Introduction: 007 Wetsuit Tuxedo Hoodie

Have a special occasion where you need to arrive in stealth and then get classy to blend with the in crowd? Fear not, with this hoodie you can just go swimmingly with the scuba gear motif on the outside but have in reserve your classic white dinner jacket.  The yin-yang shaken-not stirred reversible approach to hoodies, flip the jacket inside out to facilitate a quick appearance or getaway.

Disclaimer: Not designed nor endorsed by any government agency, foreign or domestic or known secret evil underworld association.  Ask them about it and they will disavow any information about it.

The concept was initially sketched out in pencil on the contest flats provided.  Since I don't have a digitizing tablet on hand, using a mouse to do the prelimary drawings was difficult.  I scanned in my sketches and refined them in Sketchbook.

Step 1: Q and a on the Tailoring...

The wetsuit side is black.  You can have it in a selection of the different colors that James Bond wore such as red or midnight blue. The scuba gear motif can be as detailed with a photorealistic graphic print or impressionistic/3D with color/textured appliques. Possibly faced with neoprene fabric for the real wetsuit look or of a more breathable bonded fabric. The hood has a split zipper.  Zippers run along the bottom of the sleeves.

The white dinner jacket is white.  Well, off white, as purists know that wools will never be pure white.  A dickie, yes, I believe that is what it is called, the bib-like section of the hoodie, the shirt in white satin stripe fabric is pleated/ruffled just like those shirts from the cheap tuxedo rental store.  It comes complete with a black bow tie and red carnation in the lapel.  The hoodie is actually folded back inside the collar.  A quick unzip to flatten it out and tucked in partway under to form the notched collar for the dinner jacket.  The excess material would lay flat beneath and should only enhance the breadth of the shoulders. Mother of pearl buttons adorn the cuffs.

Step 2: Sketching and Design...

I still had a few days left on the trial download of Sketchbook so I thought I would give it another go.  

My digitizing tablet was gifted to someone so I found it difficult to do my freehand sketch with the mouse.  I am ambidextrous so drawing/writing with my left hand does not translate all together well when I normally operate the mouse with my right.  

I printed out the design flats.

I sketched out my designs for the wetsuit and the tuxedo using my trusty #2 pencil.

I scanned them back in using GIMP.

I used the polyline tool to mark the points along the line to trace and ink in the pencil lines.

I discovered when you hit the spacebar, the canvas positioning dialog control is brought up.  I couldn't figure out before how to move it when I knew my mouse scroll wheel was resizing and sometimes repositioning the image.  I'll have to find out what "resets" it back to center and original size.

I was still trying to get the feel of Sketchbook so I did not experiment with layers or cleaning up the pencil lines.  I just did a basic fill with colors from the design palette.

Step 3: The Name Is...

Now to go polish that Rolexx watch to accessorize this. Speargun and extra baccarat chips not included.

Who is going to make this? Brand. Betabrand.

Dream It, Draw It, Wear It Contest

Third Prize in the
Dream It, Draw It, Wear It Contest