DIY Do-It-Yourself

Video of last year's eCouture Fashion Show

Photos of entries in the 2017 eCouture Wearable Art Fashion Show

I seldom make clothing, but decided to enter the “Artrageous Recycled” category with a modern hoop skirt made out of the vertical blinds I’d taken down from my windows when I moved in. I vowed to use only recycled, old, or discarded materials (though I did use strong new thread as needed).

This DIY project has tapped into a different kind of creativity for me, because of the constant problem-solving involved. Every step involved experimenting, playing around with different ideas to see what would work.  My friends Lorrie and Elisha will be models at the fashion show, and we have had fun envisioning the five outfits that will use the hoop skirt.

 Here’s a sneak-peek of the skirt of one of the costumes, displayed on a stool. It is made from a semi-transparent lace curtain—imagine seeing the model’s legs through the fabric, instead of the legs of the stool.

I will post the finished costumes in late April, after the fashion show.

This project has me pondering the tyranny of fashion, the constriction of corsets, the way that women's clothing has hobbled them through the ages.

How did these fenced-in women hug their children? How did they go to the bathroom rigged out like this? How could they move through a crowded room? How many yards of fabric went into their clothes?

I put on my modern hoop skirt--it looked really cool, in a totally peculiar way. I wondered how I'd get through doorways, or tie my own shoes.

Walking down the stairs, I realized how hard it was to see my feet, how easy it would be to stumble and fall.
This added an unforeseen element of danger to my foray into fashion.