5.1.1 Developments

The study is taking this tradition a step further by considering a piece of clothing as architecture. Another function of architecture is to create a space that enables users to become productive. The pocket dress is a type of architecture that helps the user by storing the items, this can be described as a storage facility. The pocket dress takes away the dependency of the body on the additional provision of a storage facility as the dress itself provides room for storage. The pocket dress eliminates the amount of trips she needs to make to and from the primary workstation

Human beings are only equipped to carry a limited amount of things with their hands. The trips to and from the workstations are increasingly infrequent for the jewellers. Bags are created to allow people to carry more things at once. The dress reduces the number of trips as jewellers can carry more items, decreasing the number of trips made (Figures 37 and 38). 5.1.1 Developments Initial concept of pocket dress

Figure 58: Woman holding books (Author, 2021) Figure 59: Concept of pocket dress (Author, 2021)

Components of pocket dress: under coat

1 2

The dress has a coat underneath which is designed in a way that is easy to wear and take off.

Fixing components:

Development of the accessories: Detail of the accessories where the pockets will be clipped on. The coat is designed in a way that the user is able to wear it without the pockets

Clipping accessories are simplified to dicrease overall weight of the garment.

3

The coat dress was developed by adding more details to it. Overlay of pockets on the coat dress

Pockets used for the dress

In Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed, Harold Koda (2001) - who is an American fashion scholar and curator demonstrates the diverse and extraordinary transformations that the body endures in the clothing industry. Koda (2001) illustrates that beauty exists through radical and subtle manipulations. The physical body is strategically adjusted through subtle visual changes to meet beauty goals (Koda, 2001).

The pocket dress is inspired by the Ndebele attire, where the women wear clothing that visually transforms their bodies, hoping to gain favour from men. Typical Ndebele attire includes isigolwane (large rings of beads with a straw or iron core) worn on the neck, arms, hips, and legs. Single women wear these beaded rings to imitate fat rolls to attract Ndebele men who love large women. In addition, the dress changes the negative perceptions of waste by highlighting the positive outcomes of upcycling the waste through haute couture clothing that acts as an extension of the body (Figures 39, 40, and 41).

Figure 62: Ndebele woman wearing traditional Ndebele attire (South African tourism, n.d.)

Figure 63: Pocket dress design developments (Author, 2021)

The bottom of the designed dress (Figure 42 top) gets in the way as users walk, and pockets in contact with the ground are damaged easily. A solution to this is having a resistant layer between the pockets and the ground that is more adapted to rough terrain. In addition, the material limits the movement of the dress, keeping it from the movement path of users’ legs.

Figure 64: Pocket dress design developments (Author, 2021)

The dress evolved from a fully covered dress to a short dress with a detachable train which reduced the amount of weight the user would have to carry when wearing it.