Space Project- Shift dress

 

This is my second project at college; the brief is to create a space inspired shift dress. I think this is a great brief because there are so many options and possibilities. We kick-started this project by visiting the science museum in London which has a huge section based around space. They had two real life space suits in a glass cabinet. One suit was a thermal suit-worn underneath the large suit- it had really interesting pattern covering it, the pattern was created by tubes of water in a swirling pattern, used to keep the astronaut warm. The outer suit was also really interesting, it was much more intricate that I’d imagined, with so many different components. These space suits became my main source of primary inspiration for my project.

As our brief explained that we had to make a shift dress, I did some research into the shift dress. The shift dress came about in the sixties, as did the ‘space-race’ which became the main theme of my project. The space race was the name given to the sixties because of the speeding advances in technology. It was in the sixties that the first man ever walked on the moon- this was a period of rapid advances in technology. Everyone was doing new things, in 1966 Paco Rabanne (a designer I researched) created a collection names ‘the unwearables’ it consisted of 12 dresses all made of plastic and metal. This was the first ever collection of this kind and it took the world by storm.

I combined the theme of the space race with the spacesuits and I looked into a designer called Hussein Chalayan who is known for his amazing technological designs. Chalayan produced garments using LED lights, which looked mesmerising as they were paraded down the catwalk. I decided that adding LED lights into my shift dress would perfectly represent the ‘space race’ and the advance in modern technology.

For my final design I decided on a shift dress with a silver leather panelled skirt, a red bodice and white pleated sleeves that would be filled with 10m of LED lights. It was a very difficult garment to make, and I had to make all my patterns from scratch due to the design. I did hit some bumps in the road, but I made it in the end and I am extremely happy with what I produced!

 

Natural World Project- Circular Skirts.

 

This was the first projected I completed at college, and the first proper garment I ever made. I researched lots of areas of the ‘natural world’ but chose to focus my project around spiders and spiders webs. I researched into existing designers work, whose collections I could relate to my concept. I looked at Bora Aksu’s Spring/Summer 2010 collection, which was inspired by Gothic Victorian fashion. I loved his use of ripped jersey and layered fabrics. I also looked at Vera Wang’s Gothic inspired bridal collection Fall 2012. She used rough layers of black, nude and grey chiffon, ruffles and rouches. It is a very usual collection for bridal wear but every gown was exquisite. From my research I decided I wanted to produce a skirt inspired by spiders and webs, with a Gothic theme. I developed a technique known as ‘slash and burn’ to use on my skirt. It involves cutting up shreds of man-made fabric and layering them on top on a piece of cotton. You then place a piece of organza over the top of the shredded fabric and use free machine embroidery to secure all the pieces. I then decided to cut holes into my piece (inspired by Aksu’s collection), I also cut into it with a Stanley knife and burned it using a soldering iron. It creates a really interesting texture and overall look. I also used another machine embroidery technique for the decoration on the hem of my skirt. I used water soluble fabric  and pinned it onto the hem of the top layer of my underskirt. I then used free machine embroidery to create a web-like stringy effect. I then submerged the underskirt in water so the water soluble fabric disappeared and I was left with only the thread- a very effective technique. I was very pleased with my first garment and I think I learnt a lot about the construction of clothing and my strengths/weaknesses.