Star sign inspired photo shoot

My final photo shoot was to be inspired by the star sign Aries. I worked with a photography student, who ironically was an Aries herself! The photo shoot tells the story of a wealthy woman who is a boss and shows her short-tempered and aggressive personality. When researching into the star sign, I was greatly inspired by the Aries personality and also the Aries colour which is red, hence the red lipstick and red shoes. Aries are the leaders of the pack, this is why I came up with the idea of a wealthy boss. I used diamond jewellery as the gemstone for Aries is diamond and diamonds show wealth. I used the psychology of colour when I chose the black clothing, as it means dominance, business-minded and elegance in the context of this photo shoot. The lighting set-up was important in this photo shoot because I had to make the photo shoot fit in with the photography style of I-D magazine. I am really pleased with the outcome and I think this is by far the best photo shoot I have done.

 

 

Wealthy woman walks to a meeting at work as a boss, looking confident.

 

One of her empolyees angers her as he isn't doing his job properly.

 

She shows her employee how angry she is and tells him to do his job properly or there will be consequences.

 

Photography: Justine

Styling: Me

Model: Cynthia

Make-up: Me

Hair: Cynthia

Location: Photography studio at college

Editing: Justine

Shoes: Manolo Blahnik

Dress: models own

Jewellry: Provided by photographer

 

 

Fabric for my dress

I have bought this beautiful, black satin fabric to make my dress!

Pattern cutting-How I made my final pattern

I am going to make a dress in college and for this, I had to make a pattern using the dress block I had made and adapting the pattern to fit the design of the dress.

 

First draft

(Using my dress block, I drew around it to create an exact copy onto this pattern paper)

 

Adaptation

(Here, I have moved a shoulder dart into a different position, so changing the design of the dress block to fit the design of the dress I am going to make)

 

Final draft

(This is the final draft of my completed pattern pieces which I will use to measure how much fabric I need and to make the dress itself)

 

 

Manufacture samples

These are some stitching samples of seams and hems which I have done at college.

 

 

1cm open seam

(2 pieces of fabric are individually over-locked and stitched together 1cm from the edge of the over-locking, then these seams are ironed open)

 

1cm closed seam

(2 pieces of fabric are over-locked together and stitched 1cm from the edge of the over-locking. This is a cheaper seam as it uses less thread and time to make)

 

5cm machine stitched hem

(Fold fabric over 5cm, then stitch on the machine)

 

5cm hand stitched hem

(Fold fabric over 5cm, then stitch by hand)

 

Invisible zip

(Popular on dresses or high end garments as the zip does not show)

 

 

 

 

Le Ballon Rouge (The Red Baloon) inspired photo shoot

I recently did a photo shoot inspired by the silent French film "Le Ballon Rouge" translated as "The Red Balloon". For my shoot, I was greatly inspired by the red balloon itself, bringing lots of red colours into each image and emphasizing the colour during editing of the photos. I also created a child-like model as the film was centred around children and the main character who had the red balloon was a child. The high pig tales and light make-up helped to create this child-like image in my photos. I also used the colour white, emphasizing bright, white lighting when editing the photos as white, according to the psychology of colour, means purity and innocence in the context of my photo shoot. The location I used for my shoot was in my house. I was inspired by a certain scene in the film where the boy with the red balloon is standing outside a wooden shop with widows. That's where my idea came from to shoot near wooden doors and windows. Here is how my photo shoot turned out:

In this image, the girl looks back as if curious to find out something.

In this image, the girl is in a fun, cute pose showing playfulness.

In this image, the girl looks through a window looking for something, but the light is so bright, she can't find what she is looking for.

I was inspired to create this image from a scene in the film, where the boy with the red balloon is looking through a window, as the red balloon flies away.

Photography: Me

Styling: Me

Model: Me

Hair & Make-up: Me

Location: My House

Editing: Me

Satin nightie

I finished making this satin nightie last night. I used some fabric that my mum is no longer using. I designed it myself and I tailored it to fit me. So I basically measured myself and then used those measurements to cut the fabric to size and to put the darts in the correct place. I didn't use a pattern or a mannequin, so I think I've done really well! I am so pleased with how it has turned out!

Pillowcase Dress

I have recently been making a dress out of two pillowcases for Dress a Girl Around the World (dressagirlaroundtheworld.com). It is a project to make dresses for vulnerable children in Africa. I made this dress for a 10-12 year old. I made the pockets and sewed them on. I ruched the top and sewed the straps on. I finished it with a hem. I am really pleased with how it has turned out and I hope there is a little girl out there who would love to wear it!

Industrial inspired Photo Shoot

Last week, our class was split into groups. We were given a word to be inspired by to carry out a photo shoot. In my group, we had the word "Industrial" and we began to be inspired by the Industrial Revolution, Les Miserables and Miley Cyrus music video "Wrecking Ball". We thought the background in the video looked very industrial. I really enjoyed helping with the make-up and overseeing the preparation for the shoot and the shoot itself. This is how our photo shoot turned out:

Photography: Annie

Styling: Katie, Annie and me

Model: John

Hair & make-up: Katie, Annie & me 

Location: Industrial setting outside

Editing: Annie

Supervising & transport: me

French Seam

This week, I learned how to sew an Open Seam, a Closed Seam, a French Seam, a Machine Stitched Hem and a Hand Stitched Hem. Here, I am going to go through the step by step process of making a French seam. I found this particular seam very difficult to do. French seams are usually used on sheer or transparent fabrics and is most often associated with the high end Haute Couture and Ready to Wear markets as it is a more expensive and time-consuming seam to make.

Step 1: Get 2 pieces of fabric, right sides together and sew a straight line 0.5cm from the edge. Steam iron the seam open as shown below:

Step 2: Fold the fabric so that the seam is on the inside and iron flat. Sew a straight line 1cm from the edge.

Step 3: Iron the seam flat on one side of the fabric as shown below.

 

 

My completed French seam.

Pattern Cutting

Recently, I have learned about pattern cutting and I made a dress block. I found it quite confusing and made some mistakes along the way, but with a little help, I got there in the end. It was all about following instructions from a book and calculating math sums to create lines, angles and curves. Here is my finished result:

High Street Illustration Board

As well as the couture illustration boards, we had to make high street illustration boards. Here is the one I made. I used watercolours and fine liner.

Couture Illustration Board

Here is my Couture illustration board. I drew the dress using a picture from my historical research. I used watercolours and fine liner to create this illustration. I used A2 board as this will go in to my portfolio.

Recreating Fashion Illustrations

Researching 4 different fashion illustrators, 2 historical and 2 contemporary, I have recreated 4 different fashion illustrations:

Clothes Show Competition

My peers and I were entered into a competition to design the ultimate party dress. These are my design boards:

This is my target customer board. It shows how the person lives, and their interests. I had to choose a muse. I chose Christina Scabbia (vocalist of Lacuna Coil). I chose images that depicted the type of music that my target customer listens to (heavy metal/rock) as well as what she might drink, where she might live (note the picture of the city) and her form of transport (note the picture of the train).

 

This is my inspiration board. I was to design a dress inspired by the images I chose for this board. The car seats I chose because I wanted my dress to be made of black leather and I loved how the red stitching on the seats contrasted very well with it. The corset represents an hourglass shape for my dress design. The picture of the dress has a lace-up design which inspired me for my dress design. The road adds a dark, tough mood to the board and I have drawn the road in a way that makes it continue out of the picture.

 

This is my design board. I have drawn a front and back of my dress design. My final design is a black leather dress with red stitching. It has a very fitted, hourglass shape and a lace-up back. It also has a lace-up panel on the left side and a seemless zip on the right side to make it easier to get the dress on.

2nd decade

For Unit 5, I had to research a second decade. I looked at the 1980's. I found it really interesting to research because it was quite a rich decade with flamboyant fashion! Shown below are the pages in my sketchbook which I have done for this decade.

Mindmap for 1980's decade.

 

A double page on art movements within the decade. I chose to research Neo-Expressionism and Graffiti looking at artists David Salle and Keith Haring.

 

On this double page, I began to look at Power dressing and the popularity of designer labels. I also looked at how the television series Dynasty and Miami Vice and how the creation of MTV had an impact on fashion.

 

On these pages, I looked at New Romanticism, a major trend during the 1980's, and how some 80's fashions were very bright and colourful. I researched Vivienne Westwood's days when she did her "Pirates" collection as this was when she changed from Punk to the New Romantic trend. I looked at the fitness/aerobics craze of the '80s and how that had an impact on sports fashions.

 

Finally, I did some research on subcultural fashion trends in the 1980's, namely Goth and heavy metal fashion. 

Versace new collection

I am loving Versace's latest collection named Vunk ( the word being a fusion of Versace and Punk). Here is my favourite outfit from the collection. You can also view the rest of the collection at
uk.versace.com and www.versace.com.

My favourite outfit from Versace's Autumn/Winter 2013/14 collection.

Shopping in Harvey Nichols, Manchester

I went shopping in Manchester with my college friends and saw these beautiful golden Giuseppe Zanotti heels!

The Gallery of Costume, Platt Hall

Yesterday, I went to The Costume Gallery at Platt Hall. I took photos of some of the costumes and shoes which were on display.

 

Dresses from the 1980's. I particularly like the red one in the background. It was designed by Pino Lancetti in 1989.

 

 

Dresses from the 1990's.

 

Beautiful high heels by YSL.

 

A very striking dress by artist Susie MacMurray. Black nappa leather, studded with over 100,000 large, silver adamantine pins. I love this as it is really different.

 

Outfits from the 18th century. The dress, second from left, is a wedding dress with stomacher, petticoat and necklet, 1742-1743

 

 

Dress, 1780-1790

 

Wedding dress, 1831-1832

 

Beige silk day dress, 1840s

 

Red velvet 2-piece dress, trimmed with red glass beads. Bodice faced with red satin, 1885-1886

 

 

Corset with stays and stomacher, 1620-1640. I love corsets and I find this one in red looks really nice.