Carousel Crinoline
| Carousel Crinoline | |
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| Invented by | Mirari Laurier |
| Used by | Public use |
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The Carousel Crinoline is a wearable mechanical garment frame designed by Mirari Laurier, blending the engineering culture of Ironhurst with the ornamental sensibility of baroque fashion. Built around a muscle-powered pulley system, the frame allows selected decorative elements to rise and fall in motion with the wearer, creating a kinetic sculptural effect beneath or over draped fabric. It is intended for semi-formal to formal occasions.
History
Mirari Laurier arrived in Ironhurst approximately a month before beginning this project. Coming from a quieter upbringing, she found the city's scale and mechanical energy striking, and began studying its machinery - the parts, the movements, the underlying logic of it - alongside books on both mechanics and humanoid anatomy. She was looking for a way to bring the two worlds she now inhabited into dialogue: the ornate, handcrafted aesthetic she had grown up with and the industrial ingenuity she now found herself surrounded by. The Carousel Crinoline was her answer.
Her first attempt was a rapid failure - the gears consumed the fabric entirely, and the hydraulic system could not bear the frame's weight. A full rework of the second attempt steered her toward muscle-powered mechanics, which proved far more tractable. The third attempt achieved a working balance of mechanical movement, materials, and proportions, and the fourth and final version added the clamping system that allows the frame to be opened and closed for wear.
Construction
Twenty copper-plated steel pipes are cut to length and finished smooth with a one-inch interior clearance. Sixteen are bent to a semi-oval curve; the remaining four are shaped for the structural rings at the waist, top, frame peak, and bottom, which secure the sixteen uprights in their arrangement. Every other upright is fitted for decoration, with internal cables routed through the pipe walls to drive them up and down via alternating pulleys actuated by the wearer's movement. The three upper structural rings are welded to the frame; the waist ring remains separate.
The completed frame is then cut cleanly in half and the edges smoothed to sit flush. Eight copper-plated steel sheets, each six by eight inches, are notched on two opposite edges and bent to form ball-and-socket casings that fit over the top of the frame and seat the waist pipe on steel ball bearings, allowing the two halves to rotate smoothly when worn. Two fitted metal clasps are attached to the front half at the waist to allow the frame to be donned and removed. Fabric - tulle or any comparable material - can then be draped underneath or over the completed frame.
Physical Characteristics
A completed Carousel Crinoline runs from the wearer's waist to the ankle. Copper-plated steel is the standard material, though any sufficiently lightweight metal is workable. Eight of the sixteen frame supports are active - alternating with the static supports - and each carries whatever decorative element has been chosen for that position, rising and falling with the wearer's movement. The waist clasp may be leather or metal depending on preference. Decorative elements on the active supports are interchangeable.
Applications & Weaknesses
The Carousel Crinoline is a formal and semi-formal garment accessory. Its kinetic decoration is driven entirely by the wearer's own movement through the pulley system - when the wearer is still, the decorations are still. The frame can be modified to include gyroscopic elements for smoother movement, though this adds to its restrictive qualities. Some metals suitable for construction may cause adverse reactions with prolonged skin contact, and wearers should choose their materials accordingly.
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