BA Fashion

Millinery

We got given our Millinery brief today, but I haven't read through it properly yet. Partly because i've been so busy focusing on the Digital Realisation Techniques module but also due to the fact that i'm not looking forward to it.

If last years module was anything to go by I don't know what to expect. As soon as I saw that we had Alison as a tutor again it filled me with dread. I feel she is a poor, misdirected tutor, who is appears nice initially however was extremely harsh and critical when marking.

Finally picked up the brief today. I have a weekend to follow through my research and if I just do it, I'll be fine.

I've decided to select the title 'Super-Structures' as a starting point. The area involves architecture and product design. Subject matters in which a large number of successful, innovative designers use.

I spent a couple of hours in the library and have found some really well designed innovative pieces of architecture and furniture. The majority of which have been constructed using smooth lines to create a dynamic statement. I was also inspired by the designer's Hussein Chalayien and Therrier Mugler in terms of fashion design and how they manipulated millinery into several of their collections.

Although I'm still not looking forward to next week I feel happy with the subject matter. Now I just need to start the design process.

I managed to generate quite a few designs this weekend which definitely helped me today at uni. Knowing pretty much exactly what I want to construct made it so much easier when selecting a hat block to work with as it means that I won't have to design backwards (like i did last year) It was a bit annoying that the fabric hadn't been delivered by 9 this morning and when it finally did arrive it was a little to late to start the whole process so i'm just going to get straight into making first thing tomorrow morning.

As we only have 4 days for completion, I made sure didn't waste the day though, as I used it to build up the number of samples in which need to be incorporated into the sketchbook.

Alison liked the work i've done to date which i'm so happy about, cause wasn't to sure if I had done it right or not. She seems a little more organised this year in terms or what she's doing and talking about (so far) I hope I still feel this way at the end of the week.

I picked up quite a selection of finishing booklets, so tonight i'm going to have a flick through, so which ones would be relevant to my work and produce as many as I can.

I got the crown made from start to finish today yayyy just need to add decoration, line it, bind it with bias binding and i'm done.

I spend a few hours making strips of sinamay, that would be used for the loops. I keep testing them against the crown though and i'm not happy with how it's going.

I like the idea of a contrast between felt and sinamay but in reality my experiments havn't been so successful. I'm going to have another look through my research and see what else I can come up with.

I've just found this picture

I really like the composition lay out and am going to make a shape similar using felt. I shall make around three and lay them on top of one another at varying points. I might use two red and a white felt one in the middle as the crown is white. But I shall make a sample first and see what the end result will look like.

Here is a photograph of a sample I made.

It was constructed using 7 circles and then sewing each side together. Tight stitching holds the seperate pieces together really well. I like the general shape and so now will create more in order to place them onto my hat

Really pleased with the direction my hat is taking now. Was deffinately the right moved in deciding not to work with sinamay. I feel the shapes create a strong structual form and relate more to the brief title 'Super Structures'

My fingers are in agony as the felt has been so hard to sew together but it has been worth it.

Looking at hat produced by the House of architects also generated inspiration for positioning.

I have decided to place 3 shapes asymmetrically on top of one another. I experimented with fewer samples but felt that the hat appeared to simple. Working with a large number made my final design appear to busy and not structurally thought through.

After assembling the shapes to how I wanted them, I still feel that my hat needs another additional feature to create interest.

Looking back through my research I came across these images

They made suggestions towards metal studs and buttons so I began to experiment with these additional features.

When contemplating how they ought to be placed on the crown the metal ball chair suggested an aysemetric placement along with surrounding the geometric shapes.

This was the outcome

For my lining, I was inspired by the egg chair to use a pleated lining method of application. However before I followed through this process, I referred back to the lining booklet and asked Alison for her advice. We both felt that the pleated lining method would be most appropriate as the crown is only small it was important that the fabric lay closely to the felt.

In order to secure the hat to the head, I worked with elastic. Although Alison said in reality the elastic would remain hidden, because I was using a satin bias binding, it had to be attached on the inside otherwise the binding would become distorted. When asked i was told that this implication would not matter however from last year I noticed she has a tendency to hold back until feedback.

Looking at my final piece I am pleased with the outcome. I believe it successfully meets the brief that was set, originating from a variety of different sources of inspiration.

If the elective was to be followed through again I would have made sure that additional fabric choices were bought before hand. Although this would not have saved a tremendous amount of time it would have enabled me to work throughout he entire studio time set aside.

In relation to design, I believe i would work with the same subject matters, providing similar designs and the same end product.

What have I learnt from this millinery elective?

Although I already held the knowledge of basic construction, I have been able to develop my method and technique. Previous, I had not worked with the fabric sinamay however now I have an understanding to how it maybe manipulated successfully along with how it could be applied to the crown. If an idea it not as successful as envisioned it is always important to keep on referring back to research, making sure that the final design relates strongly throughout.