The Gallery of Costume...

Evening dress, Zandra Rhodes

I took a trip to Platt Field's Gallery of Costume recently to have a look at a selection of old and new clothes, ranging from the early 1900's up to the present day. It was great being able to take time out of working and see such amazing garments! 

There was a beautiful, bohemian styled Zandra Rhodes dress, with the most intricate and flowing pattern, it was made from a chiffon/silk material; this gave me ideas for scarf designs. I also really loved a 1920s/30s flapper evening dress, which was completely embellished in beads. It was a lovely deep green shade and had a wing like feature at the back of the dress revealing some of the back, so unusual and rare to see such a varied dress design. 

I saw a lovely display of bags from the thirties also very much adorned with beads and they looked so delicate and glamorous, I just wanted to take them all home! 

As well as the many couture dresses by Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, Valentino; there were dresses from the fifties and sixties which were akin to Primark where costs through production were minimised.

Now i need to get back to work and start designing, though no doubt I will be taking a leisurely trip back to The Gallery of Costume soon enough!

Trip to Hoopers...

I took a trip to Hoopers in Wilmslow, a lovely department store which sell luxury designer clothing/interiors and also some of the things from the High street. I felt I needed to have another look for myself at some scarves from the high end of the market and high street, to look at the types of fabrics used and pattern designs. Also I wanted to look at costs and how this might affect the type of fabrics I use for my final design and printing method, which would indicate whether it is a one off high end piece, or mass produced for a high street shop.

A brand of scarf I came across Echo, had some wonderful colourful, floral designs which I found really pretty. Their scarves ranged from rich silks to satins and cottons and were priced at about twenty pounds to fifty pounds. There was also a collection called Vintage which involved a range of patterns in repeat, ranging from a Herringbone design to a simple stripe design.

Me and Kashmiere, were a more expensive and luxurious brand of scarves; ranging from about ninety to one hundred and twenty pounds. Their designs really reflected the richness and high quality of the scarf, very subtle patterns and deep, rich colours.  I liked the deep and warm colours reds, browns,  oranges which I felt reflected the winter season.
After having a look at these two new designers I felt I had a clearer understanding of the type of scarf I might design, the colour palette and layout of the pattern.  Also how the selection of fabrics and design affect which market the scarf is designed for, i.e. high end market use high quality silks which are more pricey, high street  designers might choose more affordable synthetic fabrics.

                                                                       Echo Designs

   

                                                              Me and Kashmiere

Gallery Visits, Tate and the Walker Art Gallery

                                             Diana Dias-Leão', glass dresses

I took a trip to the Walker Art Gallery and Tate Liverpool over the weekend, (which was nice to have a break from my own work and look at some great artists and designers!) where I found a mixture of unique art works from different aspects of art and design. Which ranged from sculpture, paint, textile and print.

I enjoyed looking at the ceramics at the Walker Art Gallery and seeing how pattern design is applied in that context, though I was really attracted to a collection of glass dresses.

These glass dresses are by artist called Diana Dias-Leão' and deal with the issues of body image. I found these glass dresses very pretty and unique pieces, though I like the concept of using a sharp yet breakable material; which is a good metaphor for describing someone with low self esteem.

At the Tate Gallery was an exhibition called Smoke Signals, by Robert Therrien which had an overwhelmingly large set of table and chairs! Another piece invlolved a towering stack of enormous plates, which had a dizzying effect after walking around them! I liked the parody of such boring and simple everyday objects we use, becoming larger than life and in which defeated their main function and purpose.

The exhibition upstairs of great contemporaries and modern artists, including the likes of the infamous Marcel Duchamp Urinal, Mondrian, Warhol and Bacon.  One of my favourites is The Lobster Telephone Dali, 1936 just because it’s so iconic for its strangeness and witty Chindogu idea, the lobster replacing the telephone speaker which like Therrien could be seen as a Chindogu idea as it lacks its real function and use. I felt thoroughly inspired by the abstract themes and colours in this room and thought how making these abstract textures, prints and patterns could be applied in my own works and onto fabric.

Opposites Attract...

                                Butterfly Wallpaper, Damien Hirst, 1994

                                          Colin Self, Nude, 1971

I took a trip to The Whitworth Art Gallery for some much needed inspiration, although I'm looking at fashion prints I was rather intrigued by some of the old floral wallpaper patterns on display. I really liked the elegance and minute detailing which I thought could just as easily work on fabric for a couture dress or repeated several times on a silk scarf.

There was an exhibition on called, Dark Matters. A collection of artist's works including Paula Rego and Colin Self (top) using tones and textures to reveal darkness and light. This I thought was relevant to my research into my glamour theme. Using black and white photographs and mediums for light and dark effects. It was interesting to look at a different perspective of art and design to gather ideas for a fashion print. The two images are of postcards I picked up in the shop, which I liked and felt fitted in with each of my themes. I have a penchant for colourful, pretty things (!) which is why I choose Damien Hirst’s Butterfly Wallpaper. The symmetrical and kaleidoscopic pattern looks so precise, perfect and immaculate and the various butterfly colours are beautiful. I’ve currently been experimenting with symmetry and colours for my colour theme of my brief. Painting one side of the paper and folding it over (much like the painting activities you would do at Primary School) to create a mirror image effect which is very fun too! From this I have developed a fair few patterns and sometimes I have shuffled the paper around to make the paint drip and create its own travels and tones. Though now, I want to apply this in my heat press printing as it could have a striking effect on sheer , translucent fabrics.