New Orleans Victorian Crinoline
Work in progress (character body unfinished). The dress itself was done in marvelous designer with a pattern designed by me taking inspiration from researched 1860's dress bodice patterns. The crinoline, necklace, hat, and boots were all sculpted in zbrush. The dress's design pays homage to the Victorian Couture in Beyoncé's Lemonade, while also looking to historical references from New Orleans and Africa.
This is part of a bigger character project for Ryan Kingslien's Character Art Bootcamp.
historical reference used to ensure accuracy in the crinoline, especially the way the multiple layers of cloth obscure and drape over the hoops.
An overview of the marvelous designer pattern. The top section is the bodice, the sleeves are easy to pick out. The middle bit is the underskirt. The triangles are the back of the underskirt. The bottom bit is the draped overskirt.
I controlled the folds by using the 'strengthen' and 'freeze' features in Marvelous. This is how the overskirt looked prior to being 'unstrengthened'. When the folds fell in the correct place, I froze the garment and stopped simulation.
Various tests of the types of folds I could get marvelous designer to simulate.
initial concept sketches for the shape of the gown, and the blocky crinoline I sculpted in zbrush and used as the dress form in marvelous. Using the actual crinoline would have made the folds too crisp and not given the illusion of thick fabric I wanted.
This whole concept started with Beyoncé's hat.
Images with the aesthetic I was going for from Lemonade.
I did a lot of research on the historical references that inspired the designers and stylists of Lemonade.