Enigma 5

During the team’s initial brainstorming session, the painting of a vase sparked the vision of a dress tight at the top, flared around the hips, and tapered around the calves. That quickly evolved into the idea of a wrap the shape of an inverted tulip as a companion piece. Since the team’s model had once aspired to be a fashion designer, she was well equipped to sketch out the design as more ideas flew around. Then the team met again the afternoon prior to the event to review the materials found, and divvy up roles as well as every member’s responsibilities.

On the day of the show, the team arrived with carloads of goodies to cover all eventualities. Once settled into the dressing room, they saw their assigned materials: blue upholstery fabric with matching trim, floral chintz in crème, taupe, and blue, as well as chiffon in a coordinating color.

The team members tried to drape the the fabrics around their model with chintz for the top and solid fabric as the skirt. But fabrication constraints forced them to abandon their original intent. Taking their cue from the beautiful fabrics, the design soon took form with a new theme: Flowing water, Asian inspired. To support this, the members decided to make a flowing long skirt with a bustle of chintz and chiffon.

Things kicked into high gear with part of the team cutting and sewing, while its team leader fashioned a fan-shaped high ‘collar’ from a window shade for the dress.

After full spectrum hand painted wall papers were tucked in to complement the palette, the butterfly pin and peacock feathers were added to create an exotic Oriental feel. Kudos to Enigma 5 for rising to the occasion, conjuring up a creation in short order that truly reflected its theme!

Ruby Lips Couture

The team name was coined during casual chatter about a team member’s lipstick color, and voilà, Ruby Lips Couture was born! From the beginning, their team leader realized that everyone had to be really organized to meet the 90 minute deadline. So she divided up the roles – some were tasked with creating the design, while she and another team member would fit out and fabricate most of the garment.

Each team member had a list of items to bring, including 2 images from web or print sources for inspiration. Once the team settled into their dressing room, decked out in their team T-shirt sporting the Ruby Lips logo, all the pictures were laid out, and the sketch for the design was completed in short order. The team promptly began fabricating the dress using their assigned fabrics: a floral print, coordinating stripe, trim, and solid velvet.

Part of the team proceeded to cut, fit, and hem the fabrics. Separately the woven shade and striped fabric were turned into a bustier, as flowers were cut from the floral print so they can be hot glued onto the dress.

A couple of sprays of striking artificial flowers were tucked into the waist band, and as a finishing touch, the hat was covered with feathers and flowers in a tribute to Earth Day, the day the Designer Challenge was held.

Amongst the ‘accoutrements’ were some orange ostrich-like eyelashes, which were added on a whim to complete the look – arguably the most colorful and color-coordinated eyelashes of the evening!

The Finale

Although all the teams came out with outstanding creations, and it was a tight contest, Ruby Lips Couture won our first Designer Challenge’s ‘Fashion Design of the Year’ Hat and Sash.

As it can be seen, each team had its own approach to tackling the Designer Challenge, but the randomness of the fabrics drawn that evening added an extra edge to the event. Thanks to those who took up the challenge to help and/or participate in the teams, our Magical Mystery Tour came through with flying colors. In the end, we all learnt something, and everyone had fun – some are already looking forward to next year’s show…