trend predictions for spring summer 07...

i've been looking on wgsn for trends next summer. I've popped a colour palette on my mood board below of the trend i feel my collection will work the best in. That is 'Identity'. The trend is summarised as,

"We all want to belong. We all want to be individual. Connect to others by telling your own story. Create your own club. Celebrate the original. Have pride in your origins and learn from history. Embrace your core values."

From WGSN-edu Internet site. This i believe is were i am going with my collection. I'm embracing my past, my family tree, and celebrating it through my own creative interpretation. I am using my own family identity as my inspiration and mood.
From Trend predicted colours I am interested in using;
• A balmy, bright palette is balanced by bone white and restrained dark shades of mud pie and walnut.
• Intense British brights instead of South American suggested brights.
• Sugary shades, plastic pink and peachy are paired with dark tattoo tones for extra bite.
The market i am aiming for from the trend list are;
• Semi-tailored soft separates.
• Pretty beachwear with attitude.
Styling trends i would like to press forward with are;
• Edited indigenous silhouettes inform grown-up, confident looks.
• Restrained, cleaned-up culture-mixing contemporises clothes.
• Styling is graceful with an effortless charm in the form and movement of the garment.
• Innovative tailoring construction.
Suggested materials are listed below but i intend to choose a range that suits my collection best:
Technical shells, synthetics, plastics, lycra.
• Printed chiffons, crepe silks and damask suitings.
• Intricate needlepoint and skilled lacework.
• Fine interlaced wovens, blanket-like raw and slubbed.
• Soft tailoring, slub wovens and structured satines.
• Cotton blanket wovens
And finally, pattern trend for s/s 07 are as follows:
• Hispanic street art and tattoos.
• 50s interiors version of indigenous art – the print has space to breathe.
• Contained print and edited placements.
• Geometric ethnic.
Stylised tropical fantasy prints and over sized painterly blooms.
• Tattoos and street art on printed sheers.
• Broad stripes – feature misprint bleed effects.
• Overprinted black-and-white imagery.
I am really pleased with the pattern trends as they perfectly match in with what i wanted to use anyway, the 50's interior art, and broad stripes! i couldn't believe it when i checked out the website! good ow!

final thoughts of the day...

final thoughts and ideas for today put into a slide show below. I've just discovered a great dvd on the fifties so i'll try and post that on asap. all images below are copy right so dont bother boys and gals. thank you honey bees xxx

I created a Slide Show! Check it out!

future direction themeboard...

I created this theme board to shoe where i am going with my collection ideas. I think I'm going to design a spring summer collection, so I've been on to the wgsn website to check the colours and themes for next summer. I want my collection to have a quirky yet feminine edge, and i love cut and pasting my designs onto photos. This isn't one of my designs, but it gives you an idea of my thoughts. My collection is based on 1950 fashion scene and Russian Matryoshka Nesting dolls. My collection will be highly shapely, with a mix of mini dresses and over sized shirts. They will have great impact either through shape or colour. I think i am focusing on the Great British Summer Time, as i get the feel from my research that that is what Brits lived for, fun and frolics, after the war deprived them of all fun. I want to celebrate 'British' so if anyone who reads this can comment on me to see what you think defines BRITAIN and whats typically BRITISH that would be great. I'm going to get another questionnaire together to ask people of the 50's era what they think is or was typically British in the 50's.

daneille scutt....

i love this new designer that was introduced to me by holly bednall. She is is international textiles and I've been researching into her more and found her MA graduate collection. She has done amazing things with print and i really love her use of shape. This is the contemporary feel and look i would like to have to my final collection. It is feminine with a high class edge. I also like her use on singular colours in her garments. I'm not sure if we have to have a season in mind to design for yet, better find out really!!!!

V&A museum 1950's and 1960's fashion exhibition...

i went to london this weekend and ventured into the V&A. the exhibition was primarily of the 1960's but there was quite alot of 1950's and earlier garments on show case. I found it very informative, picking up some british designers of the 50's period that i hadnt discovered in my research already. For example Hardy Amies, Horrockses ( i think this designer is british, it said the designer had a large influence in 1950's fashion scaene, bringing Paris 'New Look' to boutiques and department stores across Britain.) Norman Hartnell, John Cavanagh, charles creed, and parisian Worth. There was quite a bit of Claire McCardell, New York Designer & creater of whats said to be the start of the USA style, creating the 50's day dress with nipped waist and full skirt. I really like her designs, they seem to sum up the change that happened in the 1950's in my mind. Full of colour and fun, and very feminine.
I took lots of pictures and popped them into the slide show below. I love the 1960's baby doll dresses. I want to use this effect in my designs but in the form and influence of the Russian Matryoshka dolls.

I created a Slide Show! Check it out!

Accessories ideas...

My ideas for my collections accessories are to create large charm necklaces and bracelets. These will consist of my Russian craft influence, Matryoshka nesting dolls and any British 1950's trinkets, key shapes, toys, etc. I think they will look very effective, as the bigger the better is best for the catwalk!
COPY RIGHT ON ANY IDEAS FOLKS I POST! thanx.

working hard, then run an eeand and get a FLAT!!!

what a day! been working on my sketchbook today for my final collection ideas, then ventured out to take my papa on an errand, then get a flat tyre!!!! on my gosh how annoying! as if I've got time to mess about with a flat, i had now idea of what to do either! daddy tezza to the rescue!!! what gave me a flat was a blooming great big nail! how i picked it up i don't know! ........ so in conclusion, what a waste of a day!

on a lighter note though, I'm off to London at the weekend! yeay! Christmas shopping here i come, i think the best thing to do is buy a present for someone else, then two for me......you get my drift! tehe. I'm also off to the V&A to try and get some info and research on 50's design and fashion for my collection ideas.
mixing work and pleasure! love it!

Fnord: Annie - Heartbeat (MSTRKRFT remix) 50's Dream Vid

a mix of a contemporary music with a 1950's short film. I love the film as it all about the 1950's vision. Post war and looking to the future, stream lined and mass produced goods, new technologies, the glamourous house wife and new look fashion! this film shows how i want to use the 1950's as an influence on my designs. It wont be the only influence and i am still using my russian crafts - russian nest dollies - as inspiration, but it is to be where i take my colour palette from and design shapes. The film is American which is a down point as i want my collection to be about everything british, a celebration of 50's british style, but as my research has lead me to believe, America did the same things, design wise, as britain just on a more extravagant and wasteful manner. I will be on the look for british films though, but i must admit they are proving hard to come by!

RSA signed sealed and delivered!!!

HURRAYYYYYYYYY I've handed in my RSA PROJECT!!!
i was very pleased with my presentation and felt i got really good feed back from ann and cristie. I am a very very very happy bunny as my work has also been selected to be entered for the competition!!!! only 10 places were available and I'm one of them!!!!! yeay! (sorry, I'm quite competitive) tehe.
I'm going to post my boards on line as soon as I've shrunk them!

Blouse design complete...

here is my final blouse that i created for the rsa project. I have over lapped my rsa work and my final collection thinking on this as i want to create oversized blouses and mini dresses for my final collection. So this has been quite good practise. I found the pattern making and the construction fairly easy for this style of blouse, so intend to challenge myself even more, with more complex blouse designs for my final collection. I found working with the organza/ voile fabric the hardest! the material moves all the time so cutting it was a right mare! but luckly the blouse worked, all notches and sewam points joined so i was a happy bunny!

toiling a blouse...

i decided to overlap my rsa and my final collection ideas by creating a blouse shape that i want to use for my final collection. The blouse works well with my rsa final garment so i decided to toile it up. I created the pattern and toile yesterday at uni. I found the pattern quite easy to do, but making was quite different. I feel confident with making but this throw me a little because of the fabric. The fabric i want to use has no stretch and this was the only fabric i could find with the same quality. SORRY ITS SO LOUD!!! hurts your eyes abit doesn't it! after a couple of attempts i finished my toile. i will make the real one on Thursday, I'll post that on my blog and you'll see how nice the shape really is instead of looking at the loud print on my toile!!! oops!

findings and thoughts of the week...

here are some examples from my sketchbook. These pages show how i want to mix the influences of Russian opulence with 50's house hold fashion and prints. I think i want to create a range of dresses and blouses for my collection that are unusual in the way each will be similar but worn completely different. This is where my Russian dollies come in tot he equation. I want to create a collection that consists of the similar garments but are constructed slightly differently and therefore all have a unique different look. (honestly it makes sense in my head!!!) My collection will look quite vintage but have a very contemporary twist. I will post some of my sketches in a couple of days, i may even present them on a video.

EVERY THING ON MY PAGE HAS A COPY RIGHT!

final collection thoughts...

after having my tutorial with ann last monday, i've really been thinking about my final collection direction. Ann asked me if I was going to develop my rsa to my final collection. I said no of course because I have my thoughts and visions already of what its going to look like. I do however think that I may focus it down slightly. for example I may have my main pieces being based on or look like dolly dresses, with weird contemporary twists.
One thing in particular that has got me thinking of this is the new Christmas adverts for BOOTS, The ' have a glamorous Christmas'. The adverts are of house wives dressed extra glamorous with hair and make up looking gorgeous, but they are doing household chores, like hoovering in high heels and long evening gown, stuffing the turkey after just painting her nails. Its about them looking gorgeous. I'll have to try and get some pics on here to illustrate my point. to get to the point I think I want my cloths to have or give the wearer this kind of confidence/ arrogance about them feeling so gorgeous and glamorous. I also want to have a degree of innocence to my clothing, whether this is done through shape or colour.
I'll try and find that ad!

COPY RIGHT

EVERYTHING ON THIS PAGE HAS A COPY RIGHT ON IT, SO DO NOT REPRODUCE OR USE ANYTHING FOUND ON THIS PAGE WITH OUT THE OWNERS CONSENT. thank you x

toiling toiling toiling...

introducing.......half of my toil! wahey! On Monday I stayed in the studio after my tutorial to carry on with my toile. I created one toile and had to take out a dart from the bust. This is the end result. Dart out, looking much better. This is my second toile for the top half of my pinafore dress for my capsule collection. I am going to make the skirt half on Thursday night, then create the real thing. I am also going to create the blouse which sits underneath the pinafore.

Tutorial with Ann on rsa...

My tutorial went so well! I was feeling really torn with all my ideas and what to do about them. Ann sorted me out though! She gave me such a confidence boost about my designs and work in general. I also spoke to her about my final collection. She really liked my ideas and thoughts for how my final collection will be shaped and styled. I'm quite excited to actually start it!

from my tutorial my aims are to; sort my ideas out and smarten up my sketches for my sketch book/ board 1, draw my final capsule collection up from my ideas noting details in construction, fabrics, etc, continue with my toiling....But most of all STOP WORRYING and get on with it!! (I seriously cant help it!)
all in all a good day!

Thoughts of the day...

I've really been getting on with my rsa so much that I must admit I've been neglecting my context quite abit! Oops! But after my tutorial and change of subject I feel much better! My tutorial went really well and Janet just told me to get on and write it now! How scary!!!!
I do love my rsa work though, am excited for my next tutorial with Ann on Monday. I really want some feed back on my work so far, as haven't really had a tutorial since the first Monday! I've brought lots of fabrics for my collection, but didn't realize we have only got to make one garment, not even an outfit, how disappointing!!!

Information exchange - the day after...

The information exchange went really well I thought! I must admit I was really quite nervous because I did my placements at not very known companies, i.e I had no big names on my stand! I know that sounds really sad but I suppose its what attracts people. The first and second years are very good though, they were very open, asked lots of questions and it gave me a massive confidence boost. Once I started talking about my placements, I realized I had done actually quite a lot! From pattern cutting to garment technologist roles, visual merchandising to teaching! Wow! How big headed do I feel! I hope it all helps in the long run of job hunting.

Designs and toiling

I started to toile up one of my designs last night with fiona. I didn't realise we only has to toil up one garment but I'm going to do an out fit and an extra pair of trousers that I've designed - I know I've got my work cut out but this is what I want to do! I also want to use some sort of print, I think that it would add a personal touch to my designs, instead of using already printed fabrics.
I plan to finalize my designs this weekend and start thinking about my boards.
My design that I'm toiling is my favorite design. I have developed it so that is more unusual and will be a slight challenge in the pattern cutting department. I also bought lots of fabrics yesterday before I found out we only need to toile up on garment. I love the fabrics that I've brought, they are both business suited and daring to fit in with my butterfly theme. I'll get them put on my blog asap! I also bought some absolutely fab buttons, girls honestly its a fabric shop in stoke, well worth a trip!

printing on fabrics

For my garments i would like to use some form of print. I bought this piece of fabric off ebay. It has the right colours and print i was looking for, but i would much rather create my own. I've emailed ann to see if she can hook me up with some one from textiles so i can have a go.

just a couple of pages from my RSA sketchbook to show my thoght process and development to design stage. I have cut up butterflies to create outfits and all cut out silhouettes and placemed them over mini mood boards that i created in my sketchbook. The shapes and patterns created are very inspiring and i've started to draw some designs from them.
Can i put a copy right on this please. C.

information exchange

what a lovely evening! it was so good to talk to the other students from the other years. It gave me a little confidence boost too. I did feel alittle big headed talking about myself as though i new loads, but i think it sounded good what was coming out of my mouth! tehe! it has given me a little scar as well though. just thinking about getting a job when i finish, with all that competition. I would really love to get myself on a graduate training sceme for a big company like George or Tescos ranges, but on the other hand i'd love to go and work for really small company or designer who would give me praps so much more time and experiences hands on. SOMEONE COME AND GUIDE ME PLEASE!!! oh if only! better make my CV cracking!

summary of the week

a good and bad week!
I loved Tuesdays lecture with Claudia. I've wanted to learn about illustrator since I was out on one of my placements. The graphics ladies used it all the time and I tried it a couple of times but it found it so hard. But now we've had a go I feel so proud of my first flat. I'm not too bad at drawing flats but I think this looks so professional. Another string to my growing bow! tehe!
On the other hand I've had a mare of a week with the rsa project! I feel like I'm being really lazy with it, but how can I be when I'm at my desk working at every earth giving moment!!! It was not going anywhere.......So on Tuesday night I started again! I edited my proposal and recreated my mood board. I feel I had too many influences, too many things to include so I hit a brick wall! Couldn't for the life of me think of any decent ideas!
I've now just got one main influence, which is butterflies, and I feel much better and confident about it. I want shape, style, print and professionalism to be the main image, but I want vibrant colour and a confident 'work hard play hard' attitude to shine through. I feel I can do this and provide lots of ways of accommodating all the essentials a woman would need on a city trip would need. I want to be able to start my toiling this coming week, whether its Monday or Thursday night.

my first go at illustrator!!!

my first go at illustrator, i am well impressed! i'm going to have to get this program for my laptop now!
I scanned my prints from my sketchbook and used them on my garments. Colours are out of there too.

a brand new week...

RSA - i worked on my sketch book majority of the day, up to the designing stage! i ordered some fabric last week off ebay for the project, and it can! yeay! but its only a fat quarter! i need more! i've emailed the seller, i'll just have to play the waiting game now! the print on its lovely, just the right colours i'm intending on using, but the fabrics not so brill. may have to look else where anyway.
Started some designs, am getting excited! I'm gonna try scan some of it all in to post in on my blogger space!
I intend to get my designs done this week so i can start toiling some of them up...

a productive day!

had a really productive day yesterday! monday got me down, as i was feeling really under the weather as it was, but my work was not moving at all, yet i seemed to be working at my desk all day!? bezar! anyway, yesterday i really got to grips with my tuesday lecture work. started to create my sketch book with influential and inspiring pictures and shapes for my final collection. redid my slide show as well. it fits much better now with my ideas.
rsa is going slow though. i did get my mood board done yesterday, but need to get my sketch book underway. i've got all the info, research etc its just strating the darn thing! white plank canvas thing! i dunno. i plan to get it sorted asap because i've got some good ideas for my capsule collection, so i'll crack my own whip! kinky!
tomorrows a new day...

I created a Slide Show! Check it out!

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

theme board 1

this is the first theme board i've created on photoshop towards my final collection.
My ideas so far are to Marry the different style backgrounds of my grandparents. My nan is the english girl, my grandad the russian husband. I want to mix 50's style, floral prints, and shapes, with russian decadence & colour palette. I want to create garments that are similar, but worn in different ways can look completely different. They will be feminine and chic. Very contempory abd extremely desirable.
I am going to start sketching ideas into my sketch book, and experimenting with the shapes on thursdays patter cutting lecture. I will post my developments.

summary of the week...

am really chuffed, got selected to enter the elle/levi competition. not got to do much to my boards aswell. my tutors seemed to really like my boards to, so it's been a bit of a confidence booster. just needed aswell!!!
started my sketch book for the rsa, mood board halfway there too. proposal written. final collection research well underway, need to stick things down in my sketch book tho.
my jacket is coming underway in pattern cutting, it should be toiled up this week.
context, well yes, its ok, just doing what janets advised me too, gather as much research as possible then we will think of a title! sounds good to me!

picture perfect

went to my nan and grandads on saturday to route out some old pictures of them for my final collection project! my nan had me crawling through her tiny loft, i must have hit my head a billion times! ouch!! but it was quite productive as i got some lovely pics of them from their courting days and their wedding day. am going to redo my theme board before tomorrows lecture now i've got my pictures scanned in. lovely. even got some of when me dad was little (he looks a right nought!) tehe! lol!

Im HaVinG A LitLLe CrIsIS...

you know them days when dougts are flying high, well thats today! been survaying the projects and am in a pickle! I love my RSA design idea, its so me, and am so excited to start it! i wish it was my final collection, because i'm dougting that idea! i cant narrow it down, got to many images and its throwing me! what to do what to do!
I think so hardcore thinking is due on this. I really want to use my theme of english meets russian, but what style of english design i'm not sure about!??

ooow i kmow, i really wanted to show the mix of english and russian through me at the start, english girl russian name, but i might see about following it back further, to my nan and grandad. They are after all the reason for my name, as my nan was the english war child and my grandad was the russian imogrant escaping the war in russia and WW2. I could use the time period of there courting and marriage, and interperate the fussing of therewo different backgrounds in a love affair.
wow i can do something if i try!

just cant get enough....

why do i keep getting drawn to these images. They're tyically seaside english, but there is something about them that i just cant get enough of!

dolly jacket

love the shape of this jacket with its gingham trim by Kenzo ( s/s 06). the colour is what i would choose for my own collection, and i am fasinated with the quirkyness of the different buttons.

mixing themes

i found this example in Now Magazine, i instantly was drawn in to the jacket of kate moss. Its a mix of printed fabrics, which i thought was amazing. its eyecatching and a piece on its own. i would like to do something similar with my designs, mixing typically english household floral prints, maybe from the 50's or 60's, and a vibrant, strong russian colour palette.

russian dollies

i've found some modern examples of russian dollies in a home style magazine. i love the rich colours of the reds and pinks, and also the random, feminine, playful images painted onto the dolls. This also shows the example of my idea to play around with size. In my fashion head i could interperate this through layering garments/ fabrics/ exaggerate aspects of my designs?! who knows yet...

can it hurt??!

i was thinking, as i was researching the rsa and mulling over todays lecture, would it hurt to do a menswear collection as well to coenside with my womenswear collection? the best could be submitted and the other tweeked for my portfolio? i know its more work but if i could do it, it would give me something different for my portfolio. can it hurt?

ooww information overload!!!

today was a very informative day! i loved it though. most things that i wanted answered were answered. am well chuffed. am really excited about this rsa project too for some reason. talked my idea over with ann and she was pleased with it. I plan to do a womenswear capsuale collection for the urban sophisticated brief. I am going to use butterflies as my main influence. For example for the shapes, colour slurges, pattern, etc. it will be aimed at someone like myself i think, a young professional! I want it to be highly desired though, a designer piece, expensive. i read an article in elle or vogue about how high street fashion has become like fast food. its fast fashion. no one saves for the ultimate designer piece any more. that piece that you can keep for years, that can be worm over and over again. thats what i want my pieces to be. highly desirable, highly feminine, highly stylish, highly versitle!
went and researched in the library this afternoon, was quite productive as i may have now solved my context problem, but some hardcore reading is need yet, so i'll keep you posted.

summery of the week

what a week! am so trilled to be back at uni again and starting the new projects! the only one thats freaking me out is context!!!!
5000 word essay and a 12 page evaluation, sorry reflective journal, but hey really whats the difference?! Am really not sure about it all, my subject is really bugging me as i really am not sure what to do (topic wise). My title and proposal were to do with the ergonous zones and if they exsist any more, but i'm not sure it interests me enough to be able to write that much else about it. think janet will be pulling her hair out with me! opps!
Loved thursdays pattern cutting session! feel like i'm in my element! it was the quickest 3 hours of the week though! it fills me with confidence that we have that session to test out designs and ideas we have for our final collection. its great practice!
am also trilled about the elle competition, got through, and will be making the effort to get it sent off in time. bring on friday!
lots of work to be researching so better go......rsa, final collection, elle, CONTEXT :-(

first proper entry!

well what a day, am so excited about having a blog! so right lets scribble my thoughts out on todays lesson....
i was a little disappointed in the final collections from last year. They all seem a little outrageous, which is not the route i myself was planning on taking, but i was reassured when Claudia said we can basically do what we want. So as long as that stays true i feel a little happier. Also i was a little gutted that there are only 14 places for graduate fashion week!!!!! eak! There's going to be a lot of competition seen as we are such a hugh 3rd year group this year!

collection wise though my initial ideas are for a womenswear collection with the surprise of a single menswear outfit at the end. i want a collection that is feminine and sexy in a quirky kind of way. My initial idea is to use Russian dollies as my main theme. not so much looking at Russian folkwear but using the doll shape, playful nature, and rich Russian colour palette and mixing it with a very household English style. Mixing English house hold prints with Russian glamour, rich materials, detailing, and colour. My collection will be full of laying garments, extremes of fitted and oversized garments, etc. I'm rambling now.....
My aim is to create a desirable collection that's tasteful, clever, quirky and expensive (£££) tehe! xxx

First Day

Oooh how exciting my first ever blog! I am a blog virgin no more! bring it on x x x