Madame GRES

Madame Gres wanted to be a sculptor, and that's what she became, just not in the traditional sense. She was a sculptor of a different kind, her medium was fabric, her tools were pleats, and with those she shaped and molded gowns that were far beyond her time. Hundreds of tiny pleats would reduce yards of the finest fabrics down to just mere inches, with nimble fingers and acute precision she would sculpt works of art. She was a true artist, blood to bone. Hours, days, at times even weeks it would take just to produce one of her designs. Madame Gres was revolutionary, she was innovative, and now, she is my inspiration.  

I've only known of Madame Gres for a few weeks now, and I am absolutely obsessed with her ethereal designs. The simplicity, elegance and sensuality of her gowns has inspired me to make an attempt at recreating one of her gowns, using the tedious pleating method that she was known for. While Madame Gres preferred to use silk jersey, I will be using cotton and chiffon.
I don't know how this will turn out, but I hope I could do myself and Madame Gres some kind of justice.

 

 



  After about 15 hours over the course of two days I've finally finished placing
the pleats, but only half of the bodice front is ace sewn down. I'm not very skilled
at hand sewing, but over the past two days I've gotten much better, which makes
me very happy