Subtraction Cutting

In pairs we practiced the tunnel technique in our Fashion Construction support module. Subtraction cutting is all about estimation and taking a chance as their is no prediction to how your final garment is going to look.



Using a duvet we sewed the sides and bottom, leaving the top unsown. Where you put the tunnel determines exactly how long or short the dress is, If the two circle tunnels are close together you will create more of a maxi dress, the further apart, the shorter the dress.

We used the top of a vest block, drawing around the neck, shoulders arm holes and sides (not the bottom) whilst doing so, making sure shoulders are relatively near each other. We then drew from shoulder to shoulder and subtracted the inside.

We then stitched the shoulders, side seams then circle outside to outside. This is mine and Laura's final garment.

Muse

Rihanna (Robyn Rihanna Fenty) is a Barbadian singer and songwriter who plays by her own rules, especially in terms of fashion. Being one of the world's biggest stars, it's understandable how she has become a modern style icon being dressed by every big name designer you'd care to name. She's often seen in clothes from Gucci to Marc Jacobs, Chanel to Tom Ford and not to forget Balmain and Moschino.

Rihanna's style is ever changing and always jaw dropping, she wipes the floor with whatever she wears but she always stays true to her iconic street style. From tracksuits, sneakers and sporting jerseys, Rihanna is the perfect muse for my project.

More starting points..

After deciding on my previous starting point, I then came to realise that although Bridal and wedding influences in my work would be a very extremely bold and unique way to represent Gender. I also realised that to create a diversity with a Bridal inspired theme, I would need to focus on menswear which is not something that I felt completely comfortable with. 

I looked back on my sketchbook work and previous workshops and remembered how well the Playstation controller illustration worked when I placed it on the dress making stand. I decided to analyse the images in depth and came to the conclusion that upon the dress stand it almost resembled American football armour worn underneath their jerseys.

From here I researched heavily into American football, the armour and sportswear. Using these influences and research I will begin to think about designing and developing previous designs further.

Starting Points and Colour Palette

After my previous lesson creating visual research from feminine and masculine objects, our next task was to choose one object and write 100 words explaining why we chose the item and whether its feminine or masculine, its purpose, the material etc. I chose my mothers wedding stockings, which I believed to be feminine.

'The shape of the object is tubular, with a  straight edge at the top of the stocking. It has a transparent, ivory or cream colour with the material being either polyester or nylon which is common in tights or hosiery. The purpose of a stocking is either to create warmth around the person's leg or simply to look good. In many cases they are worn as they hold some form of sexual appeal. This particular stocking was constructed to be worn for a special occasion, in this case a wedding. I selected this object as it was designed and created for a woman to wear on her wedding day, which is what I would confirm as extremely feminine.'

Taking my object as inspiration, I discussed with my tutor and peers and came to a decision that my colour palette is going to be plain and simple, white. This is due to the Bridal influence from my feminine object, as it is traditional in many countries and cultures for the bride to wear all white.

Collage of my colour palette:



A pinterest board of my colour palette:
https://www.pinterest.com/egmortimer/gender-games-colour-palette/

However, if I was to go towards the textile route for this project I would struggle to create prints using just one colour. I think if I was to focus on textile prints, I would potentially use blue and silver along side the white, also influences from weddings - the blue from 'something blue' phrase and the silver is influence by the six pence which women often wear in their shoes for luck.

Masculine and feminine objects

Our task for our studio module class this week was to use a variety of mediums and techniques to draw from objects that people see as feminine or masculine. In the masculine room there were items from big, bulky workman boots to robots and toy cars.

I used mediums such as masking tape, ink, bleach and gauche to interpret these objects. I really enjoyed the layering of the masking tape combined with the chaotic lines from the biro.

As I enjoyed layering as a technique I went on to experiment with layering with slightly different mediums like crinkled paper and crayon on top of ink. I think both of these are just as affective as the other however I do prefer the biro form the other page as the detail is finer.

In the 'feminine room' there was items from hair dryers, to shoes, to dresses and corsets.  I decided to focus mainly on a few items being a wedding headband, a garter and a stockings, this was because they possessed great detail with lace, beading and embroidery.

From these two pages I used shapes from my work to place upon a dress making mannequin in order to give myself some ideas to create silhouettes and seams for garments.

Exploration of gender

Gender is the state of being male or female. The word itself has been used as a grammatical term since the 14th century using referrals to classes of nouns such as masculine and feminine. Although the words 'gender' and 'sex' both hold the same sense stating being either male or female, they are typically used in slightly different ways as sex usually refers to biological differences between male and female, whilst gender refers to cultural or social ones.

Although typically there is two sexes, categorising males and females into social roles can create problems in society. Globally, many countries are guilty of interpreting biological differences between the sexes to create social expectations that define how or how not to behave.

Gender identity is a persons recognition of their own gender, i.e. male or female - A common division in many societies, however it has become more and more common, or noticed that some individuals do not identify with some or all of the aspects of their gender that are assigned to their biological sex.

Not everyone believes that their gender identity corresponds to the sex that they were born with, which begins the birth of transsexuals, transgenders and intersex individuals, all of which are likely to experience gender dysphoria.

It has become possible to reassign sex surgically in recent decades, meaning a person who experiences gender dysphoria can seek out these forms of medical surgeries, support and help to have their physical sex match their gender.

"What we're seeing now, is a seismic shift in fashion, a widening acceptance of a style with no boundaries, one that reflects the way young people dress." Ken Downing, fashion director of Neiman Marcus

In the 21st century many designers are advancing their collections, aiding for people who experience gender dysphoria or even members of society that don't experience completely but do have desires to wear the occasional item from the other genders wardrobe. A handful of designers have been showing identical pieces aimed at both sexes and are shrugging off the conventional gender labels.

Gender games

So I’ve just started my second year of University and upon this have received our brief for this upcoming semester, the title being Gender Games. And as you can guess, is referring to the newly fashionable unisex fashion wear, or even gender swapping clothing. It is well known that women often shop for menswear and vice versa but in recent studies it has become a hole lot popular over the past year or two. So popular that even Selfridges have closed down the majority of their separated womenswear and menswear floors at their Oxford Street store to redesign and replace with a wide selection of unisex clothes, called ‘Agender’. Designs by well known labels including Comme des Garçons and Gareth Pugh feature in the line up, as well as many others.

So in reference to the above, I want to be able to have a strong line of research and work for my project so I would be extremely grateful for people’s opinions on unisex clothing. Do you agree with it? Should it be looked down upon for someone to wear the opposite gender’s clothes? Or is it about time people became more accepting for unisex labelling, not just in terms of clothing?

If you’d like to discuss this with me or answer - anonymously if you wish, send me a message on tumblr, or email. (The links are below) Thank you.

http://h3y3mily.tumblr.com/ask

or emilygracem@outlook.com