And more deatils and answers about Dolly!

at the start the bow position or the wrapping was not obvious and so we tried many different skirt shapes and more!!!

Following you'll find the answer to the Judge questions for this challenge.


Magia 2000 - Mario Paglino & Gianni Grossi

ALEX - #6 challenge


What was your concept for this gown?
We chose the musical “Hello Dolly” and we immediately realized that we need something very glamourous and glittered. She is an extraordinary caracter and at the beginning we watch the movie many times to understand the scene and the movements she gotta do with the dress and the complete impact of the scene’s colors.
We realized that the scene is very elaborated, with many ornaments in gold and red, so we wanted something of that period, but different from the original and different form the ballgown of the other ladies on the scene. She is an incredible funny, elegant but extravagant lady and this has to be part of our design, keeping the original idea of sparkling image.
2) Why did you choose that particular fabric? That was the hardest part of the project, because we wanna keep the outfit beautiful , light and sparkling, but not expensive, and the original dress has a completed beaded fabric in gold. So the fabric has to flow to let her dance and move under the skirt, but be sparkling, and so we chose to mix 2 fabrics, one crepe satin and a gold net to reach the idea. This way the bodice was lined twice to get it stiffer, with a bustier line, and the crepe satin flows, with an oblique cutting of the net, also the net is not so stiff as it seems and at the and it looks wide.
3) Why did you choose that color? The colour was truly important, because we wanna be different form the original and it was not easy. We chose light blue/green to make a complete different dress from the other, as she wears something different in the scene. No other ladies has complete gold dress, so we need to have a complete different colour too, and we choose this light blue to get the sparkling idea also in the colour, very strong, funny, extravagant and new. The gold net make the light blue more sparkling and decrease it from its flashing impact.
4) Do you think your gown is appropriate for Susie? Yes, Alex is a great doll, and ready to wear anything from historical costumes to daywear and ready to wear garments.
She is truly changeable and we believe she is great in this outfit that put your attention on the waist point, and Alex has a wonderful butterfly waist and important bust. So we think she is great in this type of dresses.
5) What element do you think distinguishes your design and sets it apart from others? Cut? Fit? Embellishment? Color choice?
The eloborated costume is full of details and the great impact of the colour really put your attention on the caracter. We thought that if Barbara Streisand wore this dress in the scene, nobody could take the eyes off of her, coming out from the screen as a real diva, as the original dress made.
Wa wanna impact and attention, she is the diva who was coming back at the restaurant from so long and makes her great entrance.
6) What element of this challenge was the most difficult for you?
There were 2 points: the first was the choice of the movie, and following the fabrics, and the colours, that drove us crazy to find what we want and how to make it different from the original.
At the beginning we chose a different movie and then realized how poor of chance this could be, so it was not easy to chose the movei we felt close to our attitudes.
The second was the comparison with the origial and so we tried to mix a little the ideas of the movie scene with the theatrical outfits, keepin gthe shapes of that time.
7) What element of this challenge was the most enjoyable?
The beadings and the accessories was the most funny part, even if we loved to watch the movie and we got so much inspirations from many movies.
8) If you could change one thing about your gown what would it be?
We wouldn’t change anything, because even if probably we did something wrong, the complete outfit gives us a good impact and we think we achieve the point we wanted, with sparkle but not too much and a right proportions of the dress, line of the skirt and so on. So we love the complete image.