what a dream
Designing and building a red carpet look for Shania Twain was truly a dream job! And she and her team absolutely lived up to that dream. They came in full of good energy and ideas.
Her stylist, Greer Heavrin, shared a mood board illustrating the direction they had in mind. They knew they wanted classic blue denim and classic country bling for Shania’s night as host of the People’s Choice Country Music Awards
I got to work sketching up some ideas. It was important for the look to represent both Shania and Levi’s. When everything aligns in a collaboration, you create a piece or a look that feels true to everyone involved, a perfect balance of icons. Shania chose one of the sketches and we worked to hone it to perfection before aligning on this final design.
I would build a skirt, top, and gloves to perfectly fit Shania. Then they would be embellished by talented artist, Matt Stone. I included construction sketches so we could all align on how things would fasten and fit. This was the first of several looks for Shania that night, so it couldn't be difficult or time consuming to get on and off.
With design approval, it was time to start sourcing materials. I sourced fabrics locally at Pacific Blue Denim and Mood Fabrics.
I found the boning and other structural pieces for the bodice at Corset Making Supplies (corsetmaking.com). I hit up my local JoAnn Fabrics for last minute notions. And Levi's gave me some of their famous red tabs to complete the look.
Now that I knew what fabrics I would be using, I could start the draping and pattern making process. I set up an adjustable mannequin to match Shania’s measurements. Then I started draping pieces for the bodice and the skirt.
I made a pattern from those draped pieces and built the first mock-up pieces out of excess canvas fabric I have had on hand for years. I made my aesthetic adjustments to the mock-ups and built the first sample pattern, from which I built the first full sample look.
For the gloves, I started from a Vogue pattern, lengthened the pattern so they would cover the full arm, and added the decorative sleeve cuffs.
The sample pieces then flew off to meet Shania for a first fitting. Greer worked to fit the garment to Shania and shared ample notes and photos and videos to communicate the necessary adjustments.
The pieces returned to me for their updates. This can be the most challenging part. I wanted to make the alterations just right to minimize day-of changes. After all, the pieces would be covered in rhinestones and difficult to alter. And I didn’t want to mess up anything that was already working. So I carefully deconstructed the top and made the fit adjustments without touching the structural boning.
I decided to rebuild the skirt from scratch because the sample had a significant lining issue. It was faster and gave us better results to just rebuild it. Thankfully, miraculously, the gloves were pretty close to perfect so those adjustments were minor.
The turn around for these adjustments was tight because the entire look still needed to be embellished with crystals. This is where the many years of sewing experience really come in handy - I can make alterations like this very quickly and accurately. All updates were done within 48 hours and the pieces were sent off to be embellished by the talented Matt Stone
And then my part was done and I waited for the chance to see it on the red carpet.
As expected, she wore the hell out of it. And every other look that night.
I am so proud of this project. Thank you for following along! Check out the rest of the site for more of my cut and sew projects.
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