The beginnings of some ironic knickers...

I was instantly charmed by St. Peter’s Basilica after visiting recently; such amazing, luxurious intricacy spread across the huge scale of the Basilica captivated me. The building is truly unforgettable, both its interior and exterior scream power, yet its atmosphere amplifies peace at the same time. I loved the contrast between the exterior and interior of the Basilica; I find the Basilica’s diverse charm so magical. St. Peter’s Square ignites simplistic beauty in the all white marble encasing it, while the interior boasts insane detail and lavishness, depicting aspects the Catholic Church, and worshipping St. Peter’s tomb itself, of course.

I intend to produce a somewhat ironic collection of underwear inspired by St. Peter’s Basilica. Controversy is without a doubt, a trend at the moment, I want to encapsulate controversy quietly, by making beautiful underwear inspired by what is considered ‘the heart of the Catholic Church’. The irony is of course; in the fact I am making something quite ‘risqué’ inspired by religion, which generally suppresses sex and nudity. The term ‘Cultural Appropriation’ epitomizes my intentions by making the garments, simply borrowing an idea, or being inspired by a different culture in a controversial sense. My main produce is going to be a large range of wearable, desirable knickers, including embroidered and printed designs. However, I also want to produce bras and kimono style dressing gowns as part of my collection.

 And I have, of course, developed these ideas into some repeat patterns on Photoshop, and tested a few different colour ways inspired by my initial pictures:

And here's them on some very very basic knicker shapes;

I think the prints work well on knickers and I cant wait to develop some more complex designs! 

Here are some embroidery development photos, including free machining, CAD machining and black latch with elastic thread samples, all of which are white on white, again, to depict the exterior of St. Peter's.

And here is my first attempt at making knickers, not perfect but so far so good!

LIVE PROJECT: COMPLETE!

So I have finished my 2nd year of university! The thought it somewhat overwhelming, and its really got me thinking about what I intend to do after I graduate.. I'm thinking of working for 6 months at home to save up then continuing my adventures to Australia, I wanted to go this summer, but unfortunately money stopped me. So I figured I could go, and meet my best friend over there in winter 2014/ 2015. I want to travel and hopefully bag myself some work experience in textiles over there, who knows what can happen in the future.. watch this space.

Here are (some of) my final pieces for my last major project of second year:

I'm gonna put these on Etsy when they're out of the cabinets in uni.

For me, the Live Project was definitely the hardest project i've undertook so far, I went into this project feeling somewhat uninspired, I've had a bit of an inconsistent year and I've felt all over the place at some points, and this definitely reflected in my approach to this project unfortunately, (hopefully it doesn't show in my work). I've took it as a lesson, in future, I need to know what I want to make in the beginnings of a project, giving me more time to refine and develop my ideas as my collars turned into a panicked rush towards the end. 

However, I am very happy with my collars, aside from my state of mind through out this project. The delicate screen print conveying 'transparent foliage' in Colderidge's poem 'The Lime Tree Bower My Prison' works extremely well on the collar designs, and I love the colour palette I used for the collection. The subtle beading adds a tinge of sparkle.. what every girl needs to complete an outfit. The collars are completely wearable and designed with ergonomics in mind, they have an adjustable jewellery chain, so they can be worn higher or lower, depending on the wearers neckline. I also created several silk fabric lengths to visualise as panels in a dress that the collars compliment as part of my collection:

And, some photos of the silk lengths before mounting/ transforming into collars:

And now, I am cracking on with dissertation research: my title is 'the influence of bloggers on the fashion industry'- I am of course, loving the research process, looking at beautiful fashion blogs all day and dissecting what makes them successful, i'm learning so much in the process! 

xox

Fabric Ideas

A collection of fabric print ideas done on Photoshop for my current project, colours based on previous photos of Dufton Ghyll. Going to be printed onto a medium weight silk. All will be hand dyed, using dying techniques such as dip dye and shibori. 

Looking at fashion prints and Coleridge..

Initial image scanned in and mirrored, the sketch is taken from a photograph of foliage I took.

I continued to develop the image using photoshop to create some McQueen inspired fashion prints to kick start my new project...

Visual Research

I have been given a live project brief at uni named 'Cumbria: past and present'. We are working with the Wordsworth trust based in Grasmere. I wanted to base this project on the concept of my past and present (being home- the eden valley), and in particular a significant place to me called Dufton Ghyll, an old quarry, the blown away rock creates a beautiful wood with a stream running through it. I took photos of surface pattern and I came across some really beautiful textures, I photoshopped the images so they all have a monochrome feel with a pink tint, I really like the images, and was inspired by Roy Fleming photography, who is local, his work is really intense and beautiful, and truly captures the drama of the Eden Valley.