Current Obsession- Marlene Dietrich & Jean Louis

Right now I'm having a Marlene moment. Specifically during her "let' tour the world singing my signature tunes" period.

Marlene Dietrich graced stages from Sweden to Las Vegas ensconced top to tails in beads, rhinestones and not much else!  All this finery was provided by the genius talents of Hollywood Legend Maker, Jean Louis.

Jean Louis will forever be remembered for designing the infamous nude gown for Marilyn Monroe when she sang Happy Birthday at 'a friend's' birthday party.

Previous post about the Marilyn gown and it being illustrated by Bob Mackie. 

The nude embellished gown became a signature Marlene Dietrich. Bob Mackie is also known for his nude embellished looks and gladly points to his former boss as his source of inspiration. 

 

 

Just look at those photos, I mean come on! That is the epitome of 'Legend' with a capital "L."
One day I would like to make one of these bad boys. All I need a girl and a reason...

Who should that girl be?

Philip Estrada

Makin It Happen With The Cap'n

This update has been a long time coming. For Halloween 2013 I transformed myself into an over the top Vegas style version of Cap'n Crunch. 

Concept illustration 

With an outfit like this I'll surely be promoted to Admiral in no time!

My feather festooned hat. 

Detail of the sash across the front of the hat.

Detail of the epaulette.
The beaded fringe on these were hand strung by me, because I never have enough to do.

Detailed photo showing the soutache motifs.
There was four pairs of this motif down the front of the jacket, one on each sleeve, each tail and the back of the neck. The fabric is an epic blue sequinned material that I found in the garment district.  I love it because it looks like crashing ocean waves, perfect for an old sea dog like The Cap'n.

Detailed photo of the sleeves.
I made doubly sure to include a total of four stripes to avoid the Cap'n/Commander controversy that the Quaker Oats company recently faced. 

-Philip Estrada

Lesage: Broderie D’Art

This post is long overdue and that is my fault since i'm a slacker.  

The fiancé and I took advantage of the long weekend for Thanksgiving and jetted off to Paris!  It wasn't really as last minute as it sounds. While I was there I was able to take classes at Ecole Lesage.  Since this was our first visit to Paris I only had enough time to take the 2 day, 12 hours of class time.  It was FASCINATING to properly learn the sequin and beading techniques I taught myself. The instructor was impressed with my proficiency and praised my speed. Since I attended the classes I also had the opportunity to purchase the actual stretching frames Lesage uses. What a world of difference?! The fabric stays stretched much better than my jerry-rigged system.

Paris was a feast for a designer's eyes!  Since returning I want everything in my life to be Art Nouveau designed. It was also very inspiring being at Lesage, the place where so much unsung fashion history happened.  To think of the countless gowns that were embellished for Christian Dior or Pierre Balmain. It induces chills.  It makes me smile even more because the building is so unassuming and humble. 

Embellishment by Lesage

Embellishment designed by Balenciaga for Princess Grace Kelly - 1953

This is where the Lesage workrooms were. 

(Top two floors)

They have since moved closer to the Chanel offices just outside Paris.  

This young lady, from London, was finishing her professional level training. 150 hours in class and an additional 150 at home.  I wish I had that much time to spend in Paris.

A French student working on her sampler also at the professional level training. 

This little fella is the project I completed during my time at Lesage.

He was eventually cut out,  and had a pin applied to the back so he could be worn as a brooch.  

His name is Lester.

I can't wait to go back to Paris. Not only for the beautiful sights but to take more classes at Lesage!

-Philip Estrada

Sadie Doyle

The Thrilling Adventure Hour rencetly launched a successful kickstarter campaign to fund a concert film DVD.  I had the pleasure of designing and constructing the gown for Miss Paget Brewster in the role of Sadie Doyle in the "Beyond Belief" portion of the show. 

If you are not familiar with Thrilling Adventure Hour you have been missing out!

I'm so lucky to be the designer of a character beloved by so many fans around the world. I hope I lived up to everyone's imagination! 

Paget Brewster shines on stage and the gown did a great job assisting. I can't wait for the DVD to be released so we can all see this gown in action. 

Photo generously provided by Liezl

My costume sketch for Paget Brewster's character Sadie Doyle

Gorgeous Photo by: Allan Amato

Frank and Sadie's signature 'clink.'

Gif generously provided by Liezl

-Philip Estrada

LGBT Pride Courtesy of Cher

It's Pride here in NYC and in order to celebrate the occasion in style, Bloomingdales is hosting The Stonewall Pride Collection Exhibit. They are featuring looks from several LGBT designers, including everyone's favorite, Bob Mackie. On display are two looks that he designed for LGBT favorite, Cher!
The sequin Bob Mackie looks are from Cher's Caesars Palace show. There is a blue floral three dimensional sequin and bead encrusted gown with matching head piece. I love good headgear! Also shown is Cher's purple Zoot Suit and hat complete with pheasant plume.
This is a must see opportunity! Viewing Bob Mackie's work up close is almost indescribable. When seen from a distance, the dazzling look enhances the wearer but when zoomed in on each section the embellishment becomes a work of art on its own, like a microscopic mosaic. This is yet another reason why I am so inspired by Mackie. He has an ability to see the overall effect of the look as well as seeing all the detail and beauty that goes into the piece.
The Stonewall Pride Exhibition is being hosted at Bloomingdales' Uptown location (Broadway and 59th street) on the third floor through June 30th. Swing by if you can.

 

 

-Philip Estrada

Tansy Tan Dora - A Sneak Peek

I'm proud to announce something that has been in the works since before Christmas!  I have started collaborating with one of New York's favorite burlesque dancers, Tansy Tan Dora. 

Tansy just tweeted a sneak peek preview of the costume I made for her.  She's been developing a new act to tour around stages across this great nation.  Certainly more to come on this developing story!  Stay tuned.

Check Tansy out on Twitter

-Philip Estrada

Frank and Sadie Doyle

On Sunday night one of my fantasies came to life!  I was able to dress my two favorite characters from The Thrilling Adventure Hour, Frank and Sadie Doyle.  The Thrilling Adventure Hour is an L.A. based stage show in the style of old timey radio.  It is also hosted as a weekly podcast on iTunes and The Nerdist Network I encourage you to check it out.  On September 30th, the Thrilling Adventure crew brought their show to Brooklyn for its triumphant New York debut.  And what a debut it was with two sold out shows!

A while back I got in contact with comedian Paul F. Tompkins to discuss the possibility about making him a swanky smoking jacket.  Mr. Tompkins, who plays Frank Doyle, who confessed that he was looking for just such a garment for The Thrilling Adventure Hour.  When I met with Mr. Tompkins I shamelessly asked if he wouldn’t mind sharing photos of a dress I had made with his acting partner Paget Brewster, the genius behind Sadie Doyle.  He agreed that it would look great for the part and generously forwarded the information along.  I was so excited a few days later when Miss Brewster wrote back to me saying she would love to wear the dress!  Could this have lined up any more perfectly?  I think not.

The dress was cut from a vintage 1959 dress pattern that I’ve had for a while.  My hands were free one day so I decided to sew it up just for the heck of it.  I had been beading it off and on for about a year whenever the mood struck me.  It fit Paget like a glove, and then that's when the beading went into overdrive.  I wanted to add as many beads as humanly possible before the show for maximum Sadie Doyle Glamour-y-ness.

Paul’s jacket is a new take on the classic smoking jacket made from beautiful green silk/wool blend with quilted satin lapels and cuffs.  Mr. Tompkins upped the ante on the jacket by requesting frog closures.  I did him one better and made them by hand out of the same fabric as the body.  BOO-YAH!  To make the jacket even more glamorous, I added beads to each intersection of the quilting.  As he moved on stage they glinted off the light perfectly.

The show was sheer perfection!  It was so much fun to see all the characters brought to life in person.  The Beyond Belief episode was “Vampire Weekend” which is one of my favorites!  When Frank and Sadie took the stage the crowd went nuts.  The two of them also looked amazing which never hurts.  I was so proud of how wonderfully everything came together. All the hard work paid off.

The icing on the cake was that both Paul and Paget were amazing to work with.  They were so humble and appreciative of my contribution to the show that evening.  I could not have asked for a better experience.  I look forward to working with these peeps again!  My wheels are already going on what I can make next for them to wear.

-Philip Estrada

Show photos are courtesy of @NotAnyonesGirl on Twitter - Great Shots!

The Blonds Ambition

Fashion week is over and life has calmed down long enough for me to finally be able to write this.  Usually I am fairly removed from fashion week, but this year was different.  This year I was lucky enough to lend my talents to the wonderful designing duo that is The Blonds.  Phillipe and David Blond have been creating couture confections for the likes of Katy Perry and Beyoncé for several years now showing no signs of stopping.  Phillipe and I initially got to talking via Twitter because of his admiration and my obsessive-compulsive love for Bob Mackie.  After seeing my craftsmanship on the blog, Phillipe asked if I would be interested in helping them build their Spring/Summer 2013 collection.  How could I turn down such a rad opportunity?!

The invite to The Blonds show - "Beach Blonds"

I was thrown head first into the sparkly mayhem from the moment I walked in their studio.  It was wonderful!  I was sewing beads, gluing rhinestones, and altering samples where needed.

I look forward to working with Team Blonds again… and again.

Here are some photographic highlights of the collection.

The pearl dress.

Phillipe on the runway in his Jaws corset

Phillipe exiting the runway.

Everyone backstage was cheering wildly for him!

A backstage look at Phillipe's corset.

A skinny-dipper look... I LOVE HER!

The plexiglass splashes are a stroke of genius.

A neon ribbon dress.

This dress was the first piece I worked on for The Blonds.

It was made for Phillipe to wear to a party a few days before the show.

Since it worked so nicely with the collection, they decided to put it in!

I was so excited to see her work this look on the runway!

The crystal encrusted finale.

This look was so labor intensive it was constantly being worked on by someone at all times.

It was worth it though, as the end result is amazing

Have to include one of the boys... for good measure.

Phillipe and David triumphantly walking the runway.

Nothing better to close a show with than a sweet sweet hair toss.

Here is the video of the whole show (sadly they had to replace the soundtrack).

Click HERE for a photo recap of each look.

-Philip Estrada