Lingerie Friday: Illustrative

About 10 years ago I flirted with the idea of doing a fashion design program. I didn’t need another degree nor career option but wanted that little push to take my love of sewing and clothes further. At the time, the interwebs obviously wasn’t the place it is now so one really had to hunt information. So I ended up enrolling in a few part-time semesters of art school which if anything fueled my passion for collecting illustration books. Perhaps it’s because I was first exposed to fashion through sewing pattern envelopes and late 70s/early 80s fashion magazines–which used to feature a lot more illustration in their ads and editorials–that I have a bit of a thing for fashion illustration. I love a good line.

So for my first Lingerie Friday, how about a glance at illustrators who’ve given life to underthings?

Antonio Lopez was a part of the Warhol crowd and a personality in the fashion scene of the 70s and 80s. His signature styles were glamorous, marker-saturated 80s illustrations, but I love his earlier more whimsical styles. What can I say, I like the 70s. W magazine recently published an article about Lopez in conjunction with an exhibition and beautiful new book of his work.

René Gruau. I love his ads for Dior.

Thea Kliros, from a lingerie editorial in Seventeen Magazine, October 1968. (More of these here.)

Erte-illustrated lingerie for the theater. (Lots more at the Met archives.)

Sandra Suy is one of my favorite contemporary illustrators. This isn’t the prettiest example of her work but it seems rare for an international brand to use illustration anymore.

Sometimes I get lost browsing portfolio sites like Behance. That’s how I found Kateryna Kyslitska. Edward Gorey underwear! Sort of how it usually looks all crumpled in the drawer, right?

Almost as if they read my mind, Sarah at Pattern Vault has just shared about the illustrator behind the Vogue ‘Practical Dressmaking’ book and Sallie shared some sneaky peaks from her fashion-y sketchbooks. Don’t miss!

Do you have any favorite illustrators?

{Bra illustration at top: fashion illustrator Coco for Galliano.}

15 comments

  1. Sallie says:

    These are all so fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing! I’m particularly fond of the 70’s Antonio Lopez – the slow, self-conscious line quality is so perfect for fashion illustration. I actually wish more brands would use illustration in their ads (The Sandra Suy on is brilliant) – at this point in time they would really stand out from the crowd of sexy victoria secret photos…
    I actually became interested in fashion through fashion illustration, too. When I was younger I used to draw from fashion magazines and turned them into paper dolls. Then I went to art school with the intention to study illustration and fibers, but at the time my heart wasn’t in it and I pursued a more “fine arts” painting degree – but its funny how those early influences came back to haunt me (and how they always affected my drawing).

    • Amy says:

      So cool to hear how your interests evolved. I love hearing those stories! I think our earliest interests always come back to weave into our lives and influence in some way. And I love paper dolls! I’ve just discovered illustrators who really do just that! But I think you are onto something about the illustration vs photo ads… lingerie photography can be so one-dimensional, to put it nicely.

  2. Amanda says:

    I too wish illustration was still more widely used in advertising. When I was in uni for graphic design one of my instructors had been an illustrator for catalogues, and I always thought that would be the most wonderful career ^__^

  3. Maddie says:

    I was looking forward to this post and it didn’t disappoint!

    Fashion Illustration is interested because sometimes a good fashion illustrator is NOT a good fashion designer. I think the assumption is that a fashion designer MUST and ALWAYS is good illustrator but that’s not the case. But fashion illustration is an art on its own – it’s stands on its own two feet (or however many feet is has?) – many designers and brands hire illustrator just for illustrating.

    • Amy says:

      Thanks, Maddie! I know a few people who started in fashion school wanting to design but discovered they loved illustration and drawing best and went in that direction. It’s a seriously challenging field! And I’m guessing technical illustration is a big part of it, too…

  4. Stephanie says:

    I love fashion illustrations. I would so love to be good at this stuff, so I could put my own ideas on paper. Went to a fashion illustration course at an art college, but we didn’t get much further than drawing croquis.

    Also thanks for your recent comment on my blog, please do share if you ever get around to the ralph pink corset pattern. I’m also glad to hear you enjoy my rundschau entries. They are very technical and so i wondered if ppl would read them at all 🙂 more technical posts are in the making 🙂

    • Amy says:

      Thanks Stephanie–I like technical bits and I’m learning all I can about patternmaking so your posts really appealed to me!

      In our fashion illustration courses we drew live nudes for two semesters straight. I thought that was an interesting way to start rather than the usual 9-heads, because it helped me to “see” bodies and lines. I wish I had more patience to draw; I never stuck with it but I love to admire others’ work!

  5. Stephanie says:

    Really great, love to discover new (old) illustrators. One of the reasons I like looking through vintage fashion magazines. I read comic books as a kid, and a lot of those guys came out of fashion ad work. My favorite is still John Buscema. His women always looked elegant and I loved the way he drew people standing around.

    • Amy says:

      Hehe, I love getting schooled about comic books, Steph! I think that’s why I liked Preacher Man–not for the story or content but something about the cover illustrations grabbed me.

  6. Carolyn says:

    Thanks for sharing these lovely lovely drawings! I particularly adore that first one; those blowsy pale pink bows on the pale green bra… utter gorgeousness!

  7. Tanit-Isis says:

    Great illustrations… Now I’m going to be wandering through art portfolios all week!

    My favourite pattern envelope arts is some of the McCall’s 1970s “Carefree” paterns—it’s really cute and whimsical.

  8. Pamela says:

    I think illustrations of lingerie are more appealing than seeing models in photos where all the bits have been cleaned up. I prefer the illustrative form of unreality. The detail on these drawings is useful for the sewer and often hard to see in a photo. My favorite illustrator is the person who drew the Miss Vogue line of patterns in the early 70s. The faces were stylized with wide set eyes and little bow lips and the girls always had a lithe movement to their figures. The outfits were always well-accessorized with head-scarfs, platform shoes and hats. I would love to know who this illustrator was.

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