E L L S T E X T I L E 'S

1st year at Chelsea College of Arts studying Textile Design

[ellsyo-blog]

Final Evaluation

To conclude upon the Box Clever project, I feel as though the process has really developed my skills and my working style in such a short space of time. 

The research workshops were incredibly useful when going into the blocks, whether it was on the colours, shapes or the placement of things. I particularly enjoyed being introduced to the technique of wrappings. Through selectively choosing one or a couple of objects at a time, it made me look closely at the colours within the objects and their qualities and proportions. When going into my technical blocks, especially weave, it taught me that layering very thin yarns on top of each other distorted the appearance of the overall colour. 

Moving into the blocks I feel within the majority of them I experimented to my full potential. Weave and Knit were probably where I felt developing my research into samples were more successful than the other two. I feel I examined the colour of yarns, as well as their qualities, very well together to reflect the palette of my box. In addition, my drawings from my swatch book came in use when deciding on pattern and shaping. However, when it came to Stitch I found the technical ways of working wasn’t what suited to me and my enjoyability. I felt I couldn't get my research from my box across very well, apart from a few shapes in my swatch book. In regards to print, it was the block I was looking forward to the most out of the four. As there was a lot to take on in on the silk print workshop, I didn't feel prepared for it in the short amount of time I had. 

I believe my capability of carefully selecting colours and shapes worked very well within this project, and this reflects mostly in my weave and knit samples, also in some regard to print. However, going through the blocks I have learnt a great deal in skills and knowledge of processes. I feel as though I know what works with how I like to work and what doesn't. Lastly, I would change my time management skills as this is something I failed at during some of the blocks. Knowing this, in future I will plan my time efficiently so I can achieve what I want at a high standard. 

The reflective blog was a vital part of my development through my experimentations. I feel as though errors I made during, I was able to discuss on my blog in order to overcome it and some way improve it. I have found writing on my blog difficult at times as I am a visual learner, which possibly restricted me when trying to write posts as its something I am weak at. However, I have been able to express my development within the sketchbooks I have made. This is where I have been documenting all my technical notes and drawings during the different processes. 

Overall, I feel I have developed myself as a learner and designer through this project and I am happy with the progress I have made. 

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Task 5: Globalisation

Unknown (1720-1750) Banyan [silk damask] The Victoria and Albert Fashion and Textiles Collection Available at: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1244844/banyan-unknown/

I decided to look at the Banyan, which is apart of the Fashion and Textiles collection at the V&A. A Banyan is a man’s informal robe, influenced from the traditional Japanese kimono. It was also called ‘the morning gown’ as it provided luxurious comfortability with its loose shape and silk construction.  This piece of clothing in the 17th century would be a rare procession to of had, as members of East India would bring it back with them when it became popular. It then got developed into various shapes from the original and mostly became cut into more like a fancy coat. A wealthy high-class man would be seen wearing this Banyan in the 17th-century, whether it was for casual wear to lounge around the home with or as an informal coat whilst out on the beach. In the periods artwork, you can often see the Banyan being worn by intellectual men or philosophers in painting.  Below you can see Sir Isaac Newton sitting comfortably in an the piece of clothing. 

Thornill, James (1712) Sir Isaac Newton [oil on canvas]  Available at: https://www.artfund.org/supporting-museums/art-weve-helped-buy/artwork/5463/portrait-of-sir-isaac-newton

The production of the garment (in 1670) consisted of the silk being woven in China to then export to Europe for the piece to be constructed - this most likely took place in Britain or the Netherlands. However during the mid 17th century Banyans were being brought back by members of Indian companies, where traditional oriental clothing begun to be disseminated to Europe. Keeping in mind this is a luxurious piece of clothing, it would not of been available to a lot of people. Silk was seen to provide a huge amount of exclusivity, as the cloth position was at the top of the hierarchy of fabrics. Therefore being expensive, only those who could afford the Banyan would be able to get it. It would then be consumed by higher-class males who were very fashionable - being worn as a symbolism of their knowledge an status. This altered the traditional cut of the garment from asian clothing (kimono), and appealed to a wider more global audience. 

River Island (2016) Cream paisley print slit back Kimono [100% polyester]  Available at: http://www.riverisland.com/women/coats--jackets/capes--kimonos/cream-paisley-print-split-back-kimono-687850

In comparison, I decided to look at how the traditional garment has been developed into the contemporary world. I chose to look at the high street store of River Island and I found this reformulation of the kimono. I deliberately picked a high street store in contrast of the historical status it holds - as compared to the 17th century it was a rare luxurious garment, and in the modern day it can easily be accessible globally at a cheap price.  The production of the companies clothing takes place in India and China, where it would be mass produced in factories at a low cost. It will then be disseminated to the desired countries, where River Island has stores to be sold in. In addition, this kimono will appear online on their website for online shoppers. Concluding in customers globally consuming the product - whether its online or in store.  In contrast to the previous audience of the Banyan, it has been developed to be aimed at both genders - breaking the traditional stereotype. This kimono retail prices at just £35, which makes it accessible to the standard working class. 

In regard to Globalisation, both examples display the issue of oriental garments being adapted resulting in the garment being worn against its traditional purpose. The kimono style is being transformed by the western fashion systems entirely. In our current society, brands are hugely accessible world-wide creating less diverse cultures. Global brands feed off historical styles and redevelop them to suit to the typical modern day consumer.  In the 17th century the dissemination of products were at a very low standard, making products like the Banyan a rarity. However, in relation to now we take advantage of what we really have in terms to globalisation. To buy a product you just need to go to your local store or click a button on your computer. Globalisation has made it incredibly easy for someone to get what they want in a limited amount of time. I feel because of this, it does encourage the flattening of taste as global brands distribute clothing accessible for everyone - leading in less of a variation of products. In the 17th century it would be quite rare to see several amount of people in the same outfit or owning the same product, compared to now where this is visible.  Globalisation does begin in the higher economic countries, where the need of these goods are at its peak. However the production of the products take place in less developed countries such as China and India - and then is shipped back to the western countries. Even though some companies produce their products in the UK now, this process still occurs frequently in globalisation. 

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P R I N T! : silk workshop week

I found this week incredibly difficult and I feel I wasn't prepared for it at all. I have done silk screen printing before, so I thought it would go well. However, I found using stencils instead of having an exposed screen incredibly difficult to achieve what I wanted.

It was interesting and useful to learn how to mix specific colours to get the one I wanted, although this I also found difficult. Every time I had mixed a colour it would’ve got used through one screen print and then I couldn't get the exact colour again. Because of this my print colours are all completely different, which was very disappointing. When dying two pieces of fabric, the pink went very well as it was the exact lightness I wanted. However, the green was far too dark, and this made it hard to print lighter colours on top of it Overall, this week has been a disaster and I only really like the last two prints I did - as I used tinsel to capture one of the shapes in my swatch book. I was frustrated I hadn't done this idea sooner as all of my prints would have appeared a lot better, although I am pleased I finally produced a print I really like! I believe in the beginning I was thinking far too much about the placements of each stencil that it just went the wrong way, but during the end of the week I was thinking less - and this is where my good prints begun to appear.

I think my prints do show my progress throughout the week and how I adapted and improved to my ways of working. If I were to do print again I would use the knowledge of not printing too dark colours first off - I think this was a major error in my process.

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Task 4: Postmodernism

Warner Fabrics Plc (1987) ‘London Tassles’ [rotary screen-printed glazed cotton] Victoria and Albert Museum

Regarding to Post-modern print design, I found this screen print in the V&A. As a furnished fabric it consists of high decoration elements, playing around with quite bright colours and pattern, as well as repetition. Playfulness and humour are also very clear in this piece, as the designer (Mandy Martin) is creating a visual joke about form and function. Using tassels as the pattern motif separates the decorative aspect from the practical functions of ordinary furnishing accessories. The bunches of red, blue and gold tasselled cords was probably a rarity to have in the home. Combining the traditional accessory with a retro-style, it neglects the idea that there is only one authentic style for the modern age. 

Kruger, Barbara (1993) Carrier Bag [offset half-tone line block] Victoria and Albert Museum

‘I think therefore I am’, a 17th-century phrase said by the philosopher Rene Descartes. Kruger here reformulates the historical quotation from the past, changing it to ‘I shop therefore I am’. This social vacuity, originally designed in 1987, got distributed onto t-shirts, mugs and shopping bags for consumption. The idea of it being printed on a shopping bag is quite ironic and advertises the post modern thinking. By doing so, Kruger is raising social awareness within her artworks to testify culture.  She uses space, text and photographs to bring her messages to the audience. This combination refers to the ways of simplicity of collaging different forms of media. Kruger once said, ‘I work with pictures and words because they have the ability to determine who we are and who we aren’t’. I found this interesting, as her work shows the viewer how quickly people are to label someone in society. 

To conclude, the shift in modernism to postmodernism really intrigues me, although it can be seen as having an positive and negative effect.  Postmodernism likes to deconstruct media and texts in order to result in humorous and playful outcomes using intertextuality. I believe this is a positive because if it was a deconstructing of a formal, maybe political issue- it allows people to have a laugh about serious matters and to not always be so humourless about everything. In modern day I feel this shows in our cartoon animation series such as ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Family Guy’, as they always create parodies of current issues that have been occurring. However, this point could also be seen in a negative light, depending how it is viewed and by whom. Although Postmodernism does cause a lot of controversy, I feel as though it really is a matter of taste and opinion when it comes to these sort of things.  Referring back to Walker’s text, a negative is spoken about when he explains how there were no major artists or art styles emerging from the 1970′s, ‘They regretted ‘the breakdown of the modernist mainstream’ and were confused by the proliferation of styles.’Due to the diversity of styles and reformulations of old art works art critics were stunned and wasn’t so welcoming to the idea of it.  Secondly, most of the new art produced in the 70′s was not very well recognised as ‘community murals appeared in the streets; they avoided becoming art commodities because they could not be purchased by a succession of dealers.’ Therefore the artwork wasn't documented and overall seen as memorable. 

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P R I N T!: day four

I finally decided on my colour palette I wanted all my prints to follow! Doing this I then changed up a few of my print experimentations with the colours and selected the four I liked the most. Overall, I am really happy with my outcomes as they work together as a collection, and I feel as though I have fully experimented within the digital workshops. I wasn't too sure what I wanted my fashion illustrations to be like or who I was going to have wearing my prints - all I did know is that I didn't want it to be typical. I scrolled past an image on pinterest of Issa Samb - instantly seeing his many layers and colourful garments I knew he would represent my prints well. Using Illustrator I traced over the photographs and then inserted the prints in using photoshop. I am very happy with the outcome of these as it represents the playfulness within my collection well.  

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P R I N T! : day three

Today was all about making a GIF, which I hadn't done before! It took me a while to get the hang of the process but after a while it became easy to me. However, I’m not too keen on the GIF I have produced as it felt very rushed. In addition if I had another opportunity and time for it I would use my final prints. 

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P R I N T!: day two

I continuously played around with different shapes from my scans with layering and different filters such as divide and linear burn. I had created a lot of prints experimenting with my broad colour palette - so the next thing I wanted to do was to examine what colours work well together and then apply this into my final prints. Even though I am happy with my digital print experimentations, I feel none of them work together quite yet. Maybe a way to solve this is to include and play around with scale, involving one shape in each print.  As I have done a lot of digital prints, I thought it might be a good idea to collate all of these onto a little swatch hoop for the assessment. 

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Task Three: Textile Languages

Court Mantua (1755-60) [silk brocaded with gilded silver thread] Victoria and Albert Museum

As I walked in the V&A the first thing displayed was the Court Mantua - a late 17th century gown traditionally required to wear to assemblies and balls. The dress was made from the most fashionable and expensive fabrics and trimmings around at that point in time. Therefore the person who it appealed to would be of a lady of high status, who regularly attended these sort of social events and had great practise in walking elegantly in them. It required a great skill to negotiate through doorways whilst still maintaining a graceful posture. The mantua petticoat and train were often woven and embroidered with gold thread, with diamonds and expensive lace adding to the effect. Gold resembles great importance and luxury - you would have to be of a high hierarchy to be seen in this dress. As the description reads ‘they sparkled in the candlelight’ it suggest this dress would be worn in the evening, enhancing the gold detailing on the dress. Furthermore, possibly explains why the half moon symbol is repeated throughout the gown as it is a night formal-wear. Considering the notion of semantic networks, the word ‘Mantua’ translates into coat from French (court coat). 

Afterwards, I went to the shop and noticed that a similar dress has been re-produced onto postcards and been collated into books and calendars alongside other historical garments. I feel as though the meaning of this high quality textile garment has been lost its original message through the reproduction process. It’s originally being displayed as a historical well-known textile, but printing it onto postcards, calendars, etc is just an opportunity to make money out of it. Through the reproduction onto flat surfaces, you loose the tactile quality you can only capture in person - it really defies the purpose of it being a textile piece, but now a photograph of a textile piece. 

Own Photograph

Own Photograph

Quant, Mary (1985) Poncho and Bag [PVC] GB. Victoria and Albert Museum  Quant, Mary (1963) Rainsmock [PVC and cotton] GB. Victoria and Albert Museum

In 1963 Mary Quant presented a collection of PVC clothing in Paris - which had never been done before! It took her two years of experimentation and perfecting to successfully bond the seams of the plastic garments. Her contemporary vision came to life when she created the ‘Wet Collection’. Something innovative was having a rainmaker/poncho in a bag you could carry around with you - and incase it rained, you therefore had something to keep you dry from the rain. This form of accessibility would come in huge use for people of this time period as its lightweight and could easily fit in your bag. It is interesting to see how this design of a rain-mack in a bag has been developed up to the modern day. They are constantly being redesigned and reproduced, and used everywhere around the world at such places like festivals and tourist resorts.

Pingat, Emile (1885) Dolman (jacket) [silk voided velvet trimmed with Arctic fox fur and silk chenille fringe] Victoria and Albert Museum.

The Dolman jacket was considered an item of luxury and good fashion sense in the late nineteenth century. At that point in history, society were fascinated with elements from the natural world as they were a rarity to them. I can see a wealthy high social-class lady wearing this garment in that century. It would usually be worn hanging over the shoulders with the sleeves loose, like a cloak. I begun looking at modern day Dolman jackets, being reinterpreted into different fittings using a variety of modern-day materials. It’s really intriguing to see how the style has been readapted and reproduced to appeal to modern day culture. I distinguished the sleeves and sitting of the jacket are the same as the traditional one seen. However, the material choices used to construct it are different and possibly more affordable to the modern society. 

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Above: Own Photograph

STITCH FINAL SAMPLES

Overall, I didn't enjoy stitch as it was completely different to the way I usually work. I had quite a lot of trouble with the machines and getting the tension right which show in my messy stitching throughout my samples. Although I am proud I still was able to produce relevant samples, even though they're not at a high standard. 

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Task Two: Feminism in Textiles

Bourgeois, Louise (1996) Single II [fabric, hanging piece] Tate Modern

Bourgeois, Louise (1996) Couple I [fabric, hanging piece] Tate Modern

Today I visited Louise Bourgeois’s exhibition in the Artist Room at the Tate Modern. Being my first time experiencing her work, I was shocked as I walked into suspended bodies hanging from the ceiling. However, it was unordinary, which I really liked about it!

‘Embroidery’s association with femininity, sweetness, passivity and obedience may subvert my works feminist intention. Femininity and sweetness are apart of women’s strength, quiet strength need not be mistaken for useless vulnerability.’ 

Having read Rozsika Parker’s ‘Introduction’ in The Subversive Stitch, I felt well informed about the work of Bourgeois’s and what she stood for. Just reading about her work was interesting, but seeing her work in the flesh was captivating.

Vulnerability was something I felt immediately looking at her stuffed sewn bodies series. A naked man hanging fatally with everything exposed alongside a couple ‘merging into each other’. This goes completely against the traditional use of a needle and thread, with the expectation to make something pretty and wearable. However, Bourgeois continuously uses the textile art to go against tradition. Red symbolises extremes; passion, seduction, anger, and it is the colour she uses throughout her art work. 

Pain is another emotion which is dominant in her works - Bourgeois explains, ‘I have always had a fascination with the needle and the power of the needle. The needle is to repair damage’. This is intriguing she says this, because what is she trying to repair? The expectations of women and what is accepted by them? Sardonically, Bourgeois uses messy and ‘unprofessional’ stitching within her work - possibly to enhance the point of the expectation of women in society never really breaking free from traditional beliefs...it will never be sewn up entirely. Which relates back to the technique of sewing, will it ever be accepted to use to destruct? 

Bourgeois, Louise (2002) Untitled [fabric and steel] Tate Modern

Consequently, Bourgeois uses a needle and thread as a source of constraint  against the evocation of women in society. In a way she uses it to mimic the usual use for the technique to demonstrate the ‘isolation and incarceration’ women feel. Similarly to what Parker says, the cabinet displaying Bourgeois’s torso’s are patched together in a surgical way, alongside with utensils stuck into them. Possibly representing the expectations of women within the household and what ‘jobs’ they have. In addition, the fact they are displayed in a cabinet plays on the emotion of vulnerability and the essence of silence. Bourgeois depicts the status that women withhold by men and the need to escape it in society. 

Referring back to Parker’s The Subversive Stitch, she talks about Tracy Emin who unfortunately doesn't have any work displayed in the Tate Modern. However, Emin uses the textile process as a constraint to expose an intimate and personal subject confidently. As Parker explains, ‘to break the boundaries between private, personal and public.’ 

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S T I T C H ! : week one

Stitch was probably the technical block I was least looking forward to, but I wasn't going to let that retrain my working. The first day was being introduced to the machines and seeing how you could develop your drawings into stitch samples. Looking around the studio rooms, I had a rough idea of how this could be done. However, I found it incredibly useful to watch the tutor demonstrate this in front of us. I learnt that it didn't need to be entirely complexed, but instead much more simple. 

Taking this into consideration I firstly went out Shepards Bush, to gather some fabric which resembled my original box colour palette; pink and blue. I experimented through the heat-press foiling and transfer paper. I felt as though the transfer paper was a bit too simple and flat for what I wanted to create, although I did really like the effect of the foils - as they had melted in the process and gave an appealing texture. 

Playing around with foam was something I found doable and easier to create shapes that reflected my research. My favourite included diagonal sewn pieces with waddling in-between each foam section - this is a possibility I could consider when deciding what to develop further.  Also looking back on my drawings, I really wanted to produce something that reflected the zip shape. I begun to do this through the use of foam and slitting - however I feel I need to really play around with this in order to conclude in an effective piece. 

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Task One: Hierarchy of Fashion Textiles

de Brescia, Moretto, (1540-5) Portrait of a Young Man [oil on canvas], The National Gallery  Available at: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/moretto-da-brescia-portrait-of-a-young-man

de Zurbaran, Francisco, (1635-9) Saint Francis in Meditation [oil on canvas], The National Gallery Available at: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/francisco-de-zurbaran-saint-francis-in-meditation-1

Beuckelar, Joachim, (1570) The Four Elements: Air [oil on canvas], The National Gallery. Available at: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/joachim-beuckelaer-the-four-elements-air

Beauckelar, Joachim, (1569) The Four Elements: Water [oil on canvas], The National Gallery. Available at: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/joachim-beuckelaer-the-four-elements-water

Francia, Francesco, (1511-17), The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Other Saint [oil on canvas, transferred from wood], The National Gallery Available at: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/francesco-francia-the-virgin-and-child-with-saint-anne-and-other-saints

de Brescia, Moretto, (1526), Portrait of a Man [oil on canvas], The National Gallery. Available at: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/moretto-da-brescia-portrait-of-a-man

Lou Taylor’s qualities are reflected in quite a lot of the paintings displayed in The National Portrait Gallery. 

The first painting of Brescia’s ‘Portrait of a Young Man’ suggests immediately wealth and luxury. As Taylor explains, this is an example of a ‘rarity of fibre or cloth type’. The man wears a coat lined with snow leopard fur, which could only get bought by someone with a hierarchal status. The ‘lavishly dressed’ man pairs his coat with a silk green jacket, this shows his ‘high level of aesthetic quality’ through the gold embroidered detailing. Similarly, Brescia continues his representation of prosperity through his painting of ‘Portrait of a Man’. Even though it holds all of the qualities in his previous piece, I begun to notice the more structured and fitted the garment is - the higher price it will be. This is distinctive through his puffy sleeves and trousers, which also look like they have been worked into with embroidery.  The artist Francesco Francia goes about depicting the qualities in a different way. By using rich colours within his paintings, he presents the elite status of the wearers. The ladies looking after the baby are dressed in royal red and blue silk - showing a high importance in society. Red usually symbolises power and blue usually associates with trust - possibly they are nurturing another woman’s child. 

Contrastingly, the painting titled ‘Saint Francis in Meditation’ is the complete opposite to the previous pieces. The hooded dull coloured habit consists of no lavish detail nor structure. Usually I would relate that to being poor, however the man wearing the garment is intact a Saint.  This confused me as it tested what cloth is used to signify wealth and status within society.  Likewise, the two paintings apart of Beauckelar’s four part series, displays two scenes of working environments preparing food. This isn't a ‘royal’ job to me, as those who have the higher status would employ someone to do the manual labor for them. Their clothing looks washed out and dirty and most women in these paintings are wearing aprons round their waists. 

Own Photograph 

Own Photograph

Visiting Liberty in London exposed how Taylor’s qualities are also used in contemporary fashion. 

The most common quality of Taylor’s in my opinion,  is the high cost of garments - especially in Liberty. I found a long leather coat at the cost of £8705.00, making the purchase of the jacket very rare and uncommon. Most fashion brands advertise themselves through cleverly selecting elite status wearers, mostly celebrities and royals, to ‘show off’ their new collection/pieces in order to influence others to do the same.  This leads onto the garments becoming novelty, once high street brands re-design and construct similar fashion in a cheaper way to distribute out to the market - making people with a lower status in society being able to buy the high  class clothing they originally couldn't. This is continuously displayed throughout fashion magazines, to let people know where to purchase what a celebrity is wearing at an affordable cost. 

Overall, I found Taylor’s qualities useful and quite interesting to use in order to depict what status a particular person holds in society - just by seeing what material they are wearing. I do feel as though the historical status of cloth in fashion is still some what relevant to contemporary fashion, but in a much subtle sense. 

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FINAL KNIT SAMPLES

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KNIT SAMPLES

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K N I T ! : week two

I continued experimenting with my colour palette through techniques such as fringing, excessive e-wrapping and trying two yarns threaded together.  Something new I learnt this week was how to knit cords - although I didn't find it very relevant to use for my project.

I questioned whether using fine yarns was a good idea as all the samples in which I did, turned out very minimal to vibrance and it would end up breaking whilst knitting. However, saying this I really loved the samples of using stripes of several different colours - all fine yarns. The process wasn't quick, as I had to keep switching and rethreading the yarns. 

At the end of the week I felt like I had to rush my samples in order to complete what I wanted - so the final look of them wasn't to the standard I wanted. This was disappointing as I know I can do a lot better than what I produced. Furthermore, I had to make do with what I had and select the samples I felt reflected my research well. As I felt I couldn't get some of the pattern into the knitting on the machine, I decided to work into them with embroidery.  In future, If I decide to do knit - I would take my time and not overwork myself in order to make better quality samples. 

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YARN SWATCHES

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K N I T ! : week one

In my foundation course I had learnt how to knit and had a lot of use on the knitting machines - so I felt highly confident going into this block!

It was learning everything I already knew again, however I was excited to experiment with my research and the new choice of colour palette. The only thing with knit, which I’ve learnt previously, is that you need to be very patient as it’s very time consuming. I felt a little worried I probably wouldn't have enough time to produce what I wanted and experiment to the full potential I could.

These machines were a different make to what I was knitting on before, and they felt a lot slower. Something which was new to me however, was the various of different yarns provided. All the other machines took were 4ply yarns, so this was very exciting to me!

An issue I had to overcome was getting the tension right with each yarn I was using. I learnt this by knitting a sample and then once I rolled over the carriage a stitch would drop, or the whole sample would just fall off. This was extremely irritating and tiering as I would get halfway through a sample and it won't be saveable. Being cautious, most of the time I would pull out all of the needles so that I knew the needles would catch the yarn in the carriage. Even though this might of delayed the time I had, I feel it was the safest way so that I don't waste any yarn and samples.

I attempted to incorporate metal within my knit samples, but I thought the outcome was ineffective - It just seemed like an eyesore to me and ruined the overall appearance of the sample.

However I think my colour palette is working really nicely in the samples, and I plan to continue next week in experimenting further and perfecting the right way to incorporate the patterns into knit.