Lady Scissorhands - Couture Jacket and Skirt

One of my biggest projects to date, and my favourite piece of work so far, the Lady Scissorhands avant garde ensemble became a real labour of love for me. I worked on the project over a period of 3 months, from concept to design, pattern making and final construction.

The most complex piece of work I have completed to date, including close to 80 pattern pieces, detailed fabric overlays and hours of hand embellishment. I really wanted to challenge myself and be able to elevate a piece of clothing to a couture level of technique and construction.

I had entered the outfit in  a few design competitions and gained some publicity on the project, however it was a sense of personal accomplishment and the different techniques and skills I learnt which were the most valuable.

Here I will take you through some of the processes in the project.

Some of the initial inspiration included Edward Scissorhands, Medieval armour & architecture and 80's punk. I was also influenced by the sharp edged construction of designers in the 80s like Mugler and Montana.

Technical sketches of the final design, a jacket and skirt ensemble.

Some of the fabrics chosen, including a wool/lurex boucle, silk dupion lining and cotton/lurex lace overlay.

The first toile or sample of the ensemble.

An editorial shoot of the final product.

Behind the scenes shots of a shoot for the Herald Sun.