Dress Log

Saturday, September 10th, 2022

I just finished my second dress design. Technically, this is the fourth
piece of paper with a dress design on it, but the second and third don’t really
count, since Eli was the one who drew on it to help me out with this whole
dress thing. I loved his ideas, but I thought they were a bit too “western” for
what I had in mind, and though they were lovely, it wouldn’t fit with the
particular subject I’m working with.
But, anyways, enough of my chit-chat. I’m starting this dress log to
document the whole process in making this dress. Mr. Grandi said my dress
would still fit with my chosen topic, which is garment worker exploitation, if I
could find a way to make the process count just as much as the product. To
sort of put myself in the shoes of a garment worker, even if it’s only to a small
extent. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but that gave me an idea, and so
I started this dress log to document the process.
But anyways, back to the dress design. I love it so much more than my
original one. I added big gold flower motifs to the top and also at the bottom of
the skirt. The entire dress (or most of it) is a deep-wine crimson red, and the
sleeves this time reach past my elbows, with no white linings. Instead I chose
to keep it simple, with perhaps some gold lace on the edges of the sleeves. I
kept the gold lace of my original design, but instead of it covering the whole
dress, it covers only half of it diagonally. The other half has the second gold
flower motif, and on the edge of the gold lace half are some yellow and green
flowers bordering it. And at the very bottom of the skirt, there is some yellow
fabric hanging off of it. Originally, it was white, but I decided yellow would fit
much better with gold.
All in all, my new dress design is so much more detailed. I think it's
because my first one was born out of desperation and a lack of creativity. Kind
of like the cheaply-produced clothing in fast fashion. The new one is my very
own originality and I gave it my all. And by all, I mean all. My fingers are
hurting just typing this right now. More later.
-Lakshita
Sunday, September 11th, 2022
 I just finished my third design of the dress. It deviates quite a bit from
my second and original designs, but it’s still lovely. To be honest, I don’t love it
quite as much as the previous one, but there are certainly some admirable
elements.
It’s a red dress, like the last one, but this time, the shawl is draped over
the shoulder in a similar fashion to the way Indian, Bangladeshi, and
Cambodian dresses are. It actually looks more like a saree now. The sari also
has the big flower motif the original one had on the top, and on the inside of
the sari are the orange and green flowers. The same orange/yellow and green
flowers border each side of the split skirt, which opens to reveal the gold lace.
In addition, there is no longer a separate top.
It looks beautiful, but not as appealing as the first one. I do love the skirt,
but it does look so much more complex and harder. I don’t know if I'll have
enough fabric for that.
I’m also kind of nervous about using the colors red and gold. My mom
told me today that red and gold dresses in India are mostly used for weddings
or very auspicious occasions. I don’t want to appropriate a wedding dress, or
anything like that. And it does feel a bit awkward when I try to associate
marriage with garment worker exploitation.
On the other hand, I think I can get away with it because red also stands
for bravery and courage. Like the courage of a garment worker. And it also
stands for prosperity like gold and also femininity. It fits because the workers
most badly affected by exploitation are women and girls. And even better, red
also stands for Shakti in Hinduism, which basically means the divine feminine
energy or strength of the universe.
So red is for femininity, courage and power, while gold stands for
prosperity and green for earth, and I’m not sure what orange stands for
exactly. I suppose I could change it to blue as it means in Vietnamese culture
hope and growth according to my research. Or it could just stand for its
universal connotation, which is sadness.
I don’t know what I’m doing. This is all Greek to me.
-Lakshita
September 15, 2022
I finished my third prototype yesterday and my fourth just now. I’m
honestly not a great big fan of either. They look complicated and I don’t know
how many yards of fabric they may take. I still haven’t decided whether or not
to make the dress from scratch or from a thrifted piece of clothing. I’m
starting to think this is a hopeless idea with a hopeless and futile outcome. I
don’t have much experience with sewing and what little I do, it’s only little
things like a stuffed pillow or a hemmed blanket. I also don’t have a sewing
machine, which would have made the sewing process so much easier and
faster. But then again, I don’t have any idea how to use a sewing machine, so . . .
Plus, I have a bunch of other work to do and I don’t know how to get it done
in time, ugh.. .
But back to my dress designs. I added a sash across the middle and a large
overskirt with two slits on the sides, kind of like a mix of Cambodian and
Vietnamese culture. But it doesn’t suit well with the different colors and I don’t
think it’s easy enough for me to make it. I really don’t know. And what’s worse
is that the project is due on the 27th, next Tuesday. So it means, I have to get
my thrifted clothing (I think that would be my best course of action, as it would
be quickest), by the end of the weekend, and await further instructions and
assistance from Eli, as I have no idea what to do next.
I can hardly wait . . .
-Lakshita
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
I got the materials for my dress on Saturday. I got a big red dress that was a
dark crimson shade and made of a stretchy material. It’s actually very big for
me, and it probably might’ve been used as maternity wear for the previous
owner. But I can adjust it, so that’s okay. I also got a bright cherry red blouse
with long sleeves. It’s very cute and adorable, actually. In addition, I also got a
Chinese style red dress with gold embroidery atop of it. It doesn’t fit me, but it
was so beautiful, I couldn’t resist. Perhaps I could make use of it somehow.
I also got a red bedsheet I think I could use as a shawl, or my dupatta. That’s
what the shawls or drapings are called for sarees, salwar kameezes, and
lehengas. I don’t think I could ever make a lehenga as beautiful and gorgeous
as the ones I find online.
I have one lehenga myself; it's a two-piece with an ombre white-to-red color
scheme and it also has tiny beadwork in red and pink. It’s so beautiful, yet I
can’t help but wonder about how much work it must’ve taken to make or who
made it. Was it made at a factory, under terrible conditions, by a poor lady
who made it out of desperation or ready-made by a small business, made with
love and creativity? I don’t know, I think I’m just getting a bit too deep about it
all. I think it’s ironic that I’m taking a piece made using exploitation and now
I’m flipping it about, using it to bring awareness and compassion to the
makers of fast fashion and victims of such a horrible industry.
Anyways, toodle-oo! Until next time.
Lakshita
Wednesday, September 21st, 2022
Eli told me to cut and hem the dress and it took all of last night to do so. I
stayed up until 12:00 AM, and now I’m completely exhausted. My room is a
mess right now, scattered with little bits of fabric and pins. I borrowed the pins
from Eli, and believe me–they were a life saver!
I’ll have to pick up the pins as soon as possible though. I warned my family
not to entire my room lest they find a painful surprise at the bottom of their
feet, but still. You can never be too careful.
But that is the least of my worries. I have so much ahead of me now. I have to
make the blouse longer because it’s too short and revealing and not my style.
Eli recommended that I use the top part of the red dress instead of the blouse
because he said the colors were very clashing. I think he was right of course,
but now I think I cut too much off of it.
I also have to make an overskirt out of that chinese-style dress I found. I
think if I could turn it inside out, it could work splendidly and fit well with my
dress. I don’t know if I can find the yards of lace I originally intended because
they are far too expensive. At least 20 or more dollars on Amazon! I can’t make
Mr. Grandi spend that much money on a school project. I think I’ll make do
with some pretty lace trim that I found. Hopefully, it will pair nicely with what I
have in mind.
I also have to finish the lining of the makeshift blouse because it’s far too big
for my size. And I also have to get working on the history portion of my project.
-Lakshita
Thursday, September 22, 2022
I had a meeting with Mr.Grandi today. He gave me his thumbs up and his
approval on what I was doing and when I asked for feedback, he said I was
doing fine and I needed none. There was a very nice person who let me
borrow his sewing machine to hem the dupatta. I was so glad. That was the
part I was dreading the most, because I thought it would take the longest. But
actually, with the sewing machine, it was the simplest part!
I can’t talk more now. Work to do.
 - Lakshita
Saturday, September 24, 2022,
I am so tired. It’s 11 PM now, and I should be sleeping but it took me forever to
finally finish that stupid overskirt. I resized the skirt yesterday, but I had no
mechanism to fit it over my waist, so I spent half of today trying to stitch an
elastic from an old pair of pants I once had. It worked, but it took forever
because I kept tangling my thread and I accidentally put the elastic on the
wrong side of the skirt! Talk about frustrating!
On top of that, I also couldn’t attach the overskirt over the skirt because it
would restrict the elastic from moving all the way up. In other words, I couldn’t
pull it up all the way, and it got stuck at about mid-thigh. So I had to remove it
and tried to stitch it again and again in different areas of the skirt to no avail.
Finally, I decided to create a casing along the edge and pulled a piece of red
yarn through. My plan was to tie it around my waist over the skirt. It worked!
But now I have to go to sleep. Good night!
- Lakshita
Monday, September 26, 2022,
My project is due tomorrow and I finally, finally completed the dress. It took
so long and it gave me a greater appreciation for craftsmanship and quality. I
don’t think my dress is necessarily very high quality, but I think I put more
craftsmanship into it than any fast fashion retailer does with any of their
outfits. I suppose that’s the point; to signal the difference between a work
created by craftsmanship and creativity and love, rather than one created by
exploitation and desperation.
I decided to use the cherry red blouse I originally intended to use. The other
red blouse looks really crappy in comparison to the cherry red one. I don’t
think I really mind if the colors are clashing. But anyways, I finished some final
touches. Eli gave me some stickers with jewels and I used them around the
blouse in any place I thought it looked pretty.
Overall, I’d say that this dress looks pretty. I’m very pleased with the results,
though I must admit it is far from the grand expectations I had. But I like it.
And I hope it’s enough to get an A, because I spend at least a week of
all-nighters.
- Lakshita