c.hadleydikeWhile I was in Graduate school I created the understructures for a crinoline dress. However, we had to make the understructure out of unusual materials. With my love of wearable technology, I decided to make the understructure out of rope lights!!!
The Inspiration
Before creating any historical garments I do a lot of research with books, painting, and patterns. This will help me figure out the final look I am hoping to achieve. There are many different ways to recreate what we have seen in pictures and everyone has their way of doing it. Doing this type of research is my way.
Creating the rope lights
I decided to make the rope light from scratch myself. Dealing with cutting premade rope lights to the size I wanted was not my idea of fun. Creating each hoop the size I wanted seemed simpler and like less work in the long run. I also wanted to make each row out of the same type of LED so if down the road I wanted to connect all of them to an Arduino board and control them I could.
First I decided how many layers of circles I would have on my Crinoline Hoop Skirt. Next, I figured out the circumference of the bottom and top circles. I subtracted the small circle circumference from the larger circle circumference and divided it by the number of circles in between the top layer and bottom.
To easily feed the LED into the tubing I taped the tubing between a first and second-floor staircase. Then I could easily and quickly feed the LED through at the correct lengths. I got a lot of stair workouts that day!!!
Putting together the understructure
Once I had all the LED rope made I created each hoop. We had to use unusual materials so for structure I used door jam plastic and hose clamps to create each hoop. Next, I added each hoop starting for the top and working downward to the nylon strapping. I safety-pinned each hoop in place to ensure the placement was correct. Once I was happy with the placement I stitched down each casing. To help balance out the battery packs I placed every row on alternated sides. I found that I still needed to add a little weight in the center back to help balance out the entire structure.
The final understructure
Here is a look at the final understructure!!! I love making this project so much that I decided to make my graduation dress out of it. When graduating with an MFA in Costume Technology the best way to walk across the stage is in a light-up Crinoline!!!
The Final Crinoline Dress
Here is a look at my dress and walking across the stage. My parents had no problem picking me out of the crowd. Fun side note I had to walk through a metal detector while in this dress. Thank goodness the man had a good sense of humor and thought my dress was a great way to walk across the stage.
Crinoline Dress
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