Aphrodite was the mythological Olympian Goddess of  love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. When Anne and I began work on her ballgown for the USA Dance Amateur National Competition this spring, Aphrodite became our muse.    After several years of stepping away from competition to earn a college degree while working full-time, and struggling with back injuries, Anne (and her husband and partner Tom, who also wears Made for Movement) were ready to return to the National arena. Anne wanted an attention-getting, classical, and sexy look.  She tried on a few gowns and fell in love with one with a deep keyhole front.  We had done a similar (but smaller) keyhole in a gown several years ago which was a success, so with that as a starting point we set out to create a Greek Goddess look for her.  We wanted to include white draping and golden jewelry like that worn by the ancient Greeks.  ...

Karen visited my studio with her friend Jeannie, at the design meeting for Jeannie's velvet Tropical Paradise gown. While Jeannie and I worked, Karen fell in love with a swatch of fabric. Not just any piece of fabric, and I wish, wish, WISH!, I could show you this fabric in person, because no photograph will ever do it justice.Karen's fabric is a stretch mesh, covered with hologram effect turquoise sequins. The holographic diffraction on these tiny sequins works in the same way as the miniscule spiraling ridges on a CD.  So image thousands of teensy turquoise CD's, about 1/4 inch in diameter, sewn onto cloth and you have the general idea of the amazing magic of Karen's fabric.This is not a fabric for all body types. It magnifies and amplifies body shape. Fortunately, Karen is trim and fit, and can afford to have her lovely curves highlighted. This fabric must also be cut and fit carefully to lie smoothly ...

March 2012 has been "amateur couple" month at Made for Movement.  We have helped three lovely amateur ladies prepare for competition with their husbands, and we are happy to be able to feature each of them over the next week or so.We were pleased to help Patty with a delicately beautiful ballgown in 2010.  This spring, she was ready to add a rhythm gown to her wardrobe, and we were thrilled to help!  She arrived for her design meeting with her charming husband and partner, Tom, and a pile of notes, sketches and images she wanted to share with me.  One of the first things she was certain about was color.  She wanted a new hue, introduced just this year, called Tango Flare.  It's a vibrant neon orange, with a salmon undertone, and I feel sure it was inspired by Pantone's color of the year, Tangerine Tango.  You should be seeing alot of this color this year, in both clothing, ...

For sparkle and pizazz on the competition floor, hologram effect sequin cloth is uinequaled!  Karen came along on a friend's design meeting and when she saw this fabric, she was completely hooked.