Golden Age of Hollywood

I chose an Adiran Greenberg design from 1945, a 50 panel tailored jacket, pencil skirt and hat. To achieve the perfect cloth, I screen printed the charcoal stripes on a truffle wool. I started with a classic 40s block for the jacket, then created two full toile samples as my design process went on.

The only resource I had for this jacket was that photo, I couldn't even find the original name. I designed the back by looking at Greenberg's other jackets. It seemed his signature was a simplistic back that still echoed the front.

Having perpendicular lines all throughout the bodice meant that I had to avoid using a breast dart. When it comes to womenswear. that is a crucial part of shaping the forepart. Instead, I distributed the reductions through the side seam, diagonal seam and waist seam. because of where i chose to curve the seams, the eye doesn't catch it as easily. 

Once I had printed my fabric, I had to cut out each panel individually, due to the precision with the stripes. Each panel was then hand-basted together, machine stitched, and bastes removed. There are false fastenings on the centre front, due to the bows on top. They wouldn't have held the jacket as they're quite fine, and I wanted them to sit flat, so underneath are hooks and bars.

The hat was made using millinery techniques, wetting and stretching buckram before covering it with fur.