New Fashion Illustration ♡

Hello! This week I thought I would share my latest project in my fashion illustration class. This is one of my designs:

Although I won't be making this dress, I'm in the process of making another one. 

Not much else to say, except that I think I've improved quite a bit!

♡ Claire 

My New YouTube Channel! ♡

Hello everyone! I have some great news. I decided to start a YouTube channel to go along with this blog! My first video was uploaded yesterday about my first collection and the fabric swatches to go along with it. Subscribe to my YouTube if you want to see more fashion-related videos. I'm not really sure what I'm going to post on there yet so any suggestions would be appreciated!

You can watch my video here!

♡ Claire

Finally Have a Sewing Machine! ♡

Hello, it's Claire! I have some really cool news. My dad's friend was kind enough to give me his family's old sewing machine for free! My dad recently ordered the power cord and manual, they came in the mail, and it works! I am so excited! I will sew my skirt with this soon.

It's a Brother VX-520. I would appreciate any advice for beginners! ^_^

♡ Claire 

New Designs ♡

I've drawn two new designs recently and I wanted to share them. I'm still working on drawing the fashion figure but I think I've improved a lot compared to when I first started. 

                               

I drew this one in my new sketch pad and I didn't end up coloring it. I think it actually looks okay the way it is, so I think I'll just leave it without color. I wanted to try something new with styling so I just out little bows in the side ponytail and I'm pretty happy with how this turned out :D

                             

I really like blue and pink together so that's what inspired me to draw this one. If I could actually make this outfit(hopefully I'll have my machine by the end of the summer so I can start learning) I think I would wear it a lot. :D

♡ Claire 

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New Designs and Drawings ♡

Hello everyone! I've been busy these past couple of weeks and haven't been able to post, but I've resolved to post on Tuesdays and Fridays again. ^_^

For today's post, I thought I would just share my recent designs and drawings with you. These are also posted on my Instagram, @claire.fashion if you would like to follow me on there! ♡

^ this one is inspired by Frankie Stein from Monster High.

Tsukasa from one of my favorite animes, Lucky Star!

I drew this one based off of the avatar I made of myself on the "faceq" app.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my sketches!! I feel like I'm improving with each one I draw. 

♡Claire 

Bubbly ♡

Happy Friday! ♡

This is a design I completed a few weeks ago. I thought it would be cute to incorporate bubbles into a dress! I was inspired by Lady Gaga's bubble dress. 

I hope you like it! I'd love to hear some feedback!

♡ Claire 

Designer Spotlight: Coco Chanel ♡

    Credited with the creation of the Chanel suit, the Chanel No. 5 perfume, and the little black dress, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel is the most iconic and influential fashion designer to this day. You don't have to have an interest in the fashion world to just know her name.

Coco originally wanted to pursue a career as an entertainer, singing at cabaret shows as a young adult. However, although she had the look and charisma, her singing was not incredible. She eventually realized that she would never be a successful performer. 

 

Around 1908, Chanel designed the iconic Chanel No. 5 perfume with her then-boyfriend Arthur Capel, who also helped finance Coco's first shops, in Deauville, France. In her early fashion career, Chanel sold mainly hats and clothing, and eventually established her first couturiere boutique at 31 rue Cambon. She didn't enjoy immediate success, however. The reason for this, however, is why she eventually became so influential and successful.

Chanel lived through WWI and through the post-war era that followed. It was around this time that women gained the right to vote, and an increasing demand for women's rights developed. 

It was Chanel who revolutionized women's clothing during this time period, promoting the liberation that women were then seeking. Coco did this by saying goodbye to tight corsets and long Victorian dresses, and designing clothes that were far more practical for work and everyday life (not to mention easier to breathe in).

Chanel designed clothes made with jersey fabric, once considered too simple to be used in couture fashion. She saw the advantages of wearing jersey clothing for women: it allowed far more movement than long dresses with corsets allowed. The Chanel jersey suit became instantly popular among women for this reason. 

Another Chanel design that promoted practicality in women's clothing was the Chanel bag. This bag, called the 2.55, overthrew the use of the hand bag with its chain strap and functionality, while still looking fashionable. 

(Probably my fave picture)

Last but not least, I want to talk about the little black dress. Coco's little black dress was basically the polar opposite of the restricting Victorian dresses. The dress was comfortable but chic, and became instantly popular. To allow all women in society to wear her practical designs, Coco had some of her creations including the little black dress sell for affordable prices. (She is actually credited for the start of the Flapper trend in the 1920's!)

(That's Audrey Hepburn!)

 Thanks to her career as a designer, Coco Chanel completely changed the image of women and gave them a sense of empowerment and freedom from the restriction of the pre-WWI era and long before, as modern women continued to pursue their goals in their careers and political rights.

I really hope you enjoyed this post! See you on Friday!! ♡

♡ Claire 

Second Fashion Design + Instagram Update! ♡

Happy Friday!!

So today I wanted to share my second completed fashion design. It's fairly simple but I think it turned out pretty well. 

I also wanted to talk about my Instagram on this post. I just got an Instagram recently, and on there I post my designs, ootd's, and other fashion related stuff. It would be awesome if you're interested if you would follow me!! My username is @claire.fashion and I post pretty frequently. 

I'm also playing a game called Fashion Design World, and my nanobit ID is clairemariefashion if you want to friend me!

See you on Tuesday!

♡ Claire

Designer Spotlight - Lilly Pulitzer ♡

Happy Friday!! I hope you've had an awesome week.♡

This Friday I'm going to be talking about one of my favorite fashion designers of all time, Lilly Pulitzer. She had a truly unique view on the whole art of fashion design, and her illustrations are instantly recognizable because of the bright colors, beach themes, and animal themes. 

I love the story of how Lilly got into the fashion design world. When she move to Palm Beach Florida, she opened a juice stand. Working at the juice stand and squeezing fruit got a lot of stains on her clothes. So, Lilly designed her classic sleeveless shift dress with bright and colorful fabric to hide the stains. When she wore this dress to work, she got a lot of compliments on the dress she had designed. Lilly then began making more of these dresses and selling them at her juice stand!! Of course, she ended up selling more dresses than juice, so Lilly changed her career interests to design. And ta-da, Lilly Pulitzer Inc. was founded in 1959!! 

Here is a Lilly shift dress. It's absolutely adorable, and there are so many styles and prints to choose from on the Lilly Pulitzer website(if you can afford them that is. i just stare at them and wish they weren't over $100 each. still cute though.)

Now I'm just gonna put some of my favorite Lilly quotes:

And of course:

♡ Claire 

{All of the images in this post belong to their respective owners like the Lily Pullitzer company. I'm not taking any credit for any of the prints or pictures that I used in this blog post.} 

My First Fashion Design Sketch! ♡

Hello everyone! ♡

I've been interested in the fashion design world for some time now, but I've recently been really considering majoring in fashion design in college. I'm going to take up sewing lessons in April! For now, I'm working on my fashion illustrating skills. 

So, I thought I'd share my first finished design. (I also posted it on my new Instagram, @claire.fashion) 

I'm really looking forward to improving with each sketch I complete! I will definitely start posting them here.

♡ Claire