MOVEMENT PROJECT STATEMENT: I live by the Wild Atlantic Way, and so every day I take a walk along the beach. The beach is full of movement. From the process of longshore drift, to erosion, to growth, the beach is constantly moving and changing. For my project I looked at three different elements of the beach – rocks, shells and the shoreline. For each of these, I developed a design for a circular skirt using one of three assigned textile manipulation techniques for its creation. My assigned techniques were embroidery, tucking and felting. I choose to develop my circular skirt design using the process of embroidery. The fluid nature of the embroidery and the ripple of the skirt when it is worn, reflect back to the movement on the beach. COLLAR PROJECT STATEMENT: My collar project is inspired by Bronze Age Ireland. Looking at the golden Lunula and Gorget, the question I was asking myself was “How were Bronze Age people inspired to create and develop their signature swirling motifs?” I live by the Wild Atlantic Way and on a visit to the shoreline for inspiration, I noticed the he swirls that the sea makes when it came in contact with the shore and realised the Bronze Age craftspeople took inspiration from the world around them. While designing and making the collar, I focused on this connection to nature and to the past by making my collar reflect the shapes created by the Bronze Age crafts people and the natural swirls and colours of the wild ocean.
This trend board is focused around people taking matters into their own hands, and communicating their political message through means that are accessible to them. This incudes through graffiti, by marking their own clothing with political slogans and symbols or by crafting a cardboard sign to bring to a protest or position by the window. This trend board is hugely inspired by the Fridays for Future protests, where young people each made their own sign, banner or t-shirt to bring awareness to the cause.
Similarly to the other two previous trend boards I made, Pamela advised me to add wording to this one also. I choose the words message, statement and empowerment. This is because this DIY style of clothing aims to deliver a message or make a statement. It is also empowering to the people creating these pieces as they have freedom to speak their truth and wear it on their sleeve.
A strong complaint expressing disagreement, disapproval, or opposition (x)
Over the past year alone, protests have become more and more frequent as people stand against the injustices of our world. Fashion has historically been a platform for protest, for people to communicate their message through their look.
Throughout my research on what trends could arise once lockdown is lifted, I found a theme appearing with most of my findings. This was the idea of comfortable formal attire. Professional pieces with block shapes and strong shoulder pads, reminiscent of the 1950s. Perhaps, with a hint of androgyny, as people now have freedom to experiment with their identity without the pressure of social norms which would follow being at school or work. This may include two piece statement outfits, achieving professionalism while staying comfortable working at home.
After our latest tutorial with Pamela, she advised me to add wording to this trend board. I choose the words freedom, power, comfort and professional to try and capture the message of this board.
After being in lockdown for over a year now, we have changed and so has the way we wear clothing. From getting dressed up to go to the supermarket, to attending meetings in your pajamas - Covid-19 has greatly affected our styles. However, this prompts the question; how will things change once lockdown is lifted?
This is my first attempt at making a trend board for climate crisis. The fashion images on the left are focused on the timeless pieces I was looking at in my research, and how investing in a few staple pieces is more sustainable than renewing your wardrobe every few months. I was also thinking about the organic, vegan fabrics which could be used to make these pieces.
However, on the right of this board, I included some of the research on homeware I had completed - with a focus on storage and hoarding. After seeing the idea of basics up against the homeware discussing storage and hoarding, I decided that the board wasn’t working as there was two different stories being told. To fix this I came up with a second board.
This board is much more focused on the ideas of unique pieces and antiquity. The idea, as outlined in my research, is that people will invest into unique, extravagant, one of a kind pieces of clothing which would be identifiable to them for the rest of their life. These iconic pieces could then be passed down to their children or friends. This ideology extends to the home - surrounding living spaces with heirlooms and antiques.
After a tutorial with Pamela, we determined that this trend board needed wording to be complete. I choose the three words iconic, unique and extravagant to best communicate the message of the board.
Serious problems that are being caused or likely to be caused by changes in the world's weather, in particular the world getting warmer as a result of human activity increasing the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. (x)
For this research, I looked into a variety of different ways in which the climate crisis could impact fashion.
Fast Fashion
I took the slides above and below from my previous professional practice presentation on sustainability, inclusivity and diversity, accessibility and technology. People will have to realize in coming years that it is not possible for the planet to maintain our fashion consumption habits. This will eventually lead to the end of fast fashion.
Sustainable Fabrics
In the slide above, I talked about microfibers. I found this YouTube link which explains microfibers really well and outlines their harmful impact on the environment. I then looked into some different, more sustainable fabrics and showed an example of each.
I believe that whatever trends I will predict from research, each of the pieces will be made from organic fabrics.
Move Towards Basics
Rather than investing in new clothes to follow each trend, it would be more sustainable to invest in a small wardrobe of staple pieces which could be worn for any event. Timeless pieces like these will always be in style and reduce consumption greatly.
Upcycling
Upcycling is “the activity of making new furniture, objects, etc. out of old or used things or waste material” (x). I believe upcycling is a brilliant way to refresh your old clothes and reduce waste. Upcycling has become a lot more popular recently as a result of social media - no sew tutorials online have made upcycling accessible to anybody.
Homeware
For homeware, I believe people will start buying less new objects for their homes. I believe that people could hold onto pieces which they already own, with a preference for repairing their own items rather than throwing them away. This could mean an increased focus of storage in homes, and possibly homes with a more personalized and unique style.
Unique Clothing
This painting inspired me to add this section onto my research. Before fast fashion, a huge amount of value was placed on clothing. During my PLC, we studied this painting during art history. We learned that the clothes they were wearing would have costs as much as a house, and that the people wearing them would’ve worn it for the rest of their lives. After they die, the outfit would then be passed on.
I believe that this idea of owning something completely unique, elaborate and comfortable is much more attractive than changing your style to follow trends. Having an iconic look would make you instantly recognizable, and would bring back the value of clothing - once destroyed by fast fashion. I believe that from a sustainability perspective this could greatly slow the rate of production and the terrible impact which fast fashion has on our planet. I also believe personally that styles among people would also be a lot more visually interesting if people dressed this way.
My collar project is inspired by Bronze Age Ireland. Looking at the golden Lunula and Gorget, the question I was asking myself was “How were Bronze Age people inspired to create and develop their signature swirling motifs?” I live by the Wild Atlantic Way and on a visit to the shoreline for inspiration, I noticed the he swirls that the sea makes when it came in contact with the shore and realised the Bronze Age craftspeople took inspiration from the world around them. While designing and making the collar, I focused on this connection to nature and to the past by making my collar reflect the shapes created by the Bronze Age crafts people and the natural swirls and colours of the wild ocean.
This is my finished collar. I am really happy with how the collar turned out. I really like the effects I was able to capture using the embellishments and embroidery. However, if I were to make this collar again, I would probably have done something different for the terminal discs at the end, perhaps a larger spiral. Despite this, I am pleased with how the collar turned out.
Above are some close up shots of the detail on the collar, and below is an image of me wearing the collar.
To construct the collar, I drew out a pattern from newspaper based on my final design. The collar is one piece. I then cut out the pattern from the felt.
I layered the embellishments onto the collar piece by piece. I started with black, and then added bits of brown to add depth, and then added the blue. Ater adding the blue, I added the white mesh before adding the shredded white fabric. After adding all of the embellishments, I added gold embroidery. Once the collar was embroidered I added a clasp to the back.
This is the final design for my collar. I choose a lunula shape to tie the collar back into Bronze Age designs. I also choose to add terminal discs on either end of the collar to reflect the Bronze Age inspiration.
The base of the collar will be made from felt. This will then be embellished in layers with black and brown mesh, shredded white fabric, white mesh, blue mesh and embroidered with gold thread. The collar will be composed of one piece and will attach with a clasp on the back.
Above is my textile development board / colour story for this piece.
On this page of my sketchbook, I drew a handful of different croquis. On these models I brainstormed a few ideas for my final collar design, combining the pattern I developed on my swatches and the designs and structures I found while performing my secondary research and practicing drape.
The three croquis on the bottom right of the second page is the design I decided to move forward with. This is because I felt like an elaborate structure to the collar would take away from the intricacy of the design I am hoping to create.
In these images I experimented creating shapes for the collar through swatches which I had previously developed. I played around with sizing for the collar and the amount of surface area it would have.
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