Dear Rubber Band ‘Art’ (Dress 207)

Dear Rubber Band ‘Art’ (Day 162)


You’re that thing thing that children do, stretching rubber bands over pre-set nails in a pattern/shape. I think it’s pretty if done well, and dangerous if not.

All my love,
Ip.

Dear Fashion, Image and Advertising (Dress 169)

Dear Fashion, Image and Advertising,
After a discussion on the nature of capitalism in Performance Class, going to a lecture on the elements of consumer culture was a no-brainer. The straps (and continuing lines) are thick satin ribbon, the ‘fringe’ ribbons at the base also. There are enamelled black numbers at the base of the dress.
All my love,
IP

Dear Rambo (Dress 142)

Dear Rambo,

So I fell asleep ten minutes in; so I'm not really the authority on your, shall we say, art. However- I do know that at some point in the early part of the film (Rambo 3, I think.) you use a bow and arrow to catch fish.

Bad. Ass.

voila!
black satin ribbons on white muslin, with feather embellishments.

All my love,

IP

Dear Dianne Wynne-Jones (Dress 137)

Dear Dianne Wynne-Jones,
Your books were such a focus of my childhood- You were the author (along with Roald Dahl) upon whom I could always rely to transport me, sick, home from school, into another world without the mild headache or minor stomach upset (that, to a child seems plaguelike in proportion). One particular image (among many) that remains embedded is that of a tribe of strange elfin creatures that wear the (traditionally Gaellic? Welsh? English?) neck-jewellery, the Torc. Today's dress is in honor of that forgotten necklace.
(The drawing on the left is a view of the back. The Torc itself is made of silver, as are the balls at the end of the ribbon at the back. The ribbon is knotted around the Torc, and is part of the plain backless sheath dress part.)
All my love,
IP

Dear 1980's (Dress 129)

Dear 1980's,

Clothes then were sodding horrible. At the secondhand shops near my house they sell pattern sets of ready-made outfit-sets. Every. Single. One. Horrible.
All clashy prints and big lapels and really, really, really, really hideous hair.

And then there's games of the 90's- which are all strangely cool now, like Prince of Persia, which I remember playing on an ancient Mac... how things have evolved.

So in memory of big lapels, and the sands of time,

In affectionate nostalgia,

IP.

Dear Safta Haya, (Dress 118)

Dearest Safta (Grandmother in Hebrew),

It's strange, I only see you every ten years- and yet I feel I know you. We're remarkably similar, you and I- Our love of making things, of textures, and most particularly, of scent. A personal obsession of mine, the art of perfume and the chemistry of scent. Since reading The Emporor of Scent, by Chandler Burr i've been entranced by the collective power of the aesthetic and aromatic that is a flacon of perfume, and it's contents. You have a collection of old perfume bottles, mainly empty- for practicing your glass painting on.

When I was in Israel you gave me a half-full bottle of J'Adore, you said my grandfather (who passed away ten years ago) gave it to you. For all that you love it you said it is too subtle for you, too gentle- strange, for a woman of such delicacy, you look like Jackie Kennedy in the photos I have from my mother's childhood.

You handed me this beautiful little golden bottle, the gold colouring on the wire of the neck faded with age, and, wrapped in silk scarves i'd bought in Israel, it came all the way across the sea with me. And now, when I need to be reminded, soft clouds of pearly scent surround me.

Today's dress is corset-topped, wrapped in an even layer of bronze wire, the ends of which are bent over tiny silver beads, the back of the corset laced with silver ribbon. The skirts are navy silk, three layers, edged with the same silver ribbon used for lacing.

All my love,
IP.
P.S. Today is DAY 100! We've made it! Happiness and Delight! Rar.

Dear Valentine's Day (Dress 73)

Dear Valentines Day,

In my attempt to make you an exercize in affection and not a work out for my bank account last year I made about one hundred paper roses and covered the house I was housesitting with my boyfriend (at the time). I went Massively overboard, ah; the follies of youth!
I still love making paper roses, and last night, wonderng how they would look in reinforced fabric, I came up with this:
(creme brown lattice, with green mesh inbetween, dark brown ribbon for the 'rosebush' and burgundy rose at the top left. I'll ink the drawing and colour it later Dress 71 has been inked! go check it out.)
All my love,

Dear Suzie (Dress 57)

Dearest Suzie,
Monash University Student Theatre has a yearly artistic development festival (ADDfest). However, being so busy means I have only been able to attend a select few of the offerings -something I really regret, I've missed out on so much more the festival had to offer...- The writing debut of a dear friend of mine Izzy Roberts-Orr, a brilliant professional actor's panel, and tonight a showcase of short performance pieces, new theatrical works written, directed and acted by students, standup comedy and a amazingly gutsy and skilful burlesque performance by one of my classmates. Her costume was so stunning, so seductive whilst covering everything (albeit briefly) to reveal beautiful luxury lingerie. I wanted to design something that balanced those elements. It didn't come out in the drawing so much- I want this to be the underdress (in very stiff fabric with satin fused on top), with a ruched overlay of very fine crushed silk all over (even the crisscross section).

(Better photo tomorrow)

All my love,

IP

Dear Closing Sale (Dress 47)

Dear Closing-Stationers-Sale,
You're a really nice bunch of guys, selling stationary at stupidly low prices (and I know that sounds like an ad, but I feel like I ripped you off- and I was the one giving you money!) I bought twenty mechanical pen nibs for a dollar. That's nuts. And then I got thinking about calligraphy, and then there was this:

(Dress Specs: White muslin over a white leotard-shape-garment, detailing in ribbons and buttons with painted 'bleed' behind them.)

All my love,