Episode 10: 5Ft Silk Trousers
This ensemble I created for an exhibition in the early 90’s. I was also co-curator of the exhibition, entitled “Art That Fits.” Going forward with a tongue in cheek attitude, an oversized ensemble came to mind. Based on costume and everyday wear from many nations, I designed the over exaggerated trousers and jacket. These 5Ft wide trousers and exaggerated sleeve length jackets, were and are worn by many people’s from around the world. To name a few; North Africa, Albania, and Herzegovina. The book “Costume Patterns and Designs” by Max Tilke is where I found inspiration and historical information for the ensemble.
Using white silk dupioni as a startling point, I dyed in sherbet colors. The center section of the trousers is all hand, paper English pieced. The pants are hand quilted both front and back, with circles and hexagon shapes. Additional snippets of silk fabric were stitched into the hand quilting. The waistband is heavily beaded over a layer of netting.
The jacket body is layers of tulle netting, with snippets stitched along the edges. The sleeves are all hand stitched, with a ‘confetti’ type of stitching, using pearl cotton. The bodice is machine stitched using the hexagon theme used in the trousers. The neckband is hand-quilted with circles, also carried over theme from the trousers.
