Pecha Kucha

For my peach kucha I started with an image of a traditional corset, then went on to an image of when woman were more able to work. More than a million woman joined the workforce between 1914 to 1918 due to men going to war. This was the start to women becoming more predominant in the workforce, which was of course a huge shift in gender roles and equality at the time. This statistic really stood out to me because although 1918 was a hundred years ago, it is still relatively recent history to be a time where gender roles still highly affected peoples everyday lives. This is a perspective that I had not really considered before, as I am looking at the relevance of gender roles today and my first instinct was to think that gender roles are outdated and do not affect us. However, it is important to remember that as gender roles were so prominently different in recent history, the society we live in today is still built off of these differences meaning we are living in a system that was designed to serve the roles of a man going to work while a woman stays and takes care of the home. This is evidently still effecting us today through the gender earnings gap. "The gender pay gap among all employees was 15.5% in 2020, down from 17.4% in 2019." - https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/genderpaygapintheuk/2020#:~:text=The%20gender%20pay%20gap%20among,10%25%20for%20older%20age%20groups.

Project Proposal

For my project proposals I brought together all of my previous research. The title for my final major project as a questions is 'Are gender roles still relevant in today's society?' as I think this sums up what I have been looking into about gender stereotypes and roles in history, and how peoples perception of gender is so different to this in todays society.

Final Bibliography

Through my research I was led to an article about Maison Margiela's Spring/Summer 2019 Paris collection which I think is a relevant inspiration for my final major project. I first researched Margiela during the developmental stage so it has been interesting to revisit this. One of the reasons I decided this was a good brand to find inspiration from for my current project is that they have created many collections ignoring the binary of gender and being experimental with exploring masculinity and femininity. One of the garments that I liked and brought my attention to this particular collection was one of the garments above with a gold top layered over a tailored jacket and shirt. I liked this particularly as it looked like a visual merging of masculinity and femininity to me, with the jacket bringing in masculinity and the gold gathered top bringing in the femininity. Other parts of this collection I liked were the different materials such as the latex trousers and sheer fabrics. I like the experimental nature of materials and prints, which is something I want to think about more in the development of my final major project.

Tate Modern: Feminism and Media: Guerrilla Girls

When thinking about femininity something obvious that comes to mind is feminism, which led me to thinking about the Guerrilla Girls and I found this photo above from when I have previously been to the Tate Modern. The Guerrilla Girls are female artists who fight against gender and racial inequality in art, and some of this is shown in the ‘Feminism and Media’ room at the Tate Modern. They have used their work to question how the female body is presented, and questioning gender roles by exaggerating gender stereotypes. This is an important point as it shows that all of their work has a purpose and is to make a point and break down stereotypes and injustice. This is something I think is important to keep in mind during my final major project because displaying stereotypes or going against stereotypes of femininity, masculinity and gender roles, causes many people to be discriminated against and it is important to break down the boundaries to prevent this discrimination being possible. The Guerrilla Girls are anonymous and this is shown by them saying “Mainly, we wanted the focus to be on the issues, not on our personalities or our own work.”, which supports the idea that their work is very purposeful and fighting for a cause that is much bigger than themselves.

https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern/display/media-networks/feminism-and-media

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/guerrilla-girls-6858

Harris Reed

Another fashion reference I found was Harris Reed’s debut at London Fashion Week 2021 with the first gender-fluid collection in British history. The collection included pleated tulle stitched into tailored suits, blending the lines between menswear and womenswear. The aspect of blending these stereotypes is something that I found very important and resonated with my project proposal. I like the way this 6 piece collection uses tailoring which is then contrasted with the flowing tulle as I think it has a powerful effect and physically shows the merging of something more structured in comparison to something more fluid. I have been particularly inspired by this as it has shown me how he has materialised the concept in an effective way, which is something I think I have struggled with in previous projects so this will help me to improve and focus on this in the development of my final major project. While talking to Vogue about what he would say to his past self Harris Reed said, “Everyone should be able to represent themselves in the most authentic and truest version of who they are'', which is really interesting as a part of my project as I am questioning whether gender roles are relevant in today's society. This quote feels like an answer to that as to me it means that gender and particularly gendered clothing are not what should matter to a person, when what is more important is a person being able to represent themselves on the outside in the same authentic way they feel on the inside, regardless of their gender or the ‘gender’ of the clothes.

Flowers Primary Research

In response to my questionnaire about masculinity and feminist, I thought about the answers and imagery which relates to the descriptions of masculinity and femininity. I found that an association with femininity is often flowers, as it can be seen as something delicate. I have done some photography of some flowers I found on a walk as a way of finding primary sources of research during lockdown. I can now use these photos as a reference of feminine imagery in my design development.

Initial Moodboards - Stereotypes of Femininity vs Masculinity

I have done a moodboard of my research about masculinity, and a separate moodboard about masculinity to help me think more about visual imagery and how to translate my research into my sketchbook. I have put these moodboards above. This has also helped me see the contrast and differences between masculinity and femininity in a visual way. I am going to create a final concept board for my project to put together these contrasting ideas.

No Sesso: Pierre Davis-

I found designer Pierre Davis, owner of brand ‘No Sesso’, as the garments I have included images of above are this corset style wide belt/top from Autumn/Winter 2019. No Sesso is an Italian brand that translates to no-sex or no-gender. Pierre Davis was the first transgender woman to present at New York Fashion Week which she said “allowed us to have visibility on a global stage”. I think this is a very important point as it shows that this collection means and stands for so much for the transgender community beyond the clothes themselves. It also brings diversity that can continue to grow. One highlight of this collection was leather corsets which is what brought attention to the collection after my research into corsets. Another important aspect of this brand is the use of recycled fabrics and reworked clothes, which is something I particularly like due to the importance of sustainability and how much waste this industry causes. The corset style tops are what specifically made me relate this to my current work, and showed me how corsets are still present as trends in fashion today although the use of them has changed to be about the style and look rather than for being worn under clothes and pulling in the shape of the waist. This is an aspect of Pierre Davis work that has inspired my project and I will take these fashion references to inspire my design development.

Online Exhibition- Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Online exhibition walkthrough: https://www.mfa.org/video/gender-bending-fashion-walkthrough

Today, on Friday of week 2 we have done a research task, highlighting and analysing an article revlevent to my project (photo above). My article was about the exhibition 'Gender Bending Fashion' that I researched in week 1 and the tasks we were given to properly analyse this really helped me with actually understanding what I was reading, therefore making it easier to draw inspiration from it. Through this research something I read that I do not know much about is the Peacock Revolution so this led me to find out more about how the peacock revolution was when tailored suits become more flamboyant. As we were then put into breakout rooms to talk about this research, this was also helpful to think about aspects of my project that I hadn’t thought about from the perspective of my peers. One idea that a peer suggested was to think about how gender plays a role in what is happening in the world and in the news at the moment regarding violence towards women, which is something I had not thought about until now.

Peacock Revolution

We were then shown how to move solids accurately from certain points such as midpoints, endpoints or the centre. As shown above I tested this out by moving cubes from the end point to end point of a cuboid. This also led to copying solids in the same way by creating a copy and moving it the certain point to make continuous solids such as with the spheres above.

Next we were shown how to trace images which is really useful, I used some images and sketches I have done of flowers for my project (flowers as imagery associated with femininity and masculinity). Then using what I had learnt before I could then make these into solids, which is a effective way of making a sketch into a 3D perspective.

In addition we were shown how to use transforms such as bends, and twists to manipulate a shape already in the software. This is something I would like the try more at as a way of using the simple shapes such as cubes and spheres to create my own shapes.

Finally I explored changing lighting and materials of my shapes. There are examples above with brighter studio lighting and I looked at materials such as wood, metals and gems just to see how they looked in the software. I found this really interesting as when I put Rhino into Raytraced view it made the shapes and materials more realistic. This showed me it would be effective way of actually being able to see what a design would look like however in a more sustainable way then making it, as it means you can make adjustments and change designs without the wastage of materials. I have enjoyed this workshop using Rhino3D because it is something very new to me so it was helpful to get a basic induction, and I can see how 3D softwares like this will be really useful to learn. I am going to plan to explore this more of the Easter break so the I have a better understanding of how to potentially use this later in my FMP.

Initial Sketchbook Development and Initial Designs

For the pre-task for sketchbook workshop at the end of week 3, I printed images of a mixture of fashion references, non-fashion references and some fabrics such as lace and velvet. As instructed I cut these up in different ways and collaged together. I then used different pens, fine liners, pastels and watercolours to resend to the images. I then done a page of design ideas inspired by this as we were instructed. This has been a really useful workshop to help my with progressing with my development work in my sketchbook as this is something I have not progressed with enough so far. I am going to continue responding to my research in this way to help my development my project more.

To continue with development work in my sketchbook, I have taken the photos above of a shirt, so that I can develop garments to layer on top of them as inspired by the Maison Margiela garment above. The shirt brings in the masculinity aspect, so I am going to use my femininity references to inspire designs on top. I also included a reference back to my corset research. This is also referring back to my research into the Peacock Revolution, and thinking about how I can mix the traditional with the untraditional.

Role of Gender in Animals/Nature Research

One of the suggestions I was given in my 1 to 1 was to look at seahorses as a non-fashion reference as they are an example of gender role reversal as it is the male seahorse that carries the baby. This is interesting to think about as it questions what characteristics or behaviours make a woman a woman and what makes a man a man. Furthermore, it questions how these still exist today when the lines are more blurred. For instance the documentary 'Seahorse' is about a gay transgender man on the journey of carry his child, and the difficulties he faced. This is an example of how the differences between men and women are a lot smaller if there at all today. I collected some images of pregnant male seahorses that I thought were interesting, and was particularly looking at their shape and the pattern on them, as well as the mixture of green, yellow and brown colours. I am going to take inspiration from these shapes and colours in my development.

Corset Research and Development

While researching for my project proposal, I researched into 'Little Woman' by Louisa May Alcott as a bock which focuses on the theme of the role of women. This led me to thinking about what women wore in the 19th century and how this linked to their 'role' at the time. Corsets have been worn more commonly by women from the 16th century up to the 20th century however since then have become unpopular due to how detrimental tight lacing is to women's health. In recent years corsets have still been used and are on trend however this is more the style of a corset rather than the tight lacing that changes the shape of the body in an extreme way. I was led to this article above about the history of corsets right up to the increase in searches for them this year. I think corsets tell us a lot about gender roles at the time they were most popular, as it shows that woman were changing and deforming their bodies to fit a standard through the male gaze despite it causing major health implications. Countering this, a point in this article that I found interesting was that in the 20th century once woman stopped wearing corsets as an everyday item, there was a shift to extreme dieting, exercise and plastic surgery. I found this interesting as it suggests that although corsets had health implications, they were replaced with a culture of dieting and exercise which also have health implications if taken to far so may be no worse, and secondly are also ways of changing your body to fit a certain mould. To respond to this research I am going to think about using corsets in my design development but experimenting with how I could use them in an untraditional way.

I have begun responding to my seahorse research by doing some digital illustrations inspired by seahorse prints. Firstly I created the darker circles, then a greeny-yellow background. I layered on top of the circles to give it some depth, trying different opacities, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%. I decided the colours were too bright and did not portray the seahorse inspiration properly, so I tried darker, deeper colours below.

I have begun experimenting with colour above, using more reddy and greeny tones as I think this looks much better and more effective then the original colours above, that may look a bit washed out. I like this colour on the right the most, as I think it will look effective will still looking like it references the original seahorse print. T develop this forward I am going to test out sizes on the body to work out what scale the print should be.

I printed the digital print in A4 and A3 and pinned them to me above. I think the A3 print is definitely the most effective, and will draw the eye more. However I think it depends where on the body the print is used. For instance if it was only used on a bodice then the a4 print size or somewhere in between may be better, so that the print is not too big to be visible. I am going to continue developing this print in my designs, and then when I finalise my line up I will know what scale will fit my garments.

In the sketchbook pages above, I numbered each print from 1-6 as each has a slightly different colour. I prefer number 1 as I think the colours the colour are bold enough for my costumer but not too bright. However I like the darkness and deep colour in number 6, as I think it reflects my seahorse inspiration. I created a colour palette based on the prints I selected, and I will use these colours in my designs.

Pleating

As inspired by Harris Reed’s collection which included tailored suits going into full skirts, I experimented on the stand with different folds and pleats to make a full look. I printed my digital seahorse print and used this on paper to experiment with how it would look. I done this very roughly, which led me to a happy accident of experimenting with asymmetrical pleats. I think this expresses my concept of twisting gender traditions/stereotypes in a literal way of making pleats in an untraditional way. I am going to develop this with fabrics instead of paper to make this forward.

I have made some samples of different types of pleats and gathers to find ways I could create a full look. After comparing each one I selected knife pleats (middle) to experiment with more as it gives fullness to the skirt, while also keeping the fold of the pleat the whole way down the piece of fabric. I am going to experiment with this on a bigger scale, and compare straight traditional knife pleats to untraditional asymmetric/random pleats.

I have pleated on a much bigger piece of fabric and experimented with this on a mannequin. I do not like this as I think it looks too traditional as a skirt and slightly boring. The pleats are not deep enough meaning the skirt has not got enough depth. I am going to develop this idea in a different way, by experimenting with the pleats in different areas of the body such as a sleeve, and also experimenting more with the asymmetric pleats.

Week 4: 1-1 with Aimee

I have come to a point in my project where I think I need to go back to my research and go more in depth as I do not think I looked in enough depth at the beginning of the project. I discussed this in my 1-1 and was given some suggestions of what I could look into, as well as some academic papers that I have linked below, which I am going to read and see if I can take some inspiration from. Some ideas that were suggested to me which I am going to research more into, are gender symbols and musicians such David Bowie and Boy George. I also want to develop my previous research into flowers onward and start developing it in 3D with fabrics. To develop this on I am going to research into origami flowers and paper folding and see if I can experiment with this. I also want to develop my seahorse print more, and a suggestion for this was to look at the scale and colour. I am also going to experiment with using a different method to make my print rather than digital print, as I think printing it might take away the texture it could have.

Current shopping list: Fabric -velvet - satin -calico, glue stick, thread, iron on interfacing, pattern ruler.

https://the-rosenrot.com/defining-androgyny-in-fashion/

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/267160633.pdf

Origami Flowers

To respond to my previous research about flowers, I decided I wanted a technique that would look big and effective. I liked making the flowers 3D in the Rhino3D workshop, instead of continuing to develop this digitally I am going to start using fabric. I tested out origami flowers using thin tissue paper. I like how this looked as it is 3D, making the design look more interesting and giving it depth. To develop this and move it on further I will be testing this out with fabric.

I have firstly experimented with calico, however I quickly ran into a problem as the fabric was too flimsy to hold the origami folds of the flower. I found a potential solution to this being spraying to flower once folded with fabric stiffener. This helped hold the shape much more as shown above, and I really like how this turned out as I thing it looks interesting and would be effective at a much larger scale. I am going to continue developing this by choosing a different fabric to test this out on that a could potential use in my final line up/garment.

As inspired by my previous research into the fabric used in the Peacock Revolution, I have brought some velvet to test this origami fabric folding. I found that the velvet was much flimsier than the calico I had used before, however using fabric stiffener has left marks on the velvet. To solve this I have used iron on interfacing to give the fabric more structure. Below is an example of the flower without interfacing on the left then with interfacing on the right. Without interfacing the folds completely fell apart and there was no structure to the flower. I have used hot glue to hold down the final folds just give extra protection to prevent it falling apart, then I done a couple of hand stitches due to the flower not fitting under the foot of the sewing machine.

My next step to develop this is the test it on a bigger scale, then I can pin this on the stand to experiment with design ideas. I really like how this has turned out as I think it fits in well with my concept and will be very eye catching on a larger scale. As I have never done any origami before I had anticipated that this would be difficult, however by starting with paper it gave me a bit of time to practise and work out exactly how I was going to do it along with following instructions I found online. This then made it a lot easier when moving onto testing with fabric. I am glad I have experimented with doing this as I think it is effective and has turned out well. Once I have developed this further I plan to include this in my final line up.

Gender Symbols

To continue developing my origami flowers I have folded some cotton at a much bigger scale. The cotton felt more stuff once folded as there were so many layers, so it did not need any interfacing. I much prefer this in the bigger size in comparison to the smaller samples, as I think it is more powerful, and the details are clearer making it look more intricate. To progress this on to design development I am going to pin this to the stand and experiment with where on the body it could be used.

I have put this on stand in different parts of the body, to help me think about how I could use the flower in different parts of the garment. I like how this looks on the stand and I think the size is just the right size to be effective. I have used some of these photos to develop design ideas, which include using it as different parts of the jacket or parts of the sleeve. I like how it looks to have some flowers at the front of the jacket, as I think this is bold and unique. I am going to continue developing these ideas, mixing it with other aspects of my research to experiment with more design ideas.

Applique Seahorse Print

Looking on the WGSN I found a trend report about genderless beauty. This led me to start thinking about who my collection is specifically for. This report gave me interesting information giving context to my target audience such as 56% of Gen Z know someone who goes by gender neutral pronouns. Also only 44% of Gen Z said they buy clothes restricted by gender. No-gender clothing is becoming more popular in high-end fashion and on the high street (despite the many sustainability and ethical issues of fast fashion, this has still made no-gender clothing much more accessible). This report led me to many people such as Marty Bovan and Edward Bess, and I previously researched Tilda Swindon, so I am going to collage all of these people and create a muse for my project so that I have a clear visual representation of who I am designing for.

To start making my toile for the underneath dress, I used a bodice toile I had already made however took the sleeves off and unpicked the waist darts as my design goes more straight down, so it does not need to be brought in at the waist. I measure from under my arm to my ankles to be 40 inches, took off the length of the bodice, then measured this distance down to cut fabric for the skirt. I do not have any pattern paper currently so this was the best way to do this so that I could move on with the rest of my toile however I will need to create a pattern for this skirt. I like the way it is shapeless and very straight, due to my development of using a straight silhouette to avoid playing into stereotypes of what is seen as a standard for particular genders silhouette. However, the dress was much too tight around my hips when I tried this on so when making my pattern I will have to come out a couple of inches at the hip.

In my design the neckline cuts straight across the collarbone to give the look of the dress falling straight down. I marked 2 inches in from each shoulder seam, then marked straight across to achieve this neckline. After cutting this, I had to deepen it and curve the line slightly as it became slightly v-necked. I am happy with the result of this as I think it has achieved the neckline in my design, I will use this adaptation of my toile to adjust my pattern.

I decided to experiment with adding a pleated sleeve to this part of the dress rather than it being sleeveless. I roughly pleated some spare fabric, and tested sewing the top of this with some elastic told hold it up as an off shoulder sleeve by wrapping the elastic thread around the bobbin. This was not successful as the elastic was not strong enough to hold the sleeve up, however once stitched to the dress the sleeve held itself up so this was okay. However looking at this now I am not going to use this sleeve and will just stock to the original design as I think once the skirt part of the dress is pleated it may look to busy with the pleated sleeve also, so I do not want to draw focus away from the skirt.

I have started the pattern above for the half jacket that goes over the dress by doing research into lapel patterns. I started drafting this pattern above, however decided it was to complex as I have never done a lapel before. This pattern would have ended up as a separate lapel and front bodice pattern, as well as deepening the neckline and sleeve meaning I would be changing the front and back bodice pattern which I do not think is an affective way to do this. I have done more research into lapel patterns to solve this and worked out a way to draft the lapel and front bodice all as one pattern, which I have shown below. I am happy with how this second version has turned out and I will be able to tell if I have done it correctly once I have made the toile.

The back of the jacket is the same is my block patterns so I have just added seam allowance to make my back pattern, then stitched each dart.

I am extremely happy with this toile as it is my first time drafting the pattern for and swing a lapel. I think this looks very neat and structured which how this part of my design is supposed to look. I am going to layer this on top of the dress toile and then connect them at the side seam with top stitching, and sew the sleeve to both the jacket and dress to hold them together as one garment.

This is my toile currently with some adjustments still to be made. In these photos you can see I accidentally stitched the sleeve the wrong way round meaning the seam allowance is on the outside. I have left it as it is as it still shows me that the pattern works, however it has been a good reminder for me not to make that mistake on my final garment. The first adjustment is that I will be taking off the pleated sleeve, and secondly I need to adjust the pattern and toile to have an opening at the side for a zip. I also need to create the pattern for my skirt and add a few inches at the hip line.

Week 6: 1 to 1 with Lamula

Some suggestions I have been given in my 1 to 1 today were to look at Grayson Perry, and Othello de'souza Hartley: Masculinity project. I was also advised to look into the London Theatre Company to look at period clothing in reference to my research into corsets. However after looking into this, I have found that the London Theatre Company has closed down due to the pandemic. I have also been advised to think more about the pleats in my designs and whether this would need to be done at a pleaters. After developing this idea more in my toile, I am not going to be using a pleaters, as the pleats in my design are asymmetric so I will be using the slash and spread method to make the pattern for my skirt. I was also suggested to reverse the gender that is wearing the clothing in my designs. In my original project proposal I had aimed to make a genderless collection however in reflection of my sketchbook so far I can see that I have done a lot more womenswear designs as this is what I am used to doing in previous projects. I still aim for my collection to be genderless as I think this is an important aspect of my perspective on whether gender roles are relevant in todays society. Through my research my perspective on this is that gender roles are not relevant and definitely not necessary as there is much more blurred lines between genders today. The purpose of my project is to take some of the stereotypical views on gender (e.g. femininity being associated with flowers, and masculinity associated with wearing suits and power). In response to this feedback, I am going to ensure that from now on and in my final line up, the people in my designs are a mixture of genders, or more androgynous.

3D Development of Pleats

To make the pleats in my designs I am going to use the slash and spread method to create the pattern, then use the industrial iron to press the pleats. I sampled this on my fabric above which went well as the fabric held the pleats well. I found that the pins I used to hold down the pleats left holes in the fabric which I had expected to come out with the iron, however this did not come out so when I make my final garment I will use mostly masking tape instead of pins to hold my pleats down. I pinned my sample to a quarter size mannequin to test how it would like as a skirt and it has the right look my design as going for. I like the unconvetional look of the randomised pleats showing going against traditions, and I like the fullness it gives the skirt. Some of the pleats on this were not deep enough so I will make sure I do deeper pleats in my final garment as when it is to a full scale it will lose some of the fullness.

Completing my Toile

To draft my skirt pattern I marked out the waist line of my bodice to be the top of the skirt, then marked out the hip line 8 inches below. I added an inch to either side of the hip line and used the pattern master the curve the line from the hip to the waist. I then took this straight down to the ankle. This pattern will then be used to slash and spread to make my pleated skirt.

Once I had adjusted the neckline on my front bodice pattern I cut this in fabric for my toile but found there was excess fabric around the shoulder darts. I cut off this excess fabric then adjusted the pattern again to match this.

I have taken some photos of pleats that were brought in by a tutor, to help with the construction of the pleats for my skirt. Looking at these I can see the difference between different types of pleats, such as box pleats or knife pleats. I can also see how important it is for the pleats to be pressed properly as in these samples I can see how you can pull the pleats apart and they always hold the folds and bounce back. This also shows the importance of fabric choice, as natural fibres wouldn't hold the fold this well. I have made sure my fabrics hold the pleats in my sample, and I am going to make sure I press the pleats well.

Making my Final Garment

To start my final garment I constructed my bodice and stitched the seahorse print to the front and back. I hemmed the edge of the neckline and the armhole that does not have a sleeve. I inserted the zip on the open side and finished it with top stitching. This has gone well and everything has gone to plan so far. Tomorrow I am going to start constructing the half jacket to layer over.

Above I have photos cutting my jacket bodice pieces in velvet, satin for the lining and interfacing to give it structure. I had a problem as I had brought new interfacing and it was not as stiff as I had expected so I used a layer on both the main fabric and the lining and this worked well. I had a second problem which I have shown in the photos below because I used the iron straight on to the interfacing which burnt straight through. I just used a patch of interfacing to patch this up then used a cloth between the fabric and the iron for the rest.

After constructing both the main bodice and the lining, I have cut off the corners of each seam allowance so that it does not bulk up the corners when turned inside out. I then turned it inside out through the arm hole and pressed all of the edges. I have completed my jacket and my bodice so I am now moving on to the skirt.

To start making my pattern I marked out where my pleats would be on my skirt pattern then cut down these lines. I then made doubles of each pleat to put in-between the pleats, to allow space for the fold, using balance marks to line them up. This is a new method I have never used before and although it took a while to figure it out and get my head around it , I think it has paid off. I am excited to stretch this further in the future.

I have traced my pattern out to a fresh piece of pattern paper using a needle tracer and folded the pleats and pinned it to me to check I am happy with it. I am happy with these pleats, particularly the depth, and from the pattern I can tell it is going to give the full look I am going for.

Reading my peer assessment I can see that a big part of my project and my Spark blog that I need to improve on/add is more depth to my research. As well as this, one piece of advice I was given was to think from a different point of view, and research other perspectives that are not necessarily just from artists or designers. I also to discuss my designs more in my blog, as I have done collaging and design development in my sketchbook, but I need to go back and include this in my blog so that I can evaluate how I made my selections of what to take forward in my final line up. I was also advised to complete my final garment and evaluate and reflect on the process more. To respond to this feedback, my next step is to take a step back and make sure I've included all my relevant research, and design ideas in my blog. After this I am going to aim to complete my final garment today and tomorrow so that it is done by the end of Wednesday, and then take some time to reflect on this process in my blog before moving on to the photoshoot. I found this peer assessment very useful not only because of the feedback given to me, but also due to being able to see someone else's project and they way they have gone through their journey. From reading there blog I could see how they had done there layout, with subtitles making it very clear what they were talking about and at what point in their process. I was inspired to include this in my blog as I think it has made my processes and journey much clearer and easier to follow for another person to read.

Finishing my Final Garment

My fabric for the back of my skirt arrived today on Monday, so I have pleated this the same as the front however had to press it with a regular iron due to not having access to an industrial iron at home. This worked just as well, I just covered the fabric with a cloth to make sure I did not ruin it, and pressed both the front and the back. I then stitched roughly 20cm down each pleat to hold it in place.

Once I completed the skirt, I tried it on in one of the images above and am really happy with how the asymmetrical pleats turned out as I think the depth of the pleats has given it the fullness I was looking for while still having a fairly straight silhouette. I have now constructed the three parts of my garment (bodice, skirt and jacket) and just have to attach these all together to make my dress.

When pinning up to skirt for a hem I decided I was not going to hem that bottom as I think it caused the bottom fo the dress to loose some of the shape from the pleats, and the raw edge matches the raw edge on the applique. I have still hemmed the sleeve as I think this matches the structure of the jacket.

Finally I have made the velvet flower with interfacing and pressing the fabric after each fold. I attached my flower to dress by hand stitching as it would not fit under the machine. I think this is the most effective and successful part of my garment as it is something I have never done before but it adds shape and depth to the garment making it a lot more interesting. My garment is now complete and I am going to be moving on to the photoshoot tomorrow.

Photoshoot

For my photoshoot I am referring back to my previous research into musicians that broke down gendered clothing, such as David Bowie. I am going to use this photo large photo as part of the backdrop, the photo changes to 3 different photos dependent in the angle you are looking at/the camera is at. This will be in front of the biggest white wall I have as I do not want to take too much attention away from the garment. I will then use photoshop to edit out any of the photo that I do not want (e.g. the carpet). I am going to be wearing the garment myself as I made it to my measurements, and I will be directing somebody on how exactly to take the photos. I am going to tie my hair back to look short from the front, and use very minimal make up to give a neutral look.

I have printed all of the successful photos like a contact sheet, and selected the most effective, which were not too similar, not blurry, had good lighting, and showed off the garment and the materials. This narrowed it down to the 12 photos above. I am happy with the photos at this point however my next step is the narrow these down even more and edit them. Once I have done this I think the photos will be much more effective and show off the garment more.