Blog

APEX National Finals

Posted on October 15, 2013October 16, 2013 by meganRose

I am so excited about this weekend, as I am heading to Melbourne to watch the National Finals of the Australian APEX Teenage Fashion Awards. It will held at the Whitehouse Institute of Design where I plan on studying next year. It is an amazing facility, that has held these awards multiple times and is also the venue where Project Runway is held.

I personally did not make it to this stage this year; however I wanted to go and support those who did and get to experience the show from the perspective of a spectator.

Last year’s Nationals were also held at the Whitehouse in Melbourne. The whole experience is completely eye opening to see what everyone has created and what has inspired them. The quality of the work and the ideas produced are truly inspiring to me.

Here are some pictures from last year’s National Finals.

Henry Roth was one of the judges and he watched the whole show via skype.

Myself on the catwalk with my ‘Innocence’ dress

Some others…

Online Presence

Posted on October 11, 2013 by meganRose

Technology has significantly changed our world.

With 82.3% of Australia’s population online as of 2012, and 67% of this group regularly using social media platforms, it amazed me whilst doing my research to find that only 27% of small businesses have a social media presence according to the Yellow Social Media Report, June 2012. Only 15% of this group are connecting with customers or fans via business pages on Facebook.

For businesses, a social media presence builds community, creates an easy way to get your message out instantly, encourages loyalty, and it makes your name rank higher in an online Google search. It costs nothing, but time.

An online presence for businesses is a powerful marketing and communicating tool globally, 24/7. It is cost efficient and almost a requirement to be successful in this modern era.

I wondered how important it is for businesses to have an online presence.

My brother gave a seminar to 150 Business partners and CEOs in Melbourne recently, recommending that they become engaged with potential clients through social media platforms. Current statistics are showing that there is up to a $1 million advantage in earnings to those who are using social media successfully, than those who are not.

Social Media platforms are created by and owned by someone else. Therefore it is very important to have my own website and links back to my website from Facebook and Pinterest.

My Brand…

Posted on October 10, 2013 by meganRose

Branding a business isn’t just about a name; it’s about creating an essence of who you are and promoting that publicly.

In fashion the logo becomes the brand and as I am using my name, Megan Rose, I wanted it to be bold but not overly detailed. I wanted the design to be contemporary and simple, whilst at the same time, not to be over powering.

In the future, if I design menswear, I would need to look at redesigning my label to suit this clientele.

This is the beginning of my ‘Megan Rose’ journey and I am seriously thinking about making this my business and label in the future.

I am interested in attracting a female audience and believe that my label should reflect this.To create my feminine design I did market research to see what other designers have used (shapes, colours, fonts, sizes).

I was enticed to contemporary fonts; clean, black lines; acute angles; but wanted to include a sense of softness hence the pink and the hearts.

The hearts are a 1:1 ratio of width to height, with a bright pink accent.

The font is century gothic, all in capital letters.

The Whitehouse

Posted on October 5, 2013October 11, 2013 by meganRose

Next year I plan on continuing my studies in the world of fashion at the Whitehouse Institute of Design. I have an interview at the Melbourne campus at the end of November with which I hope all goes well and they accept me to complete a Bachelor of Design, majoring in Fashion Design.

The ‘Whitehouse’ is a private art and design college which is notorious as one of the leading Design Institutes in Australia.

The establishment is celebrating it’s 25th anniversary this year after being founded in 1988 by the one and only, Leanne Whitehouse.

The warehouse like display and work area on the first floor of the Melbourne campus is one of the most amazing spaces I have ever entered. When I walked in I could not help but think of all the opportunities that would be offered to me in this space if I was to be accepted.

My Pinterest

Posted on October 5, 2013October 5, 2013 by meganRose

The urban dictionary defines Pinterest as a social networking site that allows you to figuratively ‘pin’ pictures of your likes and interests in a simple organised fashion. It is a pin board style, photo sharing website.

The number of daily users of Pinterest has increased by 145% in the last 18 months. It has generated more referral traffic to websites than YouTube, Google+ and Linked In combined.

Style and fashion is the third most popular category on Pinterest.

My Pinterest Page: http://www.pinterest.com/meganrosesdi/

Inside the booklet of my written work

Posted on October 5, 2013October 5, 2013 by meganRose

The Cover Page

The Contents Page

About My Label

Pattern Making

Part of the Process

My Written Presentation

Posted on October 5, 2013 by meganRose

On the 26th of September I handed in my written component of work for my Student Directed Inquiry.

This was then passed onto each of the judges who will be sitting on my panel in a few weeks time for my oral presentation. This gives them the opportunity to read into what I have completed and researched over the year before my exam.

I wanted to present my written work professionally and carry across my clean white design with the accent of a bright pink.

Thank you to my beautiful mother who helped me with this process as my mentor and to Kelly from Xerox for printing my booklets to my specifications.

The Artist

Posted on July 30, 2013 by meganRose

The Artist is a film that was released in 2011 but is made as an old black and white film. Costume designer for the film, Mark Bridges, had to think about elements of design that he had not had to consider before.

Mark Bridges is an American costume designer, born and raised in Niagara Falls, New York. He received a master’s of fine arts degree in costume design from the Tisch School of the Arts of New York University in 1987.

He has also designed the costumes for the films, Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter and Blow.

As the film is in black and white, Bridges had to think about how each of the costumes would look in this colour tone. He experimented with many different colours and materials to see what shade of grey they would give off.

One of the costumes that he made was an off shade of orange and the colours didn’t necessarily look nice. But when the filming was changed to black and white, the tones were so complementary of each other and it worked.

Bridges won five awards for costume design from this film.

Right in fashion…

Posted on May 26, 2013May 26, 2013 by meganRose

Last night I had my final school ball and what a lovely night it was. There are so many people that I have to thank for helping me get ready and making my night one to remember.

I had my dress for a couple of months prior to the event and when I saw the photos from the 2013 Oscar Awards, I thought about how the pale colour of my dress and the lack of a spray tan was currently right in fashion.

Fit in? I think so!

The Hollywood Costume Exhibition

Posted on May 13, 2013 by meganRose

My sister decided she would give me a surprise on the weekend and took me to the ACMI museum in Federation Square, in Melbourne.

I had not heard about this exhibition at all so it was very exciting to be surprised. I was so keen to get down into the exhibition and start looking around.

The exhibition was about showcasing pieces from all different Hollywood movies. The first piece that you see hanging from the ceiling is Nicole Kidman’s light pink costume from Moulin Rouge. You then go through to rooms and rooms of costumes from other blockbuster movies.

One of my favourite pieces was Roxie Hart’s long black beaded dress from the film Chicago. The detail in it was so impressive and I loved the sleek design.

Keira Knightley’s green dress from the film Atonement was another of my favourite pieces. I found reading about this item was really interesting. The director wanted to portray a sense of vulnerability so the designer used this idea to create a piece that was almost nude like in its structure.

Judy Garland’s Dorothy costume from the 1939 rendition of the Wizard of Oz was also there. The actual dress was the original; however the ruby slippers were recreated as of 2012. This piece was a real ring in for the exhibition and I witnesses lots of little girls admiring the red sparkles on the shoes.

It was really special to see all of these blockbuster costumes and although all I wanted to do was touch them, I still found the whole experience fascinating.