Sabotage

Free Computation Studio 2024
Paris, France

Game Developer: Hadrien Basch

Sabotage is a historical "documentary" video game set in Paris’s 18th arrondissement in 1941, during the German occupation. For my digital costume designs, I focused on regionally-specific historical garment construction, fit, and detail. This project demonstrates how I integrate my understanding of the patterning methods, weight, flow, and properties of real-world textile materiality in digital space.

I hand-drew design sketches in Procreate. I patterned and simulated each digital garment in CLO, textured in Substance Painter, and rendered in Blender.

Berty (Main Character)

Berty is a young girl who works in an arms manufacturing company while secretly undermining enemy efforts. By exploring questions that would help me make costume choices, I developed the personality and background of her character in collaboration with the game developer. The realism in this digital costume is owed to my references in real-world materiality and garment construction. I took special care to recreate the cotton poplin plaid textile in my references. I matched plaids at the seams and applied distressing the way the dress would be constructed in real life.

3D Model

Sketch & Research

Male Passerby

This character is a middle-aged working-class male that can be placed in a crowd to establish social conditions. The patterning methods I followed for this ensemble is from a tailoring book from 1937 entitled, "The Progressive Tailor." I drew on my experience tailoring historical menswear for theatre to add construction elements such as welt pockets, lapel facings, hems, and shoulder pads.

3D Model

Sketch & Research

Female Passerby

This character is a working-class woman on the streets of 1940s Paris. For the construction of her digital garments, I drew on extant tailoring guides as well as home-sewing patterns from the 1940s. The materials include vintage cotton and boiled wool textiles sourced online. The character reference images were provided by the game developer.

3D Model

Sketch & Research

Image Sources

Mrs. Depew Vintage, 2021. HASLAM SYSTEM OF DRESSCUTTING BOOK OF DRAFTINGS No. 17, p. 9.
TheTextileTrunk, 2025. Plaid blue green RARE 1930 1940's French shirting UNUSED vintage workwear fabric work wear cotton clothing clothes shirting coastal home [fabric]. Etsy. Available at: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1080300154/gray-and-black-wool-suiting-fabric [Accessed 9 February 2025].
Atelier Robert Doisneau, 1944. Women build a barricade in Ménilmontant in August 1944 during the Paris Uprising. AAMRN collection, Museum of National Resistance in Champigny-sur-Marne. Available at: [https://www.france24.com/en/france/20231015-robert-doisneau-the-wartime-years-paris-show-hails-photographer-s-spirit-of-resistance] [Accessed 9 February 2025].
University of Rhode Island, 1940. Simplicity pattern no. 3420: JR Miss & Misses' Dress. Commercial Pattern Archive. Available at: https://copa.apps.uri.edu/garmentPatNum.php?patID=44057&patternid=3420 [Accessed 9 February 2025].

-The Progressive Tailor, 1937. Vol. 27, Spring and Summer, pp. 32, 39, 40, 45 [PDF]. Tailoring Arts Publishing Co., Publishers, New York.
TheRinggoldKid, no date. Gray and black wool suiting fabric [fabric]. Etsy. Available at: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1080300154/gray-and-black-wool-suiting-fabric [Accessed 9 February 2025].
Mood Fabrics, no date. Italian charcoal wool herringbone coating [fabric]. Mood Fabrics. Available at: https://www.moodfabrics.com/italian-charcoal-wool-herringbone-coating-307490 [Accessed 9 February 2025].
Archives départementale de Loir-et-Cher, no date. Des Blésois font la queue devant une boulangerie. Se ravitailler sera le principal souci de la France occupée. Available at: https://www.lanouvellerepublique.fr/loir-et-cher/juin-1940-le-loir-et-cher-dans-la-tourmente-6 [Accessed 9 February 2025].

-The Progressive Tailor, 1937. Vol. 27, Spring and Summer, pp. 41, 43 [PDF]. Tailoring Arts Publishing Co., Publishers, New York.
University of Rhode Island, 1939. Simplicity pattern no. 3165: Misses' suit & blouse. Commercial Pattern Archive. Available at: https://copa.apps.uri.edu/garmentPatNum.php?patID=20104&patternid=3165 [Accessed 9 February 2025].
TheTextileTrunk, no date. SOFT brushed cotton plaid flannel RARE 1930 1940 French Shirting UNUSED Vintage Workwear fabric Work wear cotton clothing clothes shirting [fabric]. Available at: https://www.etsy.com/nz/listing/1407431851/soft-brushed-cotton-plaid-flannel-rare [Accessed 9 February 2025]
Croft Mill, no date. Remnant pure luxury 100% boiled wool jacket fabric – Hot rust (1.22m) [fabric]. Croft Mill. Available at: https://www.croftmill.co.uk/remnant-pure-luxury-boiled-wool-hot-rust-122m [Accessed 9 February 2025].
Source Unknown