We went to the Stitch and Knit show in London today with uni, and I have to say I had very mixed feelings about it. On the plus side, I have always loved to work with textures and different materials, so it was interesting going round the stalls in the main hall and seeing people’s work, from university graduates to independent shops and women who set up businesses selling their work. However, I would have much preferred the day if they had spread it out more, it is a claustrophobic’s worse nightmare being stuck in a stuffy room with isles of stalls and hundreds of people too busy looking at glass beads to move an inch to left to let you through to get some air, also I felt that once I had seen one isle of stalls I had seen them all, the next 12 isles were, well, the same. However having said that there were a couple of stalls which were definitely worth going to, there was a company called Eternal which had gorgeous fabrics, mostly cotton mixes but they all had very kitsch designs, typical patchwork fabrics, and another which specialised in bridal sequins and beads and sold sari yarns, Angelina fibres and banana yarns for pretty reasonable prices. But looking back on to the positives again, the first bit that really caught my attention was the graduate display. Graduates from knitwear courses all over Britain had some of their work displayed. Now, I’m useless at knitting so to me, all of the pieces were pretty amazing but I particularly liked 3 people’s work; Te- Chien Chen from Central Saint Martin’s, George Strood from Bristol UWE and Pandora Bahrami from Nottingham Trent.

Chen’s piece was based on factories, metal pipes and the sensation of melody. The first thing I tend to think about when I think of knitted wool garments, I think of frumpy Christmas jumpers that you get given by your great aunt who clearly isn’t that fashion forward, however seeing this piece really shows that knitwear can be created for eveningwear, much more Missoni than flea market. I love the fluidity of this piece, the copper colour really works with the concept that Chen worked with, I would be really interested to see the rest of the collection and see how else Chen managed to communicate the idea of movement and melody through knitted clothing.

Strood’s pieces were based on 1920s elegance and fashion. With this piece I love the fact that although the skirt part of the dress appears quite bulky but when seen on the model at GFW, this piece is actually very flattering. I also love the colours used, the cream and white I think allow the different textures and techniques to really show through.

Pandora Bahrami based her inspiration on Iranian heritage and the way they use traditional metal coins in clothing, she made body- conscience items as a means of contrast against Iranian culture and views. Again with this piece, I would be really interested in seeing the rest of the collection, I really love the difference in techniques used over different areas of the dress. Again with the different shades of grey it allows the viewer to really see the different textures used on the garments and highlights the metal rings across the shoulders and hip pieces.

When looking around the designers stalls, although there were again a lot of pieces and artists who stood out, there were 2 in particular that really made me stop and look. The first was Abigail Nealon who does screen- print textiles with embroidery over the top. I have always been attracted to the colour pink, why I don’t know, but I find it a really approachable, fun colour. The prints that Nealon produces are so summery and despite appearing quite manic, the choice of colours doesn’t make the pieces overwhelming, just exciting and energetic. The chair which had been upholstered in her textiles was so beautiful, the intricate detailing in the embroidery over the top is subtle enough not to distract from the layers of screen-printing but it is just enough to highlight different areas to give more depth to a technique which can appear quite flat.

The other piece I saw which I somehow managed to walk past without noticing on a manic attempt to get some air, but on walking past it again, I was blown away. How I missed it the first time, I don’t understand because it did take up a whole wall. But I went back to look at it properly. This was the winning piece from The Quilters’ Guilds Challenge by Laura Kemshall with the theme, Pearl Essence. Even if this was a painting I’m sure I would have stopped to see this piece, but it’s been done from quilting, which is totally different kettle of fish. I love how the light and shade have been portrayed on this piece and the shawl around her neck, just how realistic the folds and creases are. I didn’t see any of the other entrants but I do really love this piece.

Somerset House: SHOWstudio Fashion Revolution

Nick Knight set up the website SHOWstudio with a friend, Peter Saville, as a means of showing work not as a means of selling the product but simply for the love of art. SHOWstudio is like a melting pot of all things fashion, from photography and film to dance and music to fine art and technology creating a much deeper understanding of the world of fashion.
The first room I came to in the exhibition was a room of mirrors, slightly disconcerted I made my way through and stopped and paused at the exiting door, wondering ‘why?’. The idea of seeing myself in one mirror after a hectic day is scary enough, but seeing myself from every angle a multitude of times, well that’s another story. But then it occurred to me, that’s what the fashion media is all about, scrutiny and being exposed. Although I was the only one in the mirrored room, I couldn’t help but feel insanely exposed and self-conscience in this small mirrored world.
I then moved into the Naomi Campbell room, with a huge digitally sculptured 3-D statue of the world renowned model. The piece was quite incredible really, I don’t know why I was drawn to it, but there was something about the precision and flawless appearance of it that caught my eye.
After seeing various other collaborative pieces including ‘Sweet’ with Jane How and ‘Past, Present and Couture’ with John Galliano, I came across ‘Transformer: The Bridegroom Stripped Bare’ by McQueen, where he cuts, drapes and dissembles the model’s garments as he just stands there and then gets white paint and glitter thrown all over him. I had seen this video on the website a while back and at the time I didn’t think much of it, but last year one of the modules I was doing I included a lot of McQueen’s work and have a much greater understanding of the designer and what he’s about. So watching the video in the exhibition, I saw it in a totally different light. McQueen is not afraid of making a shock statement which I like and find very refreshing- he doesn’t hold back, the idea of this bridegroom getting stripped bare, covered in paint, being bound to bricks and being gagged goes against the typical ideas of a wedding day.
The last two pieces that really stood out to me were two pieces which made you look at models in a different way. The first was ‘Phonecarte’, where there were four telephones and on each one Karen Elson, Lily Cole, Irina Lazareanu and Lily Donaldson, left answer phone messages. The messages were short but regular updates on their days during various fashion weeks including fittings, being backstage, travelling around the cities and after parties. The other piece was ‘More Beautiful Women’ which was based on Warhol’s 1964 piece ‘Thirteen Most Beautiful Women’. It is an ongoing project in which Nick Knight puts iconic models, past and present, in front of a video camera and tells them to just sit looking at the camera for 3 minutes. Some of the models, including Twiggy and Claudia managed the experience without too much awkwardness, however some of the others, including Linda, clearly found the 120 seconds completely unbearable. I found it quite interesting though, I couldn’t work out why some of the models found it so uncomfortable sitting in front of a camera, modelling is all about acting and being watched, so why were some of them so awkward? The one big difference between modelling and this experience, which I can imagine would be quite daunting, is that the model isn’t being directed by the photographer. I really enjoyed these two pieces, as it makes you look at the models in a totally different way. Models are renowned for being silent beauties and so it is always unexpected when you hear them speaking, also hearing the messages which were quite personal, but on quite mundane topics (Lily Donaldson mentioning about the weather), and seeing some of the models feel so uncomfortable sitting still, being watched for 3 minutes, meant that you felt you could reach out to them and realise that they are just regular people, albeit very tall and thin and insanely beautiful, but they are just regular people.
All in all I really enjoyed the gallery, I like the website of SHOWstudio, so I knew I would like this exhibition, but I enjoyed it more than I expected I would. I really liked the way it made models appear human, and really showed the relationship between art and fashion and how it around you every second of every day, whether you are aware of it or not.

Work Experience at Bill Amberg

Five minutes to eight in the morning, and I finally arrive, coffee in hand, at the Bill Amber Workshop in West Row. Apparently the London underground is not all that reliable that early in the morning, but after an hour and a half of watching dazed business men and women getting on and off at various stations, I arrived and was ready to start my work experience. Having been really interested in the idea of working with leather at some point, I was so excited about the chance to work with and learn about the material I have never worked with before but am very interested in the idea of using in my final year at university. Having just hired a new employee in the accessories department, I was asked if I could work in the Interior Design workshop to help out with a couple of projects.

The first project I was given was to organise and complete some of the catalogue Bill was going to take over to New York on Tuesday to show some clients. I was given the master copy of the catalogue and then had to make or complete another 10 copies of it. I had to use the cutting press to cut out the different hides in various sizes to attaching them to the catalogues in their certain areas. Although this was getting quite repetitive after the 5th catalogue, it gave me a really good chance to snoop around the shelves and horses and see the variety of leathers they use on a day to day basis for furnishing and accessories.

Baltic:
· Used for upholstery, lightly upholstered wall panelling and bags.
· A Northern European product, and shows the natural grain, which will vary over different areas of the hide.
· Can be dyed any colour.
Eco:
· The shoulder.
· Quite tough, but can be used in upholstery, bags, shoes and sometimes wall panelling.
· Grain runs from left to right.
· Can be dyed.
French Calf:
· Quite soft and flexible leather.
· Can be used in upholstery, bags and shoes.
· Can be dyed a range of colours.
Lamb:
· Very soft, flexible leather.
· Used for clothing, gloves, bags, furnishings.
· Can be dyed any colour, including metallics and brights without changing the feel of the leather.
Oak Bark Shoulders:
· Very tough shoulder leather.
· Used in high traffic areas, such as stair banisters, furnishings and sometimes flooring. Can also be used as wall panelling.
· Ages well with wood.
· Part of the shoe sole trade.
· Pigment and dye free leather.
Ostrich:
· Like lamb, very soft and supple.
· Used for bags, gloves, furniture upholstery and wall upholstery.
· Grain and thickness of the leather varies over different areas of the hide.
· Can be dyed, but most often used in earthy hues.
Shrunken Shoulder:
· Tough leather.
· Walls, hand railings, bags and shoes.
· Can be dyed.
Sole Bends:
· Extremely tough leather, not very malleable.
· Used for floor panelling and occasionally wall panelling, but can be too heavy for walls.
Vellum:
· Otherwise known as parchment.
· Brazilian goat skin.
· Grain runs left to right, with the darkest area down the spine.
· Very thin, almost translucent on the belly of the hide.
· Used in furnishings and coverings mostly.
· Was a key feature in art deco furnishings.
· Comes in cream or natural pigments.
Out of all the leathers the ostrich was the one that I became the most attached to. There is something that seems so unique about it. The spine of the grain is so recognizable and yet every hide is different meaning you won’t get any two items exactly the same making each item feel more personal. However the belly of the hide has a much more subtle print, and is even softer which I think I almost prefer, as it’s different. Most accessories are made out of the spine of the hide with the recognizable print of ostrich so I like the idea of using the belly side to make items more individual without losing the beautiful quality of the leather.
Once I had done the 10 catalogues, I was asked if I could help out with the live project going on at the time. This project had been going on for about 3 months, and I was asked to help out for the last few days to get everything finished in time. All of the furnishings for a client’s yacht had been sent to the Bill Amberg workshop to be upholstered in cream vellum. Some of shelving units which needed to be done were fairly straight forward to do, however a lot of the pieces that needed to be covered had curved edges and lots of corners. After having a quick demonstration on how to do the covering in a specific way, I was set lose on the glue, scalpel, and staples to make these pieces as flawless as possible. I managed about seven on my first day of doing it, but then managed to double that the next day. What I did find with this project was that because I was doing it for someone else I knew it needed to be done with precision. I often find that when I make pieces for myself I don’t spend the time on it that I should. But the feeling I had when I saw all the final pieces lined up next to each other, actually made me feel quite proud. I honestly feel that this work experience has shown me what I can do when I put my mind to it, and hopefully can put that into practice when I head back to uni next month.
This experience also confirmed to me that I need to be working in a ‘hands on’ environment; I need to be moving about, working with different materials and be creating, I like being involved, seeing how things progress. All in all I found that this work experience was hugely helpful, it gave me a real insight into working in a ‘hands on’ workshop creating pieces. It also gave the chance to learn more about and work the material I have wanted to work with for a long time. Although I personally think it’s too early to be saying anything for sure about what I will be basing my final year collection on, if I can, I would love to include leather in some way.

V&A: Future Fashion Now

‘Future Fashion Now’ is an exhibition in the V&A which displays the works from some of the Royal College of Art fashion design graduates. From 27 designers, there must have been over 50 garments being displayed in different sections, Concept, Form, Technique and Detail. I got to the exhibition quite late in the day after traipsing around London all day, so was very tired at the time, but I still thought it was incredible. Unfortunately I found that some of the pieces weren’t lit as well as they could have been so I couldn’t see some of the detailing as well as I would have liked to, but all the same, there were some incredible pieces of clothing and footwear being displayed. Three designers stood out in particular to me.

The first was Timothy Lee, who had a few ensembles being shown, including dresses, coats and jackets. What I liked about these pieces is that they were different, beautifully cut and made creating quite unusual shapes, but the pieces were made from leather, wool, viscose and neoprene which gave it such a solid structure without looking to heavy or uncomfortable to wear. The areas of neoprene add to the streamlined, structured appearance of the collars, shoulders and waistbands, but where there isn’t any neoprene, the fabric drapes softly over the body. On another piece he made stiff woollen structures which hold the fabric away from the body and it is with this technique that he manages to make the skirt part drape so stiffly yet smoothly. I liked these pieces because it’s a form of power dressing without feeling like you’re in a time warp back stuck in the 80s, its modern and refreshing, and uses techniques that you don’t see that often on the runway.

Another designer’s works I really liked was Murat Kuscu’s. I have always been very interested in working in contrasting fabrics such as leather and fine chiffon, and this is what Kusco did for his graduate piece. He started experimenting with folded paper of mannequins and then developed his ideas from there. The first piece I saw was a bodice made form robust, patent leather and wool, I could really see how his concept and technique of manipulating paper managed to create this garment, and again it was a very innovative piece which, was a little futuristic looking for me, but I found the concept very interesting. His second piece I really liked, I don’t know why for sure, but the contrast between such a heavy duty material like patent leather and the soft flowing silk chiffon, cut on the bias really worked, the leather shoulders didn’t overpower the silk, which is what I have been dubious about and why I have not tried such contrasting materials, but seeing it there, made me realise that there are ways around it.

Gudrun Kloepsch was the other designer who really stood out to me. I found this work in the technique section of the exhibition. I honestly cannot imagine the amount of time and effort it would have taken to create just these two pieces let alone the entire collection. On display there was a black and a cream dress, they were made from a variety of materials from rope to lace, Lurex to wool and rubber to silk. If I just read the list of materials involved in making the garments I would think that they would be a really heavy, too contrasting and just not really work, but when I saw the garments I was in shock really. Concentrating on traditional dress making and fabric manipulation techniques she created these pieces with ruching, folding, gathering, pleating and entwined them with lace panels creating multi-textural layers which somehow just seemed to soften the appearance despite having some quite heavy and rigid fabrics. I left the exhibition wishing that I could have seen more of this collection as I was really intrigued as too what the rest would be like, would it be too ‘samey’ or would the techniques develop along the way?

Fashion and Textiles Museum: Undercover

In the past when I have been to the Fashion and Textiles Museum, I have not always gone away with a sense of fulfilment. Being quite a small museum, when setting up exhibitions they clearly have to really think about what is going to be displayed and in my opinion they don’t always include enough so I have walked away not feeling that I have learnt anything new or seen something in a different light, however, this time I left feeling inspired.
The exhibition was a celebration of one of the most fundamental things to how women look and feel; underwear. Everything from corsets to push-up bras and girdles to thongs where being displayed around the museum, with enough information to show how shapes and methods have changed over the past century, without overloading you with information. When walking into the museum you come across a wall of cabinets in which are examples of the different garments that were being worn in each decade, from the 1900s ‘S-shape’ with the low mono-bosom, cinched waist and accentuated hips, originally designed as a health corset by Mme. Gaches-Sarraute, to the Calvin Klein sports bra of the 1990s.
Moving round into the main room, there were mannequins’ wearing everything from Marks and Spencer’s to La Perla to Playboy, and then suspended from ceiling were corsets from various eras. What I did notice about the corsets hanging there, was that they really were so stunning with so much care and attention put into them that it makes you question where the boundary is between underwear and outerwear- surely something with that much detail and glamour to, you would want to show off, not cover up. Although some of the pieces would have been made as underwear, with fewer embellishments and cleaner lines that wouldn’t bulk up under a dress or top, some of them looked like they really were made to be worn as outerwear, such as the more extravagant pieces with Swarovsky crystals and plumes of feathers and even the ones with everyday embellishments like buttons and zips. The only problem was unless you have a 14inch waist; you can’t help but feel a little large walking around all of the early 20th century corsets.
Looking at the mannequins, most of the garments didn’t really come into either categories of under or outer wear, but more into the boudoir theme. With stunning colours, fabrics and embellishments these pieces, well, you wouldn’t be able to leave the house in them alone without getting done for indecent exposure (whereas you could probably manage it with some of the corsets). Not only were a lot of them very sheer, or wear peek-a-boo styles, a lot of them had extreme lacing or ruching, which I’m sure if worn under even a vaguely slim fitting top or dress, would just look like you have a severe acne problems on your chest, and underwear is supposed to be flattering, right? So as far as these pieces go, they were clearly designed and made in the theme of the boudoir, to be worn on their own. But they really were beautiful and original and despite the plunging and cut away styles and barely there fabrics all of the pieces were very feminine without being crass or too raunchy. The only issue I had with the mannequins was that they were a very harsh colour of white, which I found to brash against the more neutral, earthy tones of some of the garments, but other than that I thought the display downstairs was really well done as you could see the whole way round each piece, and when you went up the stairs you were able to see some of the pieces more closely and really see the craftsmanship that went into making such delicate pieces.
Upstairs was different again; there was a seating area where you were able to watch various TV adverts for underwear. They again were really interesting to see how things shapes have changed over the eras; some were quite painful to watch due to the dubbing over the top, some had very little (of what I could see) to do with underwear and some were just excuses for beautiful women to prance around in next to nothing, but some were quite fun and had genuine sales intentions. Upstairs as well there was an original sizing chart and examples of how all the different pieces of a bra are put together.
I left the exhibition feeling like I had a better understanding about underwear, from colour choices and how they can affect your mood, to the technical processes and how women’s position in power have influenced the shape of underwear over the past century, I thought it was a really good exhibition, quite light-hearted and whether you like underwear which is frilly and girly or highly structured or a little more playboy, I’m pretty sure it’s an exhibition that everyone would love.

So I love everything pink...

This summer I went to Florida to stay with a friend, I went to Universal Studios as my one touristy thing (I'm not a huge fan of stereotypical tourism) but loved the surreal feel of the place, typical 1950s diners and old cars scattered around New York streets, and, well, I bum this car... I also went to Old Town (another surreal step-back into the 1950s) on the Harley Bike Night, and in amongst all the hardcore, three wheeled bikes and hairy, burley bikers, I came across this gem, I tried to find the owner of the bike, but unfortunately had no luck... But I want one.

Reflective Writing

For one of the holiday projects we were given was to research and learn about reflective writing. We were given a website on which were 9 interviews with students and university lecturers and tutors about writing reflectively.
Although I found the videos helpful, after the fourth person of saying nearly exactly the same thing as the one before, it got a little tedious, but all of the interviewees had good pointers for writing. The main factor in reflective writing is to be honest, there’s no point in jazzing things up, the point in it is to be helpful for you when you look back on it and see how you could improve certain aspects of various projects. It is also supposedly a good way of learning about yourself. As Catherine Smith, senior lecturer at LCC, said, once you see something written down or say something out load, you are more likely to see it in a different light when you go back and read it, which I could connect to. If you have a problem with a something, for example have an argument with a friend, once you go away and try and work out what happened, you are most likely going to realise that in the heat of the moment you see things with blinkers on and you need to step back from the moment to re organise your thoughts and come to a conclusion, I can see how that can be translated into work. When you get given a brief, you don’t necessarily understand right away, so go away think about it, and write down what you don’t understand and what you think it means, generally you probably had the right idea, but were so overwhelmed with the amount of information given to you that you just couldn’t see it clearly.
The videos all said that you need to keep a pen and paper with you at all times for any thoughts or inspirations you have or see during your day, which I already do, or at least I do with inspirations. A few words and quick doodles every now and again to remind me of things when I get home and can put into practice at a later date, but I know I really should be doing it a lot more. Unfortunately short term memory isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, or at least it isn’t with me, give me 5 minutes or put something shiny in front of me and I can wave goodbye to any thoughts I might just have had. So if there is one thing that I am going to try and do from now on is make notes.
The other main thing that the interviewees had to say, in particular Darren Raven another lecturer from LCC, was that when writing reflectively is it’s all about the asking yourself the 6 fundamental questions, ‘what, why, when, how, where and who’. Those questions can be applied to every aspect, of what you’re writing about. Feelings, quality of what you’re doing, new skills and learning so that you have written down the experience and won’t forget it. Don’t leave it to the last minute, which I know I’m useless at, if you document everything constantly then you can reorganise thoughts and problem solve which will help with time management skills, which I know I need, and in the end give you a more positive feeling about what you’re doing as you can keep on top of it. What I personally feel I should really work on is taking notes constantly, every lesson or lecture I have I need to be writing down how I personally did something or thought about a particular object, seeing as this in the end is for me, no one else. It is also, I have found a good way of improving things for next time, similar to a SWOT analysis, write down what needs to be done, what you have done, and how you can improve it. What went well and what didn’t so it’ll save time next time you’re about to do something that didn’t work last time, find another way around it. That way it’s the best of learning about yourself, what you like and why and how you learn best, visual, audio of by doing something.
Although they were immensely repetitive the videos really were helpful, when you hear something enough times you start believe it must be true, and that’s kind of what I’m thinking about this. Out of all the interviewees I found Catherine Smith the most helpful, although she said similar things to the other interviewees, she said it in a different way which for some reason I could understand and relate to more than some of the others. And writing this out, it is clear to me that there are certain aspects that I need to progress, improve or even start doing when it comes to work, organisation and time management being the key things, so according to the videos this is the best way of doing that, I just actually need to put it into practice now...

To view the videos click HERE