Fashion Evolution Fashion Bre ak Through Fashion Show

Thanks to the website Fashion Filosofy, I discovered an "ethical fashion week" happening here in Dublin called Fashion Evolution, put on by Fashion Bre ak through, in association with a group/initiative called t.A.D.C.O.I. (the artisans and designers community of interest). I was really excited that there were accessible fashion events happening here, because the price of the tickets to the Dublin Fashion Week show in March were simply way, way out of my budget at the moment. While I was unable to go to most of the events for this alternative fashion week, a couple of reasonably priced tickets (especially considering the cocktail reception prior to the show) did not break the bank.

The DLight Studios are conveniently located within walking distance of our house, so we decided to take a stroll there instead of taking the bikes (read: we actually didn't trust that our bikes would be safe in the neighborhood), and we found the building down a little commercial-looking side street. After checking in, we walked up a small staircase, through a door, and into a large warehouse space. While the place wasn't packed with people, there was a respectable enough turnout, and enough interesting outfits to keep my eyes occupied.

What struck me about the attendees was the variation in styles; there was no one "type" there. You had your more conservative tailored looks, punky styles, girly girls, edgy, androgynous, and combinations of the above. I quite liked that. I should have taken photos of the reception area and of some interesting styles, but I didn't think to pull out my camera until we were heading into where the show was being held.



The show featured ten apparel designers and three jewelry designers, with a wide range of styles. Sinead Doyle, who started off the show, and was one of my favorites, had tailored garments, a gorgeously draped evening dress, and used mostly high-quality wools. Her garments were extremely well made and finished. My heart skipped a beat a little for Bebhinn Flood's "puffball dress." I actually tried to take a photo of it, but it came out blurry! (You can see it if you click though!)

I really enjoyed the jewelry designs, though my pick, in terms of what I could see myself actually wearing, would be Rachel Swan, particularly the Link Necklace and earrings.

I could go on and on, though -- I really have good things to say about all the designers in the show. Here are the ones I didn't mention!

Katalyzt
Alice Moyon
Yvonne Ross
Lil'c Couture
Carol Doyle
Sophie Rieu
Lisa Shawgi
Shuttle Knit
Heather Finn

New Sketches for Silk Fabric

A few weeks back I bought some bright royal blue raw silk fabric from a yard sale/flea market place. I think I have about 3 yards or so -- enough to make a dress or a couple of tops. I was going to sit down with paper and pencil and sketch out some designs with this fabric in mind, when I thought hey! Use your fancy wacom tablet and get some Adobe Illustrator practice in! But as I was messing with Illustrator I realized that Illustrator really isn't made for fleshing out ideas. It's really designed for when you have the design complete and you want to draw it up as a vector image for presentation. Despite the name, you can't sketch in Illustrator! So I switched over to Photoshop.

It's silly that I never drew in Photoshop before. I've done a lot of things with Photoshop, but I've never used my wacom tablet to sketch with it. Holy moly is it FUN!!! I made six little sketches, and had a grand old time. It's so much easier in a lot of ways than regular pencils and markers. I am totally hooked. If I had known, I might not have even brought all these darned art supplies with me to Ireland! Here are my little sketches for the blue fabric:

Introducing the Infinity Top

I have been tinkering with this very simple design for a year or so now, and the addition of interior snaps and a drawstring has finally given it the diversity I looked for! The Infinity Top can be worn a multitude of ways: cowled, off the shoulder, drawn up with the draw string, or any combination of the above. Here are some photos of ways this top can be worn:



You can purchase this piece at my etsy shop!