Fashion Design Drawing

Note the thickness of the sole, and how it gets thinner where it leaves the ground and rises up into the arch of the instep. Also note (pi. 14, No. 7) whether the sole extends beyond the upper in front (p), as in brogues and heavy shoes, or whether it does not extend so far (q).

Although the high heel is only a piece of wood covered with silk or thin leather, it always has a sole of real leather on the bottom, about an eighth of an inch thick. Always note this (pi. 14, No. 1), and how thick it is, as it is usually put in the finished drawing.

Straps must always be very carefully noted and though, without a foot to

support them, they will probably sag in the shoe you are drawing, you must always represent them as being quite taut, as if an imaginary foot were occupying them. Enlarged sketches must be made of the buckles or ornaments, if any. The design stamped on the leather in walking-shoes, known as broguing, varies enormously and it is very important to get this correct, and also to count the number of eyelet holes in a laced shoe, noticing whether the eyelets are sunk (invisible) or not. Where it occurs, take a note of the kind of lace.

Another hint, only to be taken if you really find shoes difficult, is to draw a horizontal line in your sketch (pi. 14, No. 18) through the lowest point in the opening (this is not always right at the centre front) and to continue it so as to see where it cuts the heel. In a low-cut shoe with a high heel (s), this line may well go through the heel at a point quite near the floor. In a sturdy shoe (t), it will cut through the back of the shoe above the heel.

Besides bags and shoes, another type of accessory that you will often be called upon to sketch is jewellery in all branches. This includes earrings, pendants, tiaras, combs, brooches, necklets, bracelets, clips, rings, watches, shoe-buckles, lighters and cigarette cases ; and sometimes lipsticks, powder-boxes and compacts, when these are enamelled and inlaid, or unusual in design.

The one difficulty common to nearly all these things is the question of size. Many of the things are worth advertising only because they are unusually big for the money jewels, pendants, bracelets, etc. Others, like lighters and watches, are considered attractive because they are so " dainty and compact."

However that may be, it is time enough to show how big or small they are when you get home. The thing is to know for certain yourself what their size is. Thus it is advisable to get a girl to put them on for a second, so that you can just get an idea of their size in relation to the limb they are to adorn ; but to get all the details of workmanship down on paper you will have to inspect a piece of jewellery very carefully in the hand. A store usually advertises jewellery separately, and not in position on a figure, as that would involve waste of space ; and, besides, such things are usually reproduced at least half actual size, and occasionally life size, and this would be a truly forbidding proportion for any part of the human body. If, however, it is considered necessary to show customers how a particular kind of new brooch or clip would be worn (this is not always deducible !) then you must get the buyer to pin it on the girl with her own hands. Pendants whose length, and chokers whose brevity, are often their most notable feature, must be drawn in position, if they are to be finally illustrated in that way.

If you are really good at drawing hands, the lighter cannot be better shown than in use in the hand ; a compact, too, or a lipstick, is very effectively shown in this way. But make sure that you are very, very good at hands.

Imitation jewellery is often as beautifully made as the real thing, so do not

get the idea that, just because you are not at Cartier, anything will do. If it is so-called diamonds you are doing, notice how they are cut, even the small ones. Do not be mystified when you hear someone talk about baguette diamonds ; it simply means that they are cut oblong, from a French word meaning a stick. There are also square-cut and rose-cut diamonds, the latter being circular. And there is as much cut in an emerald as there is in a dress from Vionnet, and the imitations of each must receive just as much care.

In sketching a bracelet which is made up of diamonds, of onyx and of gaps between the two, make the most careful and fool-proof notes as to which parts are which.

When sketching pearls, observe how steeply, or otherwise, they are graded, and whether they are strung with a knot between each. In sketching a complicated necklace or bracelet, made of many different-coloured beads, the notation by numbers will be found very helpful.