'Aschenputtel' Trousers

Arthur Rackham is probably one of my favourite artists. If you've never heard of him, he was an illustrator, born in 1867 and lots of his illustrations were for fairy stories or children's books. He did illustrations for Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, Alice in Wonderland and a Christmas Carol.

I drew this design after finding an Arthur Rackham illustration that I'd never seen before called Aschenputtel at the Ball. After a bit of research it turns out that Aschenputtel is a German variation of Cinderella and that the illustration was created for a book of fairy tales written by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1909.

Close up of the detail on the trousers

The design takes the detail on part of Aschenputtel's dress and uses the pattern on the trousers. The waist of the trousers has several folds of fabric gathered to a point, and copies the style of the off shoulder dress that Aschenputtel is wearing.

I wear these sort of trousers a lot as they are really comfy. The waist and ankles are elasticated, and they would be made of a light cotton. The design is quite simple, but it took me a surprising amount of time to draw them because of the intricate pattern on them.

Thank you for taking the time to look at this design. It is part of my 'Designs inspired by Art' Project. For my next design check back here next week.  

Trousers images and design © Bronzedale Designs

'Black Tulip' Nightdress

It's nearly spring, so I thought that this design was appropriate. It's based on a black tulip, a flower that always looks stunning. I've never seen one that is actually a true black colour, they're always amazing shades of deep maroon or purple (hence the colour of this nightdress.) The particular variety that inspired this design was Queen of Night. I've grown it before and it never fails to disappoint, always looking incredibly striking, even in my straggly garden.

This design is intended to be worn as a nightdress. The top half particularly, mimics the shape of the tulip, but is also loose enough that it should be comfortable to wear as sleep and loungewear. The dress would use elastic to pull it in at the waist and along the top of the bodice to help keep it in place. This should also make it easy enough to put it on and take it off, as you don't want to fiddle about with fastenings when you're still half asleep in the morning.

The skirt of the nightdress is asymmetric, with one side longer than the other, slight poetic license as the tulip that it's inspired by is quite neat and precise, not one of those wild lopsided ones. The skirt wouldn't have to be asymmetric though, as I know a lot of people who aren't fond of uneven hemlines.

I hope you liked this design. It is part of my 'Clothing Designs Inspired by Nature' project. For more designs check back here soon.

Nightdress image and design © Bronzedale Designs

'Victorian Locket' Coat

I designed this coat after seeing a Victorian locket on an antique jewellery website. There's a picture of the locket below, and the web address that it came from is at the bottom of the page. I've taken the swallow motif from the locket and adapted it, using it on the collar, cuffs and hem of the coat, embroidered in gold coloured thread.

I chose the colour for the coat simply because I thought it suited the motifs, but when I went back and looked again at pictures of the locket, I found that the inside of the locket is a similar colour to this coat. I chose the gold for the embroidery because it stood out and made the coat look quite elegant, but silver could look good as well.

The coat uses frog buttons to fasten it. Even very simple frog buttons can look striking and there are some beautiful designs. You'd need a hidden button to keep the collar closed as well, and although I didn't include this on the design, I think I'd put a button or two on each of the cuffs.  
The coat is asymmetric, with the buttons fastening on the diagonal. This allows for one wide collar panel, with the more detailed motif on.

I hope you liked this design. It is part of my 'Designs inspired by History' project. For more designs check back here soon. 

Coat images and design © Bronzedale Designs.
Locket Image taken from: http://www.antiquejewellerycompany.com/shop/victorian-silver-locket-with-swallow-motif/#.VrzhzY_XLD5
I do not own the locket image.