Pretty Ugly

Now is the time to embrace all the elements of unexpected fashion all at once. Take oversized knits, androgynous trousers, platformed brogues and the pattern of your choice and wear it all together. With a pair of dungarees if you like... 'Too wrong it's right' clothing is not only seasonally practical, it gives the perfect excuse to hold on to the summer skirts a little longer.

Simone Rocha AW 12

Naturalistic

This Autumn, all inspiration for texture, colour and shape has been plucked straight from nature. Flaky petals and voluptuous feathers have stemmed in addition to the regular sightings of animalistic fur at this time of year. Contrast is key when wearing these pieces so the rest is kept smooth and sleek to really enhance the furry feels.

Chanel AW 12 campaign

The Hunting Gent

Open fields, tweed and a man's best friend are all that is needed to complete this seasons look for men. closer to The Gentry that ever before, tailored woolen blazers, quilted coats and a combination of chinos and cords complete this look without forgetting the burnt orange hues and earthy browns. Look the part before taking up hunting for game in the British countryside.

Ted Baker AW 2012

Monochromatic

Bold and never boring bi-colour prints are back in groups this time. 'Houndstooth is still thriving after its appearance at Dior while all other prints are being combined to form one optical maze. The pattern is less defined, however, and a softer, more relaxed approach is taken to its application making it appear less computer generated and more hand printed.

Electronic Sheep

Irish designers: Brenda Aherne and Helen Delany

Based in Dublin and London

Giddy Up! (Childrenswear)

Childrenswear this season keeps the fun in equestrianism with playful flashes of pink, quilted coats for girls and navy for boys. Patterned knits and cosy capes accompany this look as first seen at Tommy Hilfiger this autumn.

Tommy Hilfiger AW Campaign 

Gothic Romance

This years take on all things dark and Gothic sees intimidating leather and sharp cuts take on a softer appearance with a romantic feel. Floor length dresses and flowing garments replace the stiff, bondage look of last season's Goth while embellishment combined with metallic enhanced lace and subtly introduced beads and sequences make this seasons leading look enticingly delicate.

Trend Research Project

During this project I was asked to research 6 current Trends including 1 Mens Wear and 1 Childrenswear. The 6 I chose are: Gothic Romance
                      Naturalistic
                      Pretty Ugly
                      Monochromatic
                      The Country Gent (Male)
                      Giddy Up! (Children)

Finished piece

I folded the piece and stitched up one side to create volume and heights, I sewed in poppers on the other and at the front to allow the garment to be fitted over the models head.

Making my piece

I started by cutting my piece from wadding after first, using paper, creating the right shape on a mannequin.

I then top stitched my pattern onto my fabric and joined the pieces so that it essentially became like a cushion cover!

Chosen shape

I chose to use this shape for my final piece as I was able to imagine an interesting neck piece by only using the right section. The angle allowed my piece to be asymmetrical but with a definite form. My sewing ability meant that natural creases and gathering occurred which gives the piece volume and a 3D appearance.

Mannequin

To get my shapes I used the jigsaw pieces themselves on the mannequin. By bending and contorting them I was able to make interesting silhouettes while still keeping the jigsaw form.

Rope piece

I focused on capturing the curving lines of the plaited rope for these drawings. I pulled and twisted the plaits to make new images to work with.

'Join the dots'

Once I had experimented with many sections of these lines I pinned each image to my wall. I then noticed that when staggered they created a new pattern that , to me, is much more interesting!

Line Drawing: Graphic Piece

I started by looking at the 'join the dots piece' as linear patterns have always caught my eye. Using a paper viewfinder I isolated sections and worked with these individual images first.

3D Sculpture

For my 3D piece I was asked to use any materials to create a sculpture in reference to my mood board. As I was looking closely at physical connections such as hands interlocking and lips touching as shown in the picture above, I represented this with 4 jigsaw pieces. I wanted the pieces to be soft and flexible so I cut the shapes from wadding and covered each with fabric like cushion covers. I would have liked to move away from material while I had the chance but by doing this I can now experiment with using the actual pieces themselves on the body.


I then took aspects from my mood board to link in the different representations of connection.

Piece one: White leatherette with black top stitching in a 'join the dots' graphic pattern
Piece two: White leatherette and plaited rope to represent entwining and connecting
Piece three and four: I kept these plain so that the emphasis is on the connection of the protruding shapes themselves and not the pattern.

Connect: Mood Board

This is my favourite board mainly because of the many directions it can go. I started by looking at people connecting and how that can be represented through imagery. Jigsaws, entwining rope and chains all suggest connection. From this I made my 2 swatches. The strips are representative of hands interlocking and the jigsaw pieces represent the ways in which things can be linked. 

Smoke: Mood Board

For this board I wanted to keep to the idea of stifling smoke rather than deal with the idea of burning. I used images a vast amounts of smoke and created this swatch to represent that.

contrast: Mood board

I decided to look at a physical clash and represent this with obviously clashing, opposing colours Red and Blue. 

For this swatch I wanted to represent a punch in a slightly comic fashion as that's the feeling I got from these colours and images!

A Sense of Yourself

For this project I began by looking at the 5 senses. I then made mind maps of associated words for example Touch: Soft, Rough, Sharp.
From all these words I then chose 5 and then narrowed this down to 3 words.
I ended up with Contrast, Connect and Smoke.
I then thought of 2 actions associated with each word.
Contrast: Clashing
               Opposing
Connect: Linking
               Entwining
Smoke:   Stifling
              Swirling

My mood boards were then based around each of these words.

Knotting

Knotting in fabric is used for both functional and decorative purposes. It's functions allow material to be joined or secured. As a decoration it can creat interesting patterns depending on placement.

Layering

Layering in fashion terms simply means to layer multiple items of clothing to create a completely new style. It works best when different pattern, texture and colours are used for definition purposes. In terms of practicality, this trend is seen more often in Autumn and Winter collections.

Missoni 09

Mulitple layers are shown here transforming the garments entirely. Imagine these shorts without the trousers underneath and a totally different ensemble is seen. Layering becomes quite popular as it's a great way of  perhaps using summer clothes a little longer.

Boning

Boning is most commonly used in corsets today and in older dresses. it is designed to stop the fabric wrinkling because it is pulled so tight to the body. In the 16th and 17th century, boning was used to force the body to conform to the desired cone shape with the use of wood even being used. Nowadays it is considerably more relaxed but keeps the same idea.

Lolita Troubadour

I found this image on a website but as a modern day example of a use of boning we can see the vertical lines create the cone shape at the waste.

This particular corset is exhibited in the V&A museum of fashion in London. It is defined as "The shape of the 18th and 19th century fashion". The lines and therefor shape have been created using the boning technique

Darts

Darts are folds while are sewn into the fabric. They allow the garment to be more 3D and are essential in giving figure enhancing properties to garments. They are commonly used in womens blouses with two types being used:

Vertical Darts: These are sewn from the bottom to the bust to pull the garment in and towards the waste.
Bust Darts: These are triangular shaped folds which are sewn just under the bust so the material does not hang below.

French Dart at an angle.

                                                                 H Dart below the bust.

Arms Eye Darts: These are similar to buzz darts but are positioned lower down on the garment and are sewn at less of an angle

Centre Front Darts: These change the grain and shape of the centre front of the garment as a new seem must be cut in the middle. It allows the fabric around the torso to be pinched tighter to the body.

H Darts: H Darts are linear darts often used above and below the bust line to tighten the garment in places and allow for room in others. The same idea can be applied to other parts of the body.

French Darts: These too are bust darts which start from the side seem and angle up towards the bust. The dart goes against the grain of the fabric which is why extra care and reinforcement is needed to that it does not lose its shape.

Irregular Darts: Irregular darts can be placed in any part of the garment at many different angles to change it's shape.

Princess Seam: These are curved seems used in blouses and dresses which allow the garment to adhere to the body over the bust or hips. They usually start at the underarms and run as far as below the waste depending on the garment.

Armani 

Here, flowing material covers the princess seams but we can see how the jacket fits the body creating a more curved garment necessary in womens clothes.

Cording

Cording is a technique used to created raised ridges placed on the surface of a piece of fabric. These ridges are made by twining thin pieces of fabric around eachother to make something similar to a rope. It allows for a new texture as well as pattern to be formed. it is often used on seams to add strength and a more decorative finish.

http://www.coletterie.com/inspiration/vintage-details-a-corded-neckline

This particular example on the neckline has a very vintage feel. The designer is unknown but it is a prime example of cording being used in a decorative way.

Tucking

A tuck is a fold in a piece of material used to shorted a length of material or simply as decoration. When these tucks are very thin then are called pintucks.In the later part of the 19th century, tucks we're very popular in blouses, lingerie and men's suits.

Paul Smith SS 12

This tailored shirt by Paul Smith in his SS collection shows a perfect example of  a tuck on the cuff of the sleeve. The fabric is folded back on it's self for both the purpose of shortening it's length and for visual purposes as it adds to the tailored look making it look more finished. For this reason, tucks are often found along the hem of garments.

Gore

A gore is a piece of material which is designed to add gradual body to a garment. They are usually triangular shaped panels sewn together to allow the piece to expand.

http://www.google.ie/imgres?um=1&hl=en&biw=1024&bih=431&tbm=isch&tbnid=dCWiFsM4Megl4M:&imgrefurl=http://wkdesigner.wordpress.com/2007/09/29/gored-skirt/&docid=A6xFa1C8m8mMsM&imgurl=http://wkdesigner.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/gore-skirt.jpg%253Fw%253D510&w=320&h=480&ei=8TOKT690zYqFB_WHvb0J&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=82&vpy=45&dur=3088&hovh=275&hovw=183&tx=100&ty=224&sig=108302672573427264922&page=1&tbnh=110&tbnw=67&start=0&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:62

I took this example from the website above and unfortunately cannot find the designer. It is, however, a perfect example of a gore being used to expand a skirt and create shape.

With this idea in mind, other adaptations could be experimented with to create all kinds of silhouettes.

Godet

A godet is often used in skirts and dresses with a similar purpose to that of a gusset. It creates extra space at the bottom of garments so walking is possible!

Godets are the triangular pieces seen here.

Love Thakoon SS11

This short skirt contains many godets to create shape and volume as well as movement. While underlayers do help to keep the fabric in place, godets alone can create a fanned out effect.

Gusset

A gusset is a triangular shaped piece of fabric which is inserted into tight fitting clothing to create more room in the garment. It is often found in the underarms, shoulders, and in the crotch seam of tights.

Sleeve Gusset

Gathering

Gathering can often be found at the top of garments like skirts, shorts and trousers. It lets the material take an expanding shape which is why it is often found around the hips. A horizontal line is sewn with thread and then pulled and secured to hold the new shape. This once time consuming technique can be achieved by using a zigzag stitch on a sewing machine where both the top and under stitching threads are pulled.

Derek Lam 2009

Here is an example of a gathered skirt at the waste. Although emphasised by the belt, the skirt expands from the waste before falling, creating shape and volume

Pleating

Pleating involves folding a piece of material back on itself and making it stay in place. Naturally, many variations of this technique can be found.

Knife Pleats Most commonly found at the top of skirts. They create a flat line for gathering purposes rather than fanning the material out .They have a 3:1 ratio

Box Pleats. This type of pleat requires 2 top folds and 2 under folds to create the 'box'. It creates more volume in a garment and is used to create a triangular shape to a skirt.

Dior

Inverted Pleats. Inverted pleats contain two fold lines and one positioning line. The other folds face eachother and the inside folds face away.

Lanvin SS 11

Partial Pleats. These pleats can be recognised as a pleat that opens below the surface of the fabric and the underfold sections are let free. 

Projecting Pleats: Projecting pleats are folded material which stand out from the surface. They are mostly used to create pattern, volume and texture rather than to create shape.

Accordion Pleats. These even but tightly spaced, small scale pleats are designed to create expansion in a garment with movement. They work best on lengthier pieces so that that full effect can be seen.

Wrinkled Pleats: Wrinkle pleating is created by bunching up damp fabric and leaving to dry. Wrinkled pleats can take of many forms as the fabric can be allowed to dry around shaped objects. A cylindrical broomstick for example can be used to create a rounded pleat, or sometimes the material is wrapped around a rope and coiled to create other types of pleat.