On the most recent episode of Lifetime’s Project Runway All Stars, the designers were taken to a location in Long Island where they watched aerosol (a/k/a graffiti) artists at work. After talking to them and getting tips on techniques, the designers created their own wearable art using spray paints, stencils, and either chiffon or cotton. I feel that perhaps I’ve done challenges like this in years past…
To give myself a little more of a challenge this season, I decided to design for a ghost. I wanted to dress Spectra Vondergeist in a look that would transform modern pop art into something that seemed not only vintage, but ethereal.
I began with a cutting from a piece of pale grayish-lavender silk chiffon I had in my fabric room. I believe this was a remnant I found at High Fashion a year or so ago.
Taking spray paints I had in the garage, I used the techniques the PR designers were taught to color the fabric.
Then, with strips of unhemmed chiffon of varying lengths and widths, I created Spectra’s gown.
The PR designers were allowed to buy extra fabric at Mood to enhance their looks. I chose a cutting from an old piece of tapestry that was used on the border of The Compound living room for Spectra’s bodice, then I made “faded roses from days gone by” from knots of the painted chiffon to adorn the bodice.
Is she live, or is she after-live?
Shorter, narrower strips of painted fabric under the dress help make it fuller. I thought you might enjoy seeing Spectra’s translucent legs in her gray heels from Mattel.
Hope you’ve found Spectra’s dress hauntingly lovely. See you next time on the runway!
To see previous designs on All Stars Season 2:
Episode 2: Put On Your Dancing Shoes
Episode 1: Redemption on the Runway
Moral: when the challenge is uninspiring, change the rules and maintain the spirit of the competition 🙂
Ha! I see what you did there. (But I didn’t really change the rules. I added to them.)
Truly ethereal! And for some reason, I have a feeling that dress could stand on its own.
Thank you! And you could be right. Who knew that spray painting chiffon would make putting a needle through it lots harder…as if it turned the fabric into armor.