[Background] Hello all! My name is Issa Mello and this spring I've been selected as the University's Lila Bath Intern. This means I get to spend a week in San Antonio, Texas at the University of the Incarnate Word studying and analyzing all of the culture, dress, and the extensive Lila Bath costume collection. Throughout my trip I'll be posting a couple blogs and plenty of pictures to share my experience with you! To read her previous blogs click, BlogPost1, BlogPost2 and BlogPost3

After coming back home and looking back on the many inspirations from my week in San Antonio, I had a tough time choosing a direction to go in. There are many different facets and styles of Lila Bath and each is so unique, yet cohesive to her personality. I started sketching designs based on some outfits that I was intrigued by. I'm a very hands-on learner, so I also draped some muslin to get a 3-dimensional feel for Lila's work. From draping the pleats, style lines, and details of Mexican and Southern Texan dress, I took some of their design elements and incorporated them with my own personal aesthetic. I was really intrigued by the results in the sketches and beginning draping phases. I was surprised how much of my personality aligned with Lila Bath!

The elements from the Lila Bath collection that I focused on were well-placed and detailed embellishments, pin tucks, and layers of lace or netting. I explored different sides of these elements, but ultimately wanted to focus on the layering effect of lace on top of a fabric. Because I'm interested in childrenswear, I was hoping to design a child's garment as well as a woman's outfit. Dr. Perez had some great feedback with my designs and helped me with deciding between women's and children's designs. Below are the final two designs that I'll be constructing as a capstone project. The girl's dress will have both lace inserts as well as lace overlays, depending on the placement. The woman's outfit has shorts with smaller lace or rick-rack diagonal strips. The top is still up in the air; I may go for a plainer look with the slouched t-shirt with lace hem or the more structured, asymmetrical top. I am hoping to show these two outfits at an event in the fall celebrating the Lila Bath legacy.