Nadia Flower

For the newest brief that we have been given one of the tasks is to research into illustrators. The first illustrator that I have looked at is Nadia Flower I chose to look at her because of her use of line and this is one element that I have used in my designs. When recreating her work I adapted it to include my design, as you can see I have added the collar piece which is included in some of my designs.

It's War

As you all know Christian Louboutin's famous trademark is the red soles on their shoes, well earlier this year Yves Saint Laurent have launched a pair of shoes which feature a red sole and this hasn't gone down well in the house of Louboutin. The brand has launched legal action on YSL and are suing them for trademark infringement.

Trying something new

I have decided to try something new and show you some of the outfits that I wear and if you like it I will do more. I really like this outfit and think and is great for some of the cooler summer days.

Top - Next

Leggings - New Look

Wedges - H&M

Necklace and Bracelet - New Look

Black and Gold ring - Swarovski

Pink and Gold ring - Next

Seams, seams, seams

As part of the pattern cutting unit at college we have to demonstrate basic skills including seams. At the beginning of the unit I included a sample of an open seam in Calico, but I have decided to try an one in harder fabrics. I have used Faux fur and Faux Leather.

Faux Leather:

The material was quite soft as it wasn't real leather therefore it was easier to sew through and to open the seam.

Faux Fur:

The material was quite thick when moving through the machine and the fur got everywhere. But when it was sewn and the fur was fluffed to cover the seam it has worked quite well.

Photoshopped Images

As you may have read in my previous post I have created a sample from a Japanese pattern cutting book. These are the photoshopped images, I have tried to remove creases and unwanted marks.

Japanese Project

As you may have read in a previous post I am part of a group that does independent work in the lunch hours of our pattern cutting days. Last time we made a hoodie and this time we have made half of a dress out of a Japanese pattern cutting books. I really enjoyed this project and feel that it has taught me knew ways of creating a garment and inserting sections of a garment. When we finished we got photographs taken by a photography student at the college, these are the pictures.

I am going to edit these photos in photoshop to erase any creases or unwanted marks that may be on them.

Shirt Project

In our pattern cutting unit at college we have recently been making a shirt. It is the first time that I have made a shirt so I was excited to see how it would turn out. The shirt included a normal shirt collar, a pocket, and bishop sleeves with cuffs. This is my shirt.

Front

Back

Back pleat to add volume

Front of the collar

Back of the collar

Side of the collar

Pocket

Bishop Sleeve

Drape of the bishop sleeve

The part of the shirt that I found most difficult was inserting the sleeve this was because the block that we used wasn't correct of the shirt and therefore didn't fit. This was and area where we had to use problem solving to correct the issue, to do this we adapted the seam allowance therefore helping the sleeve to fit. I am pleased with the results and even though I have made it out of an old bed sheet (this was because its only a sample) I feel that the finished product is successful.

Colour Page

For the new brief which I previously told you about we had to create a colour page in our sketchbook which I had chosen in the previous brief this is how I decided to display my page.

I decided to use natural colours and have used pastel shades of peach, pink and beige.

New Brief

Well yet again I have handed in a brief and begun a new one. This next brief has to be the most important of them all; but there is so much to do. It is a continuation of the previous brief where we had to design our dress for the fashion show but for this brief one of the final outcomes is to actually make the dress, along side having to make an A2 design board, an A2 illustration board, research, a toile and toile diary and I have the feeling that I have still forgotten something.

Even though there is a lot to do I am looking forward to it and cant wait to see what I am able to create at the end of it.

Mood Board Again

As you may have seen in my previous post I have created a mood board which will help me when creating my designs, well after looking over it with my tutor I realized that it didn't convey the message that I was trying to convey. So I have adapted it and feel that it is a lot stronger now.

The way that I have positioned everything conveys graduation and decline which is part of the message I am trying to portray also the images are now a lot stronger and show the element of lines that I want to convey in my designs.

Mood Board

As part of the inspiration for my designs I need to create a mood board. In college we looked at the different ways of presenting then and the importance of the elements you choose to include on it. Mine is based on age and this is what I came up with....

Designs

So after finishing my research and my mood board I have started to design. The brief requires us to design a dress so this is what I have started to do. I have taken my inspiration for this design from one of the shape developments that I had done earlier.

The shape development that I took inspiration from.

The design that I created.

My Interpretation of Age

Well as you may have read in previous posts I have been researching into age as this is the topic I was given to base my dress designs on. When researching I thought about what the topic made me think about. After doing this I researched closely into what I associated with it, one of these topics was Dementia.

My family has been personally effected by dementia so it made the topic more personal to me, I felt that I came up with some strong research based on it and think that it is one element that I will be taking through to my designs.

It's Confirmed

As you may have seen in my previous post there is a mist surrounding who will be the designer of soon to be 'Princess' Kate Middleton's wedding dress.

Well I am pleased to tell you that it has finally been confirmed, It will be Sarah Burton for the brand Alexander McQueen. I know, not much of a surprise but at least we have more of an idea of what to expect on the big day.

Style Guru for Supermarket Chain

He is a major personality in the fashion world and a major inspiration to me; and he is taking a new step in his career. Gok Wan is designing a range of clothing for the brand TU at Sainsbury's.

Gok Wan has said "I cant wait to get started; this is a first for me. While I've styled thousands of women over the years, soon millions of women are going to be able to wear something I've created."

This is first due to be available this autumn.

The Past is in the.... Present

Well its no secret that in the fashion world influences are taken from the past and they are developed to create the fashion that is popular today. But recently it has been revealed that the popular high street brand have relaunched their past by releasing a Chelsea Girl range that is full of vintage pieces and Wallis have looked back through their achieves and have re-released a dress from the past.

River Island was previously run under the name of Chelsea Girl and when the company changed Chelsea Girl was never looked back at, until now that is. The range that they have released is full of vintage inspired pieces still in with the brand identity of the original Chelsea Girl, and personally I think that these pieces are amazing and the way that the company has brought them back is definitely unique.

Wallis is another brand that has recently been looking back into its past for inspiration. With the re-launch of one of their dress from the past which they delved into their archives to find.

My Topic

After researching into the all of the topics that I have previous mentioned which all come under the topic Equality and Diversity, everybody in my group chose a topic out of a bag to determine what we will be refining our research to and eventually basing our dress designs on.

The topic that I got is Age.

Admittedly I was clueless when I first started to think about this topic but when I started to think about it deeply I discovered the many different ways in which I could approach this and I am now more optimistic about it.

Shape Development

For the latest brief, that you may have already read about in my previous posts, one of the things that I have been looking at is shape development. This is where you take a certain shape or shapes from an image and apply them to the human figure; this can be used to inspire designs or to inspire fabric manipulation techniques. This is the first brief where I have been asked to use this whilst researching and I have found myself playing it safe , so this is something that I definitely need to improve on.

This is one where I have definitely played it safe.

This is one where I feel I have been more adventurous but again this could be developed.