Evening Couture and Necklace Twenty Four

Say what you will about the fashion industry, it is certainly hard not to look at all of the amazing designs that grace the runway each season. Whether the clothes are avant garde or ready to wear, the colors, silhouettes and textures are always intriguing.

I think if money were no object, I’d fill my closet with one of a kind designs from my fellow handmade artists, but I still love to gawk at high end fashion and get a glimpse of what the upcoming trends are. Recently I was mesmerized by a spot about Zac Posen on Fashion Television.

Although the designer’s Spring 2011 line didn’t enchant all of the critics, I couldn’t take my eyes away. The colors and shapes are stunning, with lots of oranges and reds with black, and smart angles stunningly paired with soft fabrics. And the feathers? Not too much, and not to little!

I’m not often inspired to create a piece of jewelry after seeing runway clips, but this evening wear really got my attention. I wanted to transport some of the colors and shapes into a necklace right away.

I started with some wood beads with a fun flower pattern in red and brown, then added some tan Picasso finish E beads. I used these to stitch a triangle weave wedge, then added straps with modified right angle weave.

Once again, the finished piece doesn’t have the slightest resemblance to my inspiration, but I’m still really happy with the way it turned out. The beads and the stitches together have this ugly-pretty quality that I really like. Plus working with larger beads is such a nice change of pace. You get twice the texture in about half the time.

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading and Zac Posen