The Cover Page
The Contents Page
About My Label
Pattern Making
Part of the Process
Tag: student directed inquiry
My Written Presentation
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
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.
The Hollywood Costume Exhibition
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.
American Girl Dolls
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.
Sportsgirl National Graduate Showcase.
“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.
The Opening Event: presented by David Jones.
I was lucky enough to get tickets and go to the opening runway event of this year’s L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF).
My beautiful mother and I got all dressed up; doing our hair nicely and I actually put makeup on for the night. We made our way from one pier at the Docklands to another; quite slowly as mum was wearing very fashionable shoes however she wasn’t particularly fast at walking in them.
We were so keen to be a part of this opening night that we even went to the earlier session that we thought we were meant to go to… turns out we did not have tickets for the 7pm show, and in fact they were for the 9:30pm.
We then slowly walked the length of the pier as we made our way to the VIP party. About half way along, who do we run into, but Tiffany Hall, the trainer from Biggest Loser, such a fan and we are totally partying with her tonight! We had a picture with her and she said we looked hot! (Highlight of my life!)
We walked the red carpet and had lots of pictures taken of us whilst we were partying inside. At the VIP party I also met Australian Olympic medal winner in basketball, Elizabeth Cambage and the new face of L’Oreal, Barbara Palvin. At 9pm we made our way from the party to the runway, totally met the Dulux dog on the way and were fully surprised that it was a she and her name is Violet.
This time we were definitely there at the right show and what an event it was. The runway was approximately 50 metres long and illuminated. I loved the whole set up of how everything was arranged although the front two rows could’ve had fewer people as it was quite cramped.
The show started with an animated background at the end of the runway, setting the scene for the catwalk. After the animation the models began coming out. The organisation and precision of the walk was spot on. The music had a strong beat so that the models could all stay in time and even the length of the steps they took were the same so that there was an equal distance between each model.
The collections were overall very good, with the theme that linked them being the material, the pattern or even just the style. The organisation of the show and how smoothly everything ran should certainly be commended, a very inspiring opening runway.
It’s all about the name…
I recently went to the big apple, New York City and I got to walk the streets and see the fashions. Going into high end stores I realised that fashion is all about the name that you are wearing.
In the Vera Wang ready-to-wear store, there was only one dress that I actually liked, though people still want to wear it because it is Vera. With that in mind, her wedding dresses are my absolute favourite; however you are not allowed to go into this store unless you have an appointment booked long in advance.
I also went into the Ralph Lauren store. The layout and feature colours of the store were very effective in creating a nice environment and the clothes were technically very well sewn. It is amazing how some of the items in the store are of very simple designs, just because it has the Ralph Lauren logo and branding on it, what may have been an item under $100; now $500 plus price tag.
With all of this being said, I aspire to be a mid to high range fashion designer one day, and having this opportunity to see some of the stores of the most famous designers known worldwide was so amazing and eye opening. Megan Rose is the name of my branding and I hope that this could one day be a well-known designer name like these. I have had some Megan Rose merchandise made over the past couple of months and this is the premier of the items here.
Below are my silk labels to sew into garments, badges, stickers and of course, business cards.
Introduction…
I am very lucky at Scotch Oakburn College to be offered the opportunity to do an independent study that is TQA assessed and counts towards my final score. For my Student Directed Inquiry I am taking the opportunity to enable myself to delve further into the world of fashion and gain an insight into the business side of the industry. I am using an original topic, ‘that the world wide web offers amazing opportunities for a young designer like me.’
Through this study, I aim to set the foundations of what could one day be my own business and label. I want to teach myself to sew more proficiently and produce a collection of garments that is actually assessed technically and not just on the overall look and impact. I am also going to create a fashion runway to showcase my design and work from over the year in October before my exam.
I have had an interest in fashion since I can remember. My mother used to make me clothes and she is the one who taught me how to sew. In year eight, the school gave us a project with which we had to spend approximately 20 hours producing something that interested us. This was my first real opportunity to experiment with creativity in the form of wearable art. It wasn’t until I was given about 60 peacock feathers that inspiration struck me. Through this process I learnt how to work with unlikely dress materials such as the feathers and putting that together with the bits of fabric.
Through the school, I also found out about the APEX Australian Teenage Fashion Awards. This competition has given me inspiration and an eye opening experience over the past three years which has only extended my love of fashion.
This Student Directed Inquiry is yet another opportunity for me to delve into my passion and create a possibility for my future.