This past September, I had one of the wildest weekends of my life. I was in two different continents, rode the Matterhorn and met Samantha Bee all in a span of 72 hours. I almost saw it as a challenge: I have no car (even while living in Los Angeles where people worship their vehicles) and limited time. I traveled via LA’s public metro’s, trains, Uberpool and lots of walking.
As an annual passholder to Disneyland, I typically use my trips to showcase my Disney-inspired designs. This trip was DEFINITELY not one of those times. I wore an entire gray Disney-themed sweatsuit. And I wore it proudly.
I was lucky enough to attend the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards the next day with friends Paul Overacker, Marjorie DeHey and 8 year-old upcoming actor Ryker Overacker. I worked with them over the summer as their lead costumer and wardrobe stylist on Marjorie’s film Bottle Monster (coming Halloween 2020! Eeek!)
Regarding my Emmy’s dress, I not only created it for my Patternmaking II final, it was wearable for the show as well! Killing those 2 birds with one stone helped create more packing time for Japan. The entire gown was designed, drafted, cut and sewn in 3 days. I actually had a full, bouncy satin skirt planned for the gown but after many glances in the mirror, I decided I looked like Dakota Johnson on her way to the Oscars dressed as a garbage bag. Changes were made quickly.
The fabric I did use was a 1980’s Jacquard upholstery material. The pattern was of various ladies in roaring 20’s garb, with lips and eyelashes weaved into the material. The detail of this fabric is so immaculate and complex to a point where I was scared to cut into it. The colors are unusual and vibrant which stood out in the black, white and blue if the normal Emmy gowns. I’ve been itching to use this fabric for a chair but it was required in the sacrifice for the Emmy’s. I still haven’t told my Grandpa (an upholster for 50+ years) that I used sacred, strong fabric for a silly one-night dress. But nonetheless-
Totally. Worth. It.
Japan will be another entire blog post. 2 weeks of travel in a country I’ve dreamed about visiting my entire life deserves an entire book. Not like I have the desire to write an entire book, I’ll leave that to my future ghost writer.
Here’s a vlog-style Youtube video I created for the events of that weekend:
Grax Designs 