Draping Published in 2013 by Laurence King Publishing Ltd 361–373 City Road London EC1V 1LR United Kingdom Tel. +44 20 7841 6900 Fax +44 20 7841 6910 E-mail enquiries@laurenceking.com Text © 2013 Karolyn Kiisel Karolyn Kiisel has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the Author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 78067 093 5 Design by The Urban Ant Ltd Picture research by Heather Vickers Photography by Sia Aryai Photography, www.com Line art by Briana Boyko Technical diagrams and Photoshop enhancement by Mikiela Salgado Printed in China Draping The Complete Course Karolyn Kiisel Laurence King Publishing Contents INTRODUCTION PART 1: Beginning Draping > Draping is an art 006 1.1 Draping the Woven Panel 016 1.2 Dresses 038 > Tools and preparation 009 History 018 History 040 > Terminology 013 Exercises 020 Exercises 042 > Preparing the muslin 020 > Dart variations 042 > Draping the three grains 023 > Classic bodice with bust dart 044 > Visualizing muslin vs. fabrics 024 > Bodice with French dart 046 > Dance tunic 026 > Swing dress with no darts 048 Draping project 030 Draping project 050 Diana of Versailles’s garment Audrey Hepburn’s dress in Breakfast at Tiffany’s Variations 058 > Setting the princess line into a yoke 058 > Joining two darts to create the princess line 060 > Bodice with an armhole princess line 064 PART 3: Advanced Draping 2.1 Coats and Jackets 204 History 158 History 186 History 206 Exercises 160 Exercises 188 Exercises 208 > Draping and fitting pants 160 > Cotton knit top with ribbed neckline 188 > Understanding shoulders 208 > Harem pant 162 > Strapless knit top 190 > Chanel-style jacket 210 > Hakama 166 > The two-piece sleeve 215 Draping project 192 > Wide-leg trouser with front tucks 170 > Easy two-piece sleeve draft 216 Nanette Lepore halter-neck knit top > Easy pant draft 171 Draping project 222 Variations 198 Draping project 176 Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo jacket > Top with kimono sleeves 198 Nanette Lepore cropped pant Variations 234 > Raglan jacket 234 > Trench coat 240 > Swing coat with shawl collar 246 > Coat with egg-shaped silhouette 252 PART 2: Intermediate Draping 1.2 Blouses 112 History 068 History 090 History 114 Exercises 070 Exercises 092 Exercises 116 > Preparing the form for draping > Kilt 092 > Draping the blouse 116 the bustier 070 > Skirt silhouettes 094 > Peasant blouse 118 > Preparing the fabric and materials > Straight skirt 096 > Gibson Girl blouse 122 for the bustier 071 > A-line skirt 098 > Easy sleeve draft 124 > Princess-line bustier 072 > Bias circle skirt 100 Draping project 130 > Bustier with Georgian shape 074 Draping project 102 Bill Blass organza ribbon blouse Draping project 078 Bill Blass pegged skirt Variations 142 Christian Lacroix bustier Variations 110 > Tunic with bell sleeve 142 > Yoked skirt with gathers and flare 110 > Mandarin collar 146 > Peter Pan collar 148 > Blouse with peplum and classic bishop sleeve 150 3.2 The Grand Gown 258 3.3 Draping on the Bias 282 3.4 Improvisational Draping 300 History 260 History 284 History 302 Exercises 262 Exercises 286 Exercises 304 > Supporting the skirt 262 > Bias-draped camisole 286 > Asymmetrical draped neckline 304 > Corsets 264 > Bias chemise with princess line 290 Draping project 306 > Gown with ruffled petticoat 266 Draping project 292 Vivienne Westwood dress Draping project 270 Jean Harlow’s dress in Oscar de la Renta gown Dinner at Eight Variations 280 > Royal wedding gown 280 Glossary 314 | Resources 315 | Index 316 | Credits 319 | About the DVD 320 Related study material is available from the Laurence King website at www.com Introduction Draping is an art “Draping” is the term for using fabric to create a design directly on a mannequin or dress form. It is an essential skill for a fashion designer. The French word for draping is moulage, meaning “to World War II, in Europe and New York, the couture mold or sculpt.” Fashion designers are artists, giving ateliers were blossoming.
Balenciaga, Dior, Givenchy, physical expression to concepts as they work with and, later, Yves Saint Laurent were only a few of the form, space, and energy flow. Impact and emotion many designers using new fabrics and techniques to enter with the use of color and surface detail, but first produce beautifully draped and impeccably tailored a silhouette must be sculpted. Learning to drape these iconic styles Learning to drape involves training the eye to recognize teaches important basic techniques and hones balance, symmetry, and a graceful line, and training the observational skills. hand to dexterity in cutting, pinning, and joining Studying modern and contemporary clothing helps to complex curves.
focus on the subtleties of shape and form. To create a Ultimately, success for designers and artists lies in silhouette that is truly new, one must know what has finding their own unique style of expression. Draping is come before. a skill that helps the individuality of the designer’s creative vision to emerge.
The value of learning to drape In this book, you will be draping ancient forms of When draping, the muslin, or “toile,” is a work in clothing, historical garments from art works, costumes progress, continuing to evolve until it is taken off the from movies, contemporary designer pieces, and styles form and turned into a pattern for a garment. from past decades. Draping a new design, rather than drafting a flat At the beginning of each chapter are examples of early pattern for it, is, for many, an easier way to develop the forms of clothing, often simple woven panels of cloth important skill of visualizing how a two-dimensional wrapped, tied, or draped over the body. Understanding sketch moves into a three-dimensional form.
As the how a modern blouse or jacket evolved from these contours of the garment can be seen taking shape basic shapes makes it easier to conceptualize how to during the draping process, it eliminates some of the drape one. It is less intimidating when you understand guesswork involved with pattern drafting. that, for thousands of years, people have created When drafting, it is not until the pattern is finished beautiful, practical, transformational shapes from a and the garment is cut and sewn that one can see simple length of woven cloth. the three-dimensional result.
Becoming proficient Many of the designs in the book are taken from the at pattern drafting takes a lot of experience. With “Golden Age of Draping.” From the late 1930s through a few basic skills, draping can be done by anyone, the 1960s, Hollywood costume designers had unlimited even as our ancestors did with their simple tunics 006 resources from the studios to clothe their stars. After and robes. Creating a signature look The ultimate goal of training in the skills of draping is to strengthen original expression while creating new silhouettes.
Clothes are marketed today less by their fit and finesse than by a “designer’s statement.” In fashion, it is crucial for a designer to develop their own style. Having this “signature look” sets a designer apart. Further, it helps the women who wear it define their own personal styles. Today’s woman wants clothes that not only fit Draping is an art | Tools and preparation | Terminology comfortably but that help her express her attitudes and sensibilities.
She wants her clothing to say something to the world about who she is. Like the actress who can’t get into character without her costume, a woman needs her clothes to help her excel in the corporate world, relax into a yoga posture, or feel glamorous for a special event. Introduction The first step in creating a signature look is to anchor a creative vision before beginning to drape. The Top: Creating beautifully details are adjusted to Above: Yves Saint Laurent, draped clothing requires bring the proportions into a master of draping skills, inspiration can come from a sunset, a painting, a developing an eye for balance.
created a new and unique perfect composition. In Sir photograph of another design, or simply a feeling or Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s fashion sense for women. attitude that you want to express. The Frigidarium (1890), His signature look is still sought after today.
007 If you have the skills to execute your creative vision, Draping today your personal flair becomes apparent, driven by your Basic draping techniques have remained constant decisions on proportion and line, scale and volume, since the development of the padded dress form and subtleties of shape, and placement of details. its continued popularization by the Wolf Form Company Refining the drape and adjusting the final proportion in the early 1900s. becomes very personal; you work on it until you arrive However, in design studios around the world, at a balance that you like. When it pleases your eye, it technology is embraced to save time and money.
When you continue to pursue and express the Design firms have master pattern “blocks” that reflect looks you connect with and that attract you, your own their specific fit and sizing. These are used to produce style inevitably emerges. new collections in which the width of a pant or the scale of a jacket is changed by simply manipulating Form follows function these blocks. Digital patternmaking allows companies to churn out dozens of variations in short order.
“Form follows function” is basic design theory. If the designer is clear on the function or purpose of their So what, then, is the enduring value of draping by hand design, the many choices to be made during the in this brave new world of digital fashion? draping process will flow more naturally. The challenge is for designers to go beyond the rote Clothing has many functions, from basic warmth and process of developing a pattern that fits well and to protection to attraction and seduction. It is important use the basic concepts of darting and seaming as a to understand the garment’s physical as well as springboard for creating new and unique forms.
non-physical purpose. How a garment makes a woman Much of contemporary design is not about the perfection feel is as important as how it will make her look. of the classic couture of the 1960s. It’s about twisting, A crucial draping skill is understanding grainline wrapping, tucking, and cutting asymmetrically, reminding placement.
A simple tunic cut on the bias will have a us sometimes of early forms of clothing. totally different feel to one cut with lengthgrains When a designer is aspiring toward an innovative placed vertically. The designer must be able to control silhouette, they need to experiment with focal points the deeper energetic flow of the form they are creating to create emphasis and attitude, and work with and how it will affect the wearer. In this book, you will proportions and scale to sculpt a shape that evokes practice discerning the emotional tenor of a design and a specific emotion.
explore ways of making sure that mood or tone is present in the finished garment. To create something truly fresh and new, the intimate, hands-on relationship between designer, muslin, and dress form is invaluable in facilitating the expression of the designer’s personal vision. In the clothing created by the Inuit, the design It is now possible to have the best of both worlds: the purpose is clear: to keep out the cold. inspiration that comes from the purity of the simple draped panels together with the classic draping skills that were perfected in the Parisian ateliers.
Both serve to turn the art of sculptural draping into something magical and new.