Holiday Work

I'm so pleased to have finished the first major process of my Fashion Design Practice module.

Over the easter holiday I've created 4 different boards - one overall African themed mood-board (the 2009 trend I've decided to go with), a colour board, a target customer board for my chosen high-street store which is ZARA, and a board of silhouettes that inspire me.

I'm happy with all four, but I think my favourite is the African mood-board showing the inspirations for the trend I'm going to design for - it's really colourful and I feel that this board works the best out of any I've done before.

Then, using a combination of these boards and research I've designed 42 different items of clothing which include - Jumpsuits, Trousers, Skirts, Dresses (short and maxi), Tops and Cardigans. I had to keep my target customer in mind so while designing the clothes and prints I was constantly thinking about the type of woman who would shop in ZARA.

Here is a photo of some of my design sheets and down the left hand side are the mood-boards which helped inspire the designs. It's not a very clear photo as I only took it on my phone but it gives you some idea of the work I'm doing;

Overall, I enjoyed all the design process, I find the mood-boards and design presentation always fun to do. Drawing the same template for my clothes to go on was a bit of a drag but I like how the face are all different, giving them all their own look. I definitely found that some designs work much better than others but all together they work really nicely - it's going to be tricky picking just one outfit to represent the whole bunch of ideas I have!

Style Icon #2

LADY GAGA!!

Another music/fashion female I am loving at the moment. Not only can I not stop listening to her music and have Love Game as my ring tone, she seems to be in every magazine I read. It's quite understandable that a hell of a lot of people don't like her style because it's so daring and out there but I think I admire her just as much for her bravery than the style she pulls of brilliantly.I read an article/interview with her the other day and she explained that she's always had an interest in fashion, she has great respect to elegant major designers like Chanel. I guess this just proves that she does really have a love for fashion and it's not just for show - she picks what she wants to wear and with a little bit of help from the Haus Of Gaga she has an amazing wardrobe.
I think Lady Gaga's outfits just show that she can pull off some of these crazy haute couture designers out there, although I'm afraid almost everybody else is left to stare in awe and wonder what this crazy lady will be wearing next.

I Want To Be A Pin Up Girl!

Oh what I would give to be around in the 50s, if I could travel back in time I know this would be an era I'd stop at. And given the chance, I would definitely give being a pin up girl a go!
Being a 'curvy' girl myself I've always dreamt of the defintion of beauty back then to still be here today. Women are meant to be curvy, we are meant to have more bumps than men because we carry children and it's just the way our bodies, when healthy, are supposed to be. But now it seems that to be considered pretty or good looking you have to have a figure close to that of a man, and a thin man at that! The 20s Twiggy look is still the fashion now, but i say less of the size 0s and more size 12+ real women sizes please!
Anyway...

I just love the whole look of pin-up art and photography, they're so cute and naughty, and I love the fact that it's not all in your face like most magazine models of today. The detail gone into the clothes and lingerie they wear is just as delicate as their perfect hair and make-up.
I've been thinking and I might just have to persuade my boyfriend to use my camera just so i can play dress up and do my hair and make up like a pretty pin-up girl!

Easter Suprise - a Magazine Review

Along with a few easter eggs, some money and bits and bobs I got a sewing magazine for Easter from my mum. The title is SEW HIP, a magazine that looks as if it's not been out long with this being only issue 6. It was surprisingly a really good read and I'm still happily flicking through.

It's basically a magazine dedicated to fabric - patterns for a 60's inspired dress, a cute simple dress for a little girl and even a turtle soft toy were in it! It might sound like the type of mag for middle aged women the way I just described it but it also had some really helpful and up to date information inside like countless adverts for vintage and contemporary fabric suppliers, an interview with a fashion graduate who has her own label, product reviews and book reviews.

So much of the mag just reminded me of vintage, kitsch designs found in places like Paperchase and fabric prints similar to those found in Topshop. It made me want to get my sewing machine out and start creating little fabric wonders myself, and I may even start doing that in this Easter Holiday!

I would strongly recommend it if you're bored over summer as there are so many fashion and craft ideas inside. It's full of inspiration and filled me with excitement and I know I'm going to spend the rest of my Easter Sunday flicking through it again and again and again!

P.S On a random note, how adorable is this Hello Kitty sewing machine? I've really become a fan of CUTE recently, buying floral dresses is becoming my thing and now I have a Russian doll bracelet. Hello Kitty is the epitome of kitsch. Ooh I want it!!

Trousers Handed In!

I had to finish them off at home but I'm sooo happy with my final pair of trousers. The sewing went so well and I had no major problems, not one minor problem either really!
I chose a grey fabric as you know and ended up using a baby pink silk for the pocket lining which worked really well as a contrast. The trousers now fit really nice and I'm so happy to have handed them in today.
I'd love it if they got picked for the media fashion show in a couple of weeks which will feature some of the trousers made by first years. It's a charity event for the blind so I had to provide a written description which, if I get picked, will be read out as the model walks down the catwalk.

Also on a random note, I met the 3rd year student I will be helping for the rest of term today. She seems so lovely and I'm actually really excited because the collection she's designed is just the sort of thing I love - bright colours, patterns and quite commercial items. I don't start work with her for another 3 weeks but I've offered to go in during the Easter holidays if she needs me.
Work I need to do with her includes pattern cutting, tracing off patterns, helping with photoshoots, designing and making accessories, and basically just to help tie up any loose ends. I think I'll also be needed to help dressing for the graduate fashion show at the very end of the year which will be hard work!

I'll let you know how this goes!

That Vintage Feel, My Shirt and Trouser Project Update

I bought my fabrics for both the shirt and trouser on Monday and they are exactly how I wanted. I bought some gray fabric for the trousers, they've got some stretch in them and are plain pale grey, they quite thick with a nice weight should help the fall of the trouser legs. I bought 2 metres at £5.99 per metre. I then bought the prettiest dusty pink silk dupion which has a slight shine to it. This was more expensive at £10 a metre, I bought 2 metres again.

On Tuesday I fitted the trouser toile and the only change I needed to do was to take in the leg more, as it wasn't quite fitted enough. I took a good 4cm off from the master-draft and re-drafted my pattern. I've cut out all my fabric now and have over-locked all the pieces except the pocket bag and facing as this is a different fabric which I didn't have on the day.My trousers are slim fit, and they come out slightly at the hips to give a good silhouette. They are size 10.

Today, after fitting the shirt onto a mannequin last week, I changed some of the shirt such as the length of the sleeve. I also wanted a gather at the sleeve head so had to sort this out on the master-draft. I changed the collar shape too, I made it smaller and rounder to make it look more delicate. I've cut all of this fabric out too, ready to start sewing next week at university.

I need to buy a zip for the trousers and some buttons for the shirt, I've got some in mind I just need to find somewhere that does what I'm looking for!

After falling in love with the dusty, antique pink silk I immediately made my mind up that I wanted the style of this outfit to be quite vintage - accessories would be gold and I'd love a model to wear my shirt with a really big, statement necklace. I can also imagine a huge pair of gorgeous, cute heels that would go perfectly with the fitted trousers.

My Portfolio

All work done by me, I'll update it as I add to my portfolio.

I wrote my CV this morning in Professional Studies. It was the first time I had written one since school, oops! But I was surprised to find I could write so much about skills that I've learned since college. I was asked why I had kept my CV to only one page, which I thought was a good question. I guess it was my instinct to just fit it all onto one page. I think it just looks a lot neater and as employees only take a minute to skim through, one page is simpler and more straight to the point to look at. On the other hand, if I had a lot to write about, only keeping it to one page would be silly; why only have 1 page of information about yourself when you've got so much more to tell? As my skills and experience grow I'm pretty sure my CV will too - just like my portfolio!