MORE ABOUT SMOKE

The inspiration for this look came mostly from my adventures in textile design. I'm not a huge fan of prints as I feel they can sometimes cheapen garments — I'd much prefer designs woven into the fabric or adoring it's surface by way of couture techniques — so this project was my personal attempt to see prints with new perspective. I tried to create a print that would have a conversation with and entirely elevate a look with a simpler shape. Prints may not be my strong suit, but I think I was relatively successful in this endeavor!

I wanted the draped parts of this garment to flow as naturally as possible so I put my usual drafting techniques to the side and draped this pattern on a form. The fashion fabric is self-lined in the places that are highly visible due to the draping, but has a gray lining everywhere else. This print is of course my own and was original painted in water color but was digitally manipulated before it was printed on polyester on crepe de chine (I wish I could have afforded silk but alas).