my submission for challenge 2...and i must say, i'm very pleased with this.

TOPIC:Your next design topic is to create a lingere look that can be used as underwear...AND outerwear. Even harder? You must make it based on one of the astrological signs

DESCRIPTION:
My sign was Taurus, which i was initially wary about since lingerie is supposed to be you know...all cute and stuff, and taurus is the bull which = not so cute. then i got over myself and decided why should i be literal about it? so i decided to not be so literal. i hope you like it, sorry this is such a long description.

so anyway...my design was drawn while i was watching Some Like it Hot, so it has a retro feel to it. It consists of a bra, underwear, and a detachable skirt for when you want to go out and look nice. The skirt attaches to small hidden buttons on the inside of the band underneath the bra. The buttons are covered when the skirt is not in use. everything is made of silk, which is appealing to a Taurus (being an earth sign, they are very in tune with senory stimulation, in particular, touch in Taurus' case). I used the colors green and black, which are two of Taurus' colors. I chose dark green and black for a couple reasons- first, being a feminine sign, Taurus is naturally nocturnal. according to this really in depth website i struck gold with, Taurus' hour is midnight and i felt that dark colors would emulate this well. secondly, they look sexy together, and what good is lingerie without being sexy?

In the first drawing, you can see a small embroidered Taurus glyph on the underwear. the circle is an onyx crystal, surrounded by black embroidery making up the rest of the glyph. You can see the bra is a deep V cut bra, the cups are lined so there would be no worries if the woman were to get cold. The ruffle on the neck was put there since the neck and throat are both ruled by Taurus, and I thought that this would draw more attention to these two areas. Moving on to the second drawing, which is a back view of the bra and underwear, you can see there is a diamond shaped cutout. I went with the idea that one of the shapes of Taurus is the square, and expanded it to more of a diamond shape to make it a little more elegant. There is also a dangle hanging from the neck in the back, which consists of some thin iron links (since iron is a metal associated with Taurus) ending in a larger link with another black onyx crystal dangling from it, once again representing the Taurus glyph, albeit a little more abstractly than on the underwear. The third and fourth drawings show how the design goes from bedroom to cocktails (or perhaps the other way around? wink wink). The skirt falls to just above the knee, and it pretty simple in that it is just the dark green silk, accented with some jet beading at the hem, mimicking the onyx crystal dangle on the back. Jewelry and accessories are minimal, seeing as how it is a statement kind of outfit, and all she's wearing are some fierce black leather pointy toed heels, and some square shaped iron earrings, which are polished so they have a bit of a shine to them. Apart from all the outright symbolism about the Taurus, I took a lot of inspiration from reading about what the Taurus female is like. She's romantic, beautiful, has excellent taste, graceful, and attractive, all of which i think are emulated by the design.

I think what I like best about this design is this is my style. Like I said before, I do classy, elegant, sophisticated and modern. This dress utilizes a darker color scheme than i would normally use, but I think it works. I also love doing functional things. There aren't a lot of bells and whistles to this design, but I think that makes it all the more accessible to whoever wants to wear it. I think the best thing is that even though this is lingerie (granted, it's not everyday lingerie- it's more of a special occassion set), once the skirt is attached, it loses the feel of looking like something that should be in the bedroom, so the woman wearing it, even if she isn't the most comfortable in wearing lingerie outside can wear it with the ease of knowing her little secret- that this is lingerie and no one else needs to know it.

well i hope you all like it. I put a LOT of thought and research into this design. It took about 8 hours to color...I tried a new painting technique that is working out well for me, and i think it brings a lot more life to my designs. ^^

here's the amazing website i found to research Taurus: [link]
full view is most definitely recommended to see all the small details i put into this.

design (c) me.
please let me know what you think!!!

ps: upon further inspection of my design, i noticed that the necks on the back views wouldn't look that way in real life due to the front view. like i said, this took like 8 HOURS to draw & color and i was too close to my design to realize this and don't really have the time to tweak it due to all the traveling i have to do for my job both tomorrow and wednesday...so judges, i know it's not right, but it was an accident.