If you've never heard of him, Erte was a 20th-century artist and designer in an array of fields, including fashion, jewellery, graphic arts, costume and set design for film, theatre, and opera, and interior decor.
I stumbled upon a book of his fashion illustrations in a thrift store, and immediately fell in love with his elegant art deco fashions. I wanted to be the models in his drawings, draped in swathes of rich fabrics. Inspired by his sweeping lines, I tried to recreate a few of his pieces in a more modern mode, from all upcycled materials.
Taking the basic idea of two squares of fabric joined to a triangular top, I updated the drawing at left to produce a ruffled and lacey dress. Folding the squares gave a two tiered look, and the lacy dangles of the scarf turned bodice accented the drape and flow. A strappy sleeveless look gave more freedom of movement than the original, and a good backdrop for accessorizing with a shawl or shrug.
Repurposing a tank top into the bodice for this dress smoothed out the gathers and sleeve accents of the original, drawing all attention to the dramatic swoops of the skirt. I kept the rings, but eschewed the tasseled cord in favor of cute velvet ribbons. Most of Erte's drawings are only available in black and white, but I like to imagine them in rich tones like this.
Erte came up with some fabulous accessories too. Instead of stripes of ebony and orange, I appliqued a vintage doily to a panel of black velvet. The dark fabric shows through the cutwork in wonderful contrast. The cord and tassels became a black and silver chain, zigzagging through loops of satin cord.
