There is a reason why I’m an admirer of designers; their craftsmanship, skills and their vision and there’s a reason why I’m NOT a designer: because I lack all of the above. Especially when I’m always oddly attracted to quite ‘retarded’ materials. (Please excuse the very un-PC word I just used there but there is a point…). I truly mean that R word in the way that St√©phanie from Science of Sleep did when describing the sort of crafty/DIY materials she thought would be perfect for her and St√©phane’s magical boat in the sea…. using cellophane as water for example.
So the material I’m referring to as ‘retarded’ – a little childish, a little naive, a little naff – is…..ta da…. sticky back plastic! Many hours of misery were spent trying to cover my school excercise books with those pesky rolls of sticky back plastic, trying very carefully not to get any air bubbles but in the end, there’d always be a crease or two with an annoying air bubble. For some reason, my mum had the super skills to achieve a perfectly covered excercise book…..
Moving swiftly on from childhood excercise book crisises… with a slew of X’mas parties in mind, and getting a little bit over-excited in Paperchase, (please don’t question the thought process…sometimes i don’t know myself!), I bought some dark grey glittery adhesive paper and had the idea of sticking panels of it on a black dress. Handy that there was that ¬£2 charity shop dress i had lying around, waiting to have something done to it. So I cut out some side thigh panels and boddice strip and tacked them on with the same sort of concentration I had as a child, trying not to get the fabric wrinkling under the adhesive. Of course, it wasn’t wrinkle-free which ended up working out as it made the dress snugger around the waist giving it more structure. I must admit though, the nipped in shiny waist did make me feel a little Dolce & Gabanna AW07-8….
With a bit more fine tuning and time though, something as ‘retarded’ as sticky-back will definitely become a DIY-staple for the unskilled such as myself.
Susie, your not a designer but your definitely inspirational!
Brilliant!
Hey! We would love to have you as a member of our newly launched fashion design social network – peepmyline. Display your designs and sketches, stream your videos, post your own fashion blog, or rate other members’ works. It is a great way for designers to publicize their works and also great for enthusiasts to discover the unseen in fashion. This is the new myspace of fashion!
http://peepmyline.ning.com …all are welcome!
-peepmyline
it looks really really cool on you. you really pull it off well! just hope the sticky tape won’t drop though…
It looks great…but when you say sticky tape, how sticky is it supposed to be (I used to cover my notebooks in brown paper at school, so I have absolutely no idea what this is like)?
aww! that turned out really well!!
Hi this looks good. Is it rain proof? Reminds me a bit of something i saw on Blue Peter many years ago where they made evening dresses out of bin liners.
Completely rainproof. This isn’t like sticky tape as the adhesive is REALLY strong. Think of that stuff you stick over windows to make it frosted/blurred…
Drusilla: If you click on the link to Sticky Back Plastic…you’ll see what I’m talking about…. I’m not sure if it’s a UK/Hong Kong thing though…as both my schools both here and there were into the stuff….
Brilliant!
Ohmygod! I love that! yeah, I’ve always had kind of an attraction to that sticky glittery tape… I never really knew what to do with it, though, haha. That looks great, kind of chris kane s/s07 (zip) meets dolce and gabbana f/w 08 (shiny waist) i love it and keep up the good work!!
cool
That actually looks quite good! Will be a bugger to clean though…
It looks great. I’d be too worried that I’d ruin a perfectly good dress though…
very creative. you must never get bored.
interesting. it looks almost like gray patent leather from a distance. hope it doesn’t wash off!
anarchy in the cellophane
as much as I love and adore you, and your fashion sense…
I’m not really feeling this dress! Don’t get me wrong, it’s really really creative, and you used stuff from paperchase (<3), I just..wouldn't...wear..this.
Although to be honest, the dress does look better than it did before! =) although I think a super glittery/sequinned wide belt around the middle, and a matching bolero jacket would have made it look good!