wow...

It has been wayyy too long since I last updated my blog, due to uni becoming extremely busy and the hand in of  PPRD blogging has been put on halt! but all work is finished and handed in now and I can begin gathering research and ideas for the next and final year of studying fashion!

DYLON....Saviour of my FMP!

I have now decided I am going to be dyeing my own fabrics for my final major project, because I only need block colours, it shouldn't be too much trouble to dye it myself

10 most stylish women last week...

I was looking msn's best dressed the other day and am actually IN LOVE with this asymmetric dress that Kate Winslet is wearing by Stella McCartney. someone pretty please buy it for me?

 

On Another note PPRD work is done and dusted, all handed in today which is a nice relief! now to fully get on with Final projects!

PPRD

PPRD deadline is steadily approaching (Monday in fact) however I am fully finished and ready to hand in which is quite a relief, so I can now spend the weekend focusing on my fashion as a forum essay!....

wow.
I really do live a very very wild lifestyle.

Claudia Castrase

I really like Claudia's Collection as the fabrics, style and general look represent my collection very well. I love the fact that you could wear it out or in the day as the fabrics look so versatile!!!

http://girldir.com/fashion-tags/romanian-designer

Styling

I have been thinking more and more about how I want my final collection to be styled and at the moment I am thinking make-up wise I will more then likely have smokey eyes, with a beautiful red lipstick!!! think it would definitely suit the collection best!!!

http://alexantoni.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html

While we're on the note of shoes....(again)

I found these beauties (also named invisible shoes) whilst looking on a style blog! again would actually be perfect for my collection... as very structural!!!!

http://www.fashionstyleme.com/invisible-shoe-series-by-andreia-chaves#more-2810

WOWWW. Iris Van Herpen

I am officially in. love. with. these. shoes.
However I do not have $995 to spare. Maybe one day can buy them in a sale for say er less then $100? hm maybe not!!
http://www.fashionstyleme.com/iris-van-herpen-x-united-nude-springsummer-2011-boots#more-2863

H&M Trend fashion video...

I was particularly interested in this A/W 2011 trend video as I noticed different shades of black are coming back...which is the base colour for my collection and also mentions about different shades of blues, which again is a key factor in my collection!

Rihanna and Vogue...

Rhianna is definitely a great choice for the cover US Vogue's shape issue!

Final fabric choices...

I am now nearing the end of final fabric sourcing...I'm pretty sure my fabrics are mainly going to come from the company 'Whaleys' of which is based in London and has some very nice cotton and wool based materials. And I am going to approach the course leader of Textiles to find a student who is willing to dye my fabrics for me!! Exciting times!!!

Final show...

The final year show is creeping up on us and fundraising must be done!!! We have done a bake sale so far, which raised around £60 so getting off to a good start! our next event is going to be quite a wacky one, so I am looking forward to this!!!!

We also found out for definite today that we will be needing six garments in order to get into the show, which is what I vaguely thought anyway. I have looked through my designs and am pretty sure I have chosen my extra two outfits! how exciting!....now I just need to continue hunting for suitable fabrics!!!

Vionnet and Emma Watson...

Odd combination yes...but a few weeks back the Telegraph online were guessing which celebs would wear which dresses to the Oscars and I think this dress from the Vionnet range is stunning and very different. some perrrlease buy me one?

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/hot-topics/galleries/TMG8342499/174/Oscars-2011-fashion-What-should-they-wear.html



Toile review numero deux...

Today was the big day of toile reviews....I was very nervous! Generally the whole toile went quite well and I am happy with all the little changes I need to make. I also found this time round with toile I had noticed before hand which changes I was going to have to make which is also a bonus. Can't wait to start making my collection in final materials! although there is a little way to go before then!!!!

Shoes for collection...

These shoes come in at an expensive £105...but I have deiced I HAVE to have these for my collection....actually beautiful shoes and they really fit in with my Bauhaus theme, with all the constructed shapes....Lets just hope one of my models has size 6 feet so I can keep them after!!!



Time flies...

Second year is actually going past so fast!!, is very scary but exciting at the same time! The 2nd Toile reviews are on the horizon and I am a busy bee trying to get everything finished in time- I feel this time round I am less panicked as am changing patterns as apposed to starting from scratch!

We are also now having our fashion show in London which is very good news!! just gotta pick up the work pace a lot in order to get it all done on time!!!



McQueen and I

Finallly got to watch McQueen and I, was actually crazy to find out how Alexander McQueen started his fast lane fashion career. I was amazed, disturbed and intrigued by all of his past pieces of couture clothing. I have so much respect for him and his daring designs and am inspired to push my own boundaries on how I design....

Escada reply...

I was really pleased with the reply I recieved from Escada, even though my designs didn't get picked in the end they sent a very positive letter back , so I didn't feel disheartened in the end! "We were absoloutely impressed by your creativity and the beauty of the dress you have designed" (Pretty sure they sent this letter to everyone who entered, but still!)

Fashion as a forum...

I have been continuing writing up notes ready to begin my fashion as a forum essay and found a perfect research site for my chosen subject!


http://www.zugara.com/projects/fashionista

David Koma...amaaazing

I am very inspired by David Koma's AW11 collection. The unusual circle shapes on all his garments remind me of The Bauhaus movement. love it.
To watch more, visit designer_profile.aspx?DesignerID=1387

First toile reviews....

Wow so time really has flown by. First toile review went relatively well and I am pleased with the comments I have received. I am changing one garment in my collection, as the other three outfits fit really well and flow together, so the I am now in the process of picking my final garment. I agreed with all the comments that were said and am beginning to correct and change pattern pieces ready to construct the next set of toiles!

On reflection I am happy with how my first toile review of second year went, as I can remeber back to first year when I used to get very nervous in the reviews and dislike speaking up, but my confidence has gone up and I felt much more comfortable speaking in front of a group of people!

(p.s photo's to be uploaded soon)

LFW 2011

I am really enjoying watching live streaming of LFW 2011. Above is a video of day ones highlights, which I found interesting.

To watch more, visit http://www.blogger.com/undefined/undefined/undefined

Final illustrations...

Here is one of my illustrations for my final collection, as I have been busy all week doing construction I thought I would spend some time trying out different colours, to decided further on colour palette. I am pleased with the outcome of the illustration, so will continue using this style for my final illustrations.

Fashion placements..

Sooo the hunt for finding a fashion placement has begun!!! I am excited about the idea of doing three months working somewhere new and different. One of my dreams would be to get a placement in paris....that would be actually amazing. Let the placement hunt commence!!!!!!!

303rdbg.com

Colour Palette

RED BLACK BLUE AND GREY

is my Bauhaus colour palette

Two days till toile reviews....

Toile review is nearing, with two days to go the uni is steadily becoming my second home and the hunt for two models under go! In general work is going well (if a little slow) and I am again learning so much from this process. One big change for me, is being more accurate; it seems I make best progress when I take my time to perfect the patterns and make sure they all match. I am looking forward to getting feedback from my toile review, so I can take this on board and improve my collection!

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL..

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is fairest of them all..."
"You, But in the red dress"
another modern mirror which is already out there, in shops, gives you compliments and advises you on which clothing to buy- again FASHION FORWARD or what!!!

Soon enough this could be the case (kind of) with interactive mirrors coming into fashion shops. You can manipulate it, using the mirrors touch screen surface, NEW clothes, NEW hairstyles all at the touch of a fingertip! This is very fashion forward and clever! (which would make shopping far easier then trudging all the clothes to the changing rooms to try on!) One day they will even be available in the homes, and it can tell your weight/height, give you the weather, zoom in on your face for makeup, and much more

third jacket toile....

Am pleased so far, had to re-make, but am slowly back on track, I may also take in the Jacket slightly but will wait till toile review first.

100 designs....check....

My 100 designs. are. finally. complete. Although saying that I still don't know fully which four I want use for collection, as I need to be sure they are the right choices!, however I have picked one design (which I have already started making) so I will more then likely pick three others which fit best next to this design!

In order to get all my toiles done on time, I'm planning on practically living at uni for the next two weeks! no pain no gain!!!

I really like the sleeves on this outfit and am very inspired by the outfit altogether! unusual!

time goes by.....

PANIC mode has officially set in....I have less then three weeks to complete four toiles. worried? yes. But although there is ALOT of work to be done, I feel if I push myself enough, things might just work out (positive thinking...) and in the long run will give me a taster of what the industry could be like with deadlines!

I continued with my jacket today; everything started off well and in the end the Jacket is coming along nicely. I have now attached my 3d piece to the top of the sleeve which I am pleased about. The progress is quite slow, but I am trying to get everything correct now so I don't have too many setbacks (like I have in previous projects)

OLIVIA HASKEY...

LOVEEEEE these Bauhaus inspired outfits! these are the types of colours I want to see coming through in my collection! Bright, bold and beautifulll!

http://showtime.arts.ac.uk/oliviahaskey

Day one of construction....

Wow so today came round really quickly!....beginning patterns and samples for our final collection. I was quite nervous this morning and didn't know where to start. After a brief tutorial, I began experimenting with 3d origami shapes to go on  my sleeve, the first attempt went reasonably well, so I then began making half the jacket so I can attach the origami piece. Overall my first day was far more productive then I thought it would be and hopefully tomorrow I will keep making steady progress!

PPRD Folder...

Wow so at the moment I feel quite overwhelmed with the amount of work we have to do! but after our PPRD lesson on Friday with Sarah I feel abit more at ease. I just have to think all about managing my time correctly!!! This weekend so far I have mainly been focusing on my PPRD folder, I have pretty much written up my 5 year plan (which I think is really scary to think that far ahead- but this has definitely helped me think where I want to be and who I want to be in years to come!) and I have now began my 'information gathering' and have so far looked into the 'fur trade' and am now looking into 'size zero' both topics of which I disagree strongly against and have been inspired by previous designers to make a stand against this!

designer mobile phones???

Whilst doing some research for Fashion as a forum I cam across a link to phones that have been designed by big fashion names. The one I found was a collaboration between Armani and Samsung, to go in one of Armani's new collections (2007) Even though this happened a few years back I still was really interested, fashion really is everywhere!!!

Mumified Corsets....

^ Sounds really random, but actually is a corset process (couture as well!!) Basically we started by getting enough pattern paper to fit around the manikin, then made sure the paper was tight to the manikin by adding darts to the front/back and side. After this we covered the corset in sellotape. I found these steps really interesting as they are so different to the previous techniques I have tried!!! The morning was enjoyable learning this and I worked with Mary which meant we got things done and finished in quicker time!! :)

I also found the fact that if your a size 12 you would wear a size 8 or 6!! so that the corset would fit tightly enough!!....craazzzy- definitely wouldn't be able to breath in that!!!!

eeek fashion as a forum...

Sooo I have finally come to terms with the Fashion as a Forum  unit and vaguely understand things!!!! For our group projects I am working with Mary. One of the fashion meets technology sections I'm doing is 'Mobile phones' and I am going to look into how now modern phones have bar scanners - so if you see a nice dress then you can scan in the bar code and know where its from and for how much!, and then you can compare that price with other shops!!! clever.

Drape results....

Today was very nerve-racking as we received our drape results. I knew that this project wasn't going to be my best grade as I have struggled along the way, but on the plus side I have gained so much!. One main factor I have learnt is that even though the zip is one of the last bits to sew in, its still as important as the first step, so now for next time I know I need to take alot more care and patience to get the outfit looking 100% professional. Even though I wasn't fully happy with my grade I now also know for the final collection I need to push myself to my boundaries!!!!

I HEART ISSEY MIYAKE X 1000000

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=issey+miyake&view=detail&id=F4F816422DF5F99C9B08A0DA022AC2C17C25394E&first=1&FORM=IDFRIR

So once again I have been heavily inspired and influenced by Issey Miyake's work (I swear every project I have, his work somehow fits in to inspire me further!!!) but this image below totally reminded me of Bauhaus so am going to include this in my sketchbook....

Bauhaus inpsiration take 2...

I really like this dress (worn by Natalie Portman) although it isn't as wacky as my other inspirations, I really feel I could use the colour scheme and style as an outline inspiration.

http://www.heatworld.com/Star-Style/2011/01/Could-Natalie-Portman-have-the-best-EVER-dressed-bump/

Design, design, design

My Bauhaus designs are finally coming along and I'm getting a feel for the theme now. I have decided in my collection I would like to make; one dress, another dress with a little jacket, one pair of high waisted trousers and corset top and a skirt with a top (my ideas will probably continue to change as I carry on designing) so far so good on that front!! I am also enjoying designing as I go on with my research as you can see how my designs are developing along with the research!!!

P.S

I have now finally sent off my drawing to Escada and find out on like feb 20 something who's won....eeeep nervous.

http://weheartit.com/entry/42490

Ethical design lecture...

Our first lecture of 2010 was based on Ethical fashion, and ethical fabrics. I found this interesting as tried to make my manifesto very ethical based. One section I found the best, was about the different fabrics and how they are made. I was really shocked at how bad some of the materials are to make; such as silk, which in order to make so drapable is made from silkworm cocoons. Of which they boil to kill the silkworms before they rip the cocoon. This process seems overly cruel to me and made me think about where I might source my material from in the future!

Lecture website:

http://www.offsetwarehouse.com/pages/about-us.html

And here's a link for a dress I really like on the Offset website:

http://www.offsetwarehouse.com/boutique/product/56/love-me-again-carlotta-dress

Male Shirt...

We spent all of this morning constructing a mans shirt together- well the top half anyways (so in the end looked like a crop-top shirt...) I found the whole process easier as I went along, there are some sections of the shirt that could definatly be improved, such as the top stitching on the collar, but practise makes perfect!!!

out with the old, in with the new...

Decided seeing as it was the new year I would spruce up the old blog! The above picture was taken by Daisy Brown (fitty) and I actually loooove it, and think it has much more of an effect then what my old blog layout did! :) beauts!

Another photo ^

BAUHAUS tutorial...

After speaking to Sarah James I have decided that instead of just focusing on the final outcomes of the Bauhaus artists I will look into the Bauhaus school and how they have had to fight against the mass production and how even though when Hitler shut down the school they moved to a different country. This really inspires me and one of my beginning design ideas is to make all my designs have harsh edges, to show the rebellious side, rather then having soft edges which I feel would look to girly girl.

Bauhaus research and Learning agreement...

After tutorials on Frid about learning agreements, I decided that even though the deadline isn't for another two weeks or so I would begin writing a draft, just to make sure I get everything done on time. To start with I wasn't very impressed with the thought of writing a learning agreement, but once I got into it, it was fine and I am prettyyyy much finished (i think?!) but just need to get it checked and change a few bits. onwards and upwards!

Bauhaus Research

http://sbeulah.onsugar.com/Artistic-Fashion-7594814

I am really inspired by the above dress, which appears to be influenced by the Bauhaus movement. Hopefully from my research I'll be able to come up with designs as good as this! :)

Corsets....

Three layered corset-      

(Top fabric, caleco-interfacing, lining)      

Two Layered corset

(top fabric, Lining)

       I really enjoyed the process of making both sets of corsets, and found the way we sewed the boning in was really interesting. I preferred the process of the second corset though, as I feel the end effect was more shaped. I am pleased we have learnt how to put boning into corsets as I am planning on putting some in my collections.

RE-pocket samples....

<-- 3D Pouch Pocket

This pocket I didn't find as easy as the first, however this was mainly due to the fact the pocket pieces weren't cut out properly, so when I sewed together the corners, they didn't match up properly. But after alot of pressing the pocket looked ok. I also think next time I make a 3D Pouch pocket I'll know this so should be more improved.

Bauhaus....

"Painting & sculpture rising to heaven out of the hands of a million craftsmen, the crystal symbol of the new faith of the future"

Walter Gropius



Barbican - Future beauty: 30 years of Japanese fashion

Anddd voila this was the 2nd exhibition. Which was by far my favourite! along with Issey Miyake, Junya Watanabe, Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo there were many other designers of which I hadn't yet heard of. I really liked with the newer designers you could still see how many of them have also been inspired by Issey Miyake somewhere along the lines of their careers.

thrubeingcool.com

I am now very inspired by the unusual structure all of the garment shapes are within the Japanese exhibition, as I am looking into 'Bauhaus' for my final collection and so feel these shapes could be perfect inspirations to continue the Bauhaus/modernism feel.

Pocket Samples

Structured pocket with ticketI had already made a pocket similar to this before, but without the ticket part, so I was glad and found it quite simple. I am definitely considering including this into some of my final collection

GET THE LOOK: 1860 style...

Whilst looking up more info on THE ENCHANTED PALACE, I had a quick look at their blog and thought this post was quite amusing, take a look: 
http://www.standingstill.co.uk/peterthewildboy/get-the-look-1860-style/#more-607

landaan exhibition trips...

Just before the beauts three week Christmas holidays began me and Mary made a trip to London to go to some exhibitions, we had planned to go to three, but travelling meant we only made it to two. However the two we did go were both interesting and very inspiring.

THE ENCHANTED PALACE

This wasn't solely a fashion exhibition but was based around the lives of Kensington princess's. "Contemporary fashion collides with the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection and real stories from the palace to create stunning installations"  Along with this there was performances and very dreamlike installations. I really liked how the exhibition was in many different rooms that you followed a map to get round, which was quirky and unusual to the norm exhibition. Each room was also very interactive with an area to take photos of you in the kings throne and the atmosphere around the Kensington palace really fitted.

http://www.standingstill.co.uk/peterthewildboy/get-the-look-1860-style/#more-607

P.S...

I FINALLY have a finished illustration that I am happy to send off to the ESCADA competition, CV is done and ready to send also, just got to print and post!

Wish me luck! :)

2011....

New years resolution...write in blog more?! there has one again been some definite blog rejection over the Christmas holidays! ANYWAY I have slowly began writing my five year plan and let me tell you, it ain't easy trying to think of where I'm going to be in five years! but I'll get it all written up eventually, just gotta consider all the possible options and outcomes of my decisions.