Costume Design: Black Swan

It's always a thrill to find great costume illustrations, and these sketches from fashion designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte for Black Swan do not disappoint! They have a soft and whimsical stylized look, which is synonymous with the look of their illustrations for Rodarte, while still serving as readable working sketches.

The designing sisters were challenged with making clothes that were dramatic and character appropriate while also being ballet-friendly and completely wearable.

The wardrobe, the characters and the setting are all so intriguing to me. I also absolutely love illustrating ballerinas so maybe I'll take a stab at rendering the main characters after I see the film.

Embarrassingly enough I have not actually seen Black Swan yet, I usually steer clear of scary movies, but I may have to suck it up just to see these costumes in action.

New Years Eve Dream

(Bob Mackie and David Downton)

Happy New Year! Last night I enjoyed a casual evening with a small group of friends on the upper east side. It was great and I love my friends to death but for years and years, ever since watching that final scene in When Harry Met Sally, I can't help but wish that just one New Years I could attend a fancy black-tie New Years Eve soirée.

(Versace and Marchesa)

Seeing all the tuxedo's and sequins out on street last night got me wondering what I would wear (or design!) In addition to my Carrie illustration (shown below) which I think could be a great "New Years on the town" look, I pulled a few illustrations here that could fit the imaginary bill.

(Michael Kors and Brooke Hagel)

Beading and sequins, dramatic gowns of black or crisp "new" whites, and certainly yards of sleek and sultry glamour. There you have any and all of the elements for my dream New Years Eve black-tie ensemble.

(Ralph Lauren and Robert Best for Barbie)

Happy 2011 everyone! Cheers to the fabulous events this year holds and the many exciting evenings of fashion.

Holiday Commission

Tonight on my way home from Chinese and a movie with grandma I passed by a Barney's Co-op store. I noticed their holiday windows resembled the current E-Drop Off windows (shown here) which are entirely comprised of my illustrations! I have yet to share them, so I figured better late than never, right?

The first time I was commissioned to illustrate for them (here) the designs were completely item focused to coincide with the different tabs of their site. For this round of illustrations I was asked to draw two "winter chic" girls, one "holiday party girl" with a banner, a plush holiday garland with designer logo ornaments and a truly unique snowflake comprised of the E-Drop Off logo (or seven of them actually!)

It's so cool to see my illustrations blown up so large, I wish I could see them in person. Unfortunately I don't have plans to hit Chicago anytime soon, so these photo's from the E-Drop crew are going to have to suffice. I hope everyone has a happy and fabulously chic holiday season! To see more of my work for E-Drop Off you can check out their website.

Bridal Illustrations: Kate Middleton

(Vera Wang and Jason Wu)

Truly iconic wedding dresses rarely come along and when they do they create a tsunami of change in the industry. Kate Middleton's wedding dress has the potential to be the gown of the century, now the question is who will design it?

(Prabal Gurung)

Since first learning of the royal wedding announcement I've been anticipating the dress and the designer illustrations that will appear vying for the chance to be "the one" Kate choses. Thankfully Women's Wear Daily did all the work and asked designers to share what they had in mind for the future Princess. Here are a few of my favorites, both for the dress design and the fashion illustration.

(Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli for Valentino)

Its so interesting to me to see designer illustrations. Some are so detailed and "readable" (like this Valentino) and others are super stylized (like the Badgley Mischka or Chado Ralph Rucci).

(Badgley Mischka and JCrew)

I suppose both have their purpose and it depends on the goal of the sketch for each designer. Is it to sell the dress and make the design completely understandable or is it simply used as a marketing tool to expand the brand, its esthetic, and to give the gist of their vision?

(Chado Ralph Rucci)

My prediction for this royal-wedding dress is it will be a departure from the strapless gowns that have become so common. I imagine Kate will look sophisticated and beautiful while being modestly covered in intricate details like freshwater pearl embroidery (as seen on the Chado gown) or layers of delicate chattily lace. Unlike the over the top opulence of Diana's 1981 gown but not nearly as minimal as Caroline Bisset Kennedy's, which the JCrew design reminds me of. (Although a beautiful interpreted sketch, is a little too minimal for this royal wedding.) I also assume Kate will choose a British designer.

(Nina Ricci and Lela Rose)

Even though you may not be Kate Middleton or marrying Prince William you too can have a custom bridal illustration. (Shameless plug time) You can click here and here to examples of my custom fashion illustrations for brides, as well as reading through some of my past posts labeled bridal. And to to see a slideshow of all the designer sketches WWD released click here.

Costume Illustration: Giorgio Armani

When someone says "Armani" I think of sophisticated Italian tailored suits and sleek evening wear. Recently though, Giorgio Armani has been branching out into jaw dropping theatrical show stoppers, starting with these designs for Lady Gaga. I remember watching Gaga perform at the Grammy's in this heart-shaped leotard (below) and thinking it would be a great look to illustrate. I never actually did it, so I was exited to stumble upon the Armani illustration.

I love they way the beading is rendered! The entire garment glistens. And in the sketch below there are all these little flecks of color that make the drawing appear iridescent. Its great to see a designer fully render a garment. Although stylized illustrations can be fabulous, I think its nice to see all the details and get a full understanding of the design.

Armani has now moved on to design the tour wardrobe for Alicia Keys' "Element of Freedom" European tour. The looks are not as dramatic or avant garde as the Gaga design's but they do have the glitz and glam that you expect from a pop star performance and a design legend.

This last group (below) actually reminds me of the "art test" part of my application to FIT's fashion design department. I had to create a concert wardrobe for one of my favorite singers. I chose Ms. Whitney Houston. She was touring at the time and was wearing only Dolce and Gabbana. (Maybe I'll share it sometime if I can find it.) Anyone apply to FIT lately? I wonder if this is still part of the application and art test.

I love seeing, and collecting, designer fashion illustrations, and its all the more exciting when they're costume designs! Hopefully Armani will set the set the trend here and more designers will share their sketches.

(Random side note: I was once asked to illustrate Alicia, and the sketch was actually given to her. It was years ago, and one of my first red carpet illustrations. My work has improved a lot since then, but you can check it out here.)

Fashionable Gifts

Over the past few weeks I've been hard at work illustrating and designing new products. I've been stocking up for the gift fairs I'm participating in, in addition to building up my shop inventory.

New to my collection are sets of flat note cards (shown above Carrie and Vogue). I love flat note cards, and have been using them for years. (Ever since Oprah and Bill Clinton discussed on air how important it is to write a thank you or correspondence note on one-single side of a card, just in case its ever framed. Who knows, maybe one day a note from me will be frame worthy!?!) In addition to the Oprah and Bill seal of approval I do feel its a very chic and sophisticated way to send a note.

I've also made new holiday cards, gift tags in different shapes and themes, as well as new magnets (shown below) featuring five of my most popular fashion illustrations. I hope you like them as much as I enjoyed making them. If you follow my work and are a Fabulous Doodles reader, but a custom illustration is out of your budget why not purchase some of these new little items from my shop, Brooklit.

If you're in the NY/NJ area come visit me at the two gift fairs I'm participating in (info here), both of which are free admission. There are more new items I'll be selling I just haven't had time to photograph them and put them online yet. Cheers!