On Tuesdays I am only supposed to have my French class but today it was cancelled due to a scarf dyeing seminar held this morning. This type of scarf dyeing is called Arashi Shibori! Arashi means tornado in Japanese and shibori means to wring, squeeze or press. These two techniques were used to create our scarves!
My white silk, thread for the wrapping process, instructions, the bottle to wrap the scarf and what a finished scarf would look like.
Lots of finished scarves!
My instructor dyeing my scarf black.
My friend Elise, wrapping her scarf around her bottle with thread.
My scarf on the bottle after wrapping.
After this I had to wear gloves and it was too difficult to take pictures but from here I put my scarf/bottle into the discharge water to take some of the black out. When we felt like enough color was removed we then added our other colors and I chose a light pink. We painted on our other dye colors and then had to microwave them to let the dye set into the fabric. After that, we put them in front of a fan to dry and I am on my way to pick my scarf up this afternoon!
Some of my instructors work at her showing. Clearly these are only art pieces and cannot be worn but they were very neat!
This evening we had the opportunity to work back stage at the Basil Soda fashion show. Besides the fact that it was only my second day of class and I was already working a fashion show I was decently nervous but excited at the same time!
The 15 of us from PAA walked our way over to the show and arrived around 3:50 but were not let inside until just after 5:30 so we had to stand out in the rain and it was really cold out too! Not sure why we could not stand just inside the doors but we were insisted to stay outside. Once we were let in, we were able to watch the first five models practice their walks down the runway and get a feel for how the show was going to run. Although we did not actually get to watch the show, being able to just watch that 5 minute walk through was pretty incredible!
Once backstage we were each paired with a model and her outfits, accessories and shoes. All we had for each outfit was a picture of what the complete outfit was supposed to look like and two minutes to get it on and off our girl. To say the least, I was slightly nervous because I did not to do something wrong or ruin an outfit or do something to mess up the show but thankfully I had the sweetest model in the world and her dresses were not as intricate as others.
My model’s name was Josephina and she was from Denmark. She showed up as the other models were in line and with only 5 minutes to the start of the show so I quickly got her suited up in her first outfit and got her in line. She was the #16 to go down the runway and before I knew it she was back and only had roughly 90 seconds before she had to be in line to be #37! Take a second to think how long it takes you to take off an outfit and change into another, now include shoes, jewelry and hair fixing and try to fit that into 90 seconds, crazy fast!! I also have never seen or wanted to see to many women body parts at one time. I know my face was red because I was embarrassed for the models. Some of them just had to stand in little underwear that barely covered anything and wait to slip into a dress. To them, it is just another day but I was completely uncomfortable for them. Especially since there are so many male hair dressers, makeup artists and show producers but it is just another day to all of them and no one seems to think of it as a big deal. Also, considering I am roughly 5’5 and most of the models were 5’10 and up, their chests were very close to my eye level…. Very awkward!
Besides all of that, the show was incredible! It is insane that you can take nearly 25 girls who look nothing alike except for height and their skinniness and can make them look like sisters with different hair colors through the help of makeup and a hair straightener! There are really so many things to share about everything that went on backstage, from the makeup to the hair and shoes, dressing the models, the press afterwards and finally getting to go stand on the runway for a minute, it was a crazy wonderful night. Thankfully my model was a very very sweet person and made a point of coming to find me after the show to thank me for my help and then we kissed each other’s cheeks, left first and then right.
Pictures for her outfits!
Some of the models after they were finished.
Basil Soda and some of his models. Josephine is the blonde girl, third from the left of Basil Soda.
This is what the runway looked like!
Some of the dresses that were worn!
The models clapping for Basil Soda when the show was over.
Tomorrow I do not have class so I plan to purchase some groceries, go for a run in Luxembourg Gardens and possibly go with a few girls to a the Arc de Triomphe and Parisian thrift store. Should be another great day to see the city!
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