Dubaly – Rethink your wardrobe

Update on Dubaly.

* This blog has first been posted on www.dubaly.com *

There has been a surge in questions on what the status is on Dubaly. I keep having to respond to the question about if I have something for sale negatively. So, because also my spouse has been surprised about the amount of work that goes in a collection before it can be sold, I will share an insight on the development of the first 3 garments, aka the first set!

Now, at first with most collections you have an idea in your head. This idea will be brought to life with test-fabric. You will try it on, and adjust according to your new insights. This needs to be done over and over until you are happy with the result and the real thing can be made. Apart from getting the right fit, I also need to try out the different sizes (or grading). I started with both things at the same time.

My first was supposed to be simple, one outfit to start with. This was a bodysuit, a pants and a sweat vest. Then, I started making them, and almost completely trashed it! It had too many zippers, too many pattern pieces and too much of everything else.

The result of the second start from scratch was much simpler. A tee, a pair of pant and a long sleeved bodysuit. The model should be most simple because it shows the best the pattern of the fabric. After drawing the patterns I added the grading. As I had not just one, but two models around me almost constantly, I was able to make a small size and the biggest size of the size range in test-samples for them and try them on.

Now, as I have made a few more samples you will see that these ones were a good try in the right direction, but not there yet. As a next step I further developed the pattern of the bodies, but I made a beginners mistake! I put the fabric on in the wrong direction. Therefore the bodies would not stretch. It would only give me an idea of the sequence of the bodysuits, but nothing more. So, trashed it again!

Thankfully I know how to have a bit of fun while I am working. I felt like I was playing Tetris while working and cutting out next adjusted set of samples.

Playing tetris paiyed off, as it produced a nice set.

I was not happy with the shape of the bottoms, I think the whole garment was too wide.

Furthermore this current sent doesn’t entail an important part of the design. I want a big cut and sew through the middle of both the tee and the bottom.

The body of this set-in-the-making has a slightly longer sideseam, which I put there because it will cover up the nappy completely.

Now this set is very close to the real thing, but do not forget, it is still not in the right fabric! The final garments will look very very different.

I learned a few things along the way. The most important one, I should have never started to develop the size-range, or grading, at the same time as the sample making. That took way too much time.

And I hope you are looking forward to see the final first set of Dubaly clothing. It won’t be very long!

* Sparked your interest? I will keep you posted on this website, but more information can be found at www.dubaly.com *

A name is born

This time I am going to scoop you up with a video! I am working on a small baby collection of which the details will follow soon(ish). But after weeks of heavy brain work the following deserves a minute on my blog. Hold on, here it is, I came up with a name…

Dubaly, with a leaf-shape logo on the background.

Yes I know. It isn’t much but it sure is important. After trying to figure out a name that is unisex, happy and baby, (more on that later) I need it to look nice too! In the video you get to see some of the stages of the design process I went through.

In this video you only see the last bits of the brain work so I need to shed a bit of light for you on what set me off in this direction in the first place.

So, I take my inspiration mainly from where “human-made” is being taken back by nature again. I can get enthusiastic by a garage door left unpainted for too long… Even better if there is a plant slowly but surely climbing up the walls. Or just a bit of dust and dirt! I dont know why I keep falling for these bits that some people might find unappealing. Maybe I am turned-off by the typical over-designed streets in the Netherlands? Or would it be possible that I am just more comfortable with something that isn’t too pretentious?

These kind of pictures I have used a lot in my artworks, layer on layer or with the old typical photoshop effect. Especially the walls that were painted a long time ago work well when you cut them out with photoshop, as there is enough colour-difference in them to make it interesting. I am the first to admit, just the photoshop effects are not often nice.

Old work, largely cut out and pasted over. Find this in a short video at my vimeo page: https://vimeo.com/35130388

When I began with brainstorming on the look of this new word; Dubaly, I did not have much luck with the different fonts you can find online. They just didnt do the job. At the same time I came across a picture of a bird on a telephone wire. The bird could be representing nature, and the hangling wire, peoples work. Therefore I tried to make this “bird on a wire” into a letter, with not much succes at first. But after some time with a sheet of paper and later the computer I got it working. Hope you can spot the bird!

This bird turned out to be the main ingredient of my letters, as I thought it was a strong element that can evolve into new looks in the future. And even though you might not recognise the bird anymore in the final letters, it was an important part of the design process.

At the same time I was working on a logo. I wanted the logo to mix the female and male sign, together, but not in a straightforward way. That would have been too close to a hermaphrodite or transgender sign. I want it to be unrecognisable.

Early sketch of the logo. The leaf will be a reacurring image in the collection.

So, I thought I had it! But I placed the two together and they just didn’t look right. I needed to take a few steps back. And then it occurred to me, (or maybe I got a hint from somebody…) to do the “bird-triangle” in the logo too. And that is it, as you can see it worked quite well!

In the end I am happy with the result. I feel I can look at this outcome for some time withouth getting bored and, like I said, it has many possiblilities on how it might evolve in the future. Let me know what you think! Either here on the website or via my Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/marjoleinvandedonk.