Couture corsets: ‘Project Runway’ contestant Pamela Ptak reveals her hand-embellished corsets.
January 31, 2016 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
Pamela Ptak loves corsets.
“I love wearing them,” says the fashion designer, who was a contestant on Lifetime’s “Project Runway.” “It’s sort of like being hugged.”
The Riegelsville designer will have more than a dozen of her most elaborate high-fashion corsets on display in “Corsets Cocktails Go Red.” It’s a fashion show to benefit the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women initiative, which raises awareness of women’s heart disease.
The fashion show Feb. 6 at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem will also feature couture evening wear, playful day wear and even theatrical cosplay fashion.
Ptak operates The Arts and Fashion Institute in Bucks County with her husband, comic artist Scott Hanna. She says ArtsQuest approached the couple for its “Artists Among Us” series that spotlights area artists. Hanna did an exhibit of his work in that series last year.
ArtsQuest then asked if she would be willing to do a fashion show.
Since a fashion show can take many hours of work, Ptak says it had to be focused on something about which she was passionate and also benefit a good cause.
She says designing corsets is one of her “favorite things.” And since the event was planned for right before Valentine’s Day, it seemed a “no-brainer.”
The heart association’s Go Red for Women also hit home since Ptak’s mother is a heart patient with a pacemaker.
“Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women,” Ptak says. “It’s an important cause to support.”
The show will feature 15 corsets. And there also will be other fashions that use corsetry in their construction.
“Many garments we wear are technically corseted,” she says. “A strapless dress stays up because of boning. It’s like an architectural structure. It’s supported from waist like a bridge foundation holding up the suspension.”
She designs high-waisted skirts that use boning, so the wearer can sit in them and they stay smooth and unwrinkled. Another design that use corsetry techniques is a tank top with criss-cross lacing.
But she admits the corsets are the stars.
When she was fitting her models and they spotted the fancy corsets, they would say, “Oooh, can I try that?”
Each of her models will wear a corset as well as two other looks. “I didn’t want it just to be sexy,” she says. “I like things to be elegant.”
Ptak’s corsets and many of her other clothes are elaborately hand-embellished.
“I don’t do things in a small way,” she says. “One of my favorite things is doing embellishment.”
She says embellishments on corsets include fabric flower petals hand cut from silk and hand stitched to create a three-dimensional effect; hand-painted flowers with Swarovski crystals, and metallic silver lace with pearls and amethyst-colored beads.
One of the dresses features a hand-sewn decoration of aqua paillette sequins made from mother of pearl.
She also will include a dramatic coat “showpiece” that was featured in Stitches magazine, a fashion industry trade publication.
It is made of bronze silk organza, with jewelry quality hand-enameled medallions down the front.
Her designs have been featured four times in Stitches, and twice were on the cover.
The fashion show will also include some theatrical fashions including one that she calls a “charming homage to Bjork’s swan dress.”
“It’s over the top,” she says. “I’m a girl who also has a sense of humor.”
She says 36 designs will be modeled by 12 models including Mrs. Pennsylvania Kate Novak.
Some of the models also will be wearing shoes by Camilla Skovgaard, from Ptak’s personal collection.
“She makes the most outrageous shoes and I collect them,” she says. “They have a 5-inch heel.”
Ptak may wear a corset if she has any left. If she doesn’t, she will be clad in her signature brightly colored blazer, Camilla Skovgaard heels and multicolor-dyed hair.
“I’m not your average fashion designer,” she says. “I’m a little more quirky and happy … and silly. My attitude is about having fun while I’m doing fashion design.”
Admission to the event will includes a signature drink provided by Tito’s Handmade Vodka; a cash bar will also be available.
Half of the proceeds from the event will be donated to Go Red for Women.
Ptak studied at Pratt Institute in New York and worked as an art director for advertising agencies before starting her own line of clothing in 2001.
She was the second designer to be voted off “Project Runway” in January 2010. During the show, her construction techniques were lauded by mentor Tim Gunn.
She also creates garments for celebrity clientele, and her collections have been featured in shows and exhibits around the world, including Musee des Arts Asiatiques in France and the Puck Gallery in New York.
Ptak teaches fashion illustration, haute couture sewing techniques, lingerie design and more at The Arts and Fashion Institute.
kathy.lauer@mcall.com
610-778-2235
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CORSETS COCKTAILS GO RED
•What: A fashion show featuring models and local celebrities wearing hand-embellished corsets made by designer Pamela Ptak. Benefits the American Heart Association’s “Go Red for Women” initiative.
•When: 5:30 p.m. Feb. 6
•Where: ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem
•How much: $39
•Info: 610-332-3378, www.steelstacks.org
