Main Project Aesthetics: Water Flow Skirt

Supplies were rationed to support troops and war efforts during World War II. These rations included silk, nylon, rubber, and leather—common materials used in attire. In an effort to save supplies, available materials for clothing design were severely reduced and design elements using extra fabric were prohibited.

After the war, fashion designs were freed from their restrictions, leading designers such as Christian Dior to launch collections featuring extra fabric and embellishments. A lashback against war fashion. One of these designers was Juli Lynne Charlot, who created the famous poodle skirt by attaching appliques onto a circle skirt. Each skirt was unique, and the process was simple. Hence, many took to DIY to create their own one of a kind circle skirt, quickly becoming an icon.

For my main project, I’ve decided to sew, design, and embroider a circle skirt. This was the project I decided upon after considering my available tools and interests. While looking through circle skirt designs, I came across the ‘storyline’ style of circle skirts. It appealed to me because of the simplicity and lack of rules. Moreover, it feels like something that I can easily combine with my personal aesthetic. I sketched various top-down designs for skirts.

Of those designs, I’ve decided to go with the abstract water pattern. While thinking about designs, I wanted a set of elemental designs. However, I couldn’t think of a design that appealed to me. One of my pod members suggested designing the abstract feeling of elements. After some consideration, I created an abstract water design inspired by the curves of art nouveau hair.

After consulting some of my classmates, I’ve decided to sew a cream-colored skirt and use lighter shades of blue for the design. For the fabric, I’ll be using a soft, light-medium to medium-heavy weight fabric because I don’t want it to be too heavy or not sturdy enough for embroidery. I’m considering knitted cotton-hybrid fabrics and would be open to suggestions.

In addition to my water-themed skirt, I plan on creating a second skirt inspired by the lantern festival. Alex’s post about the aesthetic of city lights reminded me about lanterns floating off into the night sky. Hence, I designed a skirt based on the scene and plan on creating it if I have enough time. 

Since this isn’t my main skirt, I’m not in too much of a hurry to solidify the design. Something that I’m considering is dyeing a gradient onto the skirt fabric. It would give the feeling of light fading into darkness and probably enhancing the scene.

An additional aspect that I plan on attaching to both designs is the doodlecore/sketchy aesthetic of my art. Since I’ll be hand embroidering the designs, I want to attach my personal touch and I really like the imperfections in the colored sketches because they added a layer of playfulness and whimsical feeling.

Resources:

• https://vintageunscripted.com/the-twirly-history-of-the-circle-skirt/
• https://glamourdaze.com/2012/07/the-1950s-circle-skirt-phenomenon.html
• https://theloveofvintage.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/circleskirts/
• https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Doodlecore