All that you want to know about Denims

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apparels, blog, denims, fashion blog, fashion designers, fashion history, freelance fashion designer, Gap denims, indigo, Levi's denims, Selvedge denim, skinny jeans, trends

When we think of denim in its cradle, our minds get fogged with the raunchy look of the 70’s where the denim was the hot new thing. Though even today, we cannot say that denim has got old but definitely it’s the elder if not wiser brother to the latest environment friendly, water saving and waste reducing denim.

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Title: Raw Denim

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Title: Evolution of Denim this summer

Actually denim earlier and even today is a fabric created from cotton when its woven into raw fabric which is then dyed using synthetic indigo to give it’s the color by which we recognize jeans today.

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Title: Selvedge Denim

Denim by the name of Selvedge denim is a premium fabric created on antique looms.  They are manufactured in antique looms which means that a lot more money and time is being spent on them and is slower in process since it lacks most of the modern automation.

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Title: Denim and its various moods

Then there is the raw denim which is washed in production and it never undergoes the sizing process. Soon when its cut and washed with the desirable base shade and then the resin is removed so it becomes more pliable.

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Title: Denim’s basics

Wearing raw denim is really a tough task but it’s really worth the effort.  Firstly it’s just the raw denim so you get to wear the real, authentic denim without the dye so it’s going to last you longer and secondly the fabric is not bad for the skin since it has not being dyed with harmful chemicals.

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Title: Denim and its siblings

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Title: Raw denim to processed denim

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Title: Selvedge Denim

However, if it’s so then what’s the difference between jeans that costs 30 bucks and jeans that costs 250 bucks? The primary difference is the quality and then is its origin. Like in Asia jeans costs as low as 30$ and in Mexico $75 dollar. But when it comes to Japan and America jeans costs as much as 375$ or more. So it’s primarily the fabric quality and production detail is what decides the price tag on your jeans.

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Title: Production address matters

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Title: Wear any denim with style

What do you think about denim as the rising and falling trend? Tell me in the comments section.

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Printed Jackets : Trend mapping for 2014

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apparels, digital prints, Ermemgildo Zegna, fabric, fashion blog, fashion designers, fashion history, Fendi, freelance fashion designer, garments, jackets, London Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week, overcoats, Paris Fashion Week, printed jackets, trench coats, trends

Jackets need no introduction. They have been on and off the fashion ramp for years but this season has seen the trend of cropped jacket in its various guises from bomber to blouson till now. GQ magazine claims that “the designers in Milan and Paris realize that some countries like our own are not blessed with a dry, Mediterranean climate all season long; sometimes a coat is essential even on the hottest days.”

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Title: Colors all around

For the little summer and the little winter weather when one is not sure whether to put the sweaters on or not then jackets are really your life savers. For fluctuating barometers and transition temperature it’s really difficult to plan your wardrobe. So for a blend of fashion on this crazy summers check out the latest and variedly functional jackets that also have an element of surprise in them.

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/ksl1ry ~ It’s raining jackets this summer.

Printed Jackets are the one that makes sense this summer with their light weight and digital subtle prints. This season the designers of high end street collections have joined hands to create a light weight outfit that truly saves one from the brazing rays of sun as well as is a little versatile addition to the already existing jacket wardrobe.

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Title: Coats for mixed weathers

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One of the biggest supporters of the long trend was Fendi who displayed their collection in Milan. Also on a lighter note, there were formal end of overcoat which when paired with cropped navy chinos does all the magic by itself. Also Fendi fell in love with the color Khaki and it showcased a varied range of casual knee length hooded jackets with a silver lining which is the contrasting lapels and linings.

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Title: Fendi Coats

Also the designer house Ermemgildo Zegna showcased more refined approach to the knee length boring over coats & trench coats.

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Title: Zegna coats

What do you think about the latest trend that will serve on the border of summers and winters? Start chirping in the comments section.

All that you need to know about Digital Printing.

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apparels, blog, business, colors, creative, digital printing, dyes, fabric, fashion, fashion blog, fashion designers, freelance fashion designer, garments, print screen, printing techniques, Supriya Ghurye, technology, trends

This era has been the witness of some of the greatest innovation and digital printing is one of them. Also Christina Binkley acknowledged, in the Wall Street Journal by saying that it is allowing designers to innovate while “beefing up their brands”. According to many, digital printing is not just another brand new innovation of the century rather it’s becoming more and more recognizable and indispensable for the fashion world.

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Title: Digital printing

Director of Operations of the New York and Los Angeles based digital printer First2Print, Danielle Locastro says that the digital printing is enabling creative  young people to get their ideas on the canvas.

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Title: Digital Printing

Even today designers are relying on the digital printing technology tools like adobe Photoshop and illustrator. Earlier if an average designer wanted to put any idea on the fabric, then he’d have to go through the large yardage of fabrics and he’d have to meet them up for rotary or flatbed screen painting. But now with the advent of digital printing there is no minimum requisite for yardage of cloth nor do we need flatbed rollers. In contrast digital printing specializes in small runs like three to 300 yard runs.

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Title: Saves resources too

There are actually two types of people who are interested in the new and advanced digital printing and who will actually be benefit from it, first being the major design company who needs to produce a prototypes and second being the average designer for the economic and other obvious reasons. Since digital printing works in a whoosh so it is really less tedious and lesser time consuming to produce merchandise in any required quantities.

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Title: Flattering looks

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Title: Flashy and attractive prints

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Title: Couture printing

The other major benefactor from this novel painting technique is the new or high-end couture designers and companies mainly because digital fabric printing is possible for short production run . So the products that fit into this category are posh and high end and that’s where a major explosion in the fashion world can be seen, says Locastro.

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Title: Colorful vests

What do you think about the rising status of digital printing? Is it a yay or nay for you? Do tell me in the comments section.

Fashion sketches with traditional tools and medium.

Fashion sketches make-up for most of the time and space on the closet of a fashion designer. They also take up a lot of effort as it’s not an easy task to draw such clean sketches. Traditional drawing is most certainly harder than digital and it takes a lot of time to draw then. In spite of the difficulties one should always learn the traditional style of designing before attempting the digital printing style since it lays the foundation for good screen designs.

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Tools for sketching

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How to draw structured lips?

Now to designs lips firstly start with a reference image. The technique is to take a HB pencil 0.5mm and sketch the outlines carefully, with loose hand. Now carefully draw the lines from the reference image, not all, but the most prominent one should be.  Now shade the lower and upper portions of the lips to give it a curvy look. With these three steps a great structured lips can easily be achieved.

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How to draw an action figure: A Ninja

To draw an action figure first and foremost draw the outlines with a HB pencil. Just draw the frames and action postures to create the structure. For torso use a box. Now over it add the facial outlines and start giving shape to the outline. Thicken the sword and then stretch the arms and hands to create the illusion of a loose garment. Finally as the ninja starts taking shape, draw the hand pan on his sword and then detail the eyes by adding some shade to the eye, eyebrows and the lips. Now to give finishing to your sketch, add the blade of the sword and draw eyes on the mask of the ninja. Then shade the nose at one corner and add wrinkles to his garments to give finishing to the ninja.

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Sketching the gestures

See, how easy is it to draw figures traditionally. Today digital media come to our help but traditional ways will always be the best way to learn the basics. What do you think?

Fashion sketches with graphic software

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Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, colors, concepts, corel draw, croqui, fashion blog, fashion designers, Fashion Sketchpad, freelance fashion designer, garments, Indesign, proto, sketch, stick figure

In your entire lifetime one must have at least once wondered that how good sketches of a professional designer looks.  True, the sketches drawn by a professional fashion designer do looks smooth and clean but it’s not an easy task. However today I will give you some techniques to create fashion sketches and that too very neatly.

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Traditional method of painting

To create sketches, there are other platforms available other than just paper. Graphic software is such platforms. A graphic software or image editing software manipulates visual images with the help of a computer. One such software is Adobe Photoshop. Also to improve the creative process there is another tool called Fashion Sketchpad which is a revolution to the designing world. If you want to get rid of the preprinted female croquis then it’s much easier and faster to get a professional quality and proportionate designs on paper but my advice is to start off with a pencil so that one can learn the ABC of designing.

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Sketches

Now To create a sketch of an elegant woman of 20’s, follow the steps:

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Fashion Sketchpad

1. Always start with the balance line, also known as the body’s center of gravity. This is the line along which the figure is balanced and it extends from the base of the neck till it meets straight to the ground. Then draw the head at the middle of the line. To draw a head sketch, a large circle and a smaller circle on below it. Connect these two on sides as shown.

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Step first

2. Measure the head and draw nine small dashed of equal distance apart then number them from chin(#1) to bottom(#10). Then for the top half body and extends it from 1 ½ heads as shown below and you are done.

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Step 4

Now to create a body with movements, draw the balance line and put down 10 marks then tilt one side on the shoulder line. Tilt the right hip so to show the walk movement but with opposite side higher.

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First step.

Thus by tilting different parts of the body the rest of the body movement will follow suit. Anything that is above the high hip will follow the bend of the shoulder and anything which is below the hip will follow with the bend of the hips.

Also another cardinal rule is that the leg that comes from the high hip cannot be tilted and this foot must be on the balance line.

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Moving figure

Easy wasn’t it? Apply these techniques and let me know how they went.

Little Black Dress (LBD)

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apparels, business, fashion blog, fashion designers, freelance fashion designer, LBD, little black dress

The duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson had once expressed her love for the little black dress saying ”When a little black dress is right, there is nothing else to wear in its place”.

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Some trends never fade

The first image that flashes in our minds when we think of the term Little Black Dress is a cute knee length dress or maybe shorter of this sultry color.  If is this what you are thinking, then I can assure you that your imagination is not far off. LBD is a staple dress worn on the occasion of cocktail parties or small informal gatherings. These small and simple cut dresses are known to carry the grace even in the 1920’s by the designs of Coco Chanel and Jean Pator.

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Wallis Simpson in LBD

This trend was so ubiquitous that it even got referred by its initials LBD.

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Chanel’s dress in the early times

Always considered a wardrobe essential by women, fashion experts also say if a woman owns a simple back dress then almost 60 percent of her dressing needs are met. If you want to dress sober for some occasion then match your black dress with elegant black heels or maybe boots. Open your hair and use a natural lipstick. And if you want to dress-up very sexy then wear the same dress but this time put your hair in a bun, wear red or golden pumps, matching earring and  the most important, a cherry red lipstick and you are all set to set the floor on fire.

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LDB In trend, always

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Look 2

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Sober looks-look1

Earlier LBD’s were reserved only for funeral purpose but now there are some immensely popular LBD’s worn by equally popular women like the black Givenchy dress of Audrey Hepburn, the cartoon character Betty Boop which though due to Technicolor became red.

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/TLbjH1 Betty Boop in LBD

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/dF6vwN Miley Cyrus in LBD

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Girl Next Door look

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LBDs in display

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Raunchy Look 2

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Audrey Hepburn in LBD

What are your thoughts on the cute black dress? Tell me in the comments section.