Design for beginners
S.N.P. Designs -Sabrina Peterson
When I was a little girl, I had always been fascinated with art. I started creating my own at just 3 years old. I always wondered what I would do with my art. How I would incorporate it into my life, my job, my home. I was raised to believe that art was merely painting, photography, drawing with pencils and charcoal and pens. Little did I know that fashion was indeed an art form as well.
A few weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to write an article for the magazine. I could write it about anything as long as it was on certain subjects like photography, design, or makeup. I had no idea what I was going to write about. My usual art didn’t really fit the theme of the magazine so I was at a dead end; until I was informed that there was yet to have a designer column. I immediately jumped at the opportunity. Me? A fashion designer? Nothing could make me more excited.
And so, I was given the task to create outfits based off of the elements. As my first design, I started off with fire. I will draw out the designs first and as I write more articles, I will bring those drawings to life!
When I think of fire, I think of fierce, bold, hot. It wouldn’t have been appropriate to design an outfit with a turtleneck and puffy sleeves and say the outfit will keep you hot like fire. Funny but wouldn’t exactly get points for originality.
For my design process, I wanted to start off with an elegant look. An off shoulder look emphasizes the shoulders and brings out the fierceness part of fire. The off shoulder sleeves will be sheer so that it doesn’t disrupt the flow of the arm. The bottom part of the dress will be puffed out with layers and ruffles while leaving a slit in the middle of the dress to boldly show off the models legs.
As you probably guessed, I decided to design the outfit I’m a red fabric with dark red ruffles. To bring out the form and color of the outfit, gold chains will be wrapped around the body, specifically around the hips and breasts, with blue gems. “Why blue gems?” You may ask. I’ll tell you. In school, most of us used a Bunsen burner. The Bunsen burner would have a blue flamed when turned all the way up. Blue flames are the hottest flames there are yet never associated with fire themes. In the back, there is a gold halo in the back. It represents the sun; This is meant to pull the whole outfit together and make the outfit more elegant and grander just like the sun does.
Thank you for reading through my thought process and making this dress! This is my first dress I’ve designed and I love the symbolism I’ve created in it.