Dolls' Eye View: London Fall/Winter '18 Trends

The chaos continues. All of the unrest, the socio-economic uncertainty, political mayhem seems to have leached into the design community. Again, much of what we saw ran the gamut of safe, very conservative garments to overly designed costumes....a sort of throwing everything to the wind. The girls decided not to stay very long here. But before they left, we had an exercise in how to be inspired by the spirit or a detail of a garment.

Hyde & Seek

This is a story about leather which the girls just love. Instead of coats and jackets, leather is treated like a fabric and fashioned into flirty skirts and dresses. This group signed by British designer, David Koma, reminded me pf my intentions to update my tutorial on working with leather. Let me give you a hint....glove weight leather sews like fabric!

Katoucha's outfit is a combination leather (the bodice) and a leather-like coated fabric (skirt). I made the two items separately so that I can use them for other looks. Katoucha's skirt is a bit shorter than the one in the photo to keep it a little more youthful and better suited for her proportions. Add a belt and it all comes together like a dress!

Midnight Warrior

Gareth Pugh made his mark as a young designer with extreme avant-garde clothing bordering on goth. What's interesting is how, over the years, his work as successfully transcended into some pretty sophisticated fashion. This season's look is comprised of massive, black on black silhouettes! Okay, so the shoulders are big (we did a tutorial on that), but that's the 1980's revival kicking in.

The secret to the look I made for Grace is that it's a composite of different elements. The leather top is a simple bodice with a peplum flared over the hips and belted. It's worn over a straight wrap skirt and accessorized with a with a pair of thigh high "Barbie" boots. If you can't get the boots, you can always make....spats to fit over a pair of shoes! Oh yes, the fur jacket was borrowed from the tutorial on padded shoulders!

It's a Wrap!

This is an effortless look. Simple garments made special with an element that wraps around the neck or body. This can be as easy as an oversized plaid square tossed over the shoulders of a satin top and pants, a big scarf knotted around the neck of a straight coat or a sleek pair of pajamas wrapped with satin cord. Note the color palette and the print!

This is shamefully simple! Helena's look starts out with a strapless sheath cut from herringbone patterned silk. We took another length of fabric and wrapped it around her neck then belted it! It's the leather gloves and thigh high boots that really pulls off the look!

Tip: I wanted to "control" the drapes so I pinned then stitched them down into the scarf.

Royal Encounter

There's not much to say here except....think brocade, on your next trip to the fabric store! This fancy fabric is all you need to transform any ordinary garment into something quite regal!

Soho Boho

It's the Arts&Crafts movement combined with the bohemian movement of the 60's and 70's. By itself, it's nothing your doll is going to want to wear outside of your sewing room, but we all were intrigued by the texture of the thing! I liked the idea of creating my own fabric using tiny bits of frayed scraps.

The top is simple. A simple bodice without darts, elongated to the hips in blue, covered with scraps. I did this pretty quickly. If I had more time, I might have designed a pattern then filled it in with color coordinated scraps. Personally, I would have stopped here and put this over jeans. But then I got the crazy idea that ripped jeans would be the perfect compliment. So I made a pair, ripped them and added a backing to the holes (so the pants wouldn't fall apart.) My first reaction was that she resembled a big, shaggy dust rag. But the next morning after the photo shoot, it somehow works as an ensemble while capturing the essence of the original look.

As I stated before....such a busy top works best when worn over something simple....like the pair of jeans Donyale is now wearing! (We'll save the tattered jeans to wear with a simple T-shirt, later on!)

Foiled!

By now you already know how much the 18-year old that lives deep within is attracted to silver! I'll admit, the light bright silver on silver is a bit much (pots and pans chic), but since I already had a little bit of silver leather left in my closet.....I couldn't help myself.

After close scrutiny, I noticed the dress had a shiny silver lace trim. For Iman's dress, I took white lace and foiled it. The gloves are tiny tubes of silver lame and the boots are silver leather covered Barbie boots. So Carneby Street Sixties!!!

While we've been busy with Fashion Week, the Academy Awards took place. And yes, my girls were there! While half the girls make their way to Milan, we'll be taking a break to find who upstaged who on the Oscars' red carpet last night!

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Dolls' Eye View: London Spring '18 Trends

Well.....here's the problem. There is still a lot of chaos in this part of the world. Designers are still trying their best to function while the ramifications of BREXIT (exit from the European Union) hover above. Many are playing it safe with commercial (read "boring") collections, while other toss everything to the wind in a flight of chaotic fantasy. The problem is...after you dismiss the under or over designed frocks, that which is left resembles.... New York. That said....my girls were not going to leave empty handed (die hard fashionistas that they are), so they made their pick, jazzed it up a bit with a few fun accessories then headed to the catwalk to strut their stuff!

Crispy Cremes

White continues to be a strong trend for Spring Summer 18. Fabrics like crisp cottons, Indian weaves--have a lot of structure which lend well to shirtwaist dresses, tiered skirts & tees, or even a simple top over wide legged trousers.

Foiled!

Houston...we have a lift-off.... colored metallics make their entry onto the scene here. The ones above are made of leather, though with a sheet of foil, you can create your own effect as we did with Renee's skirt below.

I started out with gold lame (so that the missed areas would still shine), brushed on a light layer of modge-podge then ironed on a sheet of copper foil. Small areas did not adhere which gave my skirt a more rustic, beaten up appearance. If you go this route, one thing to note...adding this much foil to a garment results in shrinkage! (I could barely get the skirt back on Renee). So cut your garment slightly large if you try this! Otherwise, a one-shouldered chiffon blouse softly counter-balances the hard look of the copper tone pencil skirt.

Post Modern World

For my girls, this represents a sort of "pause" while the industry figures it's next move. These are easy to understand, easy to wear garments with an interesting detail here or there. There is, perhaps, nothing to jump up and down about....but then again, these are items that any doll can wear well!

One-Sided Point of View

It's been a few seasons now since shoulders have come out of hiding. You could almost think of this as a nouveau classic. The other big new here is the prevalence of asymmetrical details. The basic dress is relative simple, but hems are cut on the slant, or in slats, all of which give a new look to a familiar silhouette.

Girly Girls

Shhhhh..... don't tell anybody but..behind the badass attitude, the steely cold side eye looks of a vinyl diva.....some dolls just want to have fun in ruffles, frills and floral prints! In general, these are looks that transform perfectly into 1/6 scale (or even 1/4 scale) doll fashions.

Just be aware that when it comes to ruffles and flounces...expect the unexpected. In this case, the result was (for Bea) more interesting than the original. Even though I used a soft chiffon, when gathered, the fabric still had lots of bounce which took the flounces away from the body. The idea of the double flounce over a straighter skirt, when scaled for this Barbie, resulted in a very Balenciaga avant-garde cocktail dress. But do you hear Bea complaining? Neither do I!!!

Give Her the Slip

One of my personal favorite garments, the slip dress, has established itself as quite a classic. Here it is again this season in jersey, satin and sequinned versions. This is the kind of basic garment you can use and reuse in any variety of ways.

Morgan begged me for this dress (made of a single rectangle of rayon jersey). She hit the hat drawer and decided to have a little fun.

Soft Serve

Soft fabrics in soft colors...creamy whites, peach and pink..this is what you should keep you eye on when looking for materials. If you can knit (and I wish I could), look for soft and fuzzy yarns but keep the garment simple! Or...tulle skirts, soft knits with fluffy trim all have the allure of early 1960's glamour girl.

I didn't have any fluffy jersey to make dolly a comfy dress, but I did have a gym sock and some faux fur to make this dress. Natalie's tube dress is made from a gym sock turned inside out to expose the nubby texture.  I added two small tubes for short sleeves to either side. The faux fur (although you could slice up some dyer sheets into tiny ribbons) is attached all along the top of the dress and sleeves. The dress is so stretchy, I didn't need any back closure!

Silver Service

We are still on silver standard! That's another thing to keep in mind the next time you're at the fabric store. Julien MacDonald, in particular featured lots of sexy looks carved from silver lame and silver netting to shiny sequins.

Ye Olde England

A page out of the history books from the turn of the last century. And while I'm not sure how well this looks on humans, it sure makes for some very pretty dolly dresses! Pictured here, lots of black lace and sheer dotted-swiss.

Monica figured that as long as you're going to do vintage, you may as well go all the way. Her dress began with a shift dress made of black chiffon. I pleated small bits of a sheer dotted material, then overlaped them in the front and over another layer of pleated sheer. I attached white lace to the under dress which peaks out from under the layers of the dress. I made her a hat using a black silk rose hair clip, to which I added tiny silk flowers and a scrap of dotted sheer.

Hold on, there. We're only half way through our fashion experience. Stay tuned, the girls are on their way to Milan!!! More fashions to come!!!

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Doll's Eye View: London Fall/Winter 2017 Trends

Fashion is the reflection of our society. In these days of global uncertainty, designers are all over the place with the clothes they send down the catwalk. In the aftermath of Brexit, young, British designers are concerned about their country's withdrawal from the European Union with all of the associated business and financial ramifications. As a result, the girls saw a wilder then usual array of expressions. Some designers took the safe route...opting for "money in the bank," tried and true "everyday" urban looks, while others escaped into pure fantasy...a way of sticking their heads in the creative sands as they await a new, international order. For our purposes, there wasn't a lot that interested the girls, but what they did like, were real, little treasures.

Buck Shot

It was unanimous. We all love this group for its modernity. Simple shapes, easy to wear garments shot with metallic bits suggesting a high tech connection! Of course my girls love things that shine, but these items--with slivers of silver or gold, placed on neutral tone backgrounds--suggest they can be worn for day as well as night.

For Latetia's version of David Koma's dress, the look begins with a simple jersey dress. I loved the trim of the original dress but knew I would never find anything close to what looks like rows of bullet belts. So I used staples! I took strips of black jersey and literally began to staple! The bands are then tacked to the dress. Around the armholes, I used metal mesh (found in craft stores). I cut a little bit and bent it over a black scrap of fabric. These are also tacked to the dress. The rayon jersey fits perfectly over the Latetia's body and the silvery trim transforms a basic dress into edgy edge!

Bond Street Girls

The focus is on women in the workplace with an emphasis on getting more females into the top positions of financial and tech companies. This group is about status clothes. Subtle in nature, these classics are prime for an easy, power look. Note: coats are now sporting wider, "power" shoulders!

Kong

Did someone say POWER? Maybe, dolly is a beast!!! Between the shaggy coat and the quilted leather dress trimmed in fur, this group borrows the best features from the iconic gorilla. Think long-hair faux fur or black leatherette. Again, shoulders are big, either by design or with the addition of a fur collar!

Getting Megan's look is as simple as tossing a shaggy faux fur stole over the shoulders of a black gown!

Frills & Thrills

We've been noticing the return of ruffles and other girlie touches like lace decals or the generous silhouette of a big, belted coat or a bouncy, cha-cha blouse, completely overrun with giant ruffles.

This is a very different look for my dolls. But after conferring with them, the girls settled on what looks like a silky coatdress. For Marpessa's version, I began with the basic shirt pattern which I cut V-shape into a point in the front and back, before adding a big ruffle on either side. The result makes for a very pretty coat dress which  I intend to use as a coat thrown over the shoulders of a dress or as a dress worn over tights or skinny jeans.

Winter Garden

This is essentially a color story. One taken from the end of winter when colors are reduced to darks and foggy neutrals. These are easy to wear, simple shapes. What is particularly lovely is the use of tapestry prints with muted florals. We like how these "precocious" flower prints is paired with the softness of a beige sweater.

Hidden Figures

Who are we and where are we ultimately going? Until we figure this out, we settle behind a curtain of black, waiting for the ominous clouds from the current political mess to pass. This are big, black shapes that hide the wearer's body underneath with a splash. Graphic in nature, this is another way to make a grand statement! Worth noting: maxi length hemlines even for day!

And so, you ask, what happened to color?

Piccadilly Circus

It's here. It's crazy. Not exactly in the tones I personally like for winter. But in difficult times, why not look on the bright side of things with what looks like an urbanite's version of Carnival! This group came after the fact. It is typical for what happened color-wise during fashion month as a whole. We are suffering climate change everywhere. Some politicians pretend it really doesn't matter. Let's stop and take a bit of time to laugh and have a bit of fun!

Coming up next...the girls show off their faves from Milan.

Note: usually fashion month begins with New York, then London, Milan and Paris. So many things came together this year, so exceptionally, the girls decided to present their reports in the following order: London, Milan, Paris, NY.

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Doll's Eye View: London Summer 2017 Trends

In selecting fashions for the Doll's Eye View reports, we look for items we feel will translate best for 1/6 scale. Unfortunately much of what the girls saw on the London catwalk this season had too many ruffles, too much frou-frou or was too big, too loose or too.....ordinary. Fashion is about change. We've seen skinny silhouettes for a long time, so don't be surprise to see wider silhouettes begin to replace them. And yes, it will take a while for our eyes to adjust In the meantime, my dolls understand a trip to London is a trip to London and so with that, they were instructed to find something (anything) to make this trip worthwhile.

Who's Line Is It Anyway

Certain trends we saw in New York continue right over the Atlantic. Stripes of all shapes and types is one of them.

I'm With HER.....

Think of this as the "Hillary effect." Like her or not, the first female Democratic party nominee to run for president of the United States is impacting fashion trends! Whether it's deliberate or a subliminal suggestion, once again, fashion is waking up to see to power of pants! Expect to see lots of pants for next spring and summer. Dolly may not be overly willing to give up the leggings, so consider making her a pair of slim pants instead. Or...go all out with a looser trouser.

Prints of Wales

We love the subtle, almost silver glow to these prints. Animal prints are there but less "in your face," while florals take on that "south of the border" flavor. Consider using more than one print in a single look. Also..if you must put ruffles or flounces on your doll...think south of the border with a slim dress or skirt given a bouncy gathered, fishtail.

What's Your Point

Another carry-over from New York, assymetrical hems, dresses or tops with one shoulder, handkerchief hems are a strong trend for next summer. Here, we've chosen a classic flared silhouette for late night formal affairs.

From here we move over to Milan, where the selection must-have styles is larger. Stay tuned!!!!

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