Drape, singing and lots of chocolate= Standard day at uni

PROCCESS:

Lots. hooray. I spent today finishing off my toile that I started yesterday, adding a zip and working out how the heck to make everything work. In the end EVERYTHING kinda worked out well. I am going to have to sew reaaaaally carefully on my final though as I don't want any stupid mistakes to occur again. I have alot to do still, but am gonna take things slowly.

1 week till hand in though....oh my.

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING LIST...

Take a pick which one you wanna buy for me :) Kthanks.

http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/favourites-of-vogue/101102-lanvin-for-h-and-m.aspx

http://www.asos.com/Asos/Asos-Tragedy-Leather-And-Stingray-Wedge-Shoe-Boots/Prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=1263907&cid=12283&sh=0&pge=0&pgesize=20&sort=-1&clr=Black

thelovelyroom.com

kaboodle.com



Drape galoreee

Today I went into uni because I really felt I need to push forward with the whole drape situation and sort out the top half of the dress. With a mind full of optimism and a belly full of canteen pasta I approached the drape from a different angle. Basically when pinned on the stand I marked out EVERY pleat (well tried to) because this time the drape WAS NOT GOING TO DEFEAT ME. After this I re-marked out the pleats on my pattern and cut out in fabric again. I also began sewing today and the drape looks sooo much better. which is very pleasing. Tomorrow my toile drape will hopefully be finished....and good enough to then cut out onto final fabric on Wednesday (I am GOING to stay in uni TILL I FINISH the toile)

Here's some pictures of my progress:

Anyas third lesson

We spent the day talking about 'THE FASHION TREE' and the different job roles/salaries within this. We also got to find out about some of Anyas friends job roles/salaries/what they enjoy about the job etc which I found very insightful! and I was very amazed at what some of them were earing at such young ages! Aswell as this we got to hear abit more about Anya's company and looked at her website.

I'm quite sad its the last lesson next week (we're doing quality control then) as I really enjoy learning about the industry through someone who knows so much from experience.

Phew one hand in done and one to go!!!!!!

Today was the MODIP hand in and presentation day! I must say this morning I was a bit concerned we wouldn't finish everything on time (first of all we couldn't open our files on the computers and then the printer jammed!) after a morning of stress and rush we FINALLY finished and were ready to present to the class (which I was verrry nervous about) But it actually all went ok and the feedback we got was not too bad either, just got a few comments on how we could improve as a group next day! I am SOOO glad that's over now and I can focus on finishing my drape project in time!!!!!!

P.s I am NEVER leaving a project till last minute again...I have definitely learned from that!

^ our final design board

I predict a riot...I predict a riottt

Also in my 12 hour day, there was a student walk out going on (I REALLLY wanted to join, but being the good student I am, I stayed and worked aha)

We also had a visit from PECLERS today, which I found really interesting. They talked us through up-coming trends for 2011/2012. One of the trends of which I lurrrve is 'NEW EDGE' which is "CAPABLE OF INSPIRING NEW DREAMS" and has "NEW LIMITS".  The colours are sandy, warm mineral, sheek white mood. I really like the fact its mixing nature with technology! I also really liked the MEDITATION trend which basically is "FATAL ATTRACTION" with a summer HOT theme (think BEACHES, PALM TREES and COCKTAILS)

Overall very good but tiring day...group presentation tomorrow too (wish me luck!!)

12 hour uni day....busybee.

OHMYGODTODAYHASBEENTHELONGESTDAYINTHEWORLD. wow. The day started off once again with the good old draping, which actually started smoothly for once! I re-pinned my front top and then put onto a pattern and then re-drapped and pinned, and I'm now all ready to sew it all together (HOPEFULLY it will all fit nicely..)

Original drape-

^third draping^

PP.S...

More t-shirt ideas....tomorrow after I finish draping the group work begins! .... may have to be an all nighter we WILL get it done for Thursday :)

P.s...

On a positive note though my design manual is moving steadily along woop :)

Drape progress....or maybe not progress?!

Sooo it has been one hell of a long day!!!! Draping has been er well alittle VERY stressful. More in the sense that at the time I really felt I was making progress and went to put the top half of the dress to the skirt half and it really didn't make much sense and confused me and my tutors alot. BUT alas tomorrow is a new day and I am going to re-drape my top half, which I think even though will slow me down now, hopefully in the long run I will benefit! I also need to unpick my skirt half so I can then re-sew to fit the new top! feeling alot more positive about this and I am ready to push on 100% now in order to get everything finished for deadline!

http://weheartit.com/entry/3805944

Google's online Boutique...ooolaaalaaa

Wow so I totally didn't know Google was launching their very own online Boutiques website!!! I actually LOVE it!!!! is very personal! one bit I was looking at was the 'STYLYZER' basically you have to pick between two outfits which one is more you, after picking through a few VOILA they show you what is your different styles and help you shop for them! Apparently my styles are: CLASSIC/ROMANTIC/CASUAL CHIC/EDGY/STREET/BOHO... it also shows me silhouettes, colours, patterns that I would love and hate! I very much recommend a look at the website! on first look seems to be verrry useful and easy to use :)

http://www.boutiques.com/exploreboutiques.py

^ click here. click here. click here. click here.

^ myfashionlife.com^

group MODIP project...

OK sooo er MODIP deadline is creeping up VERY quickly and to be honest not much has been happening on the work front for that! but alas if theres a will theres a way and we WILL just scrape by and get it done....I hope :) (ever the optimist haha!)

Basically though our project idea has slightly changed, instead of desiging household objects (ie two in one sofas, tables that are also fish tanks etc) we are going to be desining two in one tshirts! (so can wear normal way and then inside out!) I much prefer this idea so am cracking on with some research and rough designs!

(very basic rough idea)



hm Valentino and Gap?!

<- style.it

The collection between the Italian fashion house and gap will launch in November to celebrate the opening of their new Milan store. The capsule will be based around Gap's iconic pieces. As a rule I don't generally tend to buy from Gap, but with the added modern-luxe femininity of Valentino I think I may have to invest in a piece!

Lanvin....er yes again....er obsessed?...slightly!!!

Wow so I have posted alot about LANVIN and H&M...(so much hype around this subject) but just HAD to post another blog as I have seen photos of the haute couture runway show on heat and am once again 100% excited for the collaboration to come out in the shops! I totally think someone should buy me something nice from the collection ;D kthnx

http://www.heatworld.com/Star-Style/2010/11/check-out-the-glam-lanvin-for-hm-show/

Inspirationnn

Day four drapping....

Today I mainly focused on working on the top half of my draped outfit. When I took the cut out material and put it back onto the stand it draped out differently to what I had thought- but I liked it, so spent most of the day working on this. When I spoke to Jodie though we both decided my original idea was better, so I am now going to be working on the bottom half of the dress.

In the end the sleeves will prob be draped higher 

(only very quickly sewn together)

....

FEELING FLY LIKE A G6

http://annisplace.tumblr.com/ ^

http://pilimichelle.tumblr.com/post/1593254941 ^



Draping day three

(front pattern piece with me in the background)

Today was the day we continued to transfer our drapes onto paper patterns, and so far so good! I was surprised how I didn't struggle too much with the process, although overall was a very nerve wracking process as I worried a lot about making mistakes! Both my top and skirt patterns ended up looking very unusual (especially the skirt, which was basically just a rectangle patten piece!!) but hopefully all will fit together!

After I had cut out the pattern onto material I then began to re-drape onto the manikin, which started off well but whilst pining I realised I hadn't labeled where all the pleats are going (duhhh) so tomorrow I shall tackle this!

SKY HIGH HEELS....

Image sourced from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1328839/New-inch-Sky-Heel-tallest-shoe-hit-stores.html

Celebrities are rarely seen out and about without heels on, we have seen the 5 inch heels, 6 inch and even 7 inch but now we're getting 9 INCH HEELS. I don't know about anyone else but I think this is a bit ridiculous!? I most certainly would never be able to walk in these heels without breaking my ankle! and personally I don't think they look all together that great, just. well. weird? But to be fair the image above is only a digital of what the shoe could look like. I might end up actually liking them when they come out and for less then £100 shoe lovers cant really go wrong. Still though, I think I'll be sticking to my flats!

i HEART Fashion Binge...

Whilst googling images earlier I found a really cool fashion blog called: FASHION BINGE. So thought I'd put a post out about how much I rate this blog! has got very interesting posts and I wisssh I had her style of writing!

Take a peek, its definitely necessary and worth a look!!!:

http://fashionbinge.blogspot.com/

Alssooo...

bushido-nihon.blogspot.com^

When we were talking about past/present/future trends today we got onto the subject of Harajuku girls and Anya said "It's like st trinians on acid" (which made me laugh alot) I never really thought of the style like this before and I totally agree with it. I find it so amazing though how influential high street styles are on the catwalks, I will definatly be paying lots more attention now when walking/going out anywhere!

juiceonline.com^

I do however like the harajuku style in this photograph and you can clearly see that the style is a big influence.

swingfashionista.com^



Anya's second lesson

After a very busy, stressful week it was really nice to know we had Anya's lesson on the Friday which I find very interesting and fun (which I never thought I'd say about a lecture!!!) We began the day by looking at what sort of attitude we need to make it in the fashion industry and I really liked the quote

 "YOU ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR LAST SALE"

other tips we got were:

• No time like the present
• Talk the right language
• Brain storming
• Start quoting the right designers
• LOOK AT DRAPERS RECORD!
• Know the big topics

After this we had to stand up and say our favourite designers, why and an iconic designers

FAVOURITE DESIGNERS:

at the moment its all about the Japanese designers for me, I loveee the style they portray and the sculptured outfits are so beautiful. So with this in mind I think Junya Watanabe and Issey Miyake are 'shittt hot!'

In the afternoon we had to create a muse of which we could aspire to for creating a range, my group were called 'THE CHUNGS' as we had picked ALEXA CHUNG as our muse, we created a mood board with images of what Alexa Chung likes/eats/lives like etc and then created another mood board for our target customer.

(images of our boards to be added later)

Draping day two...

Today went alot better then day one of draping and I feel that I have slightly improved on the whole draping thing, I basically went at the situation with a different mindset and instead of having two pieces of material (one for front and one for back) I used one piece for the top, making a hole where the head would be and then one piece for the skirt. Ending up with a low back and higher neck front. I really like my final drape and am now going through the process of creating a pattern from my drape, which I have to say isn't very easy, but I'm just taking things slow in order to try and not make too many mistakes.

On monday I think I am going to go into uni (on my day off....commited or what haha) to try a different way of draping by pretty much creating a 'large pillow case' and again cutting a hole in the top where the head would be to see what different outcomes could come out of it!

Fitted Jacket feedback

So far I am in the 60-65 (2:1) mark band, which I was really pleased with and from the feedback I can take this on board and work it all into my Design Manual to boost my grades up hopefully! Basically most of what was wrong with my Jacket booklet was simple things that will be easy to bear in mind next time, for instance cutting fabric samples evenly, making my own notes longer, printing off the right hand outs etc etc.

DRAPING...DAY ONE

Sooo after four weeks of intense and very strict fitted jacket making we are now free to run and drape as we wish! I was verrry nervous about starting draping today as I have gotten so used to following instructions to a T so it was a shock to then go off and be able to create pretty much whatever we wanted! I actually really enjoyed draping even though not all of my drapes worked out how I hoped they would and I have draped and re-draped so many times I'm sure my hands are going to fall off! At the end of the day I had one particular drape of which I preferred most, so tomorrow I am going to spend the day possibly re-draping this (from a photograph) to perfect it and then move on and make a pattern and RE-drape again to see if it all fits together well!

Loveee the back of this- would very much like to change the back of my current final drape to this as I think there is alot more detail going on

I really liked how the material hung when draped like this- May try to incorporate into final drape!

Possible final drape- needs working into however ^

^ Back of the final drape- again needs to be worked on but I am overall pleased with the progress

I can definitely see myself draping for my final collection as I found the whole process of trying out different drapes to get designs really helpful as opposed to just flat designing in a sketch book.



RE-front cover

Possible new Design Manual front cover...I worked into my original, adding a face, hair etc and changing the colours and font. I much prefer this cover and think its improved slightly!

Lanvin...I am in love with your clothes.

Learning agreement results...

This morning we were given our results for the Learning agreement. I got 63; which equals out to be a 2:1. I was very pleased with this and felt that the feedback written will help next time in possibly boosting the mark to a 1st :-)

Garment Technology

On Friday we had our first lesson with Anya. She introduced herself and told us about some of the work she has done, which I found very awe-inspiring. I would like to have achieved such accomplishments by the time I'm her age. We then had to introduce ourselves telling her Why fashion? Where do I see myself in five years? What is my dream job? and finally what is the health of the fashion industry?

• I chose fashion because I love the whole process from designing and having the flat drawings, to having the pattern pieces to finally having a 3d garment. Another reason why I chose fashion is because I'd like the capability of making people feel good in their clothes, designs that could flatter everyone.
• My dream job would to be designing clothes for high street stores and eventually working my way up to maybe doing some designing for fashion houses, but who knows where five years will take me!
• With the health of the fashion industry I think all the high street shops are becoming too similar, trying to be like each other and not aiming their clothing at their target customer but instead trying to be other shops. We definitely need more individuality.

We then went to castle point to have a look at the different fashion shops window displays, how the shop was layed out and where the clothing was made. I found the lesson very interesting and didn't get bored as she had such a different approach to teaching.

Inspired by Christina Lovery

Possible Illustration to go in Manual, I liked the idea of using magazine cut outs for the parts of the Illustration I found difficult to draw (the legs for example!) and the overall look has turned out quite well, although before putting into the manual I will edit the drawing in Photoshop. I think I should change the arms, as from uploading the image I can see they are out of proportion to the body...



That time already?!?...yup hand in!

Yesterday was the Fitted Jacket hand in and I can't believe how quick the past few weeks have gone! Was nice going into uni knowing that I had pretty much finished all of my work the day before, so when I got in I had the whole day to attach buttons, and finalise everything (from this I am making a mental note to myself to try and keep up to date on every project....farrr less stressful!)

I have enjoyed the whole process of making the jacket but am looking forward to spending more time putting together my Drape Manual and to begin draping my ideas!!!

Lanvin for H&M

Image source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbc6yDFmFrUDJy59ppNw3ftnTVdaN9JYQ9N1s16pslZ2apPsokUjIu2dlNS5oH9iUeKuhkElDqkv-Hp1nJpmgnASpF2dI4icio4MyNyTdohu3ynrVrvSAejiFImtNfn0ADSKxUjUUxlI_5/s1600/lanvin-hm-logo.jpg

November 23rd is certainly going to be an important date in my diary, with Elbaz's beautiful cocktail dresses, ladylike shoes, captivatingly glamorous accessories and applique T-shirts hitting certain H&M stores nationwide.

Image source :http://ris.fashion.telegraph.co.uk/RichImageService.svc/imagecontent/1/TMG8104512/m/CAMPAIGN_1751722a.jpg

Image source: http://cache.fashionista.com/uploads/2010/10/Lanvin_HM_2_V_21oct10_272x408-260x390.jpg

I am without a doubt totally in love with H&M now, they have whipped some amazing collaborations out of their sleeves and each time I'm impressed with the looks that come out of it!

Cannot wait for this luxurious collection to hit the shelves!

p.s Isn't the video amazing too?...yes it is!

Illustration for Design manual...

(Edited image- not very good quality, will upload better one at some stage)

First of all I drew out an illustration which was inspired by Madame Gres draping, and then I scanned into the computers and began working in more detail, using pen tool to make the lines more sharp, adding colour, eyes, coloured lips and finally a hair piece which I found on google (http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/3222420/2/istockphoto_3222420-abstract-girl-with-butterflies-in-hair.jpg). I really like this style although it did take a while I think with more practise I should be able to work into my drawings more quickly. I am planing on doing more to go in the Manual.

(Initial drawn out Illustration)

I'm beginning to enjoy the Drape Manual project more as I finally am getting more skills in Illustrator which is helping me with my ideas!