London Trip 2 - Sport Vs Fashion

Sport and fashion have never been what i would call a great style mix. 

Personally I'm all about the fashion and could easily leave the sport side of the clothing industry. I don't own a single pair of trainers or tracksuit bottoms and to be honest i'm not that keen to start my collection!

However the 'Fashion vs Sport' exhibition at the V&A di

d open my mind to how the two can be incoprated to make a pretty awesome look. The collection's aim was to show how sports styles can be adapted to make fashion statements and had two angles; street style and lifestyle fashion.

I loved the customizing part of the exhibition as i thought it was such a simple yet effective way of vamping up sports wear. However it was the exaggerated pieces from Westwood and Chanel which grabbed my attention. Westwood had produced pieces which were challenging even the craziest of street wear and which were completely impractical for playing sport in, and Chanel produced lifestyle pie

ces which were stylish, pretentious but wearable, such as the jersey suits and the infamous Chanel fishing rod.

It was these exaggerations and twisted veiwpoints on sports wear that changed my mind on the concept of this branch of clothing. And so im looking forward to creating my own take on this challenge.

Independent PCCP - Shirt Project

At the end of the term we were given the challenge of cutting our own pattern and constructing a short sleeved shirt by ourselves. The tutors were meant to give us minimal help and instruction and it was really a test to see how much we'd learnt and whether we could apply our skills to an independent project.

At first i was really nervous about doing this as my construction skills are still a little tentative but i was fine as soon as i started pattern cutting as this is the area in which i am most confident. Finishing my pattern early meant i could start constructing my shirt with maximum time to complete it, which i really needed.

Although i had a few issues to start with when constructing my shirt, i got into a good pace quickly and had completed most of the bodice within the first day. The sleeves and hem line gave me a little bit of trouble but i think they turned out okay in the end. Doing the collar was a big step in my skill development as it was the first time i'd done this particular part of a piece of clothing and we had to learn whilst doing it and quickly.

I was pleased with the finished product and although i think it could be tidier and some finishes could have been better, i think for my first independently produced piece it was a good effort.

Shakers/ Philosophy Design Project

The Shakers were a group of religious believers who had a very firm and easily recognizable design philosophy. They believe in Form after function and that everything they designed should have a purpose before it was made elaborate. Although it was not the intention at the time, these designs had a kind of simple, clean beauty about which makes them highly desirable even today.

Our Project was based around the strong shakers philosophy and we were to come up with our own philosophy on how we design, dress and style an outfit. I loved this topic from the word go as my design style is prominent. My designs always have a sense of playfulness, of childhood fun and a sense of disappearing into the fantastical and i wanted this project to be the embodiment of all that i feel about fashion and life.

My Philosophy:

I will always be without limits,

I always disreguard the box,

I am personal and impractical,

I am Technicoulour, not black

and white,

I am fantasy,

I am your childhood

Fairytales,

I am couture and art,

and nothing else...

I looked at some of the most difficult items of clothing to wear in the fashion industry such as the corset, the crinoline and ruffles. I used PVC, chiffon and metal bars in my final design to uphold the impracticality element of my philosophy and i used balloons, carousel horses and gem stones to elude to the childhood fantasy element. In my theme boards and research i used images and references from my own youth to make the design more personal which i believe fashion should always be. To me everything you own and wear and design should have a part of yourself within it.

I spent some time looking at a crinoline in the making as my housemate was building one for her costume course, which i found really helpful as its easier to design something once you know how it fits together and works. I also took apart a corset to see if using just the boning from inside would work in my design.

I really loved my final design as i thought it brought together every element that i wanted it to and it appealed to every part of my personality. It was in short, the ultimate fantasy dress.