Royal Blue Designs

I felt this project was going really well for me and I was really enjoying it all, until I had to start designing. I seem to have come to a stand still with complete mental block. I don't know why I am finding it so difficult because I love my theme and feel really positive about it.

My theme is Princess Diana and her shows o

f affection to just about everybody. Anywhere she went, people wanted to touch her, see just a glimpse of her, and she wanted to touch the people. For some people that one touch was everything.

Diana was one of the first people to touch people with Aids, she would pick them up and cuddle them. She brought around the message that you cannot catch Aids by showing a suffer some love and affection. It just makes that day for them seem a whole lot brighter.

Here are some photos of Diana showing affection and some of my own photos of regular people showing affection.

Diana is always known as 'The Queen of Hearts'

So I looked at a playing card, I hope the get a few mored esigns from this but so far I have one.

When draping on the stand in class I came up with an idea of a bow being a sleeve that drapes. I really liked this idea so i decided to make a bow out of fabric and see how it works. I really like this idea.

As a starting point to my designs I looked at smiles, and then decided to collage a neckline and top idea from smiles cut out from magazines.

A halter neck at the top of a bodice was inspired by a child's arms around a mothers neck, young children often wrap their arms around their mothers necks, either to make sure they don't fall or as a sign of being closer to them.

This design is an all-in-one suit, the legs can be detached to become shorts. This is inspired by Diana's busy lifestyle, having to look smart for State occasions and then coming home to being a mom and playing with two young boys.

This design would be made from velvet to make it very pleasing to touch and wear. The shape of hands would be at the back on this dress. To look as though somebody is hugging the person wearing the dress, with the hands placed on their back.

As i was finding it hard to design on paper using inks and collage, I decided to drape with materials on my manikin. I found this a lot easier, I seemed to be getting more ideas and it

was easier to visualise different shapes and the way things look.

I'm hoping that getting designs on the manikin will help me to gain more ideas for collage and ink drawing as my next step.

This design is taken from the idea of a mother holding her child. I have a photo of this and their arms are crossed behind them where the mother is holding the child and the child's arm is around their mother. I also think this design is quite feminine.

I know that I have a lot more work to do with my designs, however i'm hoping to get some help and support with this so that I can develop these further and hopefully reach a final design that I really love.

Royal Blue

I have spent my summer holidays travelling the country visiting lots of exhibitions and museums. Because of this I don't have much in my sketchbook, it is mostly still in paper, book and souvenir form.

Here is a photo of some of my collected research...

Before i went exploring the country i managed to get some research on collars, cuffs and corsets into my sketchbook.

Here are a couple of images from those pages..

I have managed to get a couple pages of my research into my Sketchbook. These are my Grace Kelly pages and Victoria & Albert pages.

I went to Bath to the Diana dresses exhibition. I really felt like looking at her clothes and reading about her life next to them made me really get attached to her. I started to understand her I thought and had a strong feeling for her. It really made me wish she had never died so that I could feel more connected to her and really try to understand her more. How big was her heart ? Was there anybody she wouldn't acknowledge and make a part of her life ?

I then travelled to London .. here I went to the V&A Museum to see the Grace Kelly exhibition. I found this really interesting because I had heard of her as an actress but never as a Princess. I really enjoyed it there.

Next we went to Buckingham Palace, The Victoria & Albert 'Art & Love' exhibition and the Royal Mews. This was such an amazing experience ! It's not everyday that you get to walk inside the palace and around the staterooms.

At the Royal Mews we saw all the different carriages, including the Coronation Coach which is only ever used for Coronations. We also saw the Coach that Lady Diana travelled in on her wedding day to Prince Charles. This was a pretty fun experience as it is a part of Royal life that is often dismissed and forgotten, but the way that they travel is actually quite important.

Unfortunately, we were not able to take photographs inside the Palace, but I did take one outside from across the 'garden' to prove that I was there. Inside we were taken around the state rooms, including the room where The Queen does all of her investitures (OBEs, MBEs, CBEs and Knighthoods) and the music room where all recent babies have been christened including Prince William and Harry. Also we walked up the golden stairs where all the Royal visitors have walked.

On a family trip to Madame Tussauds London, we found an area full of royal waxworks. I felt it was only right to have a photo with them all and include them in this project.

I know that they weren't real, and the clothes were just replicas of the originals, but I feel as though I been up close to the people I have been researching and reading about in books. I also touched the clothes and got an idea of material and intimate details. I didn't expect them to be there but I am really glad because i've learnt a lot personally from seeing waxworks of them.

Here are a few examples of me and these waxworks...

Because I have not yet finished documenting all of my gathered research, I haven't chosen a specific aspect of Royalty to research further and start designing from.

I have however really enjoyed the research part of this project...

My time will now be spent documenting research and developing design ideas further leading to a Final Design and garment.

Coffee !

So i am actually almost addicted to Starbucks' coffees ... it isn't good !

But while shopping in asda recently i thought i would look to see if there was a cheaper alternative to Starbucks. And there on the shelf sat this box....

£1 a box.. and theres 10 sachets in a box ! They are so nice too !! I think everybody who is addicted to Starbucks and is running their bank balance low because of it should try these out ! I brought the caramel sauce from Starbucks too :)

Design Board

These are my design boards:

Crit

Our brief was Catastrophe: Protect Hide Move Search.The year is 2011 and we are living in an apocalyptic environment. We were to choose a disaster and create a garment that would be suitable and protective for us to survive this new world.

I started by doing broad research into lots of natural disasters and survival.

I was really interested in Global warming and the rising sea levels and so decided that my apocalyptic world would be under water.

When i looked at Alexander McQueen's Atlantis collection it really inspired me. It really fit

with my theme and I love the shapes he made with his clothes and also the way that he used the hair style to really compliment his garments and set a scene.

I then looked at Versace and there was 1 dress in particular, it is blue and it really reminded me of underwater and the beauty of the ocean. This inspired m

e

to make my theme a little more interesting than just the world sinking and humans trying to survive.

Now that I had chosen my theme I started to research further into it. I looked at the environment, sea levels in the news and the devastation that rising sea levels has already caused.

I saw a photoshoot in the Central St. Martins magazine and the photos all looked underwater, i used it to see how fabrics move in the water, there is 1 picture where the material looks like it is floating away from the model and I really like the effect it gives.

My Pattern

So my pattern pieces are all (almost all) cut out of material now and in the process of being sewn together. Yey.

I don't have any pictures to show at this point but once I find my camera lead I will post some pictures of my calico toile's !

Joseph Altuzarra

I came across this designer when looking through 'Company Magazine - High Street Edit' and started to read about him. I looked at his work as well and it is really inspiring, I wish I would of come across him when I was designing for this brief. He never studied fashion, he fell into by chance ! He studied Art History, and then gained work with Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler, Givenchy and Nina Ricci. Then brought out his first collection for ss10.

I guess it just goes to show that no matter what you study for in your youth, if you have a talent and a passion for something you can do it !

www.josephaltuzarra.com

The Beatles Rock Band

So today we found the Beatles rock band for half price in Game .. my brother decided he wanted it and so we brought it. I have been playing it for so long tonight and it is amazing !!! I didn't realise how many of the Beatles songs i actually knew, however I have discovered I am not a natural drummer (no brain to foot, or brain to left arm communication). It is a good laugh to say the least... I'll stick to guitar and vocals :)

If you don't have it and are considering buying it.... i recommend you buy it ! IT'S SO MUCH FUN !!!!