Back in January, I was taking a course in Up cycling Fashion. I wanted to learn some tricks one could use in the industry to save money -pulling a Tim Gunn with what I have at hand to ‘make it work’. And of course, for the process itself of turning something into something else.
Drawing on my ever-hopeful dream project-to make costumes for an all-female cast of Alice in Wonderland, I decided to make one of these designs into reality. My Dad gave me an old Paul Smith shirts-one in the original multi-colored stripped pattern. It became the basis for the Mad Hatter.
The idea behind this production is the idea of Alice under going puberty. My Wonderland is a materialized adolescence, the characters all embodying challenges and aspects of being a teenager. I based my Mad Hatter onJoan Jett-feisty, edgy, and leaning towards an androgynous look. In the cast, she’s the tomboy, that punky chick who is so anti-girly, you can’t help being drawn to her.
Before cutting into the shirt, and to be sure the pattern worked, I used a plain white shirt. It took a couple of times to get the bodice pattern correct-especially hard since I was set on keeping the buttoned front as a remaining feature.
Once complete, I moved onto the main article, using the stripes as a grain line. The final product looks amazing. It’s great to use such a recognizable pattern in the industry, cut in a way that clashes so much with the designers’ aesthetic! I’m tempted to wear it with a chic scarlet tux jacket...but may be pushing it to look like a magician’s assistant. In the mean time, it looks perfect with a pair of flared trousers.
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