Skirt Paper Patterns

These are the paper patterns that I created for my skirt toile. They are for a straight skirt with a slit at the back and a lapped zip.

This is the pattern for my back skirt it has 1.5cm seam allowance and cut x2.

This is the pattern for my front skirt it has 1.5cm seam allowance and is cut x1 on the fold.

Chosen Design

For this current unit we have to make a toile based on the theme that we had previously chose. I did 20 different designs based on this theme and the concept that I had come up with from it. This is the design that I have chosen to use for my toile.

Enrichment Week - Antwerp

On the 22nd of November I went with college on a trip to Antwerp in Belgium. Before we left I was a bit anxious as none of the people that I usually hang around with were going but I was looking forward to getting to know some of the other people on my course better.

I arrived at Crewe station on Monday morning, early as usual, getting ready for the long journey ahead. Many train journeys later we arrived at the hotel, it was about 6:30pm and we had the rest of the night to settle in and to have a look around the area that was local to the hotel. I found the freedom that we were given unusual compared to the restrictions that you have on high school trips but it made me feel independent and gave me chance to develop my independence at the same time.

Tuesday morning we all took a tram into the centre of Antwerp and arrived at the MoMu where we met a lovely lady who was there to give us a tour around the main fashion section. We started the tour on the ground floor of the museum where we looked around the work the degree level students from the school which was part of the museum, it was home to designers such as the Antwerp 6 which have very famously come out from there. I was absolutely blown away by the detail and skill that was put unto each and every millimetre of the garments. Here are a few examples...

Even the drawings that they produced were to an amazing standard.

We then left the museum and went around the different the different streets that were filled with interesting buildings that were all decorated beautifully. We learned that depending on which streets you go down you could expect different types of shops for example there was the high street backbone which had the normal shops that you would expect on the high street. Then there was what I think was called the 'skating and rapping' street which was where the walls were decorated with graffiti but it didn't look vandalised it looked intriguing and added character to the streets.

There was also a shop called 'Fish and Chips' which used graffiti in their window display which made the shop look really interesting

to me.

After the tour we were given the freedom to go shopping and we got told that we had to be back at the hotel for 6:00pm. At first I was a bit apprehensive about getting back to the hotel but while we were looking through the shops, areas started looking familiar and it was a lot easier to get back than I had originally thought.

Wednesday morning we took the tram back to the museum but this time we were spending the day looking around the Stephen Jones exhibition. I had already heard of him but I've never really studied his work before so I found this museum really interesting. I loved looking at the different hats under the different concepts that he had based them upon. We also got the chance to watch a video where we got a better insight into his personality and I felt like I knew him a bit better. This was one of my favourite parts of the trip and I feel that I learned a lot from it and it also helped me with my current brief as it showed me examples of different concepts that somebody who is actually in the industry used. Here are some examples of the work that we saw...

After we had finished in the museum we were able to got around Antwerp again shopping or doing anything else that we wanted. Me and Emily decided that we wanted to go back and meet Jo and Bruce at the museum as they gave us the opportunity to go and look around the beautiful 20's buildings that were in a different part of Antwerp. I really enjoyed looking at the detail on the buildings and I was surprised at how different certain parts of Antwerp were, to me it felt as though the different parts should be miles apart. Here are some examples of the buildings that we saw...

Thursday morning we had some time to do last minute shopping or anything that we needed or wanted to do before we left. Then we left the hotel doors for the last time and started the long train journey home. Many hours later we arrived back at Crewe train station about 9:30pm.

I learned a lot about myself from this trip and feel that it as very beneficial; I gained independence, knowledge and built friendships with people that I wasn't as close to before. I would recommend Antwerp to anybody looking for an interesting place to visit and I really enjoyed my time there.

Concept

For the new brief that me and my class are currently studying on my fashion course we have to create our own theme and concept through research. I started by researching into French Furniture, I chose to research into this because it is something that really appeals to me as I love the mixture of simpleness with the intricate detailing that goes into it.

From looking at French Furniture in general I started to look at the shapes that go into each piece. I then looked at the busyness of the overall shape. I decided that I wanted to include a contrast after I saw a picture of a French style sofa where the frame was intricately detailed like the French style and the seat was leopard print. So I have decided that on my designs I want to mix the French Furniture style with animal print.

To strengthen my concept I am basing my skirt designs on a story. This story is about my course and the people on it; how everybody is so different but as a group how we all seem to get along and how I personally feel that my personality doesn't really fit in with anybody but as a group we work. I want the idea of my design to be like one of those ideas that sounds so absurd and shouldn't work but it does.

Monsieur Qui

While I was researching into different illustrators for the second unit on my Fashion Course I came across a very interesting illustrator named Monsieur Qui which in English means Mr Who. I think that his work combines an element of recycling with a carefully planned element of messiness; and it is this unique combination that makes his work appeal to me. His use of simple lines against a paint splattered aged background makes his work look so simple yet brilliant and even though his work is so different than the work of Bec Winnel (who I previously posted about) they both appeal to me.

Silkscreen on old sheet of music part.

This is my interpretation of Monsieur Qui's work.

Bec Winnel

While I was researching into illustrators for my new unit on my Fashion course I came across one illustrator who's work really stood out to me. Bec Winnel's work to me shows sensitivity and emotion. The way that the media she has chosen creates delicate lines and quality on the picture really appeals to me as it gives the picture a calmer, gentler effect than deep, bold lines would.

To create this beautiful effect she uses graphite, coloured pencil and pastels.

Farewell 2009

Here i have re-created another one of Bec Winnel's illustrations.

Liverpool Tate

On Tuesday 8th of September I visited the Tate gallery in Liverpool. I wasn't sure what to expect while I was here but I turned up with an open mind ready to see what various artists had created.


One piece that stood out to me was a hosepipe wound up on a hook with a hand coming out of the bottom. At first I was slightly disturbed and confused by this piece, but as I continued to learn about this piece of art I found out that the hand was from the artist herself. This, to me, showed that she was dedicated and willing to endure anything to present her art. This artist was called Jamie Isenstein.

http://www.liverpoolstudentmedia.com/biennial-touched-tate-liverpool

After repeatedly hounding the gallery official with questions asking what the concept behind this piece was, he kept giving the same answer to my question.

"I'm not allowed to tell you"

Was this the beginning?

soundoffcolumn.com

The other day I was reading a book about Princess Diana and her affect on fashion; I discovered an interesting fact. In the 80's the Daily Mail ran an article on Princess Diana's fashion sense which they named 'Follow the leader'; in this article they included high street versions of one of the Diana's outfits and gave the average person a way to dress like her without spending a fortune. This made me wonder whether the articles that run in almost every fashion magazine nowadays to give you ways to dress like your favourite celebrity are inspired by this one article.

What do you think?

Why is it that we are all so obsesed with wanting to look like somebody else? Do we this this is going to enrich our lives or enhance our lives?

Circles, Squares or Triangles.

First day of college very excited!!!

My new class and I were put into groups of three, this was quite scary as none of us had met before. We were told to create a garment on the mannequin out of just circles, squares or triangles, we were given paper to carry out this exercise.

My group had circles, we could use any size, we could fold them, we could basically do anything with them as long as they had originally been a circle...


We also had the male mannequin...


We decided that we were going to make a blazer style jacket...

With my second group we had squares and this time we had a female mannequin...

We decided to fold the squares diagonally and make triangles and sculpt them into a dress...

I left college that day pleased with what I had achieved and intergued as to what was to come.

The Beatles inspire Lady Gaga's meat dress??!!

While researching in to The Beatles for my Fashion work I found a claim that The Beatles had inspired Lady Gaga's meat dress that she attended the MTV Video Music Awards in.

On the cover of their 1966 album 'Yesterday and Today' the band are seen to be draped in joints of meat and decapitated baby dolls.

esquire.com

Whether it had been intentional or a complete coincidence you cant help but notice the resemblance between this album cover and Lady Gaga's dress.

sfgate.com

Lady Gaga has been known to list The Beatles as one of her influences but whether this choice of dress had been inspired by the band or not i cant help but think that she isn't as unique as i first thought.

Too much too young? ♥

Toddlers rummaging through your wardrobe...trying out your heels....and using your make-up. These are all things that any mother can expect when their baby girl grows up into an intrigued toddler.




We have recently seen Suri Cruise wearing high heels; I can't help but think that if we were to take away the princess dress we would see the makings of an average teenage girl standing before us.

There is an unmistakable resemblance between Suri and her mother Katie Holmes which makes me wonder whether the heels were Katie's idea or Suri's.

We have also seen the quite disturbing results of Katie Price dressing her daughter Princess Andre up in Glamour model style make up.

Again there is uncanny resemblance between Mother and daughter.

But then we are faced with David Beckham and his sons; if we see them wearing similar style clothing we aren't thinking that they are dressing like their father we assume that Victoria has styled them as she is the one world famous for her unique style.

Are we faced with a new culture where children are encouraged to be like somebody else? Or is it just harmless dressing while they develop their own style?

A test

This is just a test ♥