Burlesque Fashion Illustration

 For my fashion illustration class we're working on our final project. For the project we're supposed to design 10 looks, front and back (so 20 figures), and have inspiration and other related boards to go with our presentation. For my final project I decided to do something insanely fun and different from my previous work. I chose to do a burlesque theme for my designs and so far I'm really loving it! I only have a few done so far and I'll need to scan them into the computer and do some work, such as adding solid colors for skin and hair and then adding fabrics and shading to the clothing.

I'll be sure to add more when it's closer to the due date and my project is further along. Inspiration wise so far I'm rolling with the classic burlesque shows such as the martini glass and sailor inspired ensembles. I'm hoping to add some that ooze Hollywood glamour as well. So stay tuned!! 

Some of My Senior Collection Designs

Shown above are 5/10 designs I created for my senior collection presentation. I am still up in the air on the ratio of men to women for my collection, but these are my favorites out of what I've designed so far. We will be making 3-5 in class this semester, but I'm really hoping that I can make like 4/5 men's looks so that next semester I can focus on the women. Right now I have 4 models: 2 guys and 2 girls. I will post some updates when I get the chance! We pick the 5 we're making this coming Monday and then go to Chicago for fabrics on Wednesday! 

Mandatory Journaling the LCF Way

During orientation week every student in the study abroad section received a black journal. The are plain sheets with a little pocket on the back cover and they say "UAL: university of the arts/ london/ london college/ of fashion" on the front. It's small and compact. It doesn't fit in my purse but that just allows me to carry a bigger bag (full of things I don't need of course). We are required to document our time here as well as our main three required classes: British Cultural Studies, Fashion History Arts & Artifacts, and Theoretical Contemporary Fashion Studies. How you go about keeping your journal is up to you, as long as it isn't purely just found images (for example solely pictures of your trips). It basically has to contain notes/sketches/pictures of the three mandatory classes and MORE.

I thought it would be a great idea to share some pages from my journal as a way to illustrate the methods I go about keeping a journal of my time here studying in London.

I'm definitely an avid note taker and love to keep my ticket stubs in my journal. I love color & chaos but I'm a little OCD about the order of my journal, as in it's basically a timeline of my classes & museum trips & outings.

Visited the Chanel store & a Rubens exhibit.

Some of my sketches from the Edward Steichen
exhibit at the Photographer's Gallery.

Some of my notes from the Natural History Museum
and part of my review of a Photography exhibition.

More of my Rubens and His Legacy notes.

My notes from Guy Bourdin: Image Maker exhibit.

Some of my notes from visiting the Courtauld Gallery.

My LCF Application

I officially applied to London College of Fashion! After a lot of confusion, a late application to Purdue, and lots of rushed scheduling of meetings, I applied! 

The application is a lot like other applications. It asks for your information, college, GPA (both accumulative and major), transcripts, a picture for your ID, an essay, and then 2 letters of recommendation. There's a few more pieces of information it asks for but that's just medical and housing type stuff. But the part I wanted to share is the pictures of my 5 pieces of work I sent with my application. I had to pick 5 pictures that show a variety of my work and it took me a while to figure out what pictures would show off my skills and a variety of work. 

So here they are:

1. Starting with the picture above on the left- it's of my models Eric and Gabby from this past spring's fashion show. I chose a picture of the back because it gave me the best view of Gabby's dress and how his vest matches her dress. Also, I just think they look really great like this!

2. My shoe project from over the summer! (above on the right) I think it's a good variation of work because who makes shoes out of cardboard and paper that you can walk in?

3. On the left is my collared top I made for class last semester (spring 2014). It has a black lace bow with a tortoise shell button.

4. On the left is a pastel piece I did in AD114 last fall of a sculpture I made.

5. Lastly I uploaded a picture of 2 pages from my portfolio. It's a project from last year where we created a line of dresses using optical illusions as inspiration.