Mad Hatter: My Second Hat

Head piece and feathers.

For my second hat I chose to make a head piece. I bought a head piece, 2 ostrich feathers, black veiling, red swarovski crystals, black textured fabric, red dye, and a headband. First I sewed the fabric on to the head piece, one piece at a time following the curves of the piece. Then I dyed my feathers red, steamed & curled them, and finally sewed them onto the side of the head piece. 

Added the crystals.

Outside of class I glued the crystals on to the veiling. I did about half a meter of veiling with crystals. Then I needed to put holes into the head band and sew the head piece on to the headband. After that I bound one side of the veiling- I had decided to lay a piece without crystals over top of the piece with crystals- using thread and glue. Then I attached it to the inside of the head piece where the feathers were (on the outside). Next I needed my professor's help to figure out the right lay and pin the other side as well as the top of the veiling. Then I tack stitched where the pins were and I was done. 

Sewing on the textured fabric.

Inside view.

Final look.

It all seems so easy from the amount of steps, but it took a lot of hard work and effort. I'm pleased with the results, it's not quite what I had in mind originally but I still like it.
They will both most likely be in my collection next year, or even just at my senior table in the art gallery. We shall see when I figure out my designs for the runway! I definitely want to continue to make hats though, I think it's a lot of fun, albeit expensive, but fun!

Final 2 Hats.

Side view of top hat with head piece.

Corsetry Progress 3

Lacing up the back.

Yesterday I had my last class for corsetry and I had finished my corset over the weekend (while I was in Bath). All I had to do during class was lace it up, try it on, and get photographed. I also had to present my sketch book, which i can post about another day because it is basically a full book of research, sketches, photos, and samples. Probably a little too much for this post.

The finished corset!

After my first fitting I only had to finish the two side seams, sew the boning, and finish the top and bottom of my corset. I chose to hand sew my top and bottom so that I could finish my corset while on my mini vacation to Bath over this past weekend. Since I only had enough tape for the top from what I had used on my seams, I needed to dye more white tape, which I did using English Breakfast Tea. I also redyed my laces so that the two would match. My top and bottom taping aren't the same color, but the laces match the bottom and my seams on the inside match the top. 

The fit from the front.

I didn't get a chance to do any embroidery, but I have the materials to work on some samples when I get some free time. My corset fits really well, it laces up almost entirely in the back- which means I will most likely take it in so that if I ever chose to I could work on lacing it and take in my waist up to 2". After my first fitting my professor told me to take it in but then during the next class told me to let it out instead, which I did. So now I have a not super tight corset, but I'm happy with the results! No complaints here, I'm ready to take what I've learned and apply it to another corset. 



I'd like to make another basic one, but work with different fabrics. After that I'm going to move into more challenging tasks such as lining a corset or making one of my personal designs that look difficult and involve a lot of structure. All I can say for now is that there will most definitely be a corset of some sort in my senior collection next spring!

Dior Film Coming Soon

Ever wonder what it’s like behind the scenes as a fashion designer’s collection is coming together? Well now is your chance to witness the world inside of Dior and the first ever collection of Raf Simons after he was made the new artistic director at Dior.

Simons had just 8 weeks to put together a collection that would wow the fashion world and Frederic Tcheng manages to capture every moment in his film, Dior & I. The film is the perfect combination of the present, everyday hard work of those at Dior, the stress in the fashion industry with glimpses into the brand’s past.

In the film you will see how the collection is put together from scratch, what goes into making it perfect for the catwalk, and also those that are usually overlooked in the fashion world- the seamstresses who make the garments.

Check out the trailer for the film Dior & I by clicking the title.

Gender Bending and Androgynous Dress

For my Theoretical and Contemporary Fashion Studies class I am doing my final paper on Gender Bending and Androgynous Dress on the cover of magazines being a good movement for the fashion industry. I spent many hours researching the topic and in the end I had about 14 books that I had notes from and could potentially use for my paper. We needed at least 10 quotes, 5 direct and 5 indirect, as well as a minimum of 5 sources, 3 coming from the list of recommended books. In the end I had 8 resources and 13 quotes. 
I've decided to include the introduction of my paper to just give a little taste of what my paper was about.

Check it out below:

Fashion, Gender, and the Body: Gender Bending and Androgyny on the cover of Magazines is a Positive Move

By Brianna Malotke

In The Face of Fashion, Jennifer Clark states that “the model constitutes the technical body of western consumer culture” (Craik, 1994). With this in mind magazines across the world should be more conscious of their model choices and the impact that those choices have on the consumers and viewers of their magazines. Diversification, through the use of gender bending and androgynous dress on the cover of magazines, is a good movement for the fashion industry. It will elaborate on the diversity in the world and allow magazines to expand the reach of their target markets by redeveloping their main demographics. In fashion there is a tension between the desire to fit in and stand out that can be further explained by Joanne Entwistle in The Fashioned Body. Entwistle writes that y expressing “the contradictory desires to fit in and stand out: ‘fashion is the imitation of a given example and satisfies the demand for social adaption…at the same time it satisfies in no less degree the need of differentiation, the tendency towards dissimilarity, the desire for constant change and contrast’ (Simmel 1971: 296)” (Entwistle, 2000). With all this in mind it’s important for magazines to take who they put on their covers as a serious issue and use it to their advantage. 

Paris Days 3 & 4

Hall of Mirrors.

On Sunday we spent our day at Versailles. It took a few hours to make it all the way through the palace, especially with the audio guide. There were so many things to look at all around the building: elaborately painted ceilings, velvet walls, printed wallpaper and fabrics, vases and sculptures all around, and even paintings lining the walls. It was beautiful and even though I've been there before I took tons of photographs. We went out to the gardens and ate lunch at a little cafe off the path. Then we headed over to Marie-Antoinette's area but it was closed by the time we got there so we couldn't look around.

Fondue.

After Versailles we took the train back into Paris but it took a long time so by the time we got off we were starving. We decided to go see Notre Dame and take pictures and then grab something to eat in the Latin Quarter while we were over there anyways. We found a tiny fondue restaurant and ate dinner there before going across the street for crepes. I had a three cheese fondue with meat, potatoes, and bread. Across the street I had a crepe with strawberry and banana gelato inside with dark chocolate drizzled across it. By the time we got back to the room it was pretty late so we called it a night.



Trying Macaroons.

Sacre-Coeur.

On Monday we started off the day at the Musee de l'orangerie. We got to see the water lilies by Claude Monet as well as the Jean Walter & Paul Guillaume collection. After the museum we headed off for a small cheese tasting filled by getting macaroons! Then off to see the Palais Royal and ending up at the Moulin Rouge, just to take pictures of course, though I do want to see a show there at some point. We walked up to see the Sacre-Coeur church and get one of the best views of Paris. While we were up there we went in to the Dali museum and got to see some of his famous works of art such as Mae West's red lips couch. To finish our evening we went up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. It was fantastic! Definitely one of the better views of the city, especially at night when everything is lit up. It was a wonderful way to end our evening and our last night in the city.

Paris Days 1 & 2

Part of my semester at LCF includes a trip to Paris for a few days. I was on trip 1 so I took the train from London to Paris on Friday, February 27th and left Tuesday, March 4th. It wasn't a very long train ride and then we were in Paris!
We took the metro to our hotel, checked in, settled down, and had a little bit of free time. I got lunch at a patisserie on the corner and then walked around the area with my friend Amanda. Our group met up around 1:30/2pm and we headed off to take a boat ride down the Seine river. It was sunny and while not very warm, an amazing time. I took a lot of pictures and was able to get some great shots of the iconic structures and wonderful architecture of the city. After that we went to a makeup store and then had the evening to ourselves. With two friends, our little pea pod trio went off to take pictures of the Opera House and then explore the Galleries Lafayette. I bought my first pair of designer shoes! They're black and white leather oxfords; I can't wait to wear them out and about. Then after shopping we went to a café restaurant near our hotel for a late dinner.
Day two started off with a trip to the market early in the morning. I bought a thing of strawberries at a stall for 1 euro and then got a small chocolate baguette and half a regular baguette to split with my roommate. After our early adventure we headed off for a full day around Paris. We went to the Les Arts Decoratifs: Deboutonner La Mode for an exhibit on buttons. It was amazing! They had a wide variety of buttons, garments, and information on designers and more. It was great to just explore through the exhibit and take lots of pictures for future use in my design process. A lot of this could be used in my research and inspiration. After that exhibit I went through their jewelry exhibit ad then went outside to enjoy the sunshine. Amanda and I took lots of photographs near the Louvre, and of course some very typical touristy shots in front of the Louvre! After that we were taken to the markets to check out the shops and area. It was pretty neat to see where there designers go to seek out inspiration and go shopping. Our little trio pea pod decided to go to the Musee Du Quail Brandy for the exhibit titled: Tatoueurs, Tatoues. It gave a history of the process and how different regions of the world go about tattooing and their views, history, and processes. I'll have to do a whole separate post about this exhibit because it was phenomenal.
We spent our evening trying to make our way to the Notre Dame but quit halfway when we reached the Obelisk and stopped to take pictures on a bridge. While we were there the Eiffel Tower started to sparkle and light up. I'm so glad we stopped to take pictures, we had perfect timing. We returned home to get pizza at a local restaurant. We ended up staying for a really long time. The manager liked us and gave us a free fruity juice drink to try. It was one of those where it had different colored juices and looked like it was layered. We also got desert, crème brule and chocolate cake with ice cream to share. We had a great, fun filled adventurous day in Paris.