so, guys. i'm participating in project designer. cycle 7. go check it out [link]





Name of Topic: Word It Out

Fabric(s): cotton, suede, faux-fur (although by rights, it should be rabbit), wool, denim.

Color Scheme: muted browns/white.

Model: marcella.

Your Favorite Word: cuniculous -- (adj.) "full of holes or tunnels; full of rabbits" it's an obsolete word, though why i can't tell you because it's obviously the best word ever. it's usually used to refer to hills.

Description: a suede and fur vest with squiggle pattern (see below for details) over white cotton shirt with cutout scallop edge, white denim shorts, white wool socks and brown plaid wool scarf, fur hat and leg warmers, leather boots




i almost died when i first read this challenge. little known, although it says so on my profile, my other passion besides fashion design is word etymology. i've written several papers about it, including one of my admission essays to brown. i love words. everything about them. this challenge was perfect for me.

the problem was, i have several favourite words but none of them really made good fashion concepts. words like acephalous (without or lacking clear definition of a head) and apotemnophilia (a disease where people want to amputate their limbs) are amazing, but kind of gross. words like haecceity (the "thisness" of an object) and aboulomania (pathological indecisiveness) are cool, but wouldn't translate well in fashion. it came down to cuniculous or almacantar (an astronomical measuring term). the deciding factor was rereading the challenge, and seeing that this challenge was meant to be light and fun. if i had chosen almacantar, i would have done something very regal and haute couture. rabbits? infinitely more enjoyable.

so, cuniculous is meant to refer to hills that have rabbit burrows in them. because of this, i wanted to stick to the muted earth tones.

but, i use cuniculous in reference to people. not to literally mean they're full of rabbits, but instead that they're really energetic, as though they had rabbits inside them. right? right. so, the task was to make an outfit with muted tones that somehow conveyed a sense of boundless energy. and it had to be cute, cause its rabbits.

the answer, i found, was pattern and detail.

the tunneling appears in the suede of the vest, a kind of squiggly pattern type thing. there are several ways the pattern could be put on there: burned, embossed, even drawn...although that might be kind of odd. i had this idea that it would be cutouts, fit together. that would be incredibly labor intensive, but hey, this is a hypothetical so i can be as extravagant as i wish, right?

the hole theme appears in the scallop cutouts of the cotton shirt.

the rabbits...thats kind of obvious. fur, and the little carrot motif. also, in a subtle note, the pointed back of the cotton shirt is supposed to suggest a tail...



as to my model, i wouldn't change her one iota. she's perfectly cute, and fits...well...perfectly. maybe some extra heavy blush, but thats it.


i think that's all i have to say. uh..sorry this was so long. hope i did this right. oh, and, sorry for the big file....yeah, all that.








intuous. pixia.