28 Nov 2012

Fitting

Last Monday we had our first fitting. And thank God its called a fitting and it's only made out of calico (plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton) ! As I made some mistakes, as my dear tutors were so kind to point out with a red Sharpie pen! We had a short discussion about what I could improve on my design and ask the model if there were any points were it was too tight or if it felt uncomfortable, the cuff were a bit tight! Apparently I have tiny wrists, as I used their measurement to go after. 
We also discussed finishings and other details, that probably wont be anything to you unless you know about seams and pattern construction, so I wont bore you with that. 

The final thing will be made in white cotton - not my decision, just wanted to point that out. Of course the main focus of this project is the silhouette and not colour or detailing. Although I always think that detailing should be a high priority it is what differs a good outcome from a bad, also if it feels cheap or expensive. 

At the moment I've been working on my second toile (what the model is wearing is called a toile, you could also call it a prototype), I've already made tons of mistakes on that as well. Kind of wanted to rip it a part and burn it on Tuesday, but I refrained myself from doing so. 
Now I'm strongly considering making a third toile, which is a bit daring, as it has to be ready for Monday, not sure I'm going to make it! Wish me luck!

Any thoughts on the design?

/Hannah  

18 Nov 2012

Traffic People Press Event

As I've told you before I'm currently doing an internship for Carrot Top PR, on Tuesday I helped out with the Traffic People press event, serving delicious cupcakes and champagne in tea cups and showed the collection of to press and blogger, here's the press release: 
"Traffic People's new S/S 2013 collection embraces the 1950's Americano style, with retro cuts and prints. With nautical stripes, contrast piping and flirty dots; it's all about those key details for the new season. Flattering and feminine shapes help mesh these details together and leaves us with a very wearable look for S/S 2013."

The press event was held at their store at Spitalfields Market in Shoreditch, the shop is extreme cute and feminine, reflecting their design aesthetics well. There were quite a few pieces I didn't mind adding to my wardrobe! So look out for the collection, which will arrive in store around February. 

/Hannah

Working On Alternatives

Spec/technical drawing of final design (done on Illustrator) for the Shirt & Silhouette project.

I was contemplating wheter I needed to buy more calico for my toile or not. And as my kitchen table isn't that big, I decided to tape my calico to the wall and place all my pattern pieces to see if they all fitted on or not. Luckily I could just squeeze them all on! 

Back and front of toile. 

Collar. 

Side views of the toile. 

After last weeks assessment for my DESIGN/TEC module, where I passed (first year is mostly on a pass or fail basis), this week I had to pick my final design and get started. 
I was unsure of which design to do, so I consulted with fellow students, the technician (Kerian) and my design tutor (Paul) - turned out to be more confusing than helpful, as they all picked out different designs. In the end I decided to go with what Paul liked the best, he was surprisingly quick at pointing out which one he preferred... Paul liked this one the best as it didn't have a typical shirt silhouette, and only the detailing referenced that it is a shirt. 
I did have to change the original design slightly, just to make my life easier supposedly, but if you ask me I was more annoyed than pleased at first. Alright I get that its pretty important that you can actually get your head into the shirt, I originally didn't have any opening what so ever. 
I tried placing a button stand on the front, design unconventional button stands and nothing worked for me, Paul wasn't any help at all. I later found out that he'd been smiling in amusement over my design issues, while I've been looking at my design developments in frustration. Hmpf! 
In the end the button stand got a place, just on the back of the shirt rather than the front, so it wouldn't disturb any of my lines in the front and I turned the collar around to give the design a more interesting spin. Also I unconventionally used a tux collar rather than a typical shirt collar, just because it's different. Why save something good for special occasions, when you could use it everyday? I really like the tux collar.


What are your thoughts on the design?

/Hannah



17 Nov 2012

The ABC of Fashion London

Remember to check out the latest posts on The ABC of Fashion London, just click on the image and it'll redirect you! (Remember there's a tab on the top that will redirect you as well) Not too long ago I did a full shop report on Bluebird! Worth a read, even though it might seem a bit long... 

This week I had an assessment on The ABC of Fashion London blog and I achieved a high 2:1/first for my work on! 

/Hannah

The Horniman Museum


Last week I went to The Horniman Museum with my Fashion Cultural Contextual & Representation class.  We went to see the The Body Adorned: Dressing London exhibition, they described the exhibition like this: 

"The exhibition features hundreds of stunning objects from the Horniman’s collections including adorned figures, early tattooing instruments and headdresses, a film installation by The Light Surgeons, several wardrobes of London residents exploring why they wear what they wear and urban street portraits taken by young people."

I found the exhibition really good, it was nice to see something else for a change rather than always going to the V&A for inspiration. 
I know I haven't talked much about my FCCR lectures, but thats mostly because this lecture is all based on theory and seems less exciting in general. 
The reason why we went to the museum was to try out an analysis theory that we have read about in one of our readings. 

These past few weeks, we've also been studying artifacts found at MoDA (Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture) and at our own Shepherd's Library, where we have a materials room, which has an extensive range of really interesting things that relate to both fashion, art and design in other forms.  


/Hannah

6 Nov 2012

55 Factory

True fact that I have been neglecting my blog for the past three weeks or so! I know, bad Hannah!
But sometimes you just get carried away with life and forget to update whats happening in your virtual one. The blog is my virtual life, everything in the blog world, makes it look like life is perfect, because to be honest how many people post online, when they've had a less than good one? 
When I've had a bad day I can't be bothered to post and when I've had a really good day, I'm just too knackered by then end of it to be bothered to post. So I post on average days! 

Anyway enough said about that! On Tuesday, another tweeting senstation happened and I landed myself another one day internship with Lois, who's the blogger behind Bunni Punch and Carrot Top PR! So I spend Thursday night with my flatmate Sophie (she also did the internship for Lois) at the 55 Factory Exhibition preview night in Shoreditch, its still on if you want to go and have a look! 
I spend the night handing out beer, pretending to be a bartender, and welcomed the quests at the door and took down their names and email addresses. 

We also got plenty of opportunity to have chats with all the fashion and art insiders that had come to see the show. Met lots of interesting people and generally had a really good time. 
Lois and I agreed on keeping in contact in the event of anything else exciting should come up, and she would need a hand. I hate to say, but you've got to love Twitter! 

By the end of the night Sophie and I were desperate for some food! Our duty started at 5pm and ended at 10pm, so we never really got an opportunity to have to dinner, so we swung by the nearest take-away we could find and ate it on the tube! What a successful evening. 

I'll make sure to update you on my university projects ASAP, but this week is assessment week, so everything is just a tiny bit crazy. Will see you on the other side!

/Hannah