joy onglatco in helix dress, shagreen cuffs and menudier

I chanced upon photos of my favorite dresses and here’s one from my helix line. I made this for my friend Joy Onglatco who has recently inspired me to work on a fashion illustrations exhibit which i will be putting up in November.

full -scale muslin (back detail)

I constructed this dress using the drape method, starting the drape process on a half scale draping form which i had specifically made, then working on a full scale form. I carefully calculated the folds, building up the stiffness of the fabric to maximize its hand and fall then made the actual dress in taffeta and refitted it on Joy. The result, as you can see, is subtly sculptural.

half-scale muslin

I sketched Joy in a nocturnal blue taffeta gown similar to this one. It was for a designer-muse shoot for Metro Society magazine. The sketch did not get published with our photo but provided the incipient idea for a series of illustrations.

I haven't had a one-man show since 2000. back then, i did Soul Light Portraits--portrait abstractions. i used color to convey the feelings and thoughts that each of my subjects inspired while meditating and the resulting images were well-received; almost all the hue-infused paintings sold.

This time, i'm going to try to capture the style of each of my fifteen sitters and hopefully put smiles not just on their faces but on the viewers as well.

gilded transfer

your jotter is planning to set up his 2^nd one-man show this november, thus he’s learning new techniques to layer and add depth to his paintings.

early this week he learned image transfer through acrylic emulsion, a style pioneered by robert rauschenberg which one saw at the moma in new york. caloy mendoza, this years joya awardee from UP Cebu gave instructions on the tedious process and shared invaluable tips on surface finishing, framing and so forth.

just an hour ago, one learned another technique: gilding. 'boy icoy' brought in a girl who works in a furniture export company. she gilded an old chair at my atelier and showed this enthusiastic blogger the technique.

VAJRASATTVA:Buddha of Purification

above is a sample of this artist's work combining image transfer and gilding.

incidentally, one learned how to carve early this year should he also include some sculptures in his exhibit? wonder, wonder, wonder…

a mimosa named kris

I made this dress in white silk/pineapple blend for Miss Cebu 2009, Kris Janson at the Santacruzan, Waterfront Cebu City Hotel. Initially, I thought the frock would be too transparent however, the diaphanous quality of the material made the exposed darts and skeletal construction look rather interesting. Lining the dress with nude corset and skirt made it perfectly ethereal. While most of the other Sagalas were encumbered by their elaborate gowns, kris moved around effortlessly and elegantly.

"This is really lovely on kris. Hmmmmm, however, this would need a thousand more origami mimosas if misha were to wear it in New York," were my thoughts.

dove and haori

PHOTO: edwin ao

i couldn’t go to the Metro100 fashion gala but my friend cary santiago took care of my clothes thus I didn’t worry at all. edwin ao who worked with me as associate fashion editor for zee was there too and took the photo above.

i couldn’t imagine what level of chaos the backstage was in, what with more than fifty designers there. Good news however was that “we were well applauded,” according to cary.

silk dupione coat, dove dress,wood&satin flood clogs.

i posted the “haori” pattern a couple of posts ago, and this here is the final outfit which was posted at thefashpack.blogspot.com Instead of my original plan to show the coat with an ultra fitted, micro tank dress, I instead did a shirtdress with dove sleeves and deep-V back.