can see what I mean.  And she is a beautiful woman, no?

Here's that left side, looking odd on my half form, but I wanted to talk about the gold mesh portion.  We debated whether or not to do any imagery on the gold, and initially thought that it might just be encrusted with Light Topaz AB stones.  But the Light Topaz AB and Crystal AB and very near to each other in effect, especially from a distance, and I wanted to make sure the Crystal AB swirl pattern was neatly visually isolated.  So I created the vine graphics, with an eye to making sure that Emerald AB stones sat at the edge of the Crystal AB swirl to help it pop. We also debated skirt shape and length, as there were slightly different skirts on each of the three original gowns we drew from.  Tracy's teacher Scott had some concerns about how much skirt there would be, ("that looks like a LOT of skirt") and I think we landed on a happy medium.  Notice our sexy slit hangs closed at a standstill, but opens in action, something Tracy appreciates, I think. The weight of a longer skirt would force it to hang open.

Tracy has bangle bracelets for this gown, but no necklace.  I appreciate jewelry can be warm, and one more thing to think about, but I would love to make this gown a necklace for the elegant side.  The flirty side probably likes its shoulders bare.  :)

Leslie in Aqua

I have made many costumes for Leslie.  Each one, different from the last, and yet uniquely hers.  I always ask my clients to provide a word of phrase that we can use to narrow the visual focus of the gown, and Leslie asked me to choose for her.  Good thing I kinda know her dancing!  I told her that for me, the best thing about her dancing was her partnership with her husband Lee.  They are really lovely to watch together, and their power for me is in how they relate to each other in their movement.  I suggested that we try to emphasize their partnership in her costume.  She brought in a crocheted sequinned shawl in a beautiful soft aqua, and told me that this was the color she was imagining for her gown, and I thought that sounded great as well.  Plus she brought me a pile of photos from magazines of things she liked that might be encorporated into a gown.

Her personal style always has a "1950's school girl" vibe for me, and so I was not surprised to see a retrospective of Princess Grace Kelly's fashions represented, (lower left corner) and, note the soft aqua satin of the gown pictured.  Just above that image, (left top) is a gown with high-contrast lace applique in black on a pale mauve.  That jumped out at me right away, as a great chance to feature the black of Lee's dancewear on Leslie's gown, drawing a neat visual parallel.  Certainly, there is an abundance of floral imagery in this pile of clippings, and lots more of the dark figure on light ground.  I particularly like gown on Lucy Liu, (tiny image in the center) as a great example of dark floral on light blue.  All these things fit neatly into Leslie's desire for pale aqua, and my goal to emphasize her partnership in her gown.

She is beautifully proportioned and fit, but not my tallest client, so we wanted a long clean look for this gown, to allow us to see nice lines without any horizontal distraction   She also wanted her embellishment to spill well onto the skirt of her dress, so we decided on a lycra gown, to accomplish both the long clean lines and lengthy detailing, without having the embellishment disappear in folds of frothy skirt.

Not every gown goes along smoothly, and some clients have a very hard time visualizing the end result from the sketch and at early fittings.  In all fairness, it is really hard to stand and look at yourself in a BIG mirror for an hour, while I poke, prod and pin.  But Leslie freaked out entirely at our first fitting.  She was convinced that we had both the wrong color and the wrong fabric.  SO... she went home to think about it, and decided she wanted to proceed with the gown as designed.  I felt really badly for her.

For prospective clients who might be reading this post, I will say add some advice here.  When we finish our design meeting, and agree to a goal, we begin a series of decisions, some I make on behalf of my client, and some we make together.  The process of buying materials, patterning, cutting, sewing, fitting, and finishing each gown is FULL of forks in the road.  And when we both understand the desired end result, we can make these choices with reasonable ease and agility.  Once the design train leaves the station, have faith in yourself and your ideas, and in me and my design and construction experience and ability.  Our process will go smoothly, and I will do a better job on your behalf, and we can work together toward our mutual goal.

We talked about using feathers as accents on this gown.  They are a recent trendy detail on many gowns, and I arranged all the large flowers in the applique lace so a few delicate feather stamen and pistils could sprout from each one.  Leslie decided against this, but was in favor of feathers at her shoulders.  I did these as removable bits, and I do not think she has ever actually worn them, but I would love to see them throughout the gown.  I like it without them as well!

Remember I said I have a harder time making decisions of my client's behalf if I am not confident about what their goal might be?  Well, I had a really hard time stoning this gown.  I think part of why I love those feathers is how very black they are. And my initial plan was to use Jet on the lace.  But Leslie also needs a gown that will "compete" with other gowns on the floor for attention and status, and I felt the Jet might be too quiet. I initially stoned most of the black lace at the gown front with Crystal AB, trying to get to "championship gown", because Lee and Leslie compete at that level.  But after a few hours, I felt I was losing the black, which was really the overall intended visual impact

So, I picked those all off, (on my own time, and deleted the hours of application as well) and switched to Jet AB, hoping to maintain championship sparkle power, without sacrificing the beautiful black-on-pale contrast that is the core of the gown design.  I also put more space between stones, to keep the black visible, and then surrounded the diagonal banners of lace with Aquamarine AB to boost the sparkle power, switching to Swarovski's new color Light Turquoise for the remainder of the gown.

Leslie had agreed to bangle bracelets, but when it came time for the necklace, I threw caution to the wind.  She had asked for a symmetrical piece, and I felt it was badly out of harmony with the asymmetrical neckline.  I created a necklace from lace scraps and decided she could buy it if she liked it and if she did not, I would keep it.  She bought it!

I thought she looked splendid at the Snow Ball, and danced beautifully with Lee.  She tells me she likes (I think her term was fully embraces) her new gown.  Personally, I hope the next project follows an easier, more joyful path.  But no matter how we get there, success in the end is worth the process.  And I am always ready to try again.  

Condiments for Julie?

Julie is one of my all-time favorite clients.  She is a professional dancer, teaching and competing with her students.  She is also a retired a professional competitor, and that helps to explain the fact that this is our 53rd project together, by my count.  She picked up her new gown at the Snow Ball this weekend, and laughed in the dressing room, telling another dancer about looking at this gown at one point in our process and seeing ketchup and mustard!  Hence the silly name for this post.  

I am particularly fond of the buttons on the cuff detail. 

Julie was not on my schedule for the Snow Ball, but was taken by surprise just before Thanksgiving when both of her ballgowns sold to another dancer.  She called to explain her situation, and despite being VERY booked for the Snow Ball, I could not say no to Julie.  Our design meeting was mostly about the hunt for, and discovery of, an interesting piece of ombred fabric.  With only the vaguest of sketches, I talked with my salesman about the fabric, to confirm color and vibrancy, and sent for a piece of it.  While the ombre flew across the pond, I basted together a leotard, since we knew Julie wanted a portion of the gown to be rhinestone-embellished nude mesh.  When the fabric arrived, Julie met with me and we wrapped it around her body and watched our design flicker into life. She is a beautiful woman and this photo, while illustrating our process, does not do her justice.

Julie's confidence is a tremendous asset in design and fittings.  Even in a moment of doubt, (like seeing condiments instead of flaming gorgeousness!) she is always willing to move ahead from where we are.  I appreciate her calmness and ability to be patient until a great next step presents itself.

The design lines and details of this gown are simple, in the interest of allowing the color shift to be the eye-catching aspect of the work.  We both felt it would need an awesome piece of jewelry to provide focus and cohesion.  We tried out a few of my patterns and Julie liked one she felt was "Amazon" in character.  I reconfigured it to allow it to drop in a v-shape, both in the front and at the back, allowing it to synchronize with and support the neckline in three dimensions. Then I devised a simple means for it to attach to the gown that allows it both to move with Julie and stay neatly in place.  After testing, my paper pattern was drawn onto nude mesh fused to ultrasuede for comfort.  I edge-stitched for durability, and painstaking cut it all out.  Here it is, ready for my syringe of adhesive and the rhinestone embellishment.  As you can see, there are also a couple of bangle bracelets and a pair of as-yet-un-trimmed earrings, at the far left of the shot.

Here are the finished bangles and earrings, and a shot of the necklace connection, which I hope you cannot see!

And here is the gorgeous Julie, modeling the finished gown.

And with her awesome husband, and amateur competitive partner, Ken, wearing one of our suits.

Gown and Ballroom Suit by Made for Movement

I have not been the best blogger in 2013, and have written about only a few of the gowns I created.  I am gong to try and play catchup, (ketchup???) starting with my most recent work, and over the next few weeks, I will see if I can't get most of last years work posted so I can move on to some things I am really excited about for 2014, among them a DRAGON DRESS!  Thanks for reading and if you are imagining a 2014 project, call today to reserve time on my schedule!  

Ursula's Peacock Gown

Ursula is a really vibrant woman!  She has a big personality, is artistic and creative, and has so much energy and enthusiasm that she literally fills my studio when she visits for her design meetings and fittings.  I have never known a client for whom a peacock-inspired gown would be more appropriate!

She dances only International Standard style, which means she does 5 dances, Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, and Quickstep, and she does them all in closed hold, maintaining body contact with her partner in the process.  This means that although everyone wants a gown to be lovely from the front...

...since Standard gowns are seen mostly from the back, they need extra design attention provided to the back of the gown.

In this case, we decided on a feather-embellished godet "tail" of sorts, to add an extra bit of excitement at the back of the gown.  We found some beautifully sequinned mesh and a bit of green gold silk to back it with and then added real feathers to the top, along their spines, so they could move in the breeze.

We also created individual eyes from several different fabrics. to provide a base for our diagonal embellishment of the gown, and then swirled round the eyes with delightfully green-gold Jet AB curling feathery bits.

We tested various stones to get just the right effect, before beginning the actual rhinestone application.

The finishing touches included a necklace and earrings, and four floats for her arms, created from color-blended ostrich boa, and more peacock eyes.

I always really enjoy designing the jewelry to go with each gown!  Ursula will bring her gown back in next week for an additional layer of underskirt or two, in green-ish gold, to give it just a bit more volume and show off her nice, neat footwork.  Thank you so much Ursula!  We had a great time making your Peacock gown!

Kim's Thankful Praise

Sometimes, one of my clients wants something other than what I typically create.  Many times, these  things are what I like to think of as "unicorns," because it can be hard to define exactly what is needed, and the goal can be a moving one.  In this case, Kim wanted a gown for a Theaters Arts piece.  Usually, I encourage dancers to purchase practice clothing for things like this, (I often add sleeves or embellishment) since the intended purpose of the costume is limited to one unique number and rarely re-sellable, or re-usable.  Custom dance wear is expensive, and I encourage my clients to think about resale value as we design.  So I encouraged Kim to think in terms of re-use, as a more traditional ballgown, with the addition of embellishment and sparkle, when she was through performing the Theater Arts piece.

In Kim's case, the Theater Arts piece was deeply personal, and important to her.  And she really wanted something special to dance in.  The piece is about her return to ballroom competition, following a health scare, that might have made it impossible to dance again.  She wanted something soft, fluid, and beautiful.  Even the choreography was a little bit "unicorn-ish" and hard to describe.  She referred to it as a waltz, although the music was in 4/4 time.  But I appreciated what she meant when I saw the work.  It was full of spirally, turning, waltzy action, and without sound, I might have thought it WAS a waltz.  The piece is also praise to God for her recovery, so there was is a hint of spirituality to bring out visually.  We tried to use color to represent "heavenly", and "angelic" with our gentle crystal blue.   And texturally, we also kept everything soft and cloud-like.

 

Here, she is performing the piece last April, when the gown was made.  Which tells you how far behind I am in my blogging!  But a pause in my work allows time, so I will take advantage of it.

 

 

Theater Arts pieces frequently involve a story, lifts, and other movement that requires well-fit clothing, and fabrics that are both not sticky, and not slippery.  The character in this story is Kim as a ballroom dancer, simply presented, joyful in being able to move and be physical in an easy, happy way.  But I think, with the addition of rhinestones and more specific focus, the gown can also grow into being a more traditional ballgown when the piece it was created for is put to rest.

 

 

Thank you so much Kim, for letting me be a part of your telling of this story, essentially liturgical dance, with a ballroom twist.  And thank you too for the beautiful photos you provided for me.  They tell the story of the gown MUCH better than my traditional studio stills.  I am thrilled that you are dancing again, and glad to be a part of that!  And a final thank you to Pro Scott Anderson, who appears here with Kim, and created this lovely piece for her with the assistance of his beautiful daughter, Megan Anderson.

 

Tracy's Elegance

 

Usually, Tracy arrives at her design meetings with tremendous preparation and forethought.  But this time, she had just one goal in mind.  A new gown for International Standard Ballroom that would be the epitome of elegance and sophistication.  But she had no images. 

 

And she also had an idea that the gown might black.  This can be a dangerous choice, if you are not a very well-known dancer, because by default all the gentlemen on the floor are wearing black or midnight blue, with only rare exceptions, and the danger of blending in and not being seen in large heats is very real.

In Standard, the competing is done entirely in closed hold.  The lady dances in front of the gentleman, slightly offset to his right side, and does not separate from him while dancing. So the back of the gown is as important as the front, if not more so, since the back is seen exclusively, except between dances, when the couple separates.   His hand covers her right shoulder blade (or thereabouts) and so, the right side of the back is the best place for sparkle and detail.  In this case, his hand fits beneath the epaulette, and is partially masked by the generous wing.

As we hunted through fabric catalogs and looked at current styles published by my favorite supplier, we happened across a gown that seemed to have many of the attributes we were talking about.  It was black, but also had some white.  It was intensely sparkly, to help it stand apart from all the tailsuits on the floor.  And it was certainly elegant.  With that as a basis for action, we made minor adjustments to accomodate Tracy's specific needs, and had a design we both thought was a just right fit for our goal.
 

 

Generally, Made for Movement gowns are unique, but I have learned in 26 years of designing for dancers that there is nothing entirely new under the sun, and since fashion and clothing are not subject to copyright, there is no real reason to avoid creating something similar in style to existing gowns.  I usually prefer not to copy exactly, but this is very similar to the image we stumbled across.  I think personal fit factors strongly into this equation, and I also think trends and fashion dictate what silhouettes are desirable, and what colors are available for use in fabrics each year.  What is hot this year is something that every dancer wants, and at some point following a fashion trend blurs the lines of individual designs.

Tracy says "I love the boldness of the gown - people say it's unlike anything they've seen in Standard. And I love the volume of the skirt. People also said Scott and I look great together in it because we're both all in black and white. And he brought out his tailsuit for the occasion."

So, Tracy has a gown she loves, elegant, visible, and beautiful.  And we were thrilled to make it!  Now that she has a new Smooth gown, and a dedicated Standard gown, I am hoping that a new Rhythm gown might be on tap for 2014!


  

Nancy's Silk Skirt Gets a New Lease on Life

Seven years ago, Nancy brought me a wonderful silk georgette skirt.  She wanted it used to create and ballroom costume and we decided that costume could be both a rhythm gown and a smooth dress, by making the skirt removable.  It was her first ballroom costume collaboration and the results were good!  This is the rhythm dress we created, and the skirt pulled on underneath the dress to convert it to a ballgown.

I wish I had taken a photo of the skirt alone, before I incorporated it into Nancy's new ball gown, but I did not manage to do that.  I did take a quick shot of the embellished leotard with the skirt before it was assembled into the new gown, so you can see the relationship in the graphics.

AND I can show you the skirt in its new configuration!



In both cases, the embellishment details for the gowns were suggested by the graphic design in the skirt.  The first was a simpler, brighter, bronze level result,  and the new one is, for me, a WOW! 

My partner Michele and I debated and sampled several different processes to recreate the graphic on Nancy's new French Vanilla leotard base.  We knew we wanted the lines to be defined in the same way as they were on the skirt and then embellished with jet stones and flatback pearls.  After testing appliqued strips of black fabric, and the meticulous application of black permanent fabric marker, we decided that the latter had the most similar visual effect to that of the skirt.  After careful design and planning, and much pre-washing of the red lycra to avoid any post process color bleeding, we were very plesed with our results!

This is certainly the gown of a more advanced and more experienced dancer, one who knows she will be seen, even in black.  And a more elegant and serious look than the original.  When she picked up her gown, she brought in a Light Siam choker style necklace and bangles I had made for another costume of hers, and they looked perfect!

I am really wishing I could be at the Arthur Murray Showcase this weekend to see Nancy, Christy, and also Linda, who has a new Gently Used Rhythm Gown dance, but I will be at MN Star Ball on the other end of town.  I hope you will make it to one event or the other, and I hope anyone at the Arthur Murray showcase with a digital camera might send me a few images to keep me posted on what I am missing!  Good luck to you, my lovely ladies!