Outfit Requirements / The Damage

Being worn for hours on end during the Wave Gotik Treffen, there is quite a lot of hardship my outfits have to be able to withstand apart from general weather conditions.

As there is really no estimating what a full day of standing, posing, walking, dancing, industrial dancing, moving through construction sites (new), eating, headbanging, using various forms of public transport, and occasionally sitting, will do to them, every year brings a bit of a surprise. So, the first thing to do back at home from this ultimate field-test shall always be ascertaining the damage and seeing through repairs and improvements.

Dragging over a construction siteContinuous friction in movement and danceExcessive makeup and a white collar

5 Comments.

  1. Please note the damage is actually not as bad as the pictures make out to be.

  2. I managed to wash half of the cloth I had warn at WGT
    My white skirt from Friday suffered at lot (it was nearly pitch black at the part wich tuched always the ground)
    I throw usually all my things in the washingmachine. Normally they survive it XD. Even my PVC corsage with attached metal parts was ok after washing it.
    Hardest tast is always to get rid of the make-up stains x_X”

  3. The White Shirt | Opus Relinque - pingback on July 5, 2012 at 12:41 am
  4. Dracula's Daughter

    Hi Disciulus,
    I have been enjoying your site & phenomenal work, I THANK YOU for sharing it…..I love the white shirt….You have me inspired.
    I always find it heart breaking to see the damage to anyone’s work, regardless of the complexity…Solely for the part of oneself that goes lovingly into every stitch or construction step & for the sanity you lose trying to get the peice to work. LOL!
    I world like to share some ideas on protection of dragging hems…..Have you ever considered temporarily stitching in a peice of fabric over the part of the gament that drags on the ground in a way that can’t be seen when you are wearing it…The fabric would need to be sturdy and be of the same or similar fabric as your lining of course. This would not only increase exponentially the life of your hem, it would also in a lot of cases do away with the need to wash the actual garment….You could simply remove the sheild fabric, wash it and replace it ready for your next adventure…It may stop the tears when you see your creations in the cold light of day.
    You could take this idea one step further and make the sacrificial panel in a way that buttons on, or press studs, hooks and eyes etc to make it quicker to get on and off the garment.
    As for the damage to the black fabric I see above…What about using a spray silicone or something like it that is compatible with the fabric you are using…This should cut down the friction and again lengthen the life of your garment….This idea may need a little experimentation, but it should be worth it to get more wear out of your work.
    I would love to hear what you think of this idea and if you use it, how it works for you…I am sure with a bit of planning they will work with spectagular results for you.
    With all my THANKS and warmest regards Deb, AKA Dracula’s Daughter

  5. Hi Dracula’s Daughter. Thank you so much for your comments!!!

    I personally don’t mind a bit of damage to be honest. The clothes I make are meant to be worn during some of the most intense days of the year so they need to be able to withstand a lot. The damage that occurs from this is something I would rather think of as battle-wear, giving the pieces their character, making them tell their story. Furthermore, I love doing repairs. It’s often the most didactic part of the job, making me learn from my mistakes and forcing me to be creative and search for changes that can be made to the item after its initial completion. :)

    The fabric strip is a very good idea. I am thinking of using something similar to that for one of the dragging 2013 designs after I found that the fabric gets little parts of twigs and foliage stuck in it when walking through grass. Making it unseen will be rather difficult as the semi-transparent garment is unlined and has to be worn with various heel sizes, and the biggest problem of it all will be finding a fabric that mimics the structure and drop of the garment without having the same vegetation-amassing characteristics to it. ^_^;

    As for the cape, I have since perfected the design for an event in 2012, wherein I replaced the inner workings’ strings with solid-link chains. That way I can be sure that no matter what, the layers will not fall out of their folds, keeping the outer (visible) side from contact with the ground at all times. As for protecting the inner side, I never heard of using a silicon spray coating on fabrics, but for a heavy projects like this, that might just be something worth looking into. :)

    Thank you so much again for your input, it is great to see people looking at and thinking about my works! And even more so when it concerns the technical side of it. ^_^

    Honored to make your acquaintance,
    -Discipulus

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