PPR Challenge #4 – Kat’s Design

Challenge 4: All About Nina
Challenge: Create an outfit for Nina that can be worn in the office by day and then an industry event by night.
Time: You have 14 hours to create your design.

Oh man, did I have a tough week in the workroom. I was looking forward to this challenge, no crazy materials, not stilts, but I just couldn’t seem to make it work. Many ideas were scrapped and Tim was ushering me to the runway as I was still sewing my model into her outfit.

Nina’s style tends to lend towards the classic and tailored with a touch of trendiness. She doesn’t like bright colors or loud patterns. Ok, that fits in with my design esthetic, so this should have been a cinch for me.

For my fabrics I chose I menswear inspired print in shades of grey and white (ok, not just inspired, it is actually one of my husbands old shirts), a black fabric, and a black and silver ribbon. At first, I thought I’d do a fit and flare dress with either black or red trim around the neck. But it was boring and I think a little young for Nina. Then I thought a black skirt or capris (Nina tends to wear a lot of capris) with an interesting wrap or coat-shaped top from the patterned fabric. Try as I might I could not get a top shape I liked.

Finally, I ended up making a skirt from the patterned fabric. For the top, I used the black fabric and ribbon to make a square neckline top with the ribbon acting as straps/cap sleeves. I also used the ribbon as a belt. I think the little bit of silver metallic helps move the outfit from day to night. Most people couldn’t wear this dress to work, but at a fashion magazine I think it would fly. For accessories, I went with a pair of black wedge pumps and a cocktail ring (something Nina almost always wears). I would have preferred to pair this with knee-high black boots, but that is not something I’ve seen Nina in often.

I think the judges would put me somewhere in the middle this week, so I probably wouldn’t even get comments. Leaning more towards evening than daywear probably helps me out as the judges seemed to vote those designs higher. I would breathe a sigh of relief in the green room that someone made something less inspired than I did!