Isabelle de Borchgrave in the USA

I was just going through my blog entries and realized that I never did share with you my visit to the Hillwood Estate Museum.  I really wanted to give everyone (especially those on the East Coast) the heads up that Isabelle de Borchgrave's amazing paper dresses were there on display!  The exhibit has sadly ended by now so I'm totally sorry for this late post.

Isabelle's work is really amazing in person and there were dozens of outfits to look at.  The Hillwood Estate Museum was an awesome sight in it's own right, but it took me over two hours just to examine all the art Isabelle had on display.  Here are a few pictures of my favorites.

You can still see information about the exhibit on Isabelle de Borchrave's website and the books featuring her work have excellent pictures with close up views on the details of the papers.

The museum also had a couple of pieces that once belonged to Marie Antoinette herself!  Here is a gilt wood and leather swivel chair would have facilitated the powdering of her royal hair.

Paper Cancan Dress

Here is the paper cancan dress I created specifically for the Posters of Paris: Toulouse-Lautrec and His Contemporaries, June 1–September 9, 2012, exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

The dress is assembled with some paper tape and 2 1/2 bottles of my favorite Crafter's Pick glue.  Using six different kinds of papers and without using a pattern, the dress took about 2 weeks to complete.  Most of this time was to ensure that the glue was dry before I proceeded to the next steps.  The moisture in the glue made the red paper run sometimes so there were a bit of trial-and-error delays (plus I changed my mind on the design a couple of times).

I am by no means a seamstress or clothing designer so the fact that I didn't use a pattern presented it's challenges.  The hardest part was the construction of the corset.  Instead of just gluing two ends of a sheet of paper together and compressing it into the shape of a corset with force and glue, I assembled it like a real corset would be made.  I cut out nine strips of paper, each a different shape and size, and separated them with the paper "boning".  I finished off the top and bottom with hand stamped detailed ruffles.  All of the edges are neatly completed and they lay flat for comfort and attractiveness.

Originally intended as a two piece for display on a mannequin (more on that fiasco in another post), I ended up having to glue the top and bottom together for display on a hanger.  With a paper/string lace up corset and a grosgrain ribbon at the back of the waist (the only small part that isn't paper) the dress can be worn as a costume on an x-small/small frame.

For display purposes, there are two transparent threads holding the skirts up; but these can be cut off if worn as a costume and the skirt will fall back down into place.  Even though the dress is made of paper, it is actually very sturdy; but need I mention that although it is a wearable garment, it is not a washable garment?...

Up-close, hand applied stamp detail to the paper ruffles.

For information on pricing and purchasing, please contact the museum directly. Below are photos of my products on display.

I also created a wire hanger to go along with the dress (as shown) and the store manager cleverly jazzed it up with a feather boa.