Sportswear - WEEK 2

During this week, i concentrated on using the research  i gained and applied it to contemporary fashion. I found it difficult to apply my other concept of 'ancient Olympia' because the fabric manipulation seemed dated, which conflicted with the contemporary design of modern sportswear. I overcame this problem by applying the fabrics i research during last week and applied them to the Grecian construction details. For example, draping was a signature design of Grecian style, therefore i used a drapy and flowing material like net, which is used in some sportswear such as vests.

This exercise we did on the stands, helped me to adapt the designs of the ready made sportswear and the Grecian style robes. This is because the paper on the mannequins indicates seam lines, which alter a garment tremendously. I would use this exercise in other projects, because i found it very useful and helped me to understand how the garment may be maid and how the fabric will be ultimately manipulated using the seams i created. 

Sportswear - WEEK 1

I enjoyed this week because we were able to look at live fashion in order to influence out designs. I thought this was inspirational, but did not want my designs to be influenced by end garments. The inspiration i took from the trip was the texture of certain sportswear garments and the type of fabrication used. For instance, the some sporty fabrics used holey fabrics in order to keep the wearer from retaining too much heat. I liked this use of textile because it looked more interesting that plain woven fabrics. 

I discovered that most sportswear had numbers in a certain font, which to me acts like a logo for sportswear and was an easy identification for sport influenced fashion. 

This project was to encourage me to use more colours: This took me out of my comfort zone, because i usually use minimal colours in my previous project. I enjoyed looking a bright fabrics and colours as it was from one extreme to the other and allowed me to experiment. I would use what i learnt about colour in my other projects, as i have learnt that colour is crucial for fashion development.

Logos such as Nike and Adidas  are very common among sportswear and thought that machine embroidery should be used in my designs, as this also determines a sports related fashion garment.

Deconstruction/Reconstruction - WEEK 2

This week i was able to understand how the deconstructed garments would fit together as a garment. The stand work i did was beneficial because i found it hard to see how different parts of a garment create a totally new piece of clothing. For example, the neckhole of a jumper (if wide enough) could become a skirt that fits over the hips.

During this week i also found it difficult to draw design ideas because i did not know how they would end up if they were made. I think in the future, i will make sure that there is a substantial amount of stand work to understand how fabrics drape and adapt to the body. This will help when designing roughs, plus this means that the difference between my development and the stand will not alter as much, because i have a better understanding of fabric.

When it came to making the final piece, I found it easy. There was no need to machine sew the garment, because the previous garments held most of their shape.
There was a lack of development, therefore if i was to move the project forward, i would ensure i have a prominent muse to adapt the designs to.

Deconstruction/Reconstruction - WEEK 1

The styling exercise allowed me to think outside the box, by using different occasion wear to create  whole garments. With the use of other garments, we were able to create different silhouettes by using components, such as zips. We recorded the different styles we created, which came in handy when creating my rough designs. I was advised to use parts of a garment on different parts on the body, as this would create a completely different silhouette. For example, trousers could be used to make a top. This advise was useful, because it made it easier to create different shapes and angles. We were also advised not to deconstruct too much of a garment, so an element of the construction could be used to create shapes. I followed this advise, because i found out that part if too much of the garment was taken apart, not much could be used to reconstruct it from. I did however take the zips from the red jogging bottoms i used, because i thought they would be an interesting component to use. I wanted to create a conceptual design, then simplify it if necessary. I would aim to create this by selecting specific parts i like and developing further using many quick roughs.

I enjoyed getting straight to designing rather than concentrating on research, because this was an area i needed strengthening. Using magazine cut outs and placing them on different parts of the body was a useful technique to get ideas flowing. I discovered that using different sizes of garments created an interesting design. Despite the scale of clotting not being realistic, I think experimenting with scale for initial design ideas is important.

Christmas Project

3 Words - WEEK 2

I was advised to do more research of my chosen words, in order for me to experiment thoroughly with my ideas. I needed to focus on one idea of my research and extract it as much as possible before moving on to another idea. I struggled to do this, but later on found out how to overcome this by refusing to think of design ideas, as this hindered the research and experimentation stage. I also realised that i was taking the spider/arachnophobia idea to literally and needed to abstract the idea by taking elements of spiders which people fear.

The critique also helped me to understand that i need to do so much more experimentation before i even consider design ideas. I found myself using knit in my sketchbook, which dominated it. This was because they were the only samples included in my sktchbook, which led people to believe i was interested in knit over design, which is not the case. I need to also consider how much knit samples i put into my book, to avoid giving the impression i want to be a knit student. Although i enjoy using elements of knit I want to express my interest in designing, therefore i will increase the number of silhouette sketches in my sketchbooks in the future.

In order to improve and complete this project, I aim to look more closely at the way phobias effect people, rather than look at the surface meaning of arachnophobia and aichmophobia. I want to relate my research to how phobias effect the body before considering specific fears such as ones mentioned previously. I want to make it obvious that i am decorating a fear with the use of Nick Knight's 'Flora' photography, as it will help incorporate the word 'decorate'. I believe my initial research must be open for me to target specific parts - i can then isolate these ideas in order to develop them as much as possible.

3 Words - WEEK 1

This week was slow, because the project was so free. My initial words were: Nick Knight, grotesque and decorate. I liked the contrast between the words grotesque and decorate and wanted to work closely with them. I struggled a little to include Nick Knight into the project because he has photographed many different things that were hard to categorize as his specific style. I found his book 'Flora' which inspired one of my words, decorate.

During my research stage, I decided to change the word 'grotesque' to 'phobia', because i thought grotesque was too vague. I initially looked at common phobias i knew of such as arachnophobia, acrophobia and achluophobia. I then specified my phobia research on arachnophobia and linked it to aichmophobia because spider legs remind me of needles. I linked this research to Nick Knight's 'Flora' work and chose plants that were spiky or seemed to have sharp edges. I found it difficult to merge the ideas together, rather than experimenting with each of my chosen words separately.

In an effort to apply the word decorate, i decided to experiment with the effect of Nick Knights photography used in 'Flora'. I edited pictures of roses i took to make the colours more vivid and the darker shades velvety. I wasn't sure where to take this idea, and used parts of the image i edited, and images from 'Flora' in order to connect them to spider legs and needles. For example, i took images of rose thorns to relate it to needles. I also experimented with the the way sharp objects effect skin - for instance indentation and protuberance.