Halloween Throwback, Vintage Costume Designs

(Bob Mackie sketch while working under Edith Head) 

Seeing all the fun costumes out and about today for Halloween has gotten be thinking about all the costume designers and costume illustrations that I love so much. If you've been following Fabulous Doodles a while now you probably know I started out wanting to be a costume designer and even dabbled in the field interning in various wardrobe departments in college followed by a stint as a wardrobe supervisor on an off Broadway show. Although these vintage designs are nothing like the productions I worked on but a girl can dream! I'm mean how utterly spectacular is this Bob Mackie design while working under fellow costume design legend Edith Head?! (shown above)

(Edith Head sketch of Elizabeth Taylor for "A Place in the Sun")

Speaking of, it should be noted that Edith Head is the only woman to have won 8 Academy Awards and a whopping 35 nominations spanning her career. She was Hollywood's leading costume designer, a favorite among leading ladies and even earned a star on the Walk of Fame. Head designed for countless classic movies including A Place in the Sun (shown above), Sunset Boulevard, Roman Holiday, Sabrina, The Ten Commandments, and Funny Face.

(Cecil Beaton design for "My Fair Lady")

This next vintage costume design illustration is by another Academy Award winner, Cecil Beaton. Beaton won the Oscar in Costume Design for this very production (shown above) My Fair Lady. He was also an acclaimed photographer and worked as a staff photographer for Vogue earlier on in his career.

(Edith Head for "Sweet Charity") 

Last but not least is another wonderful Edith Head illustration. This design was for the 1969 film Sweet Charity directed by Bob Fosse. I love modern cut of this 60's mini dress and all the call outs for diamond, palliates and ankle jewels.

To see more of my favorite vintage costume design illustration you can pop on over to my costume design Pinterest board. Hope your having a fabulous Halloween!

Custom Fashion Illustration Gifts: Neutrogena Beauty Bloggers

(©BrookeHagel Illustrations, top-to-bottom: Dovey Kim Cute and Mundane, Alexis Johnson Beauty Bender, Liesa Goins The Daily Glow)

Recently Neutrogena commissioned me to illustrate about twenty top beauty bloggers sketched with their favorite Neutrogena products. These custom fashion illustrations were a surprise gift sent to each of the beauty bloggers. Although I couldn't resist snapping a instagram when I finished I wasn't able to reveal the sketches and full details of the project until now, making sure all the women received their custom illustrations first.

(©BrookeHagel Illustration: Bridgette Duplantis The Not So Blog) 

It was really fun to work on these beauty blogger illustrations. I wanted to capture their over look or style in a "quickie" illustration, similar to the ones I do when event-sketching although here I didn't have people watching me and I wasn't on such a time crunch. The sketches weren't meant to be fully rendered and polished, the goal was simply to capture each girl and have her holding her favorite Neutrogena product. (Which the Neutrogena team researched and provided me with beforehand.) I'm really happy with how the sketches came out and hope the beauty bloggers liked them as well. Many of the ladies have already tweeted and instagramed me thank yous and photos with their sketches, which is always a treat to see! 

(©BrookeHagel Illustrations: Kathryn Romeyn Beauty Bender, Karen Monterichard Makeup and Beauty Blog) 

Each original fashion illustration was rendered on 7"x9" white card stock, making them ideal for displaying on their own (as shown below,) on inspiration board, or framed.

(@BrookeHagel Illustration of Meredith Edwards-Cornwall Retrodivas Beauty) 

If you'd like to commission a group of custom fashion illustrations to give to your clients, friends, bloggers or colleagues you can email me at FabulousDoodles@gmail.com for rates and information on group orders.

Custom Bridal Fashion Illustrations

(Melinda in Amsale) 

Its Bridal Fashion Week here in New York, so what better time to share some of my recent custom bridal fashion illustrations. This summers wedding season brought me so many beautiful bridal clients its hard to choose which to feature. This first custom bridal illustration (shown above) however is one of my favorites to come along in quite a while. This brides gown by Amsale is so simple but absolutely beautiful. I'm not normally a fan of a one-shoulder neckline, especially for bridal but something about this minimal dress is just so sophisticated and pretty. This illustration was a gift and I worked with the gift giver throughout the custom illustration process, shipped her the final artwork, and she then framed it and presented it to her friend, the bride, as her wedding gift.

(Nicole in Rivini)

The next illustration is another stunning gown that was wonderful to interpret into a fashion illustration. This custom bridal illustration was a bridal shower gift from Nicole's soon-to-be new family. At the shower they gave her a custom illustration gift certificate from my Brooklit Bride etsy shop and after the wedding Nicole reached out, emailed me wedding photos of her in her beautiful Rivini gown, and we worked together on her custom illustration, making sure it was the pose and look she wanted to display in her home. I love the fullness of the layered underskirt and the pretty accent of color with her orchid/lavender bow. 

(Dana in Rivini)

Most of the custom bridal sketches this summer were wedding gifts but Dana (shown above) was actually the winner of my one and only custom illustration giveaway I hosted here on Fabulous Doodles a while back. Dana's wedding dress, also by Rivini, features a dropped waist and dramatic skirt made up of layers of organza which created a large rosette. This beautiful gown made for quite a unique bridal illustration with its unique bottom. The actual original illustration I sent to Dana had a lot more depth and shadows in the organza rose skirt, but my not-so-fabulous scanner didn't pick up on the shading and shadows. (Sadly bridal illustrations, being white on white tend to be the most challenging to scan accurately.)

If you'd like your own custom bridal illustration or would like to give one as a unique gift to bride in your life you can check out the custom listings in my bridal Etsy shop Brooklit Bride. I've also featured the whole custom bridal illustration process is this older Fabulous Doodles blog post. 

NYFW Party Sketching for Vogue & Brian Atwood

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of live-sketching party guest fashion illustrations for Vogue magazine on the last night of New York Fashion Week. This event was in celebration of the new B. Brian Atwood handbag collection, and was held at Bloomingdales flagship NYC store. It was hosted by Helena Glazer, the impeccably dressed and always uber-chic fashion blogger behind Brooklyn Blonde (shown above with my sketch of her, which was the first of the evening.)

Since this event had such a large crowd, the fashion illustrations were given as a gift with purchase to anyone who bought a bag form the collection. Most of the part guests were women, including lots of Vogue staffers and the Brian Atwood team, but I did illustrate one man, Brian's handsome partner Dr. Jake Deutsch. He's also the only sketch of the night [understandably] not sporting a new purse!

It was great end to NY Fashion Week live sketching with Vogue and Brian Atwood at Bloomingdales!  I hope you enjoy a few of my pictures and sketches from the night.

If your interested in rates for live-sketching at a corporate event or private party of your own, or have a question, you can email me at FabulousDoodles@gmail.com.

Asperkid's Charitable Fashion Coloring Book

A few months ago I was asked to contribute fashion history illustrations for a wonderful new charitable coloring book that has just been released; The Asperkid's Not-Your-Average-Coloring-Book written by Jennifer Cook O'Toole. This unique coloring book covers topics that appeal to kids on the autism spectrum by encouraging them to try new things and showing spectrum kids the potential career value of their natural talents through artwork based on science, nature, history, math and myths.

It was great to work on these historical fashion sketches and solely focus on the designs through line drawing. I have to mention that while the 1960's mod look (at the top) is probably my favorite of the group due to the strong pose and bold accessories, the 1970's illustration was inspired by one of my favorite photo's from the 1970's of my grandma (which I also featured here on Fabulous Doodles a while back.) As for the other two line drawings,  they gave me a great excuse to whip out my art and fashion history books and seek out some primary resources for inspiration. 

I'm honored to be a part of this coloring book and encourage you to show your support for Asperkids and order a copy for the little artist in your life, whether or not they are on the spectrum. A portion of the proceeds will go towards supporting art programs for children on the autism spectrum. Although I'm only one of the contributing illustrators featured in the book, I've added The Asperkids's Not-Your-Average-Coloring-Book to my Amazon shop under titles I've illustrated, to make it easy to find and order. Happy coloring!