P. A . D Process Analysis Document
contents
01 Project Brief
02 I n i t i a l R e s e a r c h + I n s p i ra t i o n s
03 D e s i g n e r I n s p i ra t i o n s
04 Conceptualisation + Identity
05 Development of Ideas
06 Final Designs
07 To i l e D e v e l o p e m e n t + F i n a l G a r m e n t Pr o d u c t i o n
08
Photoshoot Concept
01 Project Brief
THE CONCEPT As humans have the ability to feel mentally, we often find ourselves having to, for whatever reason contain our emotions. From this we form a kind of façade, a mask or shield to hide these emotions from others and thus, our feelings are like the contents in our everyday bottle of water or a jar of jam; it feels and perhaps is safer to contain them. This is perhaps a type of anxiety that is probably often ignored and although not all cases become a serious one, it seems that even though in our modern day society, with so many various communicating platforms offered to us, we still find it hard to express our true emotions. That is a part of what defines us as individuals and should be something that is organic to us. This human emotion of “bottling-up” or containing our feelings, in conjunction with our relationship with shapes and forms that encapsulates us in our everyday life, like bottles and jars to the buildings that shelter us, can then be used to inspire forms and silhouettes.
MOOD
FA B R I C S
The concept is about being contained; the mood reflects an encapsulating sense throughout the collection. It is to project feelings as the human body suppressed under a faรงade, and in this case, garments. But within this, there is the contradiction of still wanting to express such emotions yet knowing it is perhaps safer to not.
Fabric choices are made dependent on the target market that is intended for a high-end market and suited to the Autumn/Winter season, but most importantly, this concept is also about the organic and tnatural emotions we have, and so the faรงade we form is also this. Therefore some of the fabrics have some sort of draping ability to help create shapes looking more organic.
C O LO U R Colours were highly taken into consideration to match with the mood of this collection. This was expressed by using general colour connotations so that this mood makes a much easier sense to the wearer or audience. In this case, the colours would reflect a dark side of the person, but also a contrast to reflect its contradictions.
SHAPE With the mood in mind, bulbous and voluminous shapes or oversizing and the use of drape were taken into account when designing with the end result of an encapsulating shape, garments or the outfit as a whole encompassing the body.
TA R G E T M A R K E T The target market is intended for a high-end market and for women between the ages of 25-45, who like to make a certain statement through what they wear and already have a strong sense of style. These women are most likely to already be in the fashion industry but women from other careers would also be interested, like an art curator or a painter or someone in the music scene for example, where they often need to communicate ideas or emotions through what they do, therefore would have a better understanding of this collection.
T ilda Swinton - actress
Natalia Grzybowski Hybrid Collection S/S12
O B J E CT I V E S + A I M S C O N C LU S I O N The objectives and aims of this collection are to communicate about this certain emotion and express it through fashion. It allows the audiences to become aware of such anxiety and most of all, the importance of communication. This project also proves that the garments we wear can be used as a tool or medium and reflect how we feel or what we are.
02 Initial Research + Inspirations
My first breath of ideas came from researching trend predictions for autumn/winter15-16. Upon searching through Trend Union, I came across a trend named, Container. This trend was described as, “the need to feel contained‌ encapsulated like bowls, jars and jugs that are engaged in a dialogue amongst themselves.â€? -which sparked a few inspirations and ideas for a theme. My very first thought in relation to this trend was to touch on a certain type of human emotion: the emotion of bottling up or containing our feelings. I felt that this idea of suppressing our feelings was something that can be relatable to anyone and everyone so it would be interesting to bring up. In my own perspective, this idea would become a rather personal one as I see it as a form of anxiety, which is something I can relate to myself. From this I began my journey of collating inspirations and research to further my concept and to aid the development of designs.
B o t t l e d U p E m o t i o n s ( 2 0 1 2 ) , L e s l i e Pe a r s o n
During the summer I began reading a novel, “A Tale for the Time Being” by Ruth Ozeki. Within there was a Japanese quote, which translate to “Form is emptiness and emptiness is form”. In my interpretation of this quote, I see that “Form is emptiness” because a form is just a shape itself and what is within the form would be empty. Relating this to my concept, the garments would obviously be the form and what is inside is the human who feels empty. The second part of the quote, “emptiness is form”, in relation to my concept, emptiness, although it implies to be nothing, it is still a form of emotion because you still feel it within you like numbness. Putting the two together, it has helped shaped the fundaments of my collection concept.
Stor y of a Sensible Length (2014), Karla Black
One other inspiration was from an exhibition in The National Gallery of Scotland. The exhibition Generation was to celebrate 25 years of contemporary art in Scotland. One of its exhibit Story of a Sensible Length (2014) by Karla Black had me instantly immersed because whilst it was taking up quite some space in the gallery area, in return it gave a sense of space. The draping gave it its organic form, which personally, made me felt a sense of safety and comfort. The muted colours were inviting and reminded of childhood with its chalky pink, green and blues. I felt that this was inspiring because Black showed that even though it was intentionally composed (judging by the knots) it still seemed organic as a form giving that sense of safety. And just as expressing emotions should be more organic to us, being encapsulated by a more natural form would help emphasise that it is almost safer to contain ourselves.
A u t o m a t i c W r i t i n g ( n . d ) , s e l f p o rt ra i t b y A n d r e B r e t o n
Man Ray (c 1930), Andre Breton
Another inspiration that sparked further interest into my initial idea was when I had watched a documentary on BBC4, “Bright Lights, Brilliant Minds: A Tale of Three Cities” by Dr. James Fox. I was particularly interested in the Surrealist movement that Fox explains. Surrealism, broadly speaking, was a movement founded by Andre Breton in 1924 and defines it as “Pure psychic automatism the dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason and outside all moral or aesthetic concerns”. Breton was also greatly influenced by Sigmund Freud’s free association method, which Freud uses to expose his patient’s unconscious mind and surrealists would call this practice Automatism. Automatism is what could be described as free expression, just as the automatic writings of Breton in his earliest works where he wrote down rapidly the ideas that predominantly came to mind. This movement and Freud’s free association has inspired me to perhaps take on a more automatic approach to my designs for this collection. Especially since my concept is associated with the emotion of containing. Putting it in a sense, the emotions contained are then similar to those from the unconscious mind. This also further pushes my idea that emotions should be expressed in a more organic manner.
References: http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/surrealism http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/a/automatism
Collage by Andre Breton
Expanding my research, I looked onto surrealism and its relationship with fashion for more inspiration. To me fashion isn’t just garments itself. Fashion is also an art form. Today we are given the freedom to express by the way we dress, like the way a painter uses his paint to express, then fashion is an art form (to me), moreover, a way to express our individuality. And its relationship with surrealism influences me to approach my designs in a more expressive manner.
Looking through a book to reference, I found “Fashion and Surrealism” by Richard Martin, it showed various way in which surrealism inspired fashion, whether it is through garment design or fashion imagery, I learned the possibilities my own designs could go whilst taking in consideration that designs must be wearable for the human body. A good example of this from the book I found was Cristobal Balenciaga’s Chou cape. The garment resonates flowers encompassing the body, paired with a long narrow skirt to symbolise flower’s stem portraying the woman as an ideal beauty just as the natural beauty of flowers. Although it is said that many surrealists were misogynists, by using flower as a representation for woman, would be a subtle way of portraying beauty. Thus symbolism would play a big part to surrealism and this Chou cape would be a good representation.
References: Martin, R. (1988) Fashion and Surrealism, Thames and Hudson Ltd, London
03 Designer Inspirations
During the process of refining my concept, I looked into a few designers that would help me see how my concept could be exerted into garment design.
Image: Editorial from Elle March 1998, garments by Yohji Yamamoto
I r i s Va n H e r p e n
One of the first was Iris Van Herpen who I believe often touches into sensuality and applying it into her designs with the help of technological fabrication. Such a way has created outstanding designs that are almost unimaginable. Herpen has inspired me not only through her beautiful creations, but also through the fact that she made use of technology that created new fabrics, which clearly elaborated her ideas. Whilst I don’t see myself taking my designs to such a level, I can see that perhaps, I could create my designs through ways other than what is taught traditionally or by expanding my knowledge from what I already know.
Issey Miyake
Furthering this would be Issey Miyake. Like the works of his first Pleats Please collection in 1993. The pleats came from his experimentations since the 1980s as he sought for a way to produce pleats that enhances tractability of movement and allowing effortless care whilst keep its original garment shape. Moreover, he created a innovative way to produce garments where “clothes are first cut and sewn together two-and-a-half to three times larger than the finished garments. Individual pieces are hand-fed into a heat press sandwiched between two sheets of paper. The garment then emerges with permanent pleats. This industrial process allows both texture and form to be created at the same time. Vertical, horizontal and zig-zag pleating is used to create varying effects and architectural shapes.” Miyake’s innovation has showed me that great designs can be created from experimentation. By experimentation, you’d create something new or at least seemingly new.
References: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/f/fashion-in-motion-issey-miyake/
Yo h j i Ya m a m o t o
Yohji Yamamoto, no doubt is one of my greatest influencers in fashion. What I personally admire most is the shapes he creates from what the fabrics could naturally do as he claims “Fabric is everything. Often I tell my pattern makers, “Just listen to the material. What is it going to say? Just wait. Probably the material will tell you something””. This has given me inspiration as to how to approach the outlook for my own ideas especially when I want my designs to have an organic outlook to emphasise the importance of true emotions that only comes naturally to us. There are a number of techniques in which Yamamoto uses such as the use of knitwear, shibori, embroidery, screenprinting and yuzen (a traditional Japenese dying technique). But the one that most interests me and I feel that would help me most is again, the fabric choices he makes, by perhaps taking account on the type of weave the fabric is. Although all Yamamoto’s fabrics are specifically made to his specifications, and my budget would not allow this, I could perhaps take the idea of making the right fabric choices on in order to give me the shape I want.
References: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/y/processes-techniques/
04 Conceptualisation + Identity
At this point, I feel that my initial concept has grown more than just a concept alone. I believe that with everything, there should be substance that comes within it. This said, during the process of researching more into my idea in effor ts to make it more concrete, I definitely feel more confident that this concept will work as a design. H o w e v e r, I c a m e a c r o s s m y next set of problems: • If the collection is to act as a branding my fashion i d e n t i t y, t h e n w h a t i s t h i s identity or what is it I wish the audiences to perceive from not only this collection but also perhaps future designs? • What should I do to allow this collection differentiate itself from designers who have inspired me? The belief is in order to find this identity; you must first and foremost find yourself and what you truly believe in. I believe that the height of fashion is an art form. I don’t see it should just be garments you purchase and forget. In fact it is a way for most p e o p l e t o p o r t ra y h o w t h e y want others to perceive. Just as ar tists using paint to express themselves and communicate their thoughts to the world, I perhaps want to use fashion like a medium to express the ideas that I have and communicate with it.
Ta k i n g i n s p i ra t i o n s f r o m o t h e r designers seems and probably is inevitable these days because most things have been done and to create something completely new is ra t h e r d i f f i c u l t . B u t e v e r y o n e ’s taste is different so we all take i n s p i ra t i o n s differently and p e r c e i v e s t h i n g s d i f f e r e n t l y, thus the results of our ideas should come out differently even when given the same set o f i n s p i ra t i o n s t o l o o k a t . H o w e v e r, t h e p r o b l e m i s differentiating myself from the designers I have taken i n s p i ra t i o n s f r o m . I b e l i e v e m y difference is within the process. I work under my own process and the designs and the making of will show through it. I also want to approach things differently from the designers I have res e a r c h e d t h u s f a r. Fo r e x a m p l e , Yo h j i Ya m a m o t o l o o k s i n t o t h e proper ties of fabrics and what i t c a n n a t u ra l l y d o , w h i l s t I see this as useful, I see that there could be other ways to manipulate fabric to the way I want it to be and in ways that seems organic.
05 Development of Ideas
During this entire process, this stage was by far the hardest to overcome. It seems as though I could not put my concept into drawings. And in ways they almost seem a bit “stiff” and it wasn’t portraying the concept very well. Initially, I used the shapes and forms from literal containers to draw up design ideas, however like the literal containers, my drawings were indeed, became too literal and uncreative. As form plays a huge part to this project, I also looked at another type of container: architecture, which it is designed to shelter (contain) people or things. One of the greatest architects I know was Zaha Hadid since I had watched a documentary of her and her work prior this project and had found her very inspiring. I also felt that architecture is relevant because it also provides the same sense of safety I am trying to depict. There were a couple of Hadid’s work I found interesting, but the one I found most interesting was the Heydar Aliyev Centre because of its smooth curves. These curves form an organic-like shape and to me it gave that sense of safety, trust and desire. I took this shape and tried to draw-up design ideas from it, but I felt that my drawing was still not good enough, and it was becoming more and more impossible.
Heydar Aliyev Centre by Zaha Hadid
I also looked at a few sculptural pieces, like Naum Gabo’s Torsion (Variation no. 3), 1963 and Spheric Theme : Transparent Variation, c.1937. As well as Max Bill’s Continuity built between 1946-7 but unfortunately destroyed in 1948. I believe that sculptures are creations from expressions of artists (as with any type of art) and it can be an influence for me to express my concept specifically using the 3 examples mentioned because they all have some sort of organic-like shape to it similar idea to Zaha Hadid’s Heydar Aliyey Centre I also mentioned before.
Image: Max Bill’s Continuity (1946-48)
Spheric Theme : Transparent Variation, by Naum Gabo c.1937
Torsion (Variation no. 3), by Naum Gabo 1963
At this point, I ended with a collection of poorly interpreted designs and brought it into the workshop for pattern cutting. I did my best to take this 2D image and turning it into a garment starting with the top in outfit 1, but had difficulties trying to keep the neckline in place, and its overall shape was not desirable to me. After several attempts, I felt that I was wasting time if I carried on and moved on to researching the Subtraction pattern cutting method. I tried out the idea of it on a skirt, but still couldn’t quite grasp this method fully. However I did keep this method in mind for later on. I also researched on various pattern-cutting books because I wanted to know more what was possible. I stumbled on all 3 volumes of Drape Drape by Hisako Sato and both Pattern Magic 1&2 by Tomoki Namamichi. These helped me a great deal and the ideas began to positively immerge.
Images: Original Collection Line-up
06 Final Ideas
My final designs came predominantly from the pattern books I did research on as m e n t i o n e d p r e v i o u s l y. Fr o m these pattern books, I quickly marked the ones I was interested most in and thought I could use. I then condensed this list into four and took these four into practice. I had particularly selected these ones (which I will detail through the next chapter) because I felt that they would most definitely give me the shape I wanted. They provided d ra p e r y with s i m p l i c i t y a n d t h e d ra p e was something I really wanted to have in my designs to emphasise the organic flow of form l i k e Z a h a H a d i d ’s H e y d a r A l i y e v C e n t r e , p o r t ra y i n g that true emotions are only real because they h a d c o m e n a t u ra l l y t o u s but often find we are only encapsulated and contained by them because we are unable to express them, like a lost in translation.
T h e s u b t ra c t i o n m e t h o d was only used in outfit 2 ’s d r e s s b e c a u s e I wanted to use as much of the expensive fabric without wasting as much of it. This method allowed me to use up the entire width of the given fabric a n d o n l y e x t ra c t i n g f r o m back and front necklines to waistline and of course, the armholes. Box pleating, pleating and gathers are also used throughout my final ideas taking i n s p i ra t i o n f r o m I s s e y M i y a k e ’s P l e a t s P l e a s e collections because I find that these simple techniques are simple for a reason- when used on the correct places, they create ra t h e r beautiful forms. These are all the ways in which my final ideas had come together to create this collection and found that experimenting with different ways of pattern cutting other than t ra d i t i o n a l pattern-cutting had better my creativity because it assured me what was possible. H o w e v e r, i n t h e f u t u r e , I would like to experiment more with pattern cutting and perhaps innovate my own methods.
07 To i l e D e v e l o p m e n t + Final Garment Production
Outfit 1
To p 1
This garment is a pullover top that goes just below the waistline with a simple pattern-cutting concept and it required minimal sewing whilst giving a natural shape depending on body movements. The pattern-cutting method used came from Pattern Magic 2 by Tomoki Namamichi (fig.1). During the toiling process, I decided to not include the gusset part shown in its original pattern because I felt that the gusset would restrict more movement. Instead, I used the pivot method to sew up the underarm angled point. Simply folding its fold lines and sewing up the sleeves, sides and centre front sews this garment. The centre front is sewn 29cm from hem to chest. The result of the toile came out perfectly, and when put on the body, it provided natural draping, especially at the back. There is not set shoulder point; therefore the garment can be pulled up or down to the person’s desire. The draping and hang is different depending on the body and the body movements. After review, there were no comments made to change anything. The fabric used for the final was a navy cotton/polyester twill. Twills generally have a bit of stretch like those cut on the bias. This gives the final garment even more movement. The garment lined with a navy silk twill and is patterned a little differently from it’s exterior. It uses the same concept but the top half is sewn onto separately from the latter half before joining them back again because of the 5cm facing from the exterior.
Fig. 1
Skirt 1
This is a tuck-drape skirt and the idea came from a pattern in one of Hisako Sato’s Drape Drape books (fig.2) where it was originally intended for a top. Using the skirt block, I cut and spreaded both front and back adding pleats and then angled the skirt sides hip points to hem. The outcome should be cut 2 of front and cut 2 of back, then join them up, adding a zip at centre back and a waistband. The drapes should form when its side left hanging, creating drapes directed by how the side is shaped and the pleats around the skirt waist. There were no further comments during the review. The final is made with a charcoal 100% pure wool, which was intended for the autumn/winter. Whilst it is a woven fabric, the pattern manipulated it to drape perfectly. The final garment was lined with a dropped hem. What I had decided to change in the final different from its toile was the centre front seam line is now French-seamed adding a detail to the skirt. All other seams and hems are over-locked and the exterior hem was blind hemmed. The skirt is fastened with an invisible zip and buttons on its waistband. What I should change from this is that there shouldn’t be to stitching alongside the invisible zip as it defeats the purpose of it being invisible as well as lowering the skirts quality.
Fig. 2
Outfit 1 Toile
Outfit 2
PVC Jacket 1
This is a PVC jacket with its pattern taken from the same patterning idea as Top 1. However, for this jacket, the facing from before is now wider and turned outwards becoming a grown on collar. I was then advised to bind the entire jacket as a finishing to highlight its shape more. The jacket is made with an industrial-like transparent PVC material. I took on board the binding idea but chosen a grey pleather binding. I thought this would match the synthetic feel of the PVC. The binding was also sewn with a contrasting thread, giving the entire jacket more character as well as emphasises on shape. The idea of using something really transparent as plastic was to suggest that these true emotions want to be heard or seen.
Dress 1
This garment is a floor length sleeveless draped dress with gathers at the front neckline. It uses a part of the subtraction cutting method firstly by using the shirt block, closing any darts and shortening the block to from neckline to waistline. Front and back are cut as 1 and is then placed on the width of the fabric leaving a stretch of fabric length. From each side of the waist point (both front and back), I angled it to join with the selvedge of the fabric and then measured 3metres length of the fabric and cut off from there and around the traced patterned top subtracting a dress from the fabric. I used this method because with the amount of fabric I needed, I felt that this method would create the least amount of waste. The drapes are then sculpted onto the dress and securely tacked by hand sewing. I did this to emphasise my own expression of the theme, giving it my own true emotions to the garment. During the review, it was noted that the length of the dress may required to be taken up a little more so that it is easier for the body to walk in especially with so much bulk at the skirting area. The final fabric was a navy silk twill allowing more natural shape as the body moves, even with the sculpted drapes. Twills also have a beautiful texture to it giving it a more 3-dimensional outlook. This dress is also lined with a dropped hem so that the drapes from the exterior shell would not catch its legs as the body walks. All seams and hems are over-locked and the hem on the exterior is hand- hemmed because the silk was far too delicate to run through the blind-hem machine. It is fastened with a zip from its centre back. A problem occurred during final production when the silk twill had a smaller width that the fabric used for the toile. This meant that the final dress’s silhouette is less voluminous at the skirting area compared to the toile. However, I preferred the final outcome more as it gave it a more contemporary outlook (again, compared to its toile). From this process, I learnt that I should’ve made sure what width of fabric I wanted first before the toiling process.
Outfit 2 Toile
Outfit 3
Coat
This is a wrap-around coat that again uses similar method of pattern cutting as Top 1(fig.1). The difference is that the sleeves separated from the pattern, allowing me to drop the shoulders. The length is also lengthened to about below knee level. The facing from Top 1 is now wider and turned outwards becoming the collar of the coat. There were no adjustments advised during the toile review. The final coat uses a charcoal cashmere blended fabric and it was faced and lined all around then bagged out. Side seam pockets were added to the final garment as I felt that coat such as this should be made functional too. A ribbon was attached to the collar seam and another at the side seam of the opposite side with a buckle. During final production a common problem occurred where it parts the front panels stretched because it was only partially fused thus the side seams of both fronts and backs did not match. To clarify, I had deliberately not wanted to fuse the entire front because I wanted the final coat to naturally drape, and fusing it would only restrict a bigger percentage of draping. Therefore I wanted it to be left at its natural state. This problem was resolved by stretching the back panels as I sew its side seams down with the front panels.
Final Coat in process
Jumpsuit 1
This is a sleeveless jumpsuit with a gathered front neckline, dropped shoulders and a draping throughout its bottom half with gathers on its waistline. The top half uses the bodice block where I moved its front shoulder dart to below its underarm and its waist dart is closed. The back shoulder dart is left at its place at this point. Using the trouser block, all darts are closed, then the leg length is extended by 50cm each giving it area for draping and the crotch is also dropped so that the crotch tip is 35cm below waist. The leg pieces are then divided and cut and spreaded with 4cm apart from the hem. This will give the gathers for the waistline. Creating calculated folds on all 4 seams of the legs would give it its drape. The waistline for top and bottom much match so when sewn together, the side seams would match. The fabric used for the final is a grey-blue silk twill finished with a bagged out lining and fastened with a zip that runs from centre back neckline to approximately where the hip would be. There wasn’t anything that needed to be changed from the toile. However, for unknown reasons, perhaps how I cut out the final fabric, the shoulder seams did not match (whereas the toile did), so the I left the back darts opened thus there is no shoulder darts on the final garment. I learned from this that I should pay more attention when cutting and keeping measurements of seams matching.
Outfit 3 Toile
Outfit 4
PVC Jacket 2
This version of PVC jacket is very similar to the first one except that the collar is shaped; from hem to the chest, it is the same as before, then at 90degrees angle I drew a rectangle big enough to fit a head through, the rest of the pattern is the same as PVC Jacket 1 and rightfully, it is sewn the same. However the new shaped collar now is not only a collar but it can be functional as a hood. The advice at the review for this jacket was the same as the first one. Therefore this PVC jacket is also bounded all around the edges and including its seams but with navy pleather binding to contrast Top 2 in this outfit.
Fig. 3
PVC Jacket 2
This garment is a simple sleeveless top with a twisted-drape detail at the front. The pattern used is from Pattern Magic by Tomoki Namamichi (fig.3-5). The twisted front allows me to emphasise the encapsulating sense on a simple top with this simple detail. Using the bodice block, the front shoulder dart is moved to its underarm. This dart becomes the slits for intersecting the 2 fronts together creating the twist. All other darts are closed. The length of the top is to about the hip. The twisted detail is patterned as shown on diagram. The fit of the toile came out to be a little bit smaller than intended. To fix this, I widened the underarms all around to give it a bit more ease when putting the top on. The final top is made out of blue-grey silk twill and it is lined and bagged out. A zip is inserted at centre back. I discovered that silk worked out really well with this pattern because the fabric a little bit of sheen to it and under different lights, the twisted drapes changes with it.
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Skirt 2
Taking the idea from one of Hisako Sato’s Drape Drape books again (fig.6), this garment is a one-piece side drape skirt with a waistband. Using the skirt block closing all darts, I cut and spread both front and back blocks then cut from the about the hip notch on side seam and angle it towards the hem. Attach this front and back pattern together at the new side seam. Then copy out another set of front and back of the skirt block and attach the centre front of this to the centre front of the panel before, doing the same for the back panels. The result would a one-piece pattern similar to the diagram shown. When sewn together and hung on the body, the side drape is created naturally but a little subtler compared to Skirt 1. This is to match Top 2 that is in this outfit where it is a bit more elegant looking and as a “toned-down” variation from the other outfits. At the review, it was noted that on the side that hasn’t got the drape, the side seam along the shape of the hips didn’t sit very well against the body, therefore I had to smooth it out to correct it. The final skirt uses a grey pure wool fabric. This fabric is suitable for the autumn/winter and allows me to drape. To finish, the skirt is lined with a dropped hem and its exterior skirt is blind hemmed. It is fastened with an invisible zip at the side and button on the waistband.
Outfit 4 Toile
Outfit 5
Jumpsuit 2
This garment is a jumpsuit that is a little like a boiler suit. The top with sleeves has the same twisted drape detail as Top 2, whilst the bottoms half are box pleats at on its waistline. The garment has an oversized fit to imply the body is being encapsulated into this garment, making the body look smaller, portraying the human containing their true feelings instead of letting them go, has built up a façade. For the top half of this jumpsuit, the shoulders are dropped and oversized sleeves are added. The pattern for the main body is the same as the pattern of Top 2. For the bottom, I used the trouser block and closed all darts then cut and spread from the waistline to hem, notching the folds to create the box pleats. In the toile, the back neckline was meant to be the same as the neckline of Top 1 however, after I had inserted the zip, it did not sit correctly, so I changed the neckline to a round neck like Top 2. The final jumpsuit used a black cotton/polyester twill fabric – again the twill gives a hint of texture and because of its twill weave nature, it is able to drape well but also the weight of it is able to keep a good silhouette. This garment is finished with a bagged out lining and fastened with an invisible zip.
Outfit 5 Toile
Outfit 6
Dress 2
This garment is a dress variation of the PVC Jacket 2 and Top 1. It is a floor length pullover dress with the same idea as PVC Jacket 2 at the top where the collar can be pulled up and becomes a hood and the pattern-cutting concept is the same as Top 1. The pattern for the top part is done by taking the shirt block and create the pattern the same as for Top 1, then tweaking the collar (which would be the facing in Top 1) creating the hood shape like the one in PVC Jacket 2 but with smaller widths. The latter half of the dress is done by subtracting; placing the top-half back pattern onto a 150cm width fabric and from the ends of all side seams, angle and draw a line towards the selvedge of the fabric, trace around the top-half back joining to the skirting area. Cut off the skirting at 150cm length (plus 2 cm hem allowance). For the front, because of the collar, I cannot cut out from the fabric as a whole front, instead I used the top-half front pattern as a guide to subtract the skirting area. This Naturally would give me width on the waistline to box pleat the front skirting. There were no further comments at the toile review or any indication to change anything. The fabric used for this dress is a white cotton/polyester twill. The white is a contrast and acts as the contradiction in the collection. It emphasises that even though we hide these emotions, there is still this want to express them. Thus case, the white is the reflection of who we truly are. To finish the dress, I contrasted it with a grey lining. The difficulty came when inserting the lining. I realised that I had to insert the top-half of the lining first because of the collar that is closed on the exterior, before completing the rest of the lining.
Outfit 6 Toile
08 Photoshoot Concept
p h o t o g r a p h y Matthew Chan M o d e l Megan Szczypka M a k e - u p Sophia Chan Full collection of images in Gradute Collection Portfolio
Originally, I wanted an all-concrete architectural backdrop, with interesting angles and forms because I wanted to show this encapsulation that is so hard to escape from, as if we are bounded by these hard concrete – hard to break through. My photographer had spent a good amount of time location scouting around Edinburgh, specifically for Brutalist buildings for their sharp angles and harsh structure to contrast the organic sense of the drapes on my garments, as the building(s) acts as the world out with the body, it is in such a world that has forced us to contain our true selves. Furthermore, I wanted to have concrete because concrete is a connotation to coldness, the grey and gloomy and I believed it would provide the mood for my concept. I also wanted the photos to be edited with a similar colour palette to the collection to keep the mood consistent. Our first choice was to shoot at the back of St James Centre, Edinburgh. However due to denied location permission, we moved our location to Edinburgh University’s Hudson Beare Lecture Theatre at their King’s Building Campus and used what we had. This lecture theatre is also a Brutalist building itself and has elements that were useful to us even though the area was not entirely covered with concrete.