Do you want to know why James Bond looks so good? It's because he wears a bespoke (custom-made) suit. In this absolutely mesmerizing video, you can watch the beginnings of a handmade suit being made. From measurements to pattern making to the actual cutting of the fabric, this man is a true craftsman and he wears a suit through the whole process. And trust us, you don't want to mess with this guy's scissors.
What is the most delicate thing you have worked with? Silk, lace, antique fabric? Well, how about STRAW!?!? That's right, this dress made in 1865 was embroidered with straw and is part of the collection of the Weinmuseum in Italy. Find out how the straw was used to create this stunning ball gown that has lasted for over 150 years!
With just a bit of ribbon and a few pleats, you too could create one of these Dior outfits. Or could you? Take a look at the making of Dior Haute Couture Dress and decide for yourself.
We are always fascinated by the process of Haute Couture design. Take a look at this quick video showing how Dior embellishes one of their outfits.
The women of Gee's Bend, Alabama have produced some amazing quilts over the years and now even Amazon has taken notice. In their 2022 Amazon Fashion Gift Guide they are featuring six women from Gee's Bend in a fashion photo shoot.
Alex absolutely loved this exhibit, Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy, which has been extended through November 27, 2022 at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. The exhibit celebrates the extraordinary designs of Guo Pei—hailed as China's first couturier—and includes more than 80 works from the past two decades highlighting her most important collections shown on Beijing and Paris runways. In this brief video, you'll learn how she creates some of her stunning textiles.
"In 2017, to coincide with the NGV’s House of Dior: Seventy years of Haute Couture, two new couture works were commissioned for the fashion and textiles collection with funds donated by the David Richards Bequest and the F&T Supporters Group. Essence d’Herbier was commissioned by the NGV after Katie Somerville, Senior Curator Fashion and Textiles attended Maria Grazia Chiuri’s first Dior Couture show in Paris in January 2017." - NGV Melbourne
This is an incredibly beautiful dress, "one of the centerpieces of the Roses installation: the swirling red Rose dress by Sarah Burton from the Autumn/Winter 2019 collection." What is even more incredible is watching it being created by Judy Halil, who is Head of Atelier for Alexander McQueen, someone with "mad" sewing and draping skills. We can't figure out how they know how to draft the pattern and put it together, but it's fun to watch them do it.
Oscar Winner Jenny Beavan has designed costumes for a wide spectrum of films, from the streets of London in Cruella to the wastelands of Mad Max: Fury Road. But her latest project called on her to create and enliven fashion that has already existed for almost a hundred years, that of the House of Christian Dior. Watch the video, and read about how she had to fill "the tall order of designing for perhaps the year's most fashionable film, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris."
Gee's Bend quilters and quilts have become synonymous with quilting excellence. Now they're becoming quite well known in another textile industry, the fashion world, and are garnering acclaim again across the world wide web. "With support from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation, the quilters now have sold-out Etsy shops and collaborations with high-profile fashion designers." Find out how these amazing quilters have branched out and introduced their work to a whole new generation. (Photo Credit: Greg Lauren)
Just as much as he was defined by his music, Elvis Presley was just as recognizable for his wardrobe. In Baz Luhrmann's brand new film on the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis, his wife and four-time Oscar-winning costume designer and set decorator Catherine Martin were tasked with the challenge to bring the King's threads to life. Hear what she has to say about the design process and how she was inspired for the project.
When you think of Paris, many things come to mind. Food, art, love, and so many others. But one of the standouts has got to be fashion. Home to some of the biggest design houses in the world, including Chanel and Dior, Paris has so much to offer when it comes to the clothing industry. Go behind the scenes of the workshops of designers Stéphane Rolland and Jean-Paul Gaultier as they take you on a fantastic fashion tour of their Haute Couture Workshops in Paris.
Before even saying a word you can tell so much about a character in film just by the costume that they're wearing. Nowhere is that more easily seen than in the costumes of Disney's film Cruella. Winning the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, go behind the scenes with Academy Award-Winning Designer Jenny Beavan and the cast of the film as they show off the outfits and inspiration of your least favorite dog person.
"Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy celebrates the extraordinary designs of Guo Pei—hailed as China's first couturier—and includes more than 80 works from the past two decades highlighting her most important collections shown on Beijing and Paris runways." Learn about this exciting exhibit coming to San Francisco's Legion of Honor Museum and more about its designer.
"Numerous Louis Vuitton steamer trunks sat abandoned for decades in a forgotten storeroom in a fifteenth-century Florentine villa. When a painting conservator eventually stumbled upon the trunks, what she found inside were not only 38 beautiful gowns, but a lost piece of fashion history was also unpacked, along with the life of Hortense Mitchell Acton, the wealthy American banking heiress who owned them." - Antique Trader
We've shared costumes and fashions from the Gilded Age. But now let's take a step a bit further back in time to 1813 and marvel at the costumes of Netflix's period romance Bridgerton.
You may have watched the video we recently featured all about the fashions of the Gilded Age. Now, see how the real was interpreted for the small screen in HBO's television series, The Gilded Age. Watch and see as "the cast and crew discuss the intricately designed costumes and recreating the New York City streets and homes from the late 1800s."
Have you been watching The Gilded Age on HBO? Here's a presentation from the DAR museum that gives you an accurate historical perspective on the time and the clothing of the era.
To celebrate the debut of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's fourth season today, watch as "Costume Designer Donna Zakowska, along with “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” cast and directors, discuss how character personality and development influences clothing and style" within the show.
Broadway and the movies meet in more ways than one in Steven Spielberg's new adaptation of West Side Story. Featuring costumes by the Tony Award-Winning Costume Designer of Hamilton, Paul Tazewell, the 1950s have been brought back to life stitch by stitch for a stunning recreation of the era's aesthetic in this modern retelling of the classic musical.