Old Times

Reflection on the Process

This portion of the project was so much fun, but took much longer than anticipated. I began draping the bodice on January 12th, and finished the project on Feburary 11th. To be fair, I was unable to work on the dress from January 23rd through 29th, and I worked on the dress at home from January 31st through February 3rd. The hardest part of the project was assembling the tulle skirt, as there were over 20 yards of tulle compressed into 7 skirt layers that varied in length. The final design has a beautiful shape, but it took quite a bit of effort to get it there. The easiest part of the process was cutting and stitching the “glass shards”, made of viynl, to the bodice. I cut out a bunch of different “shards” and pinned each one to the bodice until I was happy with the layout. Then I stitched 2 corners of each piece to the bodice. Overall, every part of this project took at least twice the length of time that I thought it would. As I start working on the mock up and final design of Jagged Little Pill, I want to focus on giving myself enough time early in the process to work on the project, so that I am not rushing to complete the design the day it is due.

Construction Timeline

10. Old Times: Ballgown Construction Timeline

Final Colorized Rendering

9. Final Colorized Rendering

To capture the overarching theme of memory, the Old Times Theatrical Ballgown uses a combination of elements from the 1940s through the 1960s. The base of the bodice uses three darts from a 1950s prom dress pattern, covered by three layers of tulle that was popular in the 1960s. The base of the skirt is a ¾ skirt with 7 layers of tulle, designed after a gown worn by Queen Elizabeth when the United States president came to Great Britain in the late 1960s. The skirt also has three layers of tulle petals and three layers of beads, one for each of the characters. The final detailing are the “glass shards”, created using holographic vinyl, to show the shifting memories that the characters argue over before Kate shatters all of the illusions at the end of the show. The color scheme of the dress matches a sunset, as the sunset is ever changing but has a definitive end, just like the memories shared by these three characters. The tulle skirt is in a navy, representative of the end of the sunset, while the three petal layers are in color changing orange, pink, and purple tones. The top petal is orange and represents Anna, as she’s firey and fighting for Kate to remember what she remembers. The bottom layer is purple and represents Deely, as he’s trying to bring Kate back down into his reality. The middle petal is pink and represents Kate, as she’s caught between Deely and Anna. The beading on the skirt, also in three, represents the individual memories that these three individuals share, and how easily those memories can be shattered and broken by simply pulling on the strings. Together, each of these elements highlights the ever changing nature of memory.