To aid our assignment for fashion as a form design aesthetics our class visited the Nick Knight show studio exhibition .The exhibition was held at The Somerset house museum in London.

The exhibition included:- process, performance, participation and fashion film.

I felt the idea of this exhibition was to involve the audience more with different interactive media, this was achieved with touch screen surfaces, projections, sound effects, animation, and most excitingly a live photo shoot by Nick Knight himself. I really enjoyed being able to watch it happening live and seeing the whole process of how the shoot was put together for example the lighting, camera, positioning, directing. The computer screen showed the photos as they were being taken this was quick and effective. This is an image of a paper dress i really liked the way it used a different medium to create a different texture. As you walked in to the main room this massive 3D model of Naomi Campbell stood. It had a interactive pad which you could write on and this projected on to the model as shown in the image above. I found this a fun experience and i liked the way you could see something u had done in the exhibition.

For this task we were given a product and had to write a business plan for marketing and selling our product. My group was given this octopus back massager. We had to work as a team and answer a serious of questions before standing in front of the class and pitching our business plan questions included were as follows:-

vision/idea

why it works

why/ when is it needed

who makes it

who are the competitors

create a brand for the product

create a brand name for the product

identify the market/ customer

identify the market place for the product

How sustainable is the product

whats its USP

whats its lead time

whats its life span

why should we invest in this product

I found this task really useful as it made us talk and we gained knowledge from each others ideas. It made me think really hard and realise there is a lot more to being able to market and sell products than you think and that you should always have a good detailed plan before setting up a business to make it a success. Standing up in front of the class was a little scary but the more you do it the better you will get.

The tailored skirt back made her bum a good shape. I would have liked to have put a small black cardigan with this dress to cover her arms for her but they didn't have one suitable or i could have put it with a shawl with it.
I really enjoyed this exercise and my mum ended up buying the majority of the clothes shown, even the dress!

My mum hates dresses and never wears them so I was determined to get her into one! I chose this particular dress as unlike others I saw which were baggy, shape less and would drown her it was smart, with a tailored look giving it a good shape. The neck line was a nice and had added jewels detail so no need for a necklace. The belt gave the impression of the nipped in waist and showed curves in the right places. The length was good not showing too much thigh but the slimmer area of the leg and the heels accentuated this. The red top area added colour.

For a slightly more casual look I chose this floral print vest top and teamed it with a pink cardigan to contrast with the green vest, and cover her arms. I left the cardigan undone to show off the vest top, and having the cardigan hanging should make the top half of her body look longer.

This is another similar top to the last in a slightly different shade of blue which also went well with her skin tone. I thought this could go well with a full skirt in an army green colour, but they didn't have one.

I styled the grey trousers with a different top. This time i chose a blue/green V-neck as I wanted to get her into something more colourful, I thought that this colour would go well with her skin tone and her eye colour (blue). My mum doesn't like to show her arms too much as she feels a bit uncomfortable, which is why I have chosen long sleeve tops and then in this particular case pulled the top up to mid arm length. I thought this would give it a hands on look.

I styled mum in smart grey trousers with heals to make her legs look longer. The trousers were a good fit and of a stretched fabric for ease and comfort. My mum has quite small shoulders so I chose this top that had crinkly shoulders that stand out to proportion the body. I thought this top had a really good shape neck line that suited the shape of her face. I added a little scarf for decoration to the neck line. I think the gathering at the bust adds a nice detail.

After styling one of our classmates we had to then style some one we thought needed a re-style. I chose my mum these are pictures I took of the sorts of clothing she would normally wear. Dull colours black trainers not much shape baggy and generally quite boring, sorry mum. I decided to take her to the shop 'next' which tends to sell clothes for stylish slightly older women aged about 25-50.

Styling Charlotte

For this task we were asked to get into groups of 3 and to choose 2 eras to style and photograph. Me and Charlotte chose the 50s and Natalie chose the 80s. We each went home and saw what we could find in our wardrobes that we could try and style into the era. I chose a little white and red dress which was a rounded shape I then put a tutu underneath to give it more volume, I added white socks with brown strap shoes, cardigan, belt, peal necklace, red lipstick and black eyeliner on my top lid like the Dior 50s look . I got the idea for my outfit from the film Grease.

Charlotte's outfit was the idea of the 50s House wife. Well groomed and sophisticated. Though we thought we make her do a funny pose in this picture above.

Natalie styled her outfit with 80s Fame influence

Images I photo shopped for this images I altered the colour and contrast making it slightly brighter than the original. I liked the effect it gave making it more pop arty.

For this image I used hue saturation to making the image bright all over however I thought it made it too bright and the outfit difficult to see.

I changed this image to black and white it worked really well and made the image seem very classic.

In these 3 images I played about changing the colour of Charlotte's cardigan. The picture below I softened the colour and lighting. I really enjoyed changing the images I will use these techniques when i come to do my trend book.

For this exercise we were told to go out to the shops an style each other in different clothes to what we would maybe wear. I took Charlotte to a vintage shop called clobber. I decided to style Charlotte in 50s clothing as i thought that her looks suited this era. I chose colours that were quite distinct with a pattern to add interest. The dresses I styled Charlotte in had quite a full skirt to give this area more shape.

I thought these shoes were really pretty and would go with the colours in the dress Charlotte has long legs and i wanted to emphasize this even more with a heel.

I think this dress was the best one, it showed off her figure better as it was shorter making her legs look longer. I accessorised the dress with a white belt to contrast with the dress colour and show her thin waist. Charlotte has small shoulders so to balance the out fit I left them exposed, and the dress tied around the neck which showed more skin making them appear larger. I could have also put a shawl to cover the middle part of the arms if there had been one in the shop.

I added a hat and bag to make the outfit look more stylish as it if she was going out to ascote.

It was a really fun day and we spent hours in the shop. Charlotte even decided to purchase the blue dress I picked out so the day was a success.

Using a template of a shirt on illustrator I drew around the pieces using the pen tool in red, I then filled in the shapes so that it would be clearer to see when over lapping the shapes. I used the object tool to arrange the pieces in front or behind each other then twisting and shifting the pieces to form the shirt. I enjoyed doing this task and i feel my illustrator skills have improved slightly.

Last wednesday I recreated the reebok pump on illustrator to do this I chose a pump image then using the pen tool drew around the pump I changed the brush size making it larger so that I could see where the line had been drawn I also changed the colour to make it stand out. Then using the paint brush tool I could colour in the different section of the pump. I found this task quite difficult as I hadnt used illustrator in a while and it took me a a lot of time to get the hang of using it again. I will have to practice my illustrator, indesign and photoshop skills as I will have to produce a trend book using these programs. So I will spend time practicing when I can.

People that have inspired me are my parents as they have had a lot of influence on my life, and i think they have both achieved a lot in their lives. they have both experienced different parts of the world by travelling. my dad has written a book and has lived in the Antarctic for three years as part of the Antarctic survey, which he has said have been some of his best memories. They both went to uni and have been successful in the jobs they have had, largely in teaching. They have both always worked hard to try and do the best they can and in the long term it has paid off. To get to where they wanted they had to work hard get experience get qualified, and have a bit of luck and determination. my dad has always been someone who doesn't give up and when the going gets tough he keeps on going. Have goals and aims to achieve, be adventurous and explore, find out new things, your mind is what will keep you going, working as part of a team is important it can give you support and you can learnt a lot from the knowledge of others, don't make life boring challenge yourself, the more you put into something the more your get out of it.

Something i have become better at

I feel that over this past year i have become better at cooking and being more independent. I became better at this as i had to really living away from home and by practicing, trying new things and having the confidence to try something different (be out my comfort zone) and believe in myself that i can. i base this feeling upon me wanting to learn to cook better and to do things for myself and not having to rely on others. When i went home for the summer i wanted to cook for myself and be more helpful around the house. My mum said she noticed i had grow up a lot and i was more independent. i now have a lot more confidence in myself.

i have enjoyed this years work it has had ups and downs but overall its been a good challenge and i feel i have improved a lot with my work in particular pattern cutting and construction as this is something i hadn't done before and i found it quite difficult to start with but hopefully with more practice over the summer i can improve.
my favourite things this year have been the first week when we all went out around Bournemouth it was a good really good fun and it brought us as a class together. My other favourite part of this year was the sports wear project at first i didn't like it and i thought i would be stuck for ideas but after doing some research i found loads of inspiration and i really enjoyed designing and constructing my outfit i was was very pleased with what i had accomplished as it was a big step from the previous work we had been doing.
I have chosen to study design and construction as my pathway for next year. however i am going to have to practice my pattern cutting and construction skills over the summer as i still need to improve on them. To do this i will read over my pattern cutting and construction folders and re-do some of the samples. i may try design and make my own outfit.
So far i have practiced taking up and re hemming three of my dresses i have brought recently. i pinned and re-cut the dresses to the length i wanted using the over locker and then stitched around the hems. This has given me more practice at using the machines and i feel i am able to control them better.

This term we have been doing a sports project. We visited the V & A museum to see the Sport vs Fashion exhibition.

This helped give us inspiration for our project.

We had to pick a sport. I decided to choose tennis and Cheer leading with an eighties feel.

I have made my design and chosen fabrics. I have chosen bright colours to go with the eighties feel. I am going to make it out of stretchy jersey fabrics as these are easier to move in and give it a more sporty look and feel.

My design is contrasted with white to make it brighter and add interest. Not all white as would be expected at Wimbledon.

So far my toile has gone fairly well. I have made a few alterations for example I need to change the fabric for the base as it does not allow enough movement, but I will keep a strip of fabric around the base.

I found this terms work quite difficult. I have learnt that I prefere the design projects and making the theme boards rather than the pattern cutting and construction, which I find more difficult. However, it is nice to see the completed garment from a pattern.

Images of my basic bodice. Paired with the skirt or shorts.

These pictures show the front, back and side of the shirt I made.

Front and back view of skirt I made.

Side view of shorts.

Front and back view of the shorts I made.

This is the front view of my basic bodice.

Back and side of the basic bodice that I made.

We did research on the shakers. Their philosophy is necessary, useful and beautiful. We had to decide on our own philosophy, I chose art to hang on the body, not on the walls. For this project I looked at paintings that had inspired clothes for example the Mondrian painting and dresses, Klimt's work that has inspired many patterns. I tried to put this and work inspired by Givenchy into my designs. I looked at how clothes can look quite sculptural.

Me using the dressmakers model to make a pattern for the basic bodice. I found it quite tricky doing the measurements and making sure it fitted correctly. I found the tape quite difficult to use making sure it was exactly straight round the waist and the positioning of the tape round the shoulder. However I found it was a good exercise and I enjoyed using the dressmakers models.