Donna Karan. Photo: George Pimentel, 2010.
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While Lisbon is certainly a city of history, food, and music, I just discovered a museum that gives another reason to visit the city. Like one needs another reason ... The Museum of Design and Fashion is free and really for anybody with a bit of interest in culture and creativity. I travel to see fashion shows so during my stay on Lisbon, I had to visit this museum.  The exhibitions are clever and do a great job of pulling design and fashion together. Displays are organized chronologically - a dress by Madeleine Vionnet is surrounded by chairs and cupboards designed at the same time ... It all comes together - different times generate different ideas and how we dress and where we live are intertwined. Some of the fashion designers on display include Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Westwood, and Ana Salazar. One cannot take photos in the permant exhibitions, so I am sharing pictures for an Andre Saraiva show. He is a famous graffiti artists and the exhibition will get you thinking about our environment and how it can be altered and questioned.   Would this painting make for a lovely fabric pattern?  Saraiva is known for his Mr. A graffiti character so enjoy these wall/post boxes applications.    And lastly Saraiva's Andrepolis ...   So don't hesitate and put Lisbon on the list of places to visit! While fashion design may seem all about creativity and bursts of ideas, it turns out successful design work is also about organization and being pragmatic about the creative process. Like other creative activities, fashion design includes a need for a lot of things: drafting paper, scissors of different kinds, rulers, various media for sketching and fashion illustration, iron, fabrics ... And all of these add up so it is crucial to be organized. I keep my sewing room clean and have it divided into section (e.g., table for drawing, closet for fabrics and sewn samples, drawer for drafting paper and rulers). I know where to find all of my tools, which in turn allows me to focus on the creative process. Being pragmatic about the creative process is important to me. I know how to I work and when I do my best. I take note of my mood, my inspiration, and where these have taken me in terms of ideas and design work. I understand the steps of the creative process - instead of halting creativity, being pragmatic keeps me focused. The images below show my attention to detail. During the design stages, I produce a lot of notes, sketches, and just piles of paper. This could be, at times, overwhelming. I step back and use sticky notes to highlight my best ideas and to assess next steps. In addition, when it comes to patterns, I label each piece with name, time/year, size, and other important information. I can go back many months and find exactly what I need in a matter of minutes. You can check out my work (and my organizational skills) on my Pinterest page.   My summer travels took me to Lisbon, Portugal, so I am sharing several snapshots of this city's night sights in this week's Tuesday dose of joy!    In addition to fashion design, travel is my passion. I find that traveling to new places and meeting the locals changes my worldview and makes me a more informed citizen of our world. While in Prague, I went to a show called Earth with photographs by a Czech traveler Jiri Kolbaba. The show is on display until the first week in September 2014. Kolbaba has traveled to many countries around the world and currently also has a radio show with focus on travel and cultures of the world. I find that seeing a photo from a part of the world where I have not been often puts that place on my to-go places. This exhibition added to this list. Some of the places highlighted were in Iceland, Bali, the Czech Republic, and the United States of America. I am planning a trip to Iceland next year. Bali will need to follow ... Do you like going to photo exhibitions? How do you pick places to travel to?    Another week in Prague means more beautiful sights! This city is striking in both color and black-and-white. Enjoy these photos in this week's Tuesday dose of joy!        Prague is a great place for art shows and cultural events. During my annual trips I always make it my priority to visit museums and galleries for inspiration for my fashion design work. So if you are ever in town, catch up on the latest in art! I just visited a show about Andy Warhol called "I'm OK" and it provided a great overview of his portrait work and the covers he did for various musicians and bands. There was also a studio where people could make a custom t-shirt with an Andy Warhol drawing. A lovely art show! Check out the pictures below!           Stella McCartney, center, in New York with her team in 2012. 
Continuing on my topic from the Monday blog, here are additional examples of fashion illustration that I have been working on. The summer break before the next semester is a great time for me to catch up and to hone in my illustration skills. Looking through magazines for examples and spending time examining the garments and how they behave on the human body has been a lot of fun. The two examples below investigate drape and rendering white. My illustrations are sometimes a bit stiff so practicing draping and fluidity is really important to me. White is crucial in fashion and being able to convey both the color and the fabric make a huge difference in communicating design details and ideas. What do you think? Was I successful?   I am spending time in Prague so here is a special dose of Tuesday joy from this marvelous city!        Good fashion illustration is crucial to proper communication of design ideas and fabric qualities, such as drape and movement. It is one of the areas I want to improve the most. I often find that my ideas may fall flat when I cannot draw them correctly - the viewer may not understand a garment detail or think of an incorrect fabric. So, some time ago, I decided to practice, practice, practice. It is so true that practice makes perfect - in my case, definitely better. I draw daily - I find a photo of a garment and then work to copy it closely and to communicate its most important elements. It is raining today so I have more than a perfect opportunity to keep going at this important fashion design skill. Take a look at my latest work. I am practising a wide range of details and garments, looking about proper proportion, fabric drape, and feel of the overall look.    The Mulleavy Sisters of Rodarte. Photo by Autumn de Wilde, 2010. 
I love skirts. I have sewn many and they make up a prominent portion of my wardrobe. I wear them all year round carefully selecting fabrics that work for all seasons. The skirts are light for the summer while easily also worn in the winter with a pair of fun tights. I enjoy the fun of dressing skirts up and down depending on my mood and occasion. Here are 8 skirts that caught my attention on Pinterest. A classic black skirt is versatile and goes with anything and everything. Skirts in vivid colors make a statement and bring joy to any day. I very much seek out the variety in texture, shape, and length. A few great pieces can create endless possibilities when combined with tops your already have in your closet. Which one appeals to you the most? What shape skirt is your favorite? Do you like short, midi, or long skirts? Do you go for simplicity or statement?
A big fan of patterned fabrics, I keep looking for interesting options and ways to display the pattern in a garment. I often find that combining a busy pattern with a solid color highlights it without overwhelming the wearer. On the other hand, I find it even more intriguing to alter the pattern through fabric manipulation. I often use patterns in pleats, which seems to 'multiply' it - visually the pattern gets distorted and the eye is drawn to the spot as to find re-establish pattern. Here is an example of a dress that both combines geometric pattern with a solid color and explores fabric distortion. The geometric blue/grey shapes are the center of the design but the neckline, sleeves, and hem frame it in a lovely way. The eye, however, is drawn to the waistline. I inserted seams every inch, the same width as the small squares, and thus intensified the repetition. In the end, the simple silhouette and the pattern work well together. The dress can be worn as is - no jewelry needed as it is ornamental in its own right. Or, a statement necklace can dress it up for a special occasion. Do you enjoy garments with patterns? How would you wear this dress? 
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