Context - 'Costume'

Moschino, menswear SS/16

In my investigation of the 'Dandy' and ideas surrounding masculinity, materiality and the British gentry I found it quite amusing that the recent Moschino menswear collection pulls on similar references. The collection is spritely cross over of King Louis XIV and a retro Tour de France. This retelling of Versaille court attire merging lycra print, coloured fur, ruffles and ornate embroidery makes the Moschino man look like he just stepped out of the set of Fellini's Casanova. This is a very similar feel I have been exploring and could see my work alongside the Moschino aesthetic this season. This collection challenges preconceptions of 'masculine' clothing; is there a need for gender differentiation at fashion weeks anymore? After all 300 years ago dandy's displayed such pomp and extravagance that blurred the lines of gender materiality. 

Yinka Shonibare MBE, Last Supper (After Leonardo), 2013, life-size fibreglass mannequins including a hybrid figure with fur legs and hooves, Dutch wax printed cotton textile, reproduction wooden table and chairs, silver cutlery and vases, antique and reproduction glassware and tableware, fibreglass and resin, 158 x 742 x 260cm

Gallantry and Criminal Conversation (Parasol), Shonibare

I have also been looking at the  work of Yinka Shonibare, a Nigerian-British artist and self-dub 'post-colonial hybrid'. Utilising costume as a medium for exploring the relationship of race and class he re-appropriates colonial narratives and questions preconceptions of constructed collective-identities. Using the traditional Dutch-wax fabrics of Nigeria (introduced by Western colonialism of Indonesia and Nigeria) he produces costumes associated with the British colonial landed gentry, opening up a possibility for alternate narratives. The idea of costume or clothing geared towards a gallery context whilst still existing as a wearable garment interests me and the future of my practice.   

Development - Rochdale

With the addition of the quilting machine this year I have begun to play with the possibilities of the large scale. This initial sample is informative in terms of mark making and thread quality, but I definitely need to work on developing my grounds and introducing more vibrancy with the colour of my fabric. 

initial quilting sample, interesting mark making, but lacking in colour

For this unit I have wanted to expand my textiles skill set, and this began in the dye lab. For two years I have been terrified of the dye lab and these past 2 weeks I pushed through my anxieties of messing up and pushed myself to play about dying velvet. I've come to love dying and see it as an integral part of my project development; my loud and brash colour scheme would be impossible to find in fabric, therefore dying has enabled me to reproduce the exact colours I need for this project. 

dying samples, devore velvets and cotton-mix, very pleased with the rich outcome

Dying isn't the only process I've been getting acquainted with; as I missed the print rotation at the beginning of level 5, I have no experience working within the print room. I was determined to reinterpret the velvet pile of the jacket. Using wax paper to block out the screen to create parallel lines and also developing a Baroque inspired motif on a screen i experimented with devore on velvet. As a lot of my velvet was from random cuts in Abahkans, the composition of the fabric was unknown so most of my time in the print room was spent testing the devore on the fabric to unknown effect. Most of the unknown velvets turned out to be some kind of cotton mix as it just burned through the fabric. I find the slash-like effect interesting and fitting with the aged fragility of the jacket but I don't think I will develop this further as its not desired.

cotton-mix velvet devore sample, experimenting with parallel pile

jacket from Platt Hall, velvet pile and rips in fabric, 2015

cotton-mix velvet devore, accidental slash effects, but interested in the fragile nature of the sample

Referencing my work in the previous unit, I revisited my love of the Multi-head machine to play on strengths already developed. For this initial sample I used the same baroque design I drafted for my print. Stitching out I experienced some issues with the design, which were caused by not rescaling properly on the Ethos programme. I need to refresh and expand my comprehension of the programme to ensure minimum issues arise in future designs. I think this comes down to time-management and ensuring I set aside more time for perfecting my Ethos designs. 

initial devore sampling, pleased with the clean outcome of the print and nice contrast with the rich bottle green dye

gold multi-head design on pink/violet velvet with devore print; not pleased with the contrived pedestrian feel of this piece

In the tutorial just past Mark commented on the design feeling contrived and a bit "boring" compared to my usual work. I think I have got so caught up in exploring more techniques and referencing the Baroque influences that I lost my usual element of fun and folly. I plan on revisiting my strengths and concentrating more on translating these influences through my bold style.

Locating: Intentions / Research Part 2

Developing my initial research of the jacket I began to deconstruct and reconstruct narratives for the jacket whilst also exploring motifs, colour and mark making. Through abstraction of the jacket's velvet base and floral design I played with my illustrative style in a way I could translate into stitch. Playful illustration and use of collage to build up the rich texture I loved on the jacket whilst also rewriting the possible life of the jacket. I can already see my graphic work translate well on the multihead, whilst I plan on exploring devore print to rereate the layering effects of my drawings and fragility of the jacket. The element of 'Dandys' is a key interest at this point, as I explore what kind of 'man' could have wore the jacket; the materials and techniques challenge traditional ideas of 'masculinity'.

illustrated narrative sketchbook pages, 2016

abstraction of jacket pocket, 2016

mark making motifs, 2016