Detail

Today we went on a research trip to the V&A and the National Gallery. It was interesting visiting the V&A as I had seen the fashion section a lot of times before but this time I focused on the victorian era and really tried to look for details in the garments. Seeing the garments for real rather than just in pictures was very helpful for this project. Although I would have found it more interesting to see the construction of the garments, it was good to be able to see the decorative detail on the dresses. I particularly found the bodice detailing fascinating, the delicate lace and ruffles and the fastenings such as the row of covered buttons used I think will be very useful for the project. Noting down these key features using sketches was very helpful, better than the books and internet I had been using as was primary research so I was understanding the details I was seeing rather than just looking at them. I found less useful research at the National Gallery but there were a couple of paintings around the correct era I am looking at. These were interesting as they were someone else's interpretation of the dress code then and many still showed the intense detail in their dress so I could still draw from them. 

Now from this I can go on to collate this research and work from my drawings to generate quick sketches incorporating the details I saw. 

(left: Dress at V&A, Authors Own, 29/1/15)

(right: Mr and Mrs Edwin Edwards, http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/ignace-henri-theodore-fantin-latour-mr-and-mrs-edwin-edwards, accessed: 29/1/15)

Detail

Today I started deconstructing the images I collected yesterday so I could begin to understand the construction of the Victorian dresses. I have mainly been focusing on the details I can see in the images I collected. Focusing at this initial stage at Queen Victoria and her mourning period a lot of the dresses she wears have a similar style. She wore dresses with typically square necklines and covered buttons down the front, they also had quite simple detailing, lace around the necklines and cuffs and trimmings on the skirt. I began by drawing these today which I think went quite well as I had been finding it difficult to see the detail in the images at first. I can now try experimenting with them, photocopying and enlarging them so I can collage them onto figures as well as experimenting on the stand. This will give me a starting point for generating some initial design ideas. 

What I now feel I need to do is researching more into the general fashions of mourning dresses of that era and the specific construction of the dresses. It is fascinating how the gowns are constructed such as the layering of skirts, the hidden pockets for watches and belongings and the fastenings used. Once I have a better understanding of this I can start combining it with the aesthetic decorations. It will also help me with creating a unique construction of the garments in my collection rather than them just having victorian influenced fancy decorations on their surface. 

(Sketchbook Pages, Authors Own, 28/1/15)

Detail

Today we started the new detail project. From the briefing this morning I am excited about this project, it is focusing on picking out details as a starting point for designing. This excites me as it is something I do need to focus on more as I often just focus on silhouette instead of detail. I also feel this will give me a greater understanding of construction as the garments for the final looks need to be carefully considered and designed around details rather than draped on a stand. 

In the brief we were introduced to designers who use the technique of looking to historical detail such as most obviously McQueen and Galliano who looked often to the victorian era and the french revolution respectively. Seeing how they have used this technique is interesting to see what techniques they have taken from the eras and how they have translated this to a catwalk. I particularly like McQueen’s victorian inspired dresses from AW07 which look from the era and beautifully detailed yet still modern. 

I have decided from this project to focus on an area of English history as this is my heritage. I am also going to focus more on the the upper classy and royalty rather than the working class and this isn't something I have focused on before. From this I have decided to focus on the Victorian era and Queen Victoria and more specifically on the mourning dress of this era. I decided this as it is fascinating how strict it was on how the women in particular have to mourn and how there is particular dress for the different periods of mourning. It is also interesting and quite sad how Queen Victoria mourned for 40 years till her death after her husband dies so I think looking into how her dress portrayed how she was feeling over the years is interesting. I have collected some images of Queen Victoria at the moment which I can now pick out details from and draw, I am finding the details of the chest at the moment fascinating in the detail of the stitches and fabrics used. To help me I now need to look into general mourning dresses of the same period as well as Queen Victorias which will help me get a better idea of the ‘fashionable’ looks of the time as well as close up detailed pictures which will be helpful to draw from. 

Politics and Fashion

Today was the final day of the politics project. I finished the drawings of my final line up last night for my tutorial today, I am quite pleased with these, I like the feel of them as a whole. Having the tutorial today it gave me elements I need to add in. I need to start creating flats and technical drawings properly explaining how the garment works or actually creating garments on the stand. This will be needed for my portfolio as will show I know about the construction of garments and how they work. I also need to add more fabrication to show an understanding of materials and what would work for each garment. 

(final designs, authors own, 22/01/15)

Politics and Fashion

Today I started applying some of the prints I created to my designs. I picked some of the silhouettes I created yesterday and using photoshop added the prints while playing with the scale of them to see how they would work on a garment and how the different prints would work best. I found that the prints with the writing worked better on a larger scale as created a better statement where as just picture prints could work better smaller as a better all over design. Today I also created another set of prints in the same colour way as the other but out of paint experiments I had done. I did these over the weekend inspired by the painting style of Jenny Saville who scraped paint across the canvas like cosmetics and products are scraped across animals skin for testing. I was pleased with these prints they will work well with the animal testing message prints as the same colour way so will create another element for my collection. 

Today I also thought more about who my woman was for the collection as I was finding it hard to decide how I wanted the garments to look. I decided my woman was strong with clear opinions and a sense of right and wrong but also gentle and feminine enough to care about the treatment of animals. This helped me imagine a better feel to the final outcome and meant I could target my designs better. I did more designs today taking ideas from my stand work the other day but now giving them a more feminine look to fit to my woman. Tomorrow being our final day, tonight I need to create a mood board of my woman for the collection as well as decide on my final silhouettes which I can use my prints on. This will create my final eight looks to present in my group tutorial tomorrow. 

Politics and Fashion

Over the weekend I created six experimental prints inspired by Christian Rosa’s doodle like paintings I saw at the Saatchi in September. I used this doodle inspiration as it added a playful element to the designs so puts the message across clearly without being too harsh so I think it would appeal to more people if I was thinking commercially. I am pleased with the prints I think they have a good appearance that will work well on a garment. They also portray the message that animal testing shouldn't happen and have a shocking look without being too graphic. They also tie in different elements from my research of a clinical look because of the bright white background as well as the promoting alternatives as the harm it has on animals. 

Today in the studio I worked more with the images of my stand work from last Thursday. I picked out the shapes and ideas I thought were most interesting and continued generating design sketches from them playing with elements such as the length, collars and sleeves so that I could start to work out what is most successful and what I can take forward for my outcome. I created a range of sketches from more detailed silhouettes to also ones where I have simplified them to a basic garment shape. I have done this to create some silhouettes which are more of a ‘blank canvas’ for my prints as this is almost what a lab coat feels like because of  its stark whiteness and its basic shape. I have also started scanning in these silhouettes so that I can apply my prints to them. Doing this means I can play around now with the scale of the different prints so I can see what is working well and what is less successful. 

Politics and Fashion

Today I experimented with the stand draping a disposable overall to create silhouettes and garment ideas. This was helpful as I had been struggling with ideas of how I could actually create shapes to put my ideas onto. From these I then did quick sketches using the shapes created and where the seam lines were to generate more ideas. I was trying to create shapes that were different to those I have designed before as I do tend to stray towards a similar silhouette in my work. I tried to use a more structured silhouette in places inspired by the idea of a lab coat which I could then develop. This did work quite well and I have some shapes and drawings that I can continue to develop but I also need to think further about the bottom half of the figure and challenge myself there into not just creating focus on the top half of the figure. 

Over the weekend I need to think about how I can make a statement with the collection and put my message across. I want to develop some prints which can do this but they need to have a subtlety to them so aren't obviously a protest but more a message. 

Politics and Fashion

Today I started doing designs for the project. I am using my research specifically about the effects of tests on the animals to just create quick sketches. I am finding this quite difficult at the moment as the majority of my research is factual rather than visual so I am struggling to find a way of creating silhouettes at the moment. There are plenty of elements I can add in from my research such as colour scheme, surface decoration and a mood of the collection but this isn't helping with an initial garment shape or design. To resolve this I am going to buy some disposable overalls similar to those scientists wear in labs and play around with that in terms of creating silhouettes tomorrow. I think this will help as will give me a starting point to then add my research elements onto which I can then develop more into designs. 

Today I also had a talk to Becca about my online portfolio which I started to create yesterday. She told me key things I should try to include such as a range of layouts and compositions as well as a change in the amount on each page too. I think this is also something I can relate to my sketchbooks during the projects as will make them more interesting to look at because it means it isn't repetitive. I also need to remember to include concept boards in my portfolio as this is important is showing the mood of the project as well as the type of woman I am designing for. This is something I think I need to carry on considering more in the projects as is not an aspect I always think about but is an important element to a collection and also important as a commercial aspect if I were selling my designs. 

I am also still not sure how I am going to get my message across in the collection so I think more research into other designers who have created a political collection such as Vivienne Westwood would be helpful just to see how they have put their point across in collections. 

Politics and Fashion

Today I continued developing the project and trying to conclude the research so I can start initial designs. I also had a group tutorial which I found very helpful as it gave me new ideas to explore and helped me figure out where to go next which I was struggling with. Some feedback I got was to add artist research as well as research into existing campaigns. From this I have started to look into campaigns such as the Lush campaign outside their Regents Street store where they recreated animal tests on a human as well as existing campaign posters and what messages they put through. I have found it harder to find artists to look at because it isn't a typical subject for art but I have found artists such as Damien Hurst (where he put half of animals in large glass boxes) and Marco Evarisitti (explored right and wrong of animal cruelty using goldfish and blenders) will link into my project. Sarah also suggested I look at Jenny Saville because of her use of colour and how she applies paint to paper which shows quite a lot of emotion and drama similar to that created in the Lush performance. Having these new ideas is giving me more directions to explore and will mean I can start designing tomorrow as will have much more imagery to work with. 

It was also interesting to be able to see other peoples projects in the tutorial. In my group there were a range of issues including gender stereotypes, east vs west, 911 and Islamic beliefs and ideas. It was useful in the tutorial as we were all asked what our angle on our subjects was which is an important factor in this project as it means we are creating a clear message and argument with our work. It is also important that we aren't shy with the project which some people were feeling especially with controversial issues such as Islam which is very relevant today because of the recent Paris attacks, however I think my project isn't doing this at the moment as I felt it did shock some people in my group as people aren't aware of animal testing and what happens because it is largely hidden to the public. I do need to make sure that I continue this and that whatever my final outcome is still has a strong and even shocking message to it even if it is in a subtle way.

Politics and Fashion

Today I started properly working on the politics and fashion project. I started with my mind map of animal testing and picked out three ideas to explore this project. I have chosen, at least initially, to explore the types of tests that are performed on animals, the effects these have and the conditions that they are in. At the moment I have some initial thoughts on how I want the project to look, such as quite clinical possibly all white, but I am trying to keep an open mind and explore a range of ideas so I don't restrict myself which would lead to a weaker project. I am also going to start to experiment with fabrics early on as this is something I need to incorporate more throughout the project rather than just at the final stage so I can learn more about fabrication which will be good for my portfolio.

This weekend I am going to carry on researching these initial ideas so I can start development and initial designs by the start of next week. However I do want to spend a decent amount of time researching and continue this throughout the start of development as this will give me a solid idea to work from which I need in this project. I also need to start to think how I am going to make a statement in this project and how I am going to portray how animal testing is wrong.

(Selection of animal testing photographs, google images, accessed: 08/01/15)

Politics and Fashion

Today we went to the Women Fashion Power exhibition at the Design Museum. The exhibition focused on women's fashion through the late 19th century to the present day focusing on how women have dressed to show power and how fashion has created freedom. It was very interesting and I found the exhibition informative on explaining how fashion has shown the change in attitudes of women however I found a lot of the information I did already know. I do continue to find it fascinating how much fashion shows the change in society and how it has liberated women through the abandonment of the corset to the power suit. Another thing I found thought provoking is how it has appeared that through history for women to appear powerful and in line with the male gender that we have to dress like men or replicate how they dress with 'power suits' and androgynous style. This makes me question whether feminism and how we all see it makes sense, as if a woman cannot dress very feminine and still be taken seriously then equality doesn't exist yet.

However today from going to this exhibition I think I am going to continue to focus on animal testing for my project as this is a problem I have thought about since a much younger age and is something my mum believed in and supported when she was alive so I would like to explore this further. My initial thoughts are to explore the type of tests that are used and the cruelty this has on animals as well as the clinical idea of all the procedures and labs. I think this project will be useful in my portfolio as will give a 'grittier' project which I am going to be more experimental with, trying to push myself out of silhouettes I have typically begun to use and to play more with colour.

(Image: Woman Fashion Power exhibition, http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/fashion/547656/women-fashion-power-exhibition.html, Accessed: 07/01/15)

Politics and Fashion

Today was the start of our politics and fashion project. I am excited about this project as it will give me a different sort of starting point than I usually choose which has more depth behind it. We started with a brief of the project, where Becca introduced us to possible political and ethical ideas we could use such as race, independence and religion as well as designers we could look into such as Vivienne Westwood, Hussein Chalayan and Katherine Hamnett. Initially I have found Chalayan's work interesting how it explores the middle east, it is unique and makes a statement unlike other designers I have seen. I also think McQueens way of creating a statement is interesting as his shows were very theatrical and make the audience very aware of their surroundings too such as the SS01 VOSS collection where they were forced to look in a mirror and which also contained the clam dress which was destroyed during the show representing throw away fashion.

My initial reaction for this project was to look into animal testing as this is an issue I have always found very interesting and thought provoking. I dislike the fact the animals do not have a choice in the matter and are tortured and subjected to so many tests, for in many cases our cosmetics which is an unnecessary cause for such extremes. At the moment I am researching into the sorts of tests and extremes the animals are put under to start this project but I am looking forward to going to the trip day tomorrow to see what other ideas I could get for the project.