Villains and Vixens Collection Entry I - Capt. Lewis from "Private Benjamin"

I remember watching "Private Benjamin" as a kid. I often would ask my parents, "WHY is that lady (Capt. Doreen Lewis as played by the worship-worthy Eileen Brennan) so mean?!" For a character so cold-hearted, I could not help but to like her, and especially looked forward to seeing the recruits get back at her each episode (blue food coloring in her showerhead, removal of the brake lines in her jeep). Love her or hate her, Capt. Lewis was a bad mamma-jamma.

As the first in my installation of a TV "Villains and Vixens", I sexified the Captain up... um... just a bit? I like to imagine this girl walking down a city street toting a Doberman and a single grocery bag filled with wine and ridiculously overpriced french bread, just DARING anyone to talk to her.

(In case it is not obvious to you, I will note the boots in this picture were photoshopped in, so as not to take credit for them.)











So character explanation aside, this outfit was NOT incredibly easy to make. There are a lot of details and mixtures of softness and toughness going on. This outfit was kind of an excercise in sewn-in pleats with one open end. You can see examples of this in the sleeves of the blouse as well as under the bust of the jacket in the picture below.


This outfit was also an unexpected learning experience for me. I can't design shabby. I had in my head for this peice to be a little bit more raw, with unpretty elements like unfinished edges and parts that didn't exactly fit perfectly. Well, as you can see by the tailored look of it all, it didn't exactly turn out that way! That's good, though. I can more than accept that I like to design clothes that fit and look clean.