Author: Davina
Davina ~ Dawn Devine is a belly dance costume designer, dance instructor and author of more than a dozen publications on Middle Eastern dance.
Pinterest
Hot New Tool for Designers
One of my favorite design tools is the mood board or inspiration board. I routinely build collages that inform, inspire and delight the eye and fuel my own creative process. Recently, I went over to the new website, Pinterest and began to explore. What I have found, to my delight, is that it becomes a great digital mood board. As I surf the web, I simply hit a little button on my browser and “pin it”, select a photo from the page I’m looking at and it gets uploaded to one of Pinterest boards. I can quickly collect visual information from dozens of sources, edit and arrange it into logical groupings, annotate the uploads and share them with my friends. You can even upload your own images. I recently started to collect images of Assiut/Assuit as I’ve been working on my new book.
I’m an avid magazine reader, and I’ve noticed that magazine editors, such as Nina Garcia and fashion bloggers such as Erica over at “PS I Made This,” have started adding some really well edited and useful content. I’ve cruised this site and have found people planning weddings, decorating their homes or simply day dreaming about their dream wardrobe. It’s fun, inspirational and easy to use. Check it out!
~ Dawn
My Pinterest Profile
Assiut/Assuit in Motion – Liquid Silver
Apparently, I’m obsessed with assiut/assuit cloth. Which is probably good, since I’m working on a book about this magical fabric. However, several folks have sent me email queries along the lines of:
Hey Dawn, I’ve heard assiut/assuit referred to as “liquid silver” but when I
see assiut/assuit it looks quite stiff, can you explain?
Modern assiut/assuit can be quite stiff, and the patterns are often widely spaced upon the mesh ground cloth. The modern fabric is made almost exclusively from short-staple cotton on modern machines which create smaller holes. The stitches are fewer and further apart, giving this cloth a primarily black appearance.
In contrast, vintage assiut/assuit has a higher metal content and was made with finer linen fibers in a more open, looser mesh. This allows the fabric to drape and move in a more supple way. When this fabric is completely coated with individual metal stitches, it drapes heavily, conforming to the shape of the body beneath it, but maintaining the sheen and luster of metal. The weight of the pounded metal in the cloth, gives the fabric a unique character during movement, that is better shown then described. So below, I’ve assembled three videos, one modern and two that date to the 50’s, that show the unique movement and drape of heavily embroidered vintage assiut/assuit.
Top 10 Reasons to Make a New Costume
10 – You have been taking classes for a year and your teacher said those magic words ‘Recital.’
9 – Your best dance buddy got a beautiful new costume and she wants to do a duet.
8 – You finally have enough cash to afford a lovely piece of assuit or other equally expensive and drop-dead gorgeous fabric.
7 – You’ve lost/gained 30 lbs and have earned a whole new wardrobe to go with your fabulous new figure!
6 – You just took a Gypsy-esqe workshop and now need a new full skirt to dance with.
5 – This season’s ‘In’ color isn’t IN your wardrobe – yet.
4 – There’s a show coming up and EVERYONE has seen every costume you own.
3 – You couldn’t resist that shimmy belt, and now you need a whole ensemble to go with it!
2 – You just saw someone else wearing that Exclusive, Custom, Designer original you bought at the last festival.
1 – Because you CAN!
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Special thanks goes out to Adriana who is one of the featured models in my upcoming book about assiut/assiut costuming. Visit her website for more details about her performances and classes throughout the greater San Francisco/Bay Area.
Transforming a Vintage Assiut/Assuit Dress
Step One – “Before Video”
As I work on projects for my upcoming book, All About Assiut/Assuit, I’m trying to catch some photos and videos of me wearing costumes made from this fabric. In December, I had the opportunity to wear a dingy and sadly in need of repair assiut dress with lots of coins. The dress is a bit of a mess. The coins, originally gold toned, have corroded in places to black, copper, dull silver and even green. Yuck! In addition, this dress had missing coins, broken crocheted threads, tears in the mesh and was – to sum it up – a hot mess. Here I am, dancing in the “before” version of this dress before it hits the workbench and I take the shears to it for its transformation.