CDDC 2010 - BACKSTAGE OF CHALLENGE ONE .

CHALLENGE ONE: Keep Putting that Best Foot Forward
Our first guest judge was the winner of the CDDC People's Choice last year. She was also the winner of this challenge in the first CDDC and I felt that she should be the one to judge it. This challenge is our little tribute to the King of Shoes Joe Tai, who is very ill at this time. We want to wish Joe all the best and send our good thoughts and wishes to let him know we are thinking of him. So your first challenge will be to find a special pair of footwear and design an outfit around them...but CDDC must keep everything fresh so while revisiting this challenge to honor Joe, I gave it something a little different for the returning contestants...the twist...this footwear and design creation must be Gothic!!!

A few words from our Guest Judge - I'd like to congratulate all of you for finishing your first challenge. I know it isn't easy putting your work out there for others to judge. Please learn from your scores and comments-with each challenge you will push yourself that much further This is really a great opportunity to grow. The other thing I would like the designers to consider- and I don't know if any of the other judges felt this way- I was bored by the use of black and red and corsets. I do hope they can foresee in the future what others might use and stray away from the 'common'. Anyone who wants to win this needs to stand out as doing something different.

A General Comment for all Designers from Tom Courtney: Lots of creativity in this challenge, but it seems some designers missed the point of the challenge: to be inspired by a pair of shoes and create a design based on that shoe. In project Runway, it’s always interesting to see how the judges critique each entry…it is usually reinforced that Project Runway is a ‘design’ competition, and not a ‘sewing’ competition; so, the judges may overlook a construction issue in favor of a design element – however, in this competition, construction can be weighed similarly as design. With that being said, I tried to look at each design in a non-personal, objective way…you must not take my comments personally (otherwise, you shouldn’t be in a competition). Finally, going forward, I highly suggest that designers seriously review their choice of dolls as models – some dolls pose much better than others…and it is to the designer’s advantage to showcase his/her design in the best possible way – if the doll cannot be posed properly – your design suffers from the perception of a fit or construction issue – and please bear in mind that ‘over-posing’ a doll also has the same effect.

My outfit on CDDC page >>>:

The Judges have spoken:

Judith:

Theme: 5, Originality: 4.5, Creativity: 5, Construction: 5

So many tiny details in this beautifully fabricated design. I'm sure the full effect can only be appreciated by seeing the actual garment. The textures created are exquisite and adore the boots! Simplicity of design works so well here.

Rob:
Theme: 4.5, Originality: 4.5, Creativity: 4.5, Construction: 4.5

I love the shoes, you did a fantastic job making those! Also the bodice is really beautiful. I would have liked to have been able to see more detail of the skirt, but from the pictures, it is beautiful. Your finishing on the corset is divine. The fit is very nice. The entire ensemble looks well thought out, and perfectly executed. The styling of the doll fits the fashion well. Everything was well executed and thoughtful, I hope you continue to deliver a fashion forward edge to all your entries. Well done!

Tom:
Theme: 3, Originality: 4, Creativity: 4, Construction: 5

Very well-done…but I can’t tell which came first, the corset or the boots? Remember the theme of the challenge: the designer doesn’t say anything about how the boots inspired the look. Other than that, the bodice is a bit bulky, but it does contribute well to a the silhouette through a good fit. And just a comment: the draping and fabric are lovely, but I don’t really care if it nearly killed you – this is a design competition, not Survivor.

Lori:
Theme: 4, Originality: 3.5, Creativity: 4, Construction: 4.5

Beautiful design, interesting use of fabrics and embellishments. I can see a lot of thought went into this design, it is nicely executed, although the use of red and black is predictable.

Total: 69,5/80 Ranking 3th in the overall competition; 3th in the challenge.

It was a very interesting challenge. I got a lot delight in work on this challenge and find out many new. I began with research of the Gothics Style. So wiki says:

The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the Post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify. Its imagery and cultural proclivities indicate influences from nineteenth century Gothic literature along with horror films and to a lesser extent the BDSM culture. The goth subculture has associated tastes in music, aesthetics, and fashion, whether or not all individuals who share those tastes are in fact members of the goth subculture. Gothic music encompasses a number of different styles. Styles of dress within the subculture range from deathrock, punk, androgynous, Victorian, some Renaissance and Medieval style attire, or combinations of the above, most often with dark attire, makeup and hair.

To my great surprise, there are 23 types of Goth and each one has its own style of fashion: The Trad Goth, The Romantic Goth, The Cyber Goth, The Fetish Goth, The Hippy Goth, The J-Goth, The Rivethead, The Perky Goth, The Mopey Goth, The Deathrocker, The Baby Bat, The Corp Goth, The Victorian Goth, The Medieval Goth, The Metalhead, The Emo Goth, The Vampire Goth, The Geek Goth, The Gothabilly, The Cabaret Goth, The Steampunk Goth, The Faerie Goth, The Tribal Goth.

I chose the Vampire Gothic which includes tragedy, romanticism and sensuality...

My first thought about shoes for this challenge went me to look for inspiration in a pics of Alexander McQueen shoes. But I wasn't to make as an object a copy of McQueen shoes:

For a start I made heels and soles of black FIMO® (oven-bake clay):

I liked heels very much, but to my regret I found no suitable fabrics for my idea. And I went to the fabric store the next morning. My catch was the red and black velvet, a capron net as spider web, different lace and other. At home I began a testing new fabrics and decided in favour of fabrics from next pics:

After I choosed fabrics, work was begun in full swing. I made patterns and cut out details. Every detail of the corset and shoe upper is composed of 4 layers of fabric - the stabilizer, velvet, capron net and lining:

The last fitting. :

After that I decorated every seamon the corset with 1.5 mm satin ribbons, except for the central seam, which is decorated with lace and in addition I decorated of 140 different size Swarovski crystals for the corset and boots.

The last stage was eccentric transparent skirt is made of mesh decorated with beads and sequins, and the drapery nearly killed me. I was creating a drapery about 8 hours and it was the most difficult for me in this outfit.

Well, and final look: