University Presentation Showcase: Undergraduate Division

Midnight Woods

Presenter Hometown

Manchester

Major

Apparel Design and Merchandising

Department

Family and Consumer Sciences

Degree

Undergraduate

Mentor

Amber M. Chatelain

Mentor Department

Family and Consumer Sciences

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to learn more about pleating methods, and how to achieve them. When planning the concept for our design, my team and I created a more couture looking black, paper pleated dress. We wanted to make the design very bold and dramatic with lots of details and intricacies. The bodice of the dress is covered with small, black leaves that are hand painted with gold details and a glitter topcoat which makes the leaves stand out. We used varying sizes of leaves to give the look more interest and depth. At the bottom of the gown, we chose to use inverted box pleats. We chose these pleats because it made the skirt look very simple and elegant, as we did not want to take away from the boldness of the bodice. The bodice is certainly the star of the show in this design. First, we placed black cording on the bodice in order to shape the neckline, as this assured that we would not have a misshapen neckline. For the bodice, we printed out different sizes of leaf stencils. We then used these stencils to cut out the leaves in black cardstock. Next, we hand painted gold detailing on the leaves with a very small paint brush. Then with a wider fan brush, we painted on a glittery top coat which gave more dimension to the leaves and made them stand out more. We cut four large pieces of paper for the bottom of the dress and pleated them using the inverted box pleating method. We then measured the length that we needed for the dress form we used, and we cut the black pieces of paper according to these measurements. We pinned the decorative leaves on the dress form according to the design that we had made, and hot glued some of the paper pieces together to make the pieces lay like we wanted. Lastly, we pinned on the five pleated skirt sections. We made sure to give the left side of the garment a high slit, as we thought that it added the perfect amount of drama.

Paper Fashion

Paper Pleating

Inverted Box Pleats

Leaves

Hand Painted

Couture

Black

Plunging Neckline

Backless

Presentation format

Art Exhibit

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Midnight Woods

The purpose of this project is to learn more about pleating methods, and how to achieve them. When planning the concept for our design, my team and I created a more couture looking black, paper pleated dress. We wanted to make the design very bold and dramatic with lots of details and intricacies. The bodice of the dress is covered with small, black leaves that are hand painted with gold details and a glitter topcoat which makes the leaves stand out. We used varying sizes of leaves to give the look more interest and depth. At the bottom of the gown, we chose to use inverted box pleats. We chose these pleats because it made the skirt look very simple and elegant, as we did not want to take away from the boldness of the bodice. The bodice is certainly the star of the show in this design. First, we placed black cording on the bodice in order to shape the neckline, as this assured that we would not have a misshapen neckline. For the bodice, we printed out different sizes of leaf stencils. We then used these stencils to cut out the leaves in black cardstock. Next, we hand painted gold detailing on the leaves with a very small paint brush. Then with a wider fan brush, we painted on a glittery top coat which gave more dimension to the leaves and made them stand out more. We cut four large pieces of paper for the bottom of the dress and pleated them using the inverted box pleating method. We then measured the length that we needed for the dress form we used, and we cut the black pieces of paper according to these measurements. We pinned the decorative leaves on the dress form according to the design that we had made, and hot glued some of the paper pieces together to make the pieces lay like we wanted. Lastly, we pinned on the five pleated skirt sections. We made sure to give the left side of the garment a high slit, as we thought that it added the perfect amount of drama.

Paper Fashion

Paper Pleating

Inverted Box Pleats

Leaves

Hand Painted

Couture

Black

Plunging Neckline

Backless