LJ Runway Monday, Final Collection

RIP, Mr. Blackwell

At last, I present my final collection for LJ Runway Monday. It amazes me that this all began because I bought a Summer doll to use in a promotional photo for my forthcoming contemporary romance, A Coventry Wedding. It’s been wonderful to do this with Mark and Timothy, and amazing fun the way Marika supervised it all as Heidi Gunn, Greg and Rhonda took on the roles of permanent judges Miranda Priestly and Michelle Hors, all the guest judges treated it with a wonderful blend of respect and humor, and so many loyal and new readers checked our blogs every Monday to see what was new and maybe a little crazy. LJ Runway Monday was done with respect for Bravo’s Project Runway, and I think my fellow designers and I have a new appreciation for the creative processes of PR’s contestants.

I love Mark’s art-influenced and Timothy’s fashion-forward designs, and I’ve been surprised every time I won a challenge because I think they take bigger risks than I. So often when I’ve seen their posts on Sunday nights/Monday mornings, I’ve gasped with admiration. Every week, their knowledge and creations have inspired me to learn a little more and try a little harder.

Since this did all start with my novel, I wanted to finish it that way, too. So this week, my inspiration is my characters in A Coventry Christmas and A Coventry Wedding. Rather than try to create couture, I had fun imagining how these characters would dress in ways that reflect their personalities and lifestyles.

Keelie

Keelie Cannon is the main character of A Coventry Christmas. Keelie’s twenty-eight when the story begins. She’s the assistant manager of a large chain bookstore, Buy The Book. She has to dress well but sensibly for work, so I chose to put her in slacks with a shirt and jacket.

Keelie’s petite, so I chose Jazzy as my model. Jazzy isn’t built like other Mattel fashion dolls. She’s smaller busted with a small waist, and fuller hips and thighs. The higher-waisted pants are more appropriate for the bending Keelie needs to do at work, and the jacket de-emphasizes Keelie’s hips. The variegated vertical stripes of the slacks won’t show dust or stains from the job, and also are slimming and give the illusion of height. The shirt and jacket are of dupioni silk, which is durable and lustrous because of its double weave, and because it resists wrinkles, it’s great for all-day wear.

Keelie can remove the jacket when the store’s hot and she’s doing physical activities like shelving books or creating displays. Putting on her jacket gives her a more professional appearance for interacting with customers in her managerial role. Since this is a fall outfit, I added the scarf for when she walks to and from the bus stop before and after work. (Keelie lives in Houston, where autumns are mild, but if there’s a cool breeze, the scarf will provide warmth.)

Because she’s on her feet all day, I gave Keelie a pair of flat ballet shoes, adding tiny bows to dress them up.

This is an outfit that would also work well with the new lifestyle and romance Keelie gets by the end of A Coventry Christmas—but do you think I’d give you spoilers instead of encouraging you to buy the novel?

Ivy

Ivy Johnson is Keelie’s best friend. She and her twin sister, Holly, turn thirty on Christmas day in A Coventry Christmas. Holly’s a stay-at-home-mom, but Ivy has chosen a different path and is the consummate career woman. A technical writer and editor for a Houston oil and gas firm, Ivy embraces taste and expense as her shopping guides. Keelie has always admired Ivy’s fashion sense.

To model Ivy, I chose Mattel Top Model Teresa, because she accurately reflects Keelie’s opinion that Ivy is drop-dead gorgeous. For this design, I pictured Ivy on an evening out, perhaps to the Houston ballet, symphony, or maybe a production by one of Houston’s many theatrical companies.

Using dupioni silk for the dress will leave Ivy looking unwrinkled and crisp no matter how late the evening. The shimmering red is a great color for her dark skin and black hair, and the silk spaghetti straps show bare skin without being too provocative, just the way Ivy wants to dress. Having been ill-treated by love in the past, Ivy has little interest in catching a man’s eye. She dresses to please herself.

The dress is fitted without being too tight, and the two slits on either side of the front panel at the hem allow freedom of movement.

The shoes and purse are ideal complements to her evening wear.

The black satin swing coat with dolman sleeves provides the ultimate comfort without sacrificing beauty. In Houston’s mild winters, there’s no need to bundle up, so the loose fitting, open coat is ideal. Again, this is an outfit that will adapt perfectly to the changes in Ivy’s life by the end of A Coventry Christmas.

Vanessa

Vanessa Bowen is a minor character in both A Coventry Christmas and A Coventry Wedding. A lifelong resident of Coventry, she’s the daughter of hardware store proprietor Isaac Phillips, the wife of toy manufacturer Terry Bowen, and the mother of Rochelle. As one of the creative directors of Independent Seven Toys, Vanessa often finds herself with social engagements in which she combines business and pleasure.

I chose Mattel’s Nichelle doll for Vanessa’s design because of her fuller figure. She has a small waist, but more rounded hips, a fuller bust, and larger legs than the Mattel Top Models. To complement her shape as well as her hair and skin coloring, I created a knee-length cocktail dress of green dupioni silk with copper accents, using strategically placed darts to minimize the dramatic difference between Vanessa’s waist and hip dimensions.

The design is perfect for a social gathering, but if Vanessa wants to talk business, she looks crisp and conservative.

A copper mesh and satin purse and coppery sequined shoes accent the satin ruffle on the bottom of the dress. The shoes are deceptively party-ready, because they’re actually sensible pumps with a low heel, perfect for a woman with Vanessa’s high energy who also keeps up with a young child.

Finally, the copper satin wrap guards Vanessa’s bare shoulders from the chill when going to and from her car. It’s designed to leave her arms free for that all-important exchange of business cards in chance meetings—the kinds of meetings that can change the lives of other characters in an instant!

Jandy

Jandy Taylor (if that is her real name) is the main character in A Coventry Wedding, available everywhere but outer space in January 2009. Nobody else could ever pose as Jandy except my muse, Mattel Top Model Summer. When the novel begins, Jandy is twenty-five and may or may not be on the run because she may or may not be a runway bride. She’s a California native, but a series of events land her in Coventry, Texas, at the height of the town’s tourist season.

Jandy’s grandfather calls her “the girl who never finishes anything” because Jandy can’t decide what she wants to be when she grows up. She’s started several careers only to lose interest, so she most often works as a temp, usually for attorneys. When she was growing up, Jandy loved two things: the Beatles and Barbies, and she found a creative way to merge her two interests. Since her early fashion sense was influenced by Beatle girlfriends, she likes to work in clothes that are comfortable, casual-dressy, and have a little mod sensibility.

To complement Jandy’s hair and skin color, I chose a peridot-green linen shirt with burgundy topstitching over a brightly-patterned cotton skirt. The shiny wide belt is the same fabric as the skirt and is tight to show off her lean figure. Though Jandy can be a little wrong-headed, she’s a sensitive, kindhearted person, and her clothes reflect her bright disposition.

I completed her look with burgundy-bead accents on a matching purse and low heels.

Keep a close eye on Jandy, or the last thing you may see is her dashing off to the next chapter of her life.

Dove

With her last name, it’s no wonder that Dove Revere is a bit of a revolutionary. Unpredictable, unconventional, and unconcerned are some of the best words to describe Dove. The first time Jandy sees Dove, with her pile of blonde hair and her stylish clothes, she’s reminded of Patsy Stone from the British television comedy Absolutely Fabulous. Keeping that description in mind, I knew no one else could model my outfit for Dove except Mattel Top Model Barbie.

In keeping with her last name, I designed a modified version of an eighteenth century man’s tailcoat, using a dark pink hue to feminize it and accenting the green/gold sheen of the dupioni silk with gold trim. I used olive green satin for her pants.

I didn’t modify Dove’s black boots, because thanks to Mattel, their buckles are repeated in the shape of her earrings, balancing her overall look. But I did design a purse to match her coat.

More than three decades before A Coventry Wedding begins, Rachel Finch came from Michigan to Coventry for a visit with a college friend. If Jandy listens to the town gossips, she’ll hear that Rachel was a hippie, a protester, a student dissenter, an earth mother, or a witch. One fact is indisputable: Rachel fell in love at first sight with a local Coventry boy, “Hop” Revere, and shocked everyone by marrying him.

Rachel

The doll I chose for Rachel is a different version of Mattel Top Model Summer. Since there can be only one Summer, I determined this model is Summer’s older sister (and Lindsey named her Lacy, which seems appropriate considering the wedding dress I designed for her). Rachel Finch Revere was a beautiful young woman who once posed as Lady Godiva, Coventry’s mascot, for a local artist.

Rachel’s dress, circa 1971, is made of ivory cotton eyelet with ivory lace sleeves. The overdress uses the same ivory lace as the sleeves and has a scalloped hemline.

Satin flowers with burgundy petals and pearl centers accent the dress at the waist and neck. Rather than covering her lush red hair with a veil, Rachel banded it with the same lace used for her dress.

Rachel’s shoes have been altered with burgundy threading and pearls to mimic the flowers’ pearl centers.

Rachel’s wedding dress is in a sealed box in the Reveres’ attic. Of her five children, four are still unmarried, so you never know. By the end of A Coventry Wedding, this dress may get another chance to walk down the aisle.

My character collection:

Dove, Rachel, Vanessa, Ivy, Keelie, and Jandy

These links will take you to Timothy J. Lambert’s final collection and Mark G. Harris’s final collection. Check out Heidi Gunn’s LJ post where the judges will talk about our designs–and please feel free to chime in there or on any of our posts with your opinions, too!

For those who’ve enjoyed LJ Runway Monday, thanks! And for those who haven’t—it’s almost over!