One of my favorite projects yet, this was originally a concept I came up with for a portfolio class, but I was so excited about the feathers, I decided to use the design inspiration for my senior 3 piece collection!

 

I guess I can start by breaking down the garments, they're all made from a heavy, crepe back satin, because I wanted a light sheen. for the gown, I made a dramatic train and sprinkled a ton of gold glitter all over it,and for the other two jumpsuits, I used fabric glue to attach gold leafing. this was my first experience working with chiffon, so that was so interesting! I used a babylock machine, which is like a fancy serger, to finish the edges of the train.  both of the pantsuits have boning in the bodices to make sure they dont sag, but because of a mistake in the sleeves of my pattern, the one picture to the left on the runway photo did sag because the could pull the sleeves up all the way. Oh well, we live and we learn. I also learned a lot about lining a jumpsuit, I wasn't sure whether to finish the edges of the lining hems separate from the self fabric hems, so I went ahead and did them together for all of the hems except the legs of the sleeveless jumpsuit. I should have done free hanging lining hems, because on the jumpsuit with sleeves, it cause a little bunching and frustration. 

Moving on to the wings!

I started by using wire hangers to create the shape I wanted on a body form, and then I made little muslin lining/socks for each wire frame. For my first set, I filled the little muslin sock with poly fill stuffing, because I wanted extra volume, but I don't think that was entirely necessary, so I didn't fill the second or third wing sets. Then I started hot gluing the biggest feathers I had to be the "primaries", and then started on smaller and smaller. for the smallest "downy" feathers, they came with square tips, so I trimmed each one to  end in points. I really wanted the wings to seem biologically feasible as far as joint curves and feather placement. on the second two sets I made, I added lights on after gluing on the big feathers, and before gluing on the small feathers. just battery powered strings of lights for each wing that I got off of amazon. Then I spray painted the whole wing with a few coats of gold paint. which turned out exactly how I wanted it to! All of the wing sets are standalone/removable pieces and are put on after putting on the dress or pantsuit.  

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I learned so much from this collection specifically because I had to fit models! we only got one fitting before the show, and then just pray that our alterations were correct, which, mine weren't, so I had to replace two zippers on runway day. which was very stressful. what a learning experience about fast and efficient fittings and I'm so thankful my models were so patient with me as I bumbled around. 

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All-in-all, I'm super proud of myself for this collection. it was so beautiful and breathtaking on the runway, and the lights in the wings, although subtle, add a cool little dramatic flair to the look.