I feel like I am home… back into the swing of things very quickly!!! Today was the first day back of the year and the first day of second year fashion design.
Workshop was from 9am to 6pm… I can’t believe how much I have achieved!!! Creating variations of bodice darts was just the start of the day before moving on to drafting and pattern making a dress for our first technical assessment.
I am so glad to be back though… I AM ON TOP OF THE WORLD!
I was lucky enough to be contacted the other day by the Southern Cross Tasmanian Young Achiever’s Award team to be informed that not only had I been nominated for the Arts and Fashion Award and I am a semi-finalist!!! How exciting!!!
I can’t wait to see what the rest of the process holds, but even if I go no further… I am just so honoured and proud!
Thank you to everyone who has been supporting me along the way, I hope you all stay with me on my learning journey.
The likes of rapper Macklemore and designer Jeremy Scott, push the boundaries of creativity and acceptance. Both artists use wings in their own way, intricate design and metaphorically. An organism with wings is one of fragile existence…
…you wouldn’t hurt a butterfly.
My design is influenced by this concept of wings. Macklemore and Jeremy Scott have inspired me to create a body with freedom and individuality expressed through the wings seen in my design. Incorporating a mix of masculine and feminine components, i have also created a blur in the lines of gender. My ‘wings’ gives the wearer the freedom whilst also protecting their fragile nature.
Model: Kearna Philpott
Year 1, Semester 2 at the Whitehouse Institute of Design… Our brief for this semester was to design and make a full body outfit of two – three garments and channelling a Spring/Summer aesthetic.
At Whitehouse, the design process is truly treated like it would be in INDUSTRY.
After many sketches and alterations… the images pictured below show my final design. I had to propose variations to my teacher before these final illustrations (both technical and styled) could be submitted to the Head of Design for signing off. After the design was approved I then had to begin making toiles of my each of the pieces.
At the end of the semester, I had to present my body, fully styled, to a panel of judges. This involved organising a model, hair, make-up, shoes and accessories to complement my design. Thank you to Kearna Philpott for modelling and Victoria University students for the hair and make-up.
A toile is a practice calico (cheap fabric) version of the garment you are making to see if it will actually work. It is essential in the design process as it is a true representation of what the final piece of clothing will look like. At the Whitehouse we have to pattern make and sew everything ourselves, so this process is a great learning curve. Once a toile has been made we then have ‘toile checks’ with our teachers. Often changes are made during this time and another toile will have to be drafted up. This process is repeated until the final design is perfect and then you can move on to creating your clothing in the actual fabrics!
These images represent the final toile of my zippered skirt and then the final product!
If you want to see my design process and inspiration for this skirt go to the blog: http://meganrose.com.au/decrypt-skirt/
Me rocking a full calico outfit! This is a friend’s three piece
collection in the toiling process – Ebony Fraser
Year 1, Semester 1 at the Whitehouse Institute of Design… Our brief for this semester was to design and make a skirt using 100% cotton fabrics and channeling a Fall/Winter aesthetic.
At Whitehouse, the design process is truly treated like it would be in INDUSTRY.
After many sketches and alterations… the images pictured to the right show my final design. I had to propose variations to my teacher before these final illustrations (both technical and styled) could be submitted to the Head of Design for signing off.
After the design was approved I then had to begin making toiles* of my skirt… My workshop and design teachers were unsure of the success of making my skirt as it was both reversible and incorporated one continuous zipper wrapping around the skirt and curves. The zipper that I required was so long that I had to get it custom made.
*practice calico version of garment to see if it will actually work
My final skirt was a success with the zipper comfortably sliding around the curves and I was very happy with the end result. However, if I was to make the skirt again, I would shorten the zipper length by 1-2cm and stretch onto the fabric so that it sat completely flat when on the body.
Designer, Alexander Wang targets an aesthetic that I believe is perfect for what I was aiming for with this skirt and styling, with his ‘MODEL OFF DUTY’ motto. My garment encapsulates the essence of the up and coming urban grunge trend. The main fabric is a combination of a bold orange colour juxtaposing against the strong black which encourages one to achieve the edgy street wear grunge look. My complete styled body captures the urban style of pairing higher end garments with lower end items to create trendy distinctive and unique looks.
Trend Inspiration (as featured in portfolio)
At the end of the semester, I had to present my skirt, fully styled, to a panel of judges. This involved organising a model, hair, make-up, other clothing, shoes and accessories to complement my design. Thank you to Miranda Fish for modeling and Victoria University students for the hair and make-up.
After my panel I then did a mini/semi-professional photo shoot with my model in an alleyway to complement the urban grunge aesthetic I had created with my skirt and styling.
Photos by Megan Rose
Model: Miranda Fish
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/
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.
Whilst in Los Angeles with my mum and dad we explored the Grove shopping centre next to the Farmer’s market. It was here that we found the American Girl Store. I had seen the dolls from this store in an episode of Modern Family so it enticed me to go in. The whole environment of the store was pretty incredible. If I had come here when I was little I am sure that I would have done my best to convince mum and dad to get a doll for me and asked for matching clothes.
“At American Girl, we celebrate girls and all that they can be. That’s why we develop products and experiences that help girls to grow up in a wholesome way, while encouraging them to enjoy girlhood through fun and enchanting play.”
There is a hospital when you walk in the door so you can admit your doll if it is ‘sick’ or ‘injured.’ They fix the parts and treat the dolls as they need to before the dolls are discharged in good health.
There is also a salon where both the dolls and the little girls can have their hair done to match each other and the little girls can purchase matching clothes.
There is a cafe as well where you can have morning or afternoon tea and your doll gets her very own highchair.
There are two floors in this store and a large variety of dolls that can be purchased. They range from cheerleading themed to lacrosse, to the doll with the head gear braces, all with different skin and hair colours.
The large range of clothes is amazing! So many different pieces and themes and the sizes range to clothes for 12 year old girls.
Going to this store was definitely an eye opening experience of children’s dolls and accessories and just how one idea can become a craze.
“The Sportsgirl National Graduate Showcase presents 12 fashion graduates in a celebration of emerging Australian design talent. Handpicked from renowned design institutions and universities across the country, these gifted graduates have the chance to present their original collections in this prestigious annual showcase.”
Introducing:
RMIT University
Bernadette Francis
Cesar Chehade
Jack Hancock
Kara Liu
Natasha Fagg
Nixi Killick
University of Technology Sydney
Courtney Holm
Karen Yang
Kathleen Choo
Queensland University of Technology
Hayley Elsaesser
Koren Wheatley
Monique White
This is what I aspire to do in the future. Getting to display your creative work in front of this huge audience is such an honour for a young designer who is still at university.
The collections that were displayed were so inspiring to me, I really loved the level of creativity that was shown throughout the runway. We were sitting on the opposite side of the runway to the student designers which was awesome because we could see their reactions to their own pieces and how they congratulated each other after each collection was shown.
This was my favourite runway out of all the shows we went to as they are students who do not yet need to make money off of what they make.
The first one we went to was presented by David Jones and was therefore the products that the actually sell in the store. This means that the pieces were all wearable everyday pieces. Some of them I would not wear but overall they were all wearable clothes.
One of the girl’s collections was inspired by origami shapes, using material rather than paper. The intricate shapes and overall design was absolutely amazing! This was my favourite collection in the whole week. Kathleen Choo, thank you for sharing your work.
