hinhdepz7

The problem with fashion right now is that there is too much junk on the catwalk. Much of it is over designed with little thought to render the woman (or man) beautiful. Perhaps this is reflective of our turbulent times. Some experts feel the passing of Karl Lagerfeld marks "the death of fashion." Instead of looking at this in such a negative light, perhaps we can see this as the need to return back to square one  when fashion was more simple. Perhaps it's time to return to the basics. By cutting away all superfluous detailing, eliminating bold colors, busy prints and elaborate embellishments, we are left with pure design....where shape, form and line are the only things that matter. In putting together this post, I forced myself to stick to black or white to show off the design. I stayed clear of prints, bling and the over use of accessories. I wanted create clothes without darts, or closures that would, consequently be as easy to construct as they are for the dolls to w...

Inspiration for this project came from old world countries served by the famous train--The Oriental Express. This resulted in a multi-tiered look based on a very simple dress built around or incorporated with a piece of statement jewelry. It is a look I'm calling.....The Necklace Dress! These are basic dresses (straight, gathered or flared) with a fanciful trim that can be worn as is or to frame elaborate statement jewelry. While my journey began with a version of Russian designer, Valentin Yudashkin's caftan I was also drawn to regional costume originating from different parts of Africa. I will warn you in advance....this post is multi-faceted and I hold you had every step of the way right down to the hand rolled hem of the last dress! In an effort to find simple solutions for the 1/6 version of Yudashkin's dress, I used a vintage earring to make the necklace. But since I was creating an entire project around the "necklace dress," I decided to make my own jewelry...