witches be crazy!

During my latest job I somehow ended up volunteering to create some of the wardrobe for a coven of witches. The director wanted these witches to be wearing all white or off white lace dresses and still look sexy. I was worried that covering the witches in lace would make them look like brides or old. I decided to approach them from a sculptural point of view because I wasn't able to get the girls measurements, I don't actually know how to create clothing and I didn't have a dress form. I definitely had a few days where I was kicking myself and thinking; "What did I get myself into?"

Here's one of the first drawings I did. I decided that the cheapest and easiest way to pull these off would be to buy old slips from thrift stores and to deconstruct them with lace, gauze, tulle. I thought it would make them look kind of otherworldly. In theory this seemed like something I could easily do.



Next I decided to channel Helena Bonham Carter. She always wears her hair in kind of a haphazard mess. I wanted these witches to be disheveled, eccentric, mysterious. (ie: intriguingly skanky) Beautiful but broken, so like these women had been through a lot. Very Marla from Fight Club!


This is a cleaner concept drawing of the dresses together. Some of them I'm happier with then others. I think my favorite one was the last one I did that looks like a demented ballerina. But overall I had a pretty good time making them. I also enjoyed cutting holes and burning them so they would look distressed. After a few weeks though I just wanted to be done.


These are some close-ups of the dresses. I didn't have time to distress them all myself so some of them are a little too white. I don't have any photos of the girls in the dresses either. oh well : (