Shoe Project

  

Alexanda Mcqeen  - Jantaminiau    -     Blumarine     -    Van Herpen    -        Prada            -     Philip Treacy  -         Guo Pei

This Week in school we had an exciting project to decorate an old shoe.We looked at some shoes by famous designers which were very inspiring. I love the shoes designed by Alexander Mcqueen, it's decorated with texture and has a fantasy- like feel to it. As well as the actual shoe designers manipulate the heel of the shoe to create an interesting shape. To get more inspired I took to the internet looking for some decorative/crazy designs. There were so many shoe designs which were extraordinary, most which were used for art rather than practicality. After walking up Camden high street I found a decent pair for just £5. I really wanted to fill my shoe with something decorative and different. I came up with a garden inspired shoe. I found a nice picture of a garden with lots of colour and some elements that I wanted to develop into my shoe. I liked the look of the paving stone so I added that to my design, keeping it at the base of the shoe to give it that garden look. The vines covered in leaves and flowers looked really pretty, to bring it to my shoe I thought I'd have it wrapped around the shoe coming out at some places. To finish my design I added some flowers and bugs. I thought I'd be interesting to have a few textures/materials to experiment with. For the paving stone section I used paint which was quite fun. We didn't have black so instead I used purple paint to add a bit of a tint and I think that worked better. I used wire and green craft foam to create the entwining vines around the shoe. The parts where is comes away from the heel really gives it that look. At home using polymer clay I made a few bugs, I found this really fun I love how they turned out. To cover the shoe I cut out bits of paper sting which I found in a drawer. It really gives the look of grass, the texture also feels almost like grass. I used a glue gun to stick it down which was good because it dried fast. It also meant I had to work fast which was fiddly because I would have to hold a couple of pieces of the strands. Again I used a glue gun to secure my bugs In place. Unfortunately I didn't finish covering the shoes, however what I did so far im please with. To add more colour I would add some paper flowers around the shoe. Overall I really enjoyed this project, It was more creative and adventurous than previous projects. My next steps would be to design a garment that would go with this. 

Developing, Pockets and a Seam

I tried to come up with a catchier title but that was basically what we did this week rather than doing a week project. Last week we deconstructed/reconstructed a garment, at the beginning of this week we developed that garment idea. First we were told to draw what we had created from all angles. I used pencil and biro pen to draw my garment which I thinks looks really nice and defines the elements of my dress. The next step was to develop a small collection from our original garment we made. The elements of the dress that I kept was the frills, the piping (lines) and the black strip on the hem. I played around with the frilly strap, making it lager, having it go around one arm and changing the actual shape. I liked the defining feature of the lines so I added more of this detail to some of the pieces I designed. To develop my collection more I designed a playsuit which is really fun and cute. My favorite design is the one in the middle, because it uses two garments with the top layer being sheer. Another way of presenting my dress in my sketchbook was by collage. I had never done a collage for a garment before so I found this technique quite fun. I quite like how free and creative this looks, I may use it again in my sketchbooks.

After we had done that we looked at pockets which was interesting because that's something I hadn't been taught to do before. The first (top left) was pretty simple, it was a matter of cutting out a shape and stitching it down. The 2nd (bottom left) pocket had a flap which was trickier because I had to line the flap to finish it off. Rather that using the instructions I just looked at it and went along with what I thought I had to do and it worked very well. The last pocket I did was by far the trickiest. This one I had to plan on paper before I cut it out of calico. This one had a few folds and creases, making it fiddly to sew at times. For my first attempt I think I have done a very good job. The middle of the pocket opens up a bit so it would be interesting to see the effect of another fabric under it. We also learnt how to do a french seam which is a seam encased it another seam. This is used when using chiffon or any cheer fabric so the fabric doesn't fray and looks neater because you can see through it. This took a bit of time but it was easy to do. To finish off my sample I added some bias binding along the edge and this is to stop fraying and also give it a professional finish which I think looks nice. 

Deconstruction, Reconstruction

                                       Rachel Gilbert                                 Maison Martin A/W 2013         

                            

                                         Undercover A/W 2013                              Ashish Gupta S/S 2013

     

                                                       Marchesa S/S 2011                                      1860's ballgowns

 

This week on my fashion foundation course we were given the task to deconstruct and reconstruct a garment. There are a few fashion designers who do this when making a garment. Ashish Gupta created this piece but fusing together a shirt, sheer top, jeans and a sequin fabric. Although I wouldn't wear it its an interesting design. Undercover also did a Reconstruction garment for their Autumn/Winter 2013 collection when they took womens undergarments to create a dress. I find it inspiring how designers can take one garment and reconstruct it to make a completely different garment. The line design for my dress was inspired by a dress designed by Rachel Gilbert, the lines cleverly create a curvy silhouette. We were only allowed to use what old garments we had brought it. I bought in a plain dress and a skirt from the charity shop. At first I thought having only these two garments would be restrictive but once I got adding pieces together it came together. I was going to use a simple black band for the top strap but then I thought I could actually add the frilly section of the skirt. On someone the strap will lay off of the shoulders. It reminded me of the sleeves from the ball gowns from 1860's. I think the sleeve is quite fun, girly and a bit flirty. I then saw the drawstrings from the skirt and thought it would be nice along the top seams of the dress, this would emphasise the waistline as the eye draws towards it. To add more detailing I thought it would be nice to add a strap of black to the hem of the dress. Because I cut off the straps off the original dress it would stay up so I had to add straps. In doing so I had to add darts to the back and bring it down a bit. I thought it would be pretty to add a bow to the back so I made two straps and sewed it to the dress. I am so pleased with how this turned out. It was easier once I got a few ideas down. All the aspects of the dress create a mature and fun dress. It was fun deconstructing and reconstructing to make a brand new garment. 

Fashion Fabrication Inspiration

This piece by Antonio Berardi has inspired me because he has layered chiffon on chiffon which gives the garment a nice look. Its nice how some sections of the garment are more transparent and some areas are less. I never would have thought of layering chiffon together. This has inspired me to do a reverse applique sample using only chiffon's.











Another piece that I find inspiring is this piece by Christopher Kane. He has used Cutout in a really sophisticated way. The shapes are all sharp. Its so interesting the way he's incorporated cut out work, its almost like a print. Its clever how he was inspired by the life cycle of a flower.





  

This Garment is absolutely beautiful, again we are seeing a chiffon garment on the catwalk. Last week in class we looked at a fabric technique called smocking and this is what Huishan Zhang had done to create this beautiful dress. He has used this technique on chiffon which looks so beautiful as the where the chiffon has gathered is darker. To add even more texture to the dress has has added diamond droplet beads to catch the light.