Week 13.. First Buying and Merchandising Lecture

I'm really interested in the whole buying and merchandising part of the fashion industry so I was looking forward to learning about it in these lectures. I enjoyed the introduction to this and found John Maynard easy to listen to, as he's already done it al and explained it easily- he was also clearly passionate about it. I learnt that although its fun and rewarding, its also very tough and one wrong move, choice or decision could be disastrous for you in this career. I find the buying aspect quite exciting and something id like to perhaps work toward as a future career.

Shirt Pattern Cutting and Construstion.. By Ourselves!

In the first or the lesson's we had to work out how to make the shirt pattern by ourselves with just the book and knowledge of what we've learnt so far. I found it quite challenging to remember everything, i think id of been alot slower and confused without talking to some of the girls, so i'm glad they were there! :) We then had to put it all together which was a little stressfull!.. I put the first sleeve on inside out and only realised when I was half way through the other one! So the unpicker came out and i had to do them again. When I was aware of what to do i found it ok, it was just the confusion and panic that makes me go wrong. I was pleased with the finished shirt as it was the first time id done it.. but i think i could defiantly improve if i was going to do it again and with practice..

Skirt and Shorts Construcion

I found making the skirt and shorts.. challenging! We move from step to step quite fast so have to keep up as getting behind i've found is hard. I feel like i'm perhaps getting more used to it now and starting to get the hang of things. I feel I could do them better if i did them again as I have more of an idea what to do now. At the end it's rewarding when you can see your finished garments and what you've made and thats what makes it all worth while :)

Melting Pot Project.. Grecian stylee!

For my Melting Pot Project, i decided to choose Ancient Greek/ Grecian Style to look at. I looked at the history of Greece and what they used to wear and why and how its now been revamped and developed into a modern fashionable style. I really enjoyed finding out about this style as many items are made out of beautiful elegant chiffons and white materials, folded twisted, tied and cut in different interesting ways to make flowing beautiful dresses which i love! I also liked the quirky shorter styles which are more edgy. I liked this project as it inspires me to want to make and design my interpretation and modern inspired version of the Ancient Grecian Style.

PPRD

How much do I already know about fashion?.. I think as there are so many different areas of fashion I obviously don't know everything..im not sure anyone does! Because of the fact it's always changing.. always new styles coming in and new trends there's always new thing to learn. I think i know more about some areas than others and so have to research and learn more about other parts which i shall do.
I think sometimes the clothes we wear can say how we're feeling.. happy or sad dues to colours we pick.. what kind of things we're inerested in.. music.. hobbies.. fashion itself , etc..
I don't think the clothes we wear define us.. whereas it could say alot about us.. on the other hand a tramp may wear rags and dirty old clothes but it won't say who they are personally...what their dreams are or if they are a nice person etc.
I think designers, and individual peoples styles and ideas dictate fashion.
I reckon it starts from the designers ideas, like.. inspired by the street, natural surroundings..etc.. is then produced in clothing/style form and becomes popular and fashionable. Its then passed down, the ideas, to the high street where they can make cheaper versions so more people can afford them.. until a knew trend comes in.. maybe an updated version and the pervious goes out as its not so current anymore..it usually comes back round to be revamped and back in fashion in perhaps a decade or two!

Start of November :)

So last week we went to London which i loved :) Some of the Fabric shops were amazing and had really attractive fabrics id love to be able to use one day. My favourites were the beaded sparkly ones that grabbed my eye and some thin translucent fabrics that had been folded/shaped & sewn to create patterns and rose like shapes.

At end of the week we carried on with construction and finishing the bodice. I like learning the proper way the industry makes clothes.. it helps me feel a step closer to having a career in it :) I was quite happy i got to finish it and pleased with the end result although im worried i overlocked the back a bit too far in and cut too much of the back bits off :S.

(Ohh and the picture of the part of a dress is what i ended up making in the Black and White Sculpture project)