THE STORY OF A GALA DRESS

I don't think I ever told the story about this particular Dress, that was made for a very special occasion years ago.

This dress was created during my formal years at The University of Fashion Design and Crafts in Odense, Denmark. Take a look at my Resume in the menu above.

 

Dress design and Lay-out, John F. Clément, Model, Trine Bolander

One day in 1998, a teacher, the late Bente Solander approached me, to ask if I would like to participate in the Danish Master ships competition for Tailor and design students in Copenhagen. I think it was well in advance, so of course I accepted the Challenge.

We were only two from the University that were asked to participate. I participated in the Gala Dress category and my friend Coco in the Tailor suit category with a pink pants suit.

I became quite busy, working on this dress next to all my studies.

Beside filling out the participation papers, I had to decide which design I wanted to present and what kind of material was best suited. So, I designed different suggestions, before I decided which one to use.

I ended up with this Corset dress design, that you see above. I choose a multi patterned viscose fabric and used a polyester organdy as underlining. I hand-basted all the layers together, before overlocking and sewing them together. To hold up the dress I attached a supporting inner corset with boning to the dress and hand-stiched the facing inside the corset. I also used a lot of hand-stiching to finish the wide train-hem.

From the beginning I knew I wanted to use my good friend Trine as a model. Luckily she said yes and I had a few fittings in Copenhagen, where she lived. 

She used to model, so she presented the dress very well on the runway in front of the audience and judges.

All in all, the event was a very nice experience although neither of us won anything. 

Later on, I decided to transform this dress into a short cocktail dress with a cowl neck, that eventually was sold. Additionally I made a Corset out of the leftovers, that is still available, should anyone be interested. 

MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTIST

I realize, some people might find it difficult to categorize me, because I from time to time am alternating between Designing and making clothes to different Art-forms, as Abstract painting, Photography or Content creation on YouTube.

 

 Lisbeth wearing thunder-blue Couture gala dress with black tulle. 

From a photo-session at the Kgl. Gipsafstøbnings Samling, Copenhagen.

That's just how it is. I see no reason to constrain yourself to only one specific Art-form, if you have the ability to be creative in various artistic fields. Do you?

I've always have had the urge to create something with my hands. This process often begins with an idea and then they just keep coming. -Almost to the point that I can't keep up.

So, some projects doesn't always get finished, before I start new ones. Except for client requests of course. 

I always have several projects going on at once. -And before you know it, you end up with a lot creative projects. 

My Atelier are full of special designed clothes on several racks and abstract paintings in all sizes. 

So, if you are intrigued and want to own an exclusive designer dress, -skirt or a piece of abstract art, you are more than welcome to come by and have look. Just notify me in advance. 

I am curious, if this resonates out there. It would like to connect, if you know what I am talking about and have the same abilities. 

ONLINE ART GALLERY

For a long time I have experimented with online presentations of my paintings.

-And since I have closed my Instagram account long time ago, I thought it was time to explain my experiments here on my blog. 

Often, I zoom in or out on my originally abstract paintings, to get a new perspective and ideas for coming paintings.

-Illustrated in these particular paintings, that is from a series I called Cosmos.  

 Paintings from Online Gallery by Atelier John F. Clément

As mentioned before, in my view abstract art leaves plenty of room for different levels of interpretations. 

I am especially attracted to expressive abstract painting, because it has the ability to uplift, transform and even heal, if you give it a chance and take your time to wonder and reflect in front of it. 

My paintings are usually worked over a longer period of time. My approach is often intentional at first, with specific colors and a composition in mind. 

But as soon as I start, intuition takes over and the composition, often ends up in surprising ways, with bold colors, a lot of texture and several layers, until I find what I’m looking for. 

This process continually allows me to explore new possibilities. I never know where this journey leads me and how it turns out, which is why it's so intriguing. 

Take a look into this Virtual Gallery on LinkedIn, where I play around with different formats and sizes of my paintings to illustrate what I mean. I am open for commissions and would love Gallery representation.

To know more about me and my Art-practice and prices, reach out and connect. 

Feel free to comment or ask, if you have any questions. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day everyone.

ORGANIZING A FASHION EXHIBITION

Photo Session at Tidens Samling, Odense

This particular Cocktail dress was made for a very special occasion many years ago. My ten years Fashion Jubilee Exhibition in 2010 at The Exhibition building for Art and Design in Odense, Denmark.  

Ten years of making Made-to-measure clothes for a discerning clientele called for a celebation. The exhibition took a lot of preparations, so it had to be planned well in advance.

First I booked the place. Then I decided I wanted to design ten unique dresses, one for each year. 

But I also wanted to put something relevant on the walls. I chose ten famous fashion quotes from different designers, that I admired, bought the frames and glued on the quotes.

I had two dress-forms myself and borrowed the rest from my former Principal at The University of Fashion design & Crafts, where I graduated from in 1999.

And I wanted to elevate my designs, so I had three big podiums made with some help from my father and one of his friends. 

Along side all of that, I was designing the dresses, making the patterns, buying the fabric and sewing all the dresses, with some help from friends and interns with the finer details.

For example, on this asymmetric cocktail dress, that is made out of a duchess silk, underlined with silk organdy, a friend was hand sewing the black applications and a lot of different jet-pearls on to the dress. It’s about a size 8/38 Eu and still available.

I had to write and send out Press releases and not to forget Invitations for the reception that you can see here. 

Just to show you what goes into an exhibition like this. I could not have done it without all this help and the support from my husband.

THE "BUSINESS" PRESIDENT

This post is very different from my usual content. But the current situation calls for it I think.  I am just trying to make sense of it all. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

 The World as of today

I have long wondered why no one have connected the dots between Trump’s past and the way he’s ruling the Country today.

He apparently never learned about responsability, mutual respect and how to interact with other people. Not even a simple thing as to treat other people like you want to be treated yourself.

Raised by a sociopath father and distant mother, craving for attention and never loved.

Influenced by Roy Cohn, a lawyer and prosecutor under McCarthy and a cold, calculating and cynical mentor, with Mafia connections.

-A recipe for disaster.

Cohn gave him the playbook he’s been using ever since. He told him to always attack, counterattack and never apologise to his opponents, no matter what. - Does it sound familiar?

You can say, that this outrageous behaviour and incompetence most probably caused all his business dealings and ventures to fail.

No wonder he turned into what we are seeing today.

Or we can look at it the other way around and say, if the way he runs the country today, was any indication of how he ran his business’s, no wonder they all failed.

Nobody likes a Bully, that only demands, threatens, retaliates and revenges, if he doesn’t get his way and can’t figure out how to talk, negotiate and compromise. Simple as that.

And with his deteriorating health, becoming increasingly megalomaniac, delusional and imperialistic, doesn’t make the situation better.

I think, he will not stop until he has run the country to the ground, because he couldn’t get what he wanted the most - love, attention and respect. It is tragic really.

 -And the incompetent people that surround him, with similar issues, will always take advantage of that, to promote their own selfish agenda.

I really hope for The USA own sake and the rest of the world for that matter, that people will come to their senses sooner rather than later and change their minds at least at the midterm's, otherwise it all looks very gloomy.

The world is watching! 

Conclusion: You can’t run a Country like a business. We need to realize that a transactional Business person, that just wants to make deals, might not always be the best solution to run a country.

How to avoid something like that in the future? First, there needs to be serious repercussions and then laws put in place to prevent this from ever happening again. Maybe even a psychological evaluation of candidates. 

Not to speak about transparency into sponsors and donors and their agenda. The can support, but not influence, in my humble opinion.

Read more about Roy Cohn and Trump in this BBC article.

By the way! When you flatten out a Globe, it gets distorted. In reality Africa is actually 14 times bigger than Greenland.