The inspiration for this ikat stripe two piece set is actually, the hotel where I shot these photos! When the Sands hotel opened late last year, I was IN LOVE with the high contrast, moroccan funk design, by renowned Interior Designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard. I have his books and have followed his career for years, and have always loved his maximalist approach to interior design, which is absolutely perfect for a Palm Desert resort getaway.
I stalked the hotel renovation from afar through instagram, and the second I knew we had a family trip planned to Palm Desert, I started planning an outfit to shoot at the hotel. I knew that any old outfit wouldn’t do the hotel justice, so I decided to look for fabric to play off the the black and white floor-to-cieing tiled lobby and work from there. I fell in love with this digitally printed striped linen, which looks like abstract brush strokes. I liked the layering of this white-grounded fabric next to a black-grounded ikat fabric, and thought that Mr. Bullard would appreciate this pattern on pattern approach!
The design was always intended to be a two piece set, as I figured I would get more mileage out of the pieces if I could mix and match them into my vacation wardrobe later on. So I started with the top, and while I kept the bodice simple, I really played and molded the ruffle detail until I thought it was exaggerated enough, but still wearable. That was definitely an exploration in draping for me; I cut a large circle with a hole in the center, with the circumference of the length of the strap. Once the circle was cut to the center, it allowed me to play around with folds and curves to see how the ruffle would lay. If you are interested in seeing more of this draping technique in action, I have saved it as one of the highlights in my instagram stories!
I first thought that I would make a shorter skirt to tie back to the top, but once I saw the top on I knew I needed more coverage on the bottom to balance the look. The skirt was easy to make, just gathering each layer into the one before it, but took every scrap of fabric I had left. In the end, I love this skirt for the way it moves and draped in the photographs- it ended up adding more drama to the pictures than the top!
The lobby of the Sands Hotel is absolutely stunning, and perfectly set the tone for how well designed the rest of the hotel was. I ended up shooting quite a bit more outfits here, and sneaking pictures of the gorgeous spa, the delicious restaurant The Pink Cabana, and more nooks and crannies of this highly instagrammable hotel. My whole family stayed for lunch and my mom could not stop talking about how beautiful the hotel was! Needless to say we’ll be back!
