Peek-a-boo - DIY your sheer with scissors

Dior spring 2013 pic via splurgerina

See-through garments are a hit of the season. They're intriguing and with the proper cuts you can show just the right amount of skin without reveal too much.
Your new sheer garments are those you already have in your wardrobe after a quick refashion treatment. Sheer panels can be smart too. You can cut away faults, enlarge clothes that are too tight, renew garments you don't wear because they are so last season.
Get inspired by some of the season hottest pieces and make your sheer garment with a pair of scissors.

Misterious, elegant and feminine, this Dior gown has a romantic allure given by the embroidered lace and it shows legs with nonchalance. In order to get this look you can cut a maxi dress around the side seam. Place the dress flat on table and then, without the need of any pattern, pin the lace/sheer fabric on the cut part and sew it on the dress exactly like I did with the Stella McCartney inspired sheer skirt, you can see the tutorial here.

Versace spring 2013 pic via style.com

Like I said before this technique can be used to fix faulty garments. In fact, you can substitute the damaged/stained part of fabric with a sheer panel. You can make sheer or lace sleeves, you can add a sheer panel at the bottom of a skirt to lengthen it or if you dare, you can add a sheer panel at both sides of a dress to enlarge it a bit.

Stella McCatney fall 2011 polka dot dress via coolspotters

Versace spring 2013 pic via style.com

This is a perfect festival look. The corset detail makes this dress unique and the diagonal line makes it fresh. You can use this trick to make a shirt a little bit larger. If you feel that this look is too daring, you can make this detail on the back of the shirt and it becomes instantly more wearable.

DIY inspiration from Milano Fashion Week

See through and cut out 

Etro - Just Cavalli - Versace

Time for fashion weeks. Get inspired by the coolest looks for spring 2013.

Take a look to Just Cavalli fashion show. You'll discover a contemporary collection for a young cosmopolitan woman. What make this collection so up-to-date is a mix between style and functionality. Clothes are original and easy to wear. The see through shirts are modern and reflect a look that can be considered worldwide cool. I can see a an italian and an american woman both happy to wear this collection.

Get inspiration from the jacket with tulle inserts to update your wardrobe to spring 2013.

Tempo di fashion weeks. Fatevi ispirare dai look più cool per la primavera 2013.

Vi consiglio di guardare lo show di Just Cavalli che ci propone una collezione molto contemporanea per una donna giovane e cosmopolita. Ciò che rende questa collezione così attuale è il mix tra stile e funzionalità. I capi sono speciali ma facili da indossare. Le camicie trasparenti sono chic e moderne e  rispecchiano un look considerato cool a livello mondiale. Credo che una sia una donna italiana che una newyorkese sarebbero felici di indossare questa collezione di Just Cavalli.

Ispiratevi alla giacca con inserti in tulle per aggiornare il vosto guardaroba alla primavera 2013.

 60's and graphical

First from left Moschino - 3 looks from Fay

We're back to the sixthies at Moschino and Fay. They play with graphical effects, vertical lines and black and white contrasts. The color contrast pockets are on almost all Fay's dresses. The pastel colors chosen are all irresistibles, the melon orange is my favorite, energetic and refreshing.

Ispirazione anni sessanta per Moschino e Fay che giocano con effetti grafici, linee verticali, contrasti bianco e nero. Bellissime le tasche e pattine a contrasto, scelte da Fay come filo conduttore della collezione. Tutti irresistibili gli abiti nei toni pastello, impossibile sceglierne solo uno, forse il mio preferito è quello arancio melone, colore estivo e rinfrescante.

Perforated and Laser cut 

John Richmond - Blumarine - Just Cavalli

Obtain a modern look with perforated, laser cut fabrics. Use a pair of scissors or an knife over a leather garment.
If you're looking for knitting inspiration check out this beautiful sweater from Just Cavalli with very unusual sleeves.

Stoffe tagliate a laser o effetto intaglio per un look moderno da ottenere con solo con l'uso delle forbici su un capo in pelle.

Le appassionate di maglia apprezzeranno molto il capo in cotone di Just Cavalli leggero e traforato con maniche decisamente insolite!

Versace inspired jeans DIY

 

DIY jeans

Lion head DIY shoes

white altered blouse (a diy in progress)

 

I've been dreaming about a micro studded cloth for a while but the idea of inserting each mini stud by hand was just unrealizable until I found these "beads in a bottle" (doesn't it sound like something came out from Wonderland?). It's a gummy product you can squeeze onto fabric and that makes a ball that looks like a bead.  I found my "micro studding machine"! I picked the metal colors series and I started "to stud" a pair of black jeans. The inspiration is Versace. I decorated them around the lateral seam with the greek fret then I added a spiral on the front.

Ho sempre desiderato possedere un abito decorato con mini borchie ma l'idea di applicarle manualmente una ad una era semplicemente non realizzabile fino a quando ho trovato una ragionevole alternativa: perline in bottiglia (dal nome sembra un oggetto proveniente dal paese delle meraviglie). E' un prodotto viscoso che può essere applicato sulla stoffa e forma una pallina dall'aspetto di una perlina: una perfetta "macchina borchiatrice"! Ho scelto il prodotto in colori metallici affinchè la perlina sembrasse una borchia. L'ispirazione è Versace, ho decorato i pantaloni con una greca intorno alla cucitura laterale e ho aggiunto dei decori sul davanti.

 

a life size view of the pattern I drew, the grid step is 1 cm wide

il disegno della greca, il quadretto è largo 1 cm

 

I drew the pattern onto the trousers with a chalk

ho disegnato la greca sul pantalone con un gessetto

 

the studding machine gun is armed

 la "borchiatrice" armata e carica

 the first studs

le prime borchie

 

the spiral: finished and dried

la spirale finita ed asciutta

If you want to decorate smaller areas rhinestuds are a good alternative to "beads in a bottle". They are small metallic studs that can be ironed onto the fabric, you can buy ready to use decorations or loose ones.

Se volete decorare aree più piccole le borchiette piatte sono una valida alternativa alle "perline in bottiglia" . Si incollano sulla stoffa stirandole e si possono acquistare in merceria interi decori già pronti o sfuse.

A special thanks to Beth Livesay and Stampington for sending me a bag full of these special beads for my fashion experiments. Visit Beth's blog: Couture over Coffee

Un ringraziamento particolare a Beth Livesay e a Stampington per avermi mandato un pacchetto pieno di "perline in bottiglia" per i miei esperimenti di moda. Visitate il blog di Beth: Couture over Coffee.

my stock of liquid beads, still plenty left for my future projects

Milano fashion week: my report part 2

The report from Milano fashion week continues...

Entering Versace palace feels like entering a temple, the sanctuary of the Medusa that stares the invited taking their seats from enlighted arches. There was a lot of electricity and excitement in the air from the upcoming show. The models started to appear on the catwalk and every look was a killer one. This is a celebration of Versace style: studs,colors and prints are mixed together to create a number of breathtaking dresses. The colors are:white, black,mint,yellow and light blue.The theme is the sea so sea stars and seahorses both decorate the cloths. Dresses are really feminine and sexy: they are either tight to follow and enhance women curves or  floaty with deep slits. Models look like both like greek goddesses and like Donatella clones. Most dresses are heavy covered with studs but the effect is not punk or aggressive (except for the black dresses) is more an heavy embellish that give an idea of extreme luxe.
As Donatella Versace appeared there was an ovation and she walked down the catwalk with confidence among the claps.
Omg she has the tiniest waist!...just saying.

Another much awaited show (more crowded than a rock concert!) was Blumarine. The collection is all about flashy,saturated colors and 80s kitsch.  Plastic flowers have the leading role, they cover shoes and entire dresses. Orange, pink,yellow and white are dazzling. The concept of sensuality and its symbols are taken to the extreme: flowers are big and cover most shoes and dresses, lips are used as a pattern, colors are bold and dresses are tight. The 80s are quoted often: there are funny leg warmers, mini motorcycle jackets, neon colors and mini pouches attached to belts! It a colored,funny, excessive collection, I mean, there are furs for summer!
The details I liked more were the rafia trimming onto the skirts and the rafia bags, they really make me think of summer. The plastic flowers are funny too (and so diyable) and I liked them more onto the dresses that on shoes and I definitely wouldn't mind a small jackets covered with flowers.

This is a view of the set of Gabriele Colangelo show. Colangelo is one of the young designer who showed his collection during Milano fashion week. His collection is wearable and artistic at the same time. His dresses look like walking paintings. The inspiration is the sunset at the sea and its colors: white, pink,blue,yellow.
What I like of Colangelo design is that the focus is on new fabrics and materials more than on shapes. This time fabrics are translucent, rarefied or printed, they really look like water.

DIY inspiration :Versace fluffy dress

Feather dresses have recently been spotted in the latest Versace ad campain,over the Elle US cover and worn by Naomi Campbell. Like furs,feather cloths are the right choice when we want to make an appereance. I recently found this fluffy orange fabric you see above and i thought it could nicely fake feathers so during the next days i'll show you my diy project based on a Versace dress.

Vestiti di piume firmati Versace sono stati avvistati nelle ultime campagne pubblicitarie,sulla copertina di Elle US e indossati da Naomi Campbell. Così come le pellicce (finte),le piume sono sicuramente dei capi che catalizzano l'attenzione. Recentemente mi sono imbattuta in questa stoffa arancione ed ho pensato che potesse simulare l'effetto delle piume. Nei prossimi giorni vi mostrerò il vestito che ho realizzato ispirandomi al vestito di Versace.

DIY idea: cut out details

 Versus Versace dress

Cut out dresses can be tricky: if we don't have a perfect slim body (who has it anyway) cut out details can be windows over defects or "soft" areas of the body (do you like it? soft areas doesn't sounds so self-esteem destructive as rolls of fat,isn't it?). This Versus dress has a brilliant design,the cut out detail is on the slimmest part of the bust and it's a sexy detail without reveal too much,definitely something we can copy over a lbd!


I vestiti con scorci sulla pelle nuda sono sicuramente sexy ma con un corpo non perfettamente magro (alzi la mano chi ha un corpo perfetto!) possono diventare pericolosi da indossare, chi vuole un vestito con vista sulle morbidezze?(morbidezze vi piace? sicuramente meno brusco di rotoli di grasso). Questo vestito ha un design geniale! L'oblo è aperto sulla parte più magra del busto, è un dettaglio che rende il vestito sexy senza mostrare nulla,sicuramente un dettaglio da copiare per rinnovare un tubino nero!

Milano recap part 2

Richmond-Just Cavalli

Iceberg-Jil Sander

Krizia-Laura Biagiotti

Les Copain-Lorenzo Riva

Marni-Mila Schon

Max Mara-Missoni

Moschino cheap and chic-Moschino

Prada-Roberto Cavalli

Roccobarocco-Salvatore Ferragamo

Trussardi-Versace

Versus-Scervino

Here's the second part of the Milano fashion week recap.
A puzzle of pics to take note of all the inpiring runway outfits we have seen in the latest shows.