Saturday, January 29, 2011

Faire Damsel from Main Street Exchange, Saranac Lake NY

Sarah is the faire damsel at Main Street Exchange. She is filling up her shop with a Medieval collection that is looking pretty good. I am excited to see how the designs are taking shape and Saranac Lake's Winter Carnival begins next week!

Here Sarah is wearing my black cotehardie with shimmering tippets and an extravagant hennin of purple and black!


Link to Saranac Lake Winter Carnival

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Building an Ice Castle


The excitement is mounting in Saranac Lake as the Winter Carnival approaches. In fact, this week they began building the ice castle, the symbol of the longest running celebration of winter in the Eastern USA. I am really delighted to be here this time of year. This is my first winter in the Adirondack Mountains and I have found that inspiration flows freely here.

Howie and I stopped by the construction site and snapped some pictures, like the one of the raw materials are cut from the lake.


A crane is used to carefully placed each block on top of the other, guided by a man perched on the top of the wall.

Chilling, half frozen, slush are brought in buckets and hand rubbed into the cracks. I imagine that when if drops into the sub zero temperatures, this works as good as any mortar can! A job I would not like.
Impressive walls of ice rising up off the lake to form the massive castle.



There was an article in the newspaper that talked about the construction of the castle beginning. It said that it will have some "suprises" inside...tunnels, dungeons? Read about it here:Ice Palace Construction Begins

Monday, January 17, 2011

Finding a Fashion Model in the Adirondacks?


I can still remember the feeling, as if it were last year, walking the runway at Parsons Fashion Theater in NYC. I was wearing the timeless design of Ursula of Switzerland, a knit set of a neutral color. The theater was packed, the lights were bright, the air was charged with excitement.

That was in 1978 and those days are past, as well as my slender figure. Now I am applying myself to my own creations.

In the fashion business, having a good model is very important. Back in the 70's I was the Assistant Director of the Louise Boyka Studio of Stage Arts in Schenectady, NY. Little did I know what I learned then in training young women I would use with my own line today.

My daughter was a great help to me. She not only challenged me with technical sewing abilities with her own designing adventures, but was a prize for modeling my Colonial line. She is build just as I was, minus a few inches in height, and could make every article of clothing look fantastic. Of course, she grew up under my tutelage and was trained from a young age to have correct posture and walk the notorious "Straight Line Glide", something the Louise Boyka and Ruth Tolman, founder of the World Modeling Association based in NYC, were known for.

You may find more about Ruth here on Gwen Ford's page.

Those were the good old days of fashion modeling. With the influence of great designers like Coco Channel, who promoted the beautiful elegance of refined womanhood...awhh, to find the likes now....

Sarah modeled for me while she could. Now miles separate us and I am left to search for a suitable gal here, in the Adirondack Mountains. I am blessed to have found a young lady that is a natural. She slipped on my Rowena Cotehardie and held her arms out just as if she had done this a thousand times before. I can feel that this is a start of something fantastic.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Medieval Tunics for sub zero

With the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival 2011 fast approaching, I am working to make clothing to fit the theme of "Medieval Times". Today I am creating tunics of a warm polar fleece to help out those who will be knights. I will post more details later, but for now I will say "good day" and must put aside the sewing to shovel some snow.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Maiden.s Dress in Blue

The exciting part of designing a dress is seeing what it becomes at the end. The stage when I sew the panels together, along with the loops for the ties, is usually disappointing. Sometimes we anticipate results before adding the embellishments.

At this stage a dress is not something that will catch my eye or looked attractive.

I cut 21 feet of one inch strips and began folding and folding again to make the ribbon ties. I was happily rewarded for all my tedious work when I placed them on the gown. The transformation was impressive. I fashioned the finishing touches of metal and fabric and the look is complete!

Yes, I can see this worn by a fair maiden.

The warmth of the color blue implies a pure heart and a gentle soul found among the stone walls of an ancient castle.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

A Gown is Born

I have been working on a blue taffeta gown and am heading toward completion. This is an exciting place to be when creating a garment. I have the basic dress assembled and now the embellishments are coming forth.

Here is a sneak peek. As you can tell, I love the look of lacing!