Styling + illustration workshop

We were very lucky to have Adrian come in and do a workshop with us, in this workshop we explored layering different garments onto a body to create a new outfit.  We then had to illustrate what we had created through quick 20 second sketches from all angles, this was a challenge as I had never experimented or worked with 20 second sketches.  The whole point of this workshop in my opinion was to loosen our hands and become more confident in the ways we sketch and record what we see.

The image to the left is one of my constructed garments that I had created which consisted of a dress, waist coat, scarf, a belt, jewelry and a vintage camera. This look was successful as it portrayed the idea of mixing different textures and making them  work together.

This is my 20 second sketch for the look above, I tried to capture the basic outline to create my silhouette. in the sketch i have emphasized some elements that caught my eye and which i considered as most important such as the belt, camera and the scarf that held the waist coat in place around the waist. Doing this sketch has really developed my understanding of what to focus on under a limited time and i have found this method of sketch 3d into 2d much easier and with a much more successful outcome.

The image below focuses on the lower half of the body. For this i used my prom dress as i had 3d panels attachments around the bust, tacking this into consideration i laid the bust line of the dress around the waist to give the peplum look. I used the leopard dress and wrapped it around the bust contrasting with a printed jumper that my model had originally been wearing to give the effect of princess lines. This look to me was effective in communicating what i had wanted to achieve but also i think it is quite plain and could to with a bit more accessories.    

Here below i had challenged my self to do various 10 second sketches from all angles of interest. I captured different shapes that was being created by the way the garments had sat on the body, due to the way it was held together. I was happy of the end result of these sketches as they show possible silhouette's that can be adapted in the future.

Heat press workshops with Alison!

Every Wednesday after lunch we have 2 hours with Alison who has been doing a workshop where we get practical and explore the outcomes and effects that different materials achieve under the heat press.  I enjoy this workshop as we are given the chance to explore and manipulate different materials so they can shrink or be used as a mold in some sort of design or even just the basic idea of changing the texture of these materials. I can say that my ideas using the heat press flowed like water in a river, I was very determined and empowered to try everything that I could think of to explore many different techniques of manipulation, these are examples of a few that I created:

The first image is the hand drawn original using heat transfer paints.  The second one is that first image printed onto calico, the reason it is so faint is because calico doesnt take up the ink as it should but thats what I like about it as it creates mystery.  the last one is printed on a polyester so it soaked up the colours very well to portray near enough the same image, however I was very disappointed that the shadows came out pink but as this was a trial and error workshop I made a reference for the future if I go to use the red wine colour of the heat transfer paints!

 The samples above are examples of plastic materials manipulation,  I liked this kind of manipulation because so much can be expanded on and produced with it, it is a very versatile technique and I think I will use this for future projects.

The samples above are my favourite of them all, I think they are very success full and look like something that you could defiantly see on the catwalk as a future print.  For these samples I deliberately used different fabric so I could observe the outcome on the different textures.  To achieve the print I painted a piece of card black and used feathers to act as a barrier between the paint and the fabric as you can see above the first 2 samples were most successfull as they were on a polyester fabric and the ink was fresh.  However I am very pleased with the effect that was produced from the 2 below as it gives off a more vintage vibe because the paint was running out so that cause the black behind to be less vibrant, which I think creates an interesting illusion!

Primary Research

I work in a very unique way as I am unable to generate or process successful ideas unless I have completed my primary research!
I have attending various museums, galleries and exhibitions to improve and expand my knowledge some of which include: PoP exhibition at the fashion& textile museum, which I loved as it was such a mix of styles and trends, I found it uniquely inspirational to me as in my eyes it portrayed the word POP in a very different way and I can now say that when someone talks about pop culture I can confidently join in! This is an example of my gathered research:

I recently attended the Valentino exhibition at Somerset house, which I think was good but I wasn't completely satisfied as the exhibition was smaller than I expected and very crowded, however I can say that the garments on display were absolutely beautiful! No photos were allowed so I recorded some of my favorite design in sketches, feel the Valentino below! :


















I regularly go to the British museum and the v&a as for me no matter how many times I go I will always find new and fresh ideas from something that I have seen before!  I recently went to the v&a to attend the fashion motion catwalk show by Fyodor Golan which I thought was amazing and it went really well, I found their work style and then some as it was a range of garments that were all unique within watch the clip below and see for yourself!

I have also attended the Death as a self portrait exhibition and medicine man exhibition at the wellcome museum and I done some quality research at the science museum but you will find out more about that later on!

Shoesss!!

Doing the shoe project I hit alot of hurdles as I made my shoe through improvisation, My initial idea was to combine to shoes to make one, I set out firstly to find an inspirational shoe but stumbled upon 2 pairs that I found very inspiring and thats when the idea of combining the two hit me and I generating idea from then on:

These were my 2 shoes one is a court heel and the other is just the strap from the gladiator style 80's sandal, the sole is a thick, hard sole with a low heel. I had the brilliant idea of gluing the court shoe to the sole of the gladiator sandal and creating a new shoe layout.  Once I had started ideas began pouring to me like water from a tap!!
I can now admit that I struggled dearly putting the shoe together as I found it really hard and frustrating to use the glue gun normally without burning my fingers off!!  but overall I can say that I overcame that with a few burns! but at least I have a cool shoe that I may say I am very proud of. I think in my eyes the most successfull part of my shoe if portrayed in the fact that the sole looks like a converse sole which I did with no intention and then the gap that is created for me is very interesting and adds alot of quirkiness to the shoe!


I then began gluing beads, buttons, cardboard that inspired me and ending up with the result below:

Exploratory stage September-December

When I first started at WMC I didn't know what exactly to expect, but through my exploratory stage of the course I experienced and explored a range of many different things that I enjoyed as they helped me accomplished a new style of working which suits me much better than what I was use to doing, no wonder uni's recommend a foundation course! Even though its only been 4 months I feel that I have developed in a way that makes me ready for entering the hyena style industry.

If I go back to that very first day when we were thrown into the deep end and asked to make a garment on the stand with only calico and pins, I recall that from that moment I felt the will and power that a practical first day releases in you and from this I knew this was the course for me where I will develop and explore many new things.  We have done a variety of many pathways through different mini projects and now I am completely sure that womanswear is the pathway for me! I think I could now say that I really enjoyed the reconstruction/ deconstruction project as it really loosened the way I work practically, it was really inspirational and is the only project that I can conclude as a complete success, I didnt experience any failures or any sort of letdowns.

The oversized project I missed but did on my own as extra work at home was a very influential project for me as I was on my own, I can now admit it was a struggle but with my interest in this upcoming trend I overcame the hurdles and decided that I would adapt the jacket to a style of my own:

I added a detail of my own on the collar and instead of leaving it as a normal pointed collar, I decided I would fold it over and that's when I got the idea of the stitch detailing.




This image is of my test of a welt pocket, I thought it would be interesting if I taught my self this technique and applied it to my blazer, I enjoyed teaching myself this as it was easy to do and it helped me boost my confidence in learning new things! 
The sketchbook page above is a plan of how I 
would eventually make the jacket and the final 
expected outcome.

The miniture project was also a project that I enjoyed but I think that it could be something that I expand and adapt as I dont think I gave it my all or really researched in depth to create a final outcome that was more my style,  I think if  I had maybe put a narrative story behind it and created designs according to the ups and downs of the story I would of had a load of designs that could be used for design development and to portray the expressive me.

Attending the Tim walker exhibition enabled me to look at fashion as an expressive art, using structure and inspirational objects to achieve a photo that you can unpick and re-create, this is how I unpicked my research from the exhibition in my sketchbook below:

Miniature dolls

 For this project we were asked to make a collection of miniature garments  we were told that we could display them on any doll or even hangers of our choice. I chose Barbie because the doll behind the name has been an icon in fashion for many years now, and as I was inspired by the 50's for my first two dolls, so I decided that the Barbie would suit that style the best.

The process of making the mini garments was limited but at the same time more doors were open, this was because I now had a much wider choice of fabrics as only a small amount was needed.  However the fact that the clothes had to be so small became an obstacle because I was now limited to what I could sew on the sewing machine and what had to be hand stitched, I also had to consider embellishment, what would I use, that would be in the correct proportions?

 I learnt that the process of reducing pattern pieces is not as hard as it looks and I will definatley use this technique again for a future project. My creative thoughts were very productive after the first two dolls, as the next two dolls were created by improvising with various fabrics and samples on the actual doll.








The images below and to the right are close ups of the stitching on the garments,   its very small and fine so extra care has to be taken whilst stitching so that it's neat and looks professional.

Deconstruction Reconstruction

Deconstruction=  The term to me explores the breakdown of a garment, which also implies exploring the process of how the garment was put together and the making process.

To the left are my designs for the de-constructed garment, I focused on layering and detailing with pockets. My main inspiration came from Vivienne Westwood's Red Label collection F2010 RTW.  Some of the garments in this collection played a huge part on how I placed my reconstructed pieces, as I wanted a unique and grungy look for this design.
I mainly looked at reconstructing jeans +shirts as I considered that these were the garments I could do most with, I was most keen about the fact that the jeans would be darker on the inside so once I unpicked the legs and layed them on the stand the two tone effect immediately changed the whole look of my poncho style jacket.

From this project I have learnt, the key term that old clothes can be transformed to create something new + stylish + unique to yourself and that is the potential of this project.

Even though this is a good way of restoring clothes, there are limitations, such as not enough supply of fabric as there is only so much you can get from a pair of jeans, I also came across finding it hard matching pieces together as some weren't big enough to create what I wanted, as shown to the left, above in another garment I produced.

I would consider using this technique as a starting point for a future project as it is a fun way to produce something unique and bold, as you aren't limited with time because clothes with ready embellishment can be used to produce a garment with heavy or intricate detailing, without the time put in!

Project 1

This was a expressive task I was asked to complete on my first day at college, I had to use my imagination, metre of calico, pins and a pair of scissors.  I had to make a garment on the stand using those materials, the aim of this exercise was to express my inner thoughts practically before drawing them.

Her necklace is very interesting and I think she rocks it well, as she has kept the bracelets simple to keep the attention on the necklace, I also think her tattoo sits as an accessory to her style which I think is a bonus. (I LOVE TATS!)

Quirkyy

This shirt is so simple but yet so quirky and style changing as he had teamed it up with black skinny jeans and plain black trainers. The shirts detailing is very delicate but yet it seems like it will go with almost anything! Love it.

I like her sense of mixing sporty with
funky prints and a hint of geek chic which is enforced by her choice of glasses. She aswell has really cool hair, I'm loving the dip dye trend!

Collar's Up

I LOVE THIS! I'm a HUGE fan of collars, I think they are so cool and can funk up any boring outfit.  I am loving the new detachable collars as they can be added to any top to make a statement!

Pink Streak

Love her long distressed hair! Her crop top and hot pants scream summer, but teamed up with the demin jacket she tones the look down for the summer in London.

Camden Street Style

This tartan and tribal print clash works very well, I like the mix and match because it portrays individualism.