Trust No One
Journal 3 x Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls
What is Gravity Falls?
Gravity Falls as a show was some of the best animation and storytelling to come out of the Disney Channel since the Disney Afternoon when I was a kid. The writing is witty with a quick humor that I adore. The show is the story of young twins Dipper and Mabel Pines, who are sent for the summer to live with their great uncle, "Grunkle" Stan, a cranky old man who runs the Mystery Shack, a tourist attraction in the town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. When they find a mysterious journal in the middle of the woods, the pair discover that Gravity Falls is more than just a quiet little town. It’s a hotbed of paranormal and cryptid discoveries waiting to be seen. Think of it like a crossover between The X-Files and Twin Peaks, but for the whole family.
First Debuted: Colossalcon East 2021
The idea for this particular design came from one simple and ironic pun. I wanted to create a “book jacket.” Similar to the book, the jacket would be constructed from a lambskin leather with the accents and trim being a pop of gold faux leather to mimic the gold pieces of the book itself. In the middle of the back, it will have the trademark 6-finger handprint with the 3 in the middle, appliqued from gold and black leather. The jacket is lined in a lightweight lining material that is covered with different codes, ciphers, and accents that are similar to what you would find if you opened the book to any random page. And to mimic the bookmark, the zipper pull is the monocle that is attached to the book itself.
But like any old journal that is used heavily, the pages have started to fall out. I want to create a three-tiered skirt, covered in pages of the book that looks as if they are falling down the back of the dress. My goal is to make this dress durable and long lasting. Therefore, I digitized my own copy of the official Journal 3, printed the pages out on a heat transfer paper, and created fabric “pages.” This allowed for the dress to have a bit more movement and be far sturdier than using actual paper. Because I will be transferring the pages to fabric, I opted to use an unbleached muslin to make the pages keep their coloring and proper aged appearance. The skirts are lined in a deep red to match that of the jacket.
The left side of the bodice is a mixture of various pages and focused on one of the main journal entries that began the entire show, which is “Trust No One.” This will be given the structure with boning and a laced backing to the top.
As Journal 3 states: "Beware Bill, the most powerful and dangerous creature I've ever encountered. Whatever you do, never let him enter your mind." On the other half of the bodice, I will have gold bricks similar to those that comprise the mind demon and main antagonist of the series, Bill Cipher. This is to show him being summoned forth from the Journal pages as they are escaping from the book, allowing him to take physical form once more. Keeping with his triangle theme, I have a triangle black chiffon piece leading up to the black choker on the neck, accented with his trademark bow tie.
To play off of Bill’s look, I opted to go for long black leather gloves. I plan on pairing them with a thigh high matching leather boot. These are accented by a small black leather top hat with a gold hair style, shimmering with sparkles that covers one eye.
However, nothing in Gravity Falls is ever as it seems. That most definitely includes Journal 3. During the season 2 premiere, Dipper and Mable discover that the Journal is a whole new level of secrets when they find invisible ink notes and images written all throughout the pages of the book. Using a UV reactive ink, all of the pages of the dress have hidden messages, writing, and codes throughout.
Overall, this dress represents all the fun and mysteries of this amazing show. And to quote the creator of the show, Alex Hirsch: “Stay curious, stay weird, stay kind and don't let anyone ever tell you you aren't smart or brave or worthy enough.”
