'The working wardrobe'

 At the 11th hour a fashion designer had dropped out of a 'wearble art' show, due to be showcased in London then toured around European nightclubs.  As I already had a few ideas, I worked them into 'a collection' and was invited aboard.
The idea behind this one was simple. When a light bulb needed changing, the long dress is easily pulled up by a series of cords and held in place by the weights.I was inspired by the construction of camping equipment & utilitarian clothing, but wanted to incorporate these ideas into something more feminine.
There are a complex set of fine gauze panels enabling the wearer to stay cool - in theory, and lots of other, some might say, slightly obsessive details.



If worn in real life, the strings would become entangled, so it would never work as an actual garment unless they were secured in some way, but they looked good swinging about ....
I enjoy finding different ways to ruche and gather fabrics and this was one way to incorporate these ideas into one garment. Its a sampler really - a demonstration of dressmakers tricks and experiments ....just that.
The show was launched at the club 'Heaven' and we were very lucky to have the best DJ at the time, Mark Moore (of S Express) playing our backing tracks.
That night I also bumped into fashion photographer Iain McKell, who invited me to style my costumes for 'The Observer Sunday Magazine...and that moment is when I became a professional 'costume designer' ..