Crafting fashion research

Crafts:

• Cold Press Natural Soapmaking <–
• Glass blowing
• Goat milk soap

History of Soap:

In 3000 BC, Sumerians were using soap solutions at the time to purify temple attendants before sacred rites. Ancient Roman legend has it that at Mount Sapo, where animals were sacrificed, rainwater would wash down the fats of the animals and wood ashes into the River Tiber below. People discovered that the soapy mixture was useful for washing clothing/skin so the word soap was derived from this mountain.

How soap arrived from the Gauls to Britain is unclear but by the 13th century soapmaking was popular in towns like Bristol, Coventry and London. The region played a role in the soapmaking process. For example, in Marseilles, France and Castile, Spain, the regions were rich in high quality of olive oil while in Northern Europe animal fats were more common.

Soap became a luxury item for the rich but during the Industrial Revolution, production allowed for efficiency and bathing became a social norm.

source: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/history-science-technology-and-medicine/history-science/the-history-soapmaking

Iconic fashion looks:

• Dior Ballet Skirt <–
• Pillbox hat worn by Jacqueline Kennedy
• Elvis White Jumpsuit
• Chanel Suit

After WWII and fabric rations, the trend swung back to something more playful. Christian Dior presented his voluminous ballet skirt that accentuated the size of the fabric with a thin hourglass waist. The iconic shape was soon coined the “New Look” which is still popular today.

After doing my research, I was particularly interested in soap making.

Diane’s small business, Peace Soap

Recipe: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/lavender-dream-soap-recipe-517161 \

Steps: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/cold-process-soap-from-scratch-516814

This recipe teaches how to make Lavender scented soap, but I decided to skip the dried lavender buds on the skirt so that I’d be simply white, then replaced it with rose petals later. I also chose to substitute the orange and lavender essential oil with vanilla instead.

Ingredients:

• 6.8 oz palm oil
• 10.2 oz coconut oil
• 1.7 oz cocoa butter
• 10.2 oz olive oil
• 1.7 oz castor oil
• 3.4 oz sunflower oil
• 11.3 oz water
• 2 tbsp. of lightly ground lavender/rosebuds
• .4 oz orange essential oil, patchouli, and lavender essential oil (I replaced with vanilla extract)

Tools:

• Safety gloves and googles
• soap pot
• kitchen scale
• mason jar
• thermometer
• measuring cups
• molds

Of these ingredients, I already had olive oil and castor oil and purchased the rest online.

How to make it:

1. Add lye into distilled water in a pitcher, stir gently
2. pour oils together
3. place solid oils (cocoa butter) into the soap pot on the stove and melt while stirring gently
   1. monitor with a thermometer and turn off heat once the oil reaches 110 degrees
   2. once melted, add the liquid oils to the soap pot (110 degrees)
4. have other ingredients on hand (color, fragrance, flower petals)
5. slowly add lye-water mixture to the soap pot and blend
   1. quickly blend for 3-5 seconds, repeat this “burst” blend process until completely mixed
   2. to ensure it is ready, dip a spoon into the mixture and let it drip back into the pot, it should leave a track on the spoon (known as “trace” when emulsification has occurred)
6. Add any fragrance, spices, a natural exfoliant, petals or essential oils now
   1. (If I would like to add color and swirl it, I would pour the colorant into one corner of the pot and use a spatula to lightly swirl it throughout the pot, making sure not to overmix it)
7. Now the soap will have thickened and pour the soap into a mold using a back and forth motion to spread it evenly
   1. tap the mold gently on the countertop to get rid of air bubbles
8. Set in a warm, safe place to allow curing (24 hours)
   1. after it sets, the soap should be hard enough to unmold and slice

Instead of pouring the mixture into a rectangular mold as the recipe says, I poured it into a cup because it would be a better shape to start with in order to carve out a Dior ballet skirt.

Process:

Final Photos:

Artist Statement:

For this project, I taught myself how to make soap as well as carve it. I used this technique to create a mini repliqua of the iconic fashion garment, Dior’s Ballet Skirt. I had always seen handmade soap at craft fairs or farmers markets and was always intrigued by their colorful designs and smells and had always been dying to try making my own. Dior’s ballet skirt is also just so iconic in women’s fashion, and also having danced ballet since 3 years old, it seemed like an obvious marriage to carve this silouhette. I’m happy that through this project I was able to learn more about these things that have been floating in the back of my mind.

From my research, I was interested to learn about the extensivity of the soap making process, including the ingredients necessary, the blending techniques and even a test of patience in waiting for it to cure. It showed me how things aren’t always as easy as it seems. But I very much enjoyed the process and it was a fun activity to do while staying at home.

After having made the soap, I poured the mixture into a styrofoam solo cup and popped it out after it had cured. One problem that I had was that the first mixture didn’t have enough, so I made more and poured on top of the already made frozen piece. I thought they’d mold into each other, but unfortunately, they remained two separate pieces. To fix the problem, I then placed foil on a pan and rolled the sides to fuse them together.

The carving process was also very therapeutic and experimental. For this one, there was no recipe to follow. I simply took kitchen utensils and carved slowly at it. It kinda felt like carving into butter in a way. I started with the waistband, then worked my way creating the pleats and shaping the skirt. I also used my fingers to help smoothen it out.

At first, it was a bit frightening because I knew that if I made a mistake, I wouldn’t be able to undo it. But as time passed, I got more into it and was really in the zone, paying attention to every detail. I had to remind myself to stop because I often feel like I need to “add more” and keep on touching it.

Seeing it all together, I’m happy with the cleanliness of how it turned out. The skirt was also a great shape for holding in the palm of the hand, plus the shape of it would be helpful to scrubbing different parts of the body in the shower! Overall I enjoyed the project and am happy with the opportunity of trying something new.

 

Bonus!

With the extra material, I poured them into silicon molds and gifted them to friends and family