Corset Revival- Rainbow Corset and Headpiece by Sue Fee of Sue La La Design

Rainbow Corset and Headpiece
by Sue Fee of Sue La La Design.

My piece was inspired by the beauty of the natural world, its creation myths and legends and also by the
materials I had to hand. Rainbows have delighted people from Noah to the ancient Greek goddess Iris, and
have found new fans in the celebration of our LGBTQI family. Rainbows are uplifting gifts of nature and I
wanted to bring that joy to my corset recreation, using the myriad colours and sparkles in the fabrics I work
with as a costume designer for circus artists.
Corsets have been worn in one form or another since ancient times, so it seemed fitting to invoke an ancient
goddess by reworking an existing corset. This corset is now the garment of a goddess! The goddess of the
rainbow invokes a promise of better times to come, and hopefully a cleaner planet for all life if we humans
can get a grip on the climate catastrophe. Reducing and reusing can help, but the real work is in persuading
our leaders to be brave enough to stand up to the demands of the rich, the demands of the oil industry and
remember who they actually work for. Can we look at this transformation project and demand a
transformation right at the top?
For this project I used the very small scraps generated from my other sewing activities. These are scraps
that are too small to sew a seam into and are frequently thrown away as they are often considered useless.
I saved these and have a range of pretty colours, iridescent fabrics and sequinned scraps. Far to good to
bin! I make these into new fabric by appliquéing them onto a base fabric, which is itself a scrap from toiles of
clothing designs. I use various embroidery and quilting techniques to create this fabric. The corset provided
a perfect showcase for this unique fabric.

I love upcycling because I can really play around and have fun with using materials in a new way, without the
pressure of it being perfect or useful. I love the idea of creating a new fabric from something that in the past I
would have just thrown away. My costume making generates a lot of beautiful offcuts and scraps which I am
keen to keep creating with.

Upcycling makes you look at the material around you as something with potential, not something useless
that needs to be discarded. Experimenting is key to it I feel. Upcycling is not necessarily a goal orientated
project either, which is another refreshing aspect to doing it. I don’t do it because I need to make something
to sell, or because someone is paying me to do it, but because it pleases me.