The Grand Finale

Oh the final post, post marking of the blog and may I just wish you fun and joy reading hope you enjoy it and find it very enlightening :)

job lot

I started looking through job descriptions for pattern cutting and patter grading jobs to see which is best suited for me; I also looked up design and garment technology jobs too just to give myself a greater depth of the jobs on offer in fashion. And you’ll never guess what but in all the descriptions it clearly labels a warm studio, but the pattern cutters no, no such luck there oh the joys haha though it did enlighten my knowledge and made me laugh and reading the description got me excited to actually get into the industry do something I love for a living. Pushing myself daily with new challenges of new garments I can’t wait. Turning a designer’s sketch into a working pattern, which can be used when constructing the garment. I want to finish and top up with a Ba degree after all as Oliver Wendell Holmes said "Once the mind has been stretched by a new idea, it will never again return to its original size." Still questioning the final outcome options though self employed vs industry, not such an easy dicision :/

The Great Debate

Decisions, decisions oh what a do I’ve been mulling this over in my head, and I’ve come to the conclusion I’m not decided :/ Ba has amazing design tutors but lacks the technical side and the support or the tutors we currently have but FdA has amazing tutor support and a great technical side but I don’t know if I’m liking this commercial hold back. It just seems to be cropping up again and again like I know everything has to have some commercial value but, must it always have to be a prominent part ? This is what’s leading me to question my thoughts. And this placement unit / business unit I don’t know has me going a bit 50/50. My life is either going to take route A 3rd year FdA doing the business unit possibly undertaking a few here and there placements along the same time then opening up my own label/supply chain and working to make myself into something I can be, or route B Ba have a beautiful collection be up for a chance to exhibit at graduate fashion week and then entre the industry gain some experience in a job I love to then either pursue as a career or the open up my own business oh decision.........

To-Do Lists

Ok so over Easter I wrote myself a huge to-do list 3 pages long and its killing me trying to get everything done on it!! Not only is it a 3 page to-do list, it’s a 3 page to-do list with sub to-do lists as well, I know sounds mad but it does make sense. But I’m doing well narrowed it down to 1 page to-do list with only 2 sub to-do list's haha look at me go. Oh Easters nearly over then onto making final collection in bulk fabrics epp exciting !!

Is Sustainable fashion An issue

Sustainable fashion is part of the larger trend of sustainable design where a product is created and produced with consideration to the environmental and social impact it may have, including its "carbon footprint". According to the May 2007 Vogue it appears not to be a short-term trend but one could last multiple seasons which is very true and now more than ever is it such a prominet feature. Sustainable fashion has received frequent coverage in recent years on mainstream media and almost every fashion magazine in the UK. Fashion brands have developed marketing techniques which maximize coverage of sustainability/Eco issues, and used the appeal of their products and imagery to raise awareness about a series of critical issues, and changed consumer perceptions and behavior as a result. Fashion imagery is glamorous and enticing and is used as a means to grab attention by almost every form of media and advertising. Celebrities and top models have aligned themselves with ethical fashion, increasing its media appeal. This appeal in itself has created an opportunity for fashion to become a medium for raising awareness amongst consumers. It also makes it easier to raise awareness in the industry overall and encourage collaboration towards sustainability.

although the issues in fashion task has been covered in several posts its still covered

essay-ness

I was a bit nervous about the big essay unit especially as we need 50% to get onto the 3rd year so we were all a bit shaken up trying to grasp onto education as much as possible. But as I previously mentioned the essay unit was based around technologies and new media and how it effect the displaying of fashion. I also choose my essay to include a pressing issue in fashion also size 0 and anorexic models - In the past female models have been gaining more and more media attention within relations to eating disorders and projecting the waif look onto our growing adolescents, yet we as a Nation are facing an obesity crisis. Seeing an increase of ‘17 percent in males’ being obese and an alarming ‘21 percent of women’. However the country is becoming more and more overweight, obese and morbidly obese, yet these barely living carcass’s are becoming exactly just that, skin and bones, androgynous flesh upon a fragile structure. Take the model that sparked off the whole size zero debate back in 2006, Luisel Ramos who died during Uruguay’s fashion week, the 22 year old collapsed during her final costume change and died despite the effort of an emergency team trying to resuscitate her. ‘At 5 foot 9 inches and less than 9 stone she had a body mass index of less than 18 the level officially described as unhealthy’, even though reports and rumours have said that at the show she weighed little more than 7 stone, the average weight of a 13 year old! As you can see I took a rather drastic attack on the models which I then went on to say that new advancements in media are taking over so is the catwalk model becoming obsolete. The essay for me was quite an accomplishment being dyslexic but I was rather pleased with it to me it even made a thrilling read was very, very active approach. My tutor love it an called me a maverick of fashion which i was mega happy about

colection branding

i have eventually come up with the branding of the collection which i love espically the little garment tag, i think the tags and bags sit with the collection perfectly and gives a good indication of the quality and time put into the garments i also put a few words together about the collection and the targeted customer of the collection

need some inspiration?

If you ever get stuck for inspiration check out Yvan Rodic if you don’t know him the you certainly should

http://yvanrodic.blogspot.com/

Be you looking for fashion picture or just in need of something to get you juices flowing fellow FdA peoples I suggest you follow this blog :)

DO IT!!

Free Thinking Confessions

Well I’ve been thinking a lot lately about fashion and well lots of random bits and bobs and well, with everyone asking my opinions on McQueen’s death and further issues in fashion. I know they happen, but to be honest I never really put much thought into them myself so I decided to ask myself what I think....

well people might not agree with me but I think he’s a complete dick head for doing it now before you all go ranting and raving about my lunacy there is reasoning to me, see in my life don’t ask how but I’ve read / come across / thought up just things to me that make sense and taken on wise word remember them jot them down sometimes wake up say 5:32 in the morning just have ideas thought which ill note down on say a phone, a piece of paper, whatever but any way...

I’m a firm, firm believer in doing what you love doing not what your good at (forgive me now for a feel a few quotes coming up), Take risks in life try new things just enjoy yourself and love doing what you do "You've got a lot of choices. If getting out of bed in the morning is a chore and you're not smiling on a regular basis, try another choice." ~Steven D. Woodhull. To me if you’re going to complain about something, yet do nothing about it I don’t want to know, couldn’t give a toss, "If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree." ~Jim Rohn. We have freedom we are free thinkers and relating back to the whole McQueen situation fashion is a hell of a lot of work and effort, sweat tears, pin pricks, est. if you were so unhappy about it why would you keep doing it?? Carlos Castaneda perfectly sums up "The trick is what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same."

and to me suicide is just stupid, I know his mother just died and he lost close friends but things like that only make you stronger, we all go through it find a way to cope and strive to become better, we learn from our mistakes not other peoples we all make mistakes no one is perfect we just find a way to get over these hurdles not give up, quit take the easy way out..... No you go at it full throttle turn back and laugh.

My final quote from this post from good old Charlie Brown "In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back."

Welly love

God damn it I will have my wellington booties to style my collection with no matter how many people turn their noses up I was looking at the new hunter lace up willies but my tutor has given me an amazing idea into customising my own welly's got to have the classic bottle green start though but I shall post some piccys of my custom welly's when I get around to them got bigger fish to fry currently


so I eventually got round to it and here is the design I’ve come up with, only a quick simple sketch drawn up on illustrator but it’s a cut out separate tongue lace up welly eyeleted (possibly binded on the edges) with a neon mud painted on them to give them more of a retro garden feeling hope you like them I’m looking forward to playing around with them maybe styling them folded down who knows

Another Busy week

Not only was this week the big essay deadline, I know which I have failed to mention, so I’ll give you a little overview. The Fashion As a Forum topic was all based around new media use's/ technology within the exhibiting of fashion and textile.... so I choose to do mine all wrapped around are catwalk models becoming obsolete as technology progress's, as well as asking the question why are models getting even thinner as we as a nation are mid obesity crisis interesting hey? well after a very opinionated essay and very very vast research file I found I was rather a mean bean in the essay but I was just writing my thoughts and feelings towards the topic though when reading through it I did feel rather guilty.... oh well

well the rest of the week was spent ready-ing myself for second toile review and finally having the collection as presentable garments and here they are, I would of course love to have many more but at the same time I’d much rather get these ones out of the way before taking on more than I can handle rather have 5 amazing outfits then say 12 shoddy 1s fashion to me truly is quality over quantity and always will be

If your wondering were the middle outfit’s bottom is well i have an amazing multi-functional skirt that can be reverses and looks awesome talk about 2 birds with 1 stone

5 is the magic number

Well well well future plans the big 5 years how do I see myself spending these years.. . . . . . Well I’m split in 2 directions I really want to launch myself in the industry starting my own business brand and label but is it the right thing to do it straight away? Is it best to go alone? Would I benefit more from an MA? These are all questions a continuously ask myself and to be honest I’m not 100% sure on the answers. No. If I do go it alone and start straight away in the self employed business side could I face it alone, well maybe, but I do know a fellow course mate that is also interested in doing the same I might talk to her see if she’d be interested in proposing a collaboration working together to get us both set up could be very successful, she is an incredible designer after all. Or should I go into the industry part time and do a part time masters degree at the same time and the a few maybe a year or 2 more just to build up my knowledge before I would brave it alone, but in my time industry would I get 2 comfortable, would I get comfortable with the money, would I get too comfortable where I was to not want to strive for this great adventure. I don’t know but suppose either way that covers the 5 year plan. Though I still haven’t decided which path to pursue but I’m sure whichever way I choose will be the right 1 for me but hey ill talk to my course mate see if she would be interested fingers crossed