Cummerbunds¶
I was looking at corsets, and belts, but I realised the Cummerbund is a great article of clothing for this project.
It is also a great throwback to my own heritage, since the cummerbund, though popularized as part of a tuxedo or suit, is originally and upto the present, a garment of Indian origin !
I had initially envisioned the garment as a corset-type enclosing support. However, over time, it evolved into a belt and a cummerbund. The corset would be structurally far more complicated than necessary, and for the same or less benefits.
I simplified it to a belt but also realised that it could very well be a cummerbund. I took inspiration from the traditional formal cummerbunds of the west, as well as the original sources, the kamar-bandhs of south Asia, especially the north and northwestern regions where it originates from.
Another interesting inspiration was the support belts worn by weightlifters and wrestlers, which are narrower but provide similar functions.
The cummerbund traditionally has pleats that act like pockets. That was a feature I put in the interface as well.
By the time the final prototypes were being made, I had abandoned the pleats to go with a far simpler structure of fabric, since there was a lot of complexity coming in from the composite structures that would not allow pleats very easily.
And so, between these sources and my process, the shape of the garment evolved.
Cummerbund and Weight belts moodboard¶
The OG Kamarbandhs from the Punjab and Northwestern India
Cummerbunds in the west
Modern traditional cummerbunds in India attire
Drawings for the initial belts¶
I lasercut the basic plans for a cummerbund (pleated) and a belt (non-pleated) and assembled them with clips and tape, no stitching yet. This was the first size and shape trial.
Dimensions of the individual pieces