CRITICAL APPRAISAL

PROFESSIONAL FASHION AND TEXTILE PROCESSES

CRITICAL APPRASIAL 

I am coming to an end of my degree, an exciting prospect but a moment I thought I would never achieve . It has been a struggle to say the least, as well as being one of the most valuable things I could have done to better myself. This is just the beginning, from doing this course I will have opened up so many more opportunities, and if I continue to push myself through social media, career pathway, and not giving up on myself and goals, I could potentially have my dream career. 

Even from Pre collection to Final Major Project was a massive jump. While pre collection taught me valuable skills such as setting up an exhibition, time management, skills and portfolio layout, FMP still crept up and jumped out at me. I feel it was a massive change because I was completely on my own- everything I did was a conscious decision made by me, which was very different- I was used to being told what to do next, how to tackle it and when it needed to be completed by. Of course I had the help from my tutors, which is perhaps where I fell down on- I didn't use their knowledge as much as I could. It was a shame, during pre collection I was using the space available and going in everyday, I was really positive, and the use of the space and resources reflected in my work, with me receiving a respectable grade. During FMP, I lapsed backwards and found myself unable to go into University everyday. I felt panicked and distressed when at uni, and it worked better for me to work from home. Of course I maintained the standard of work and completed the tasks, but I was unable to receive regular feedback.

The hardest factor for me was the time element. At the beginning, a time 

schedule was to be made. I created one, with ridiculously high expectations. My thinking at the start was to get everything done as quickly as possible, so I had time to spare to go back and re do. I soon found out this was not do able- portfolio in 2 days? I don't think so. But this mistake had to be made for me to realise how it would actually work successfully, and in a way where I didn't feel stressed. With my first attempt, because I wasn't completing the tasks as it was near impossible, I began to feel more stressed, and almost began to give up, not doing the work because I felt low about it, making the situation even worse. I was constantly pushing tasks back, forgetting things. A new time schedule was in order. To do this, I wrote a list of all the main things needed to be done, and allocated weeks for them. I then broke these weeks down into days and gave a more in detail frame of work (a step by step day plan), having a timetable each week. This helped no end. I had been reasonable with the tasks and the length of time- it was all about getting the balance right. For me, complete organisation worked with my frame of mind, and helped me complete my project.

I struggled with the research in projects before. I never knew where to start, how to research, what to do with it. I know there isn't a right or wrong, but I always feel in the dark. With my pre collection research, I felt it was sufficient, but with room for improvement. I had a good body of primary research, but perhaps needed to widen my sources, to ultimately make for a more interesting outcome. For my FMP, I delved deeper, researching texts, linked history rather than just the obvious pictures and existing collections. I wanted to to feel completely inspired, and at first the research excited and took over me. However I did begin to lose enthusiasm for it, and while I said I would constantly be annotating, questioning, linking the research to my work, I feel I slacked and my body of research could have been much more successful and interesting. 

My FMP was an extension from my Pre collection. It was a more focused approach, looking at hells angels and tattoos, which I had previously covered but not looked at in as much detail. The idea and inspiration of my FMP came from biker wear and the lifestyle of hells angels, contrasted with floral tattoos and a feminine element- masculine vs feminine. My collection ended up taking a completely different turn. From pre collection, I really enjoyed working with leather, and particularly painting on it. Originally, I was going to create a series of deconstructed jackets and printed tops, however as the project went on my ideas changed. Because I was on a budget, I couldn't afford to buy new leather, so the idea of vintage garments and second hand excited me. I combined vintage and deconstructed with pattern cutting and luxury fabrics, giving contrast between the outfits. This was a completely different way of working, and one I really enjoyed, as I have always been a fan of customising clothes, seeing what I can do to them, completely change them. I was used to the working method I had become so familiar with over the years at uni, research, drawing, design development, pattern cutting, toiling, and for the made garments this was still the same. But the deconstruction was a little different. There was no designing and technical flats before hand- I had an idea of what I wanted to create, and drew rough ideas, but I found it was more beneficial to go in with an open mind. The design process started from the moment I bought the garment- I had to envisage what the jacket or jeans etc could become. I started off by deconstructing t-shirts and playing around with ways of reconstructing, fabric manipulation, shape and silhouette. These gave me ideas on how to create my final deconstructed garments. 

I always struggle with sampling, I created toiles and analysed them, reconsidered them and made them to their best, but with actual sampling, I feel it always seems a little half hearted. I just needed more sampling, I had enough but perhaps if I had used my time more carefully I could have considered my options and tested different methods. 

As in pre collection, I included embroidery and painting. These featured heavily in all my outfits, as well as embellishments. The 3 elements together gave an amazing outcome, one that I was striking and worked together. I wanted the look to be all or nothing, so I crammed as much as I could onto every part of each garment. Key rings, eyelets, studs, string embroidery.

The deconstruction process was difficult. I was working with denim and leather, tough fabrics to manipulate. I was frustrated at times, especially when I didn't have a clear idea as to what I was producing. I felt at a loss, and when I felt like that it was hard to get anything productive done. However after talking to my tutors and discussing ways of making the garment successful, I found it easier. It helped by thinking of the silhouette as a whole, rather than individual garments. This then gave me inspiration as to where I would crop, take in, cut away etc. The most frustrating garment to create was the skirt. I had the idea of how I wanted it to look, But I just could not seem to get from jeans to final garment. What helped me overcome this was a working method. I looked at what I wanted to achieve and what I had infant of me, and worked a step method as to how I would get there.

The new fabrics I worked with were fairly pleasant to manipulate. Cotton, cotton organdie and vintage floral bed sheets featured, as well as ribbed silk. This was the hardest to work with, as it as loosely woven. It frayed an awful amount, and when I tried to hem or bind, it would pull away so I would have to unpick it and start again. The solution was to overlock all the raw edges so they didn't fray any more, and then do large double turns or bind the edge. I ended Up having to cut away a lot of the silk which I didn't account for in my pattern, however it didn't effect the overall look of the shirt. The material was great aesthetically, however not very practical. It took me a lot longer than anticipated to make the final shirt.

Pre collection I realised I did not have enough design ideas. I made sure I developed my designs a lot more and included different variations so I could see how the garments would look if I changed certain aspects. This really helped me realise a more considered line up.

I didn't leave myself enough time to complete my portfolio to the best standard for pre collection, and I feel this really showed. I gave myself a lot more time to complete this task during FMP, especially as this will be my telling point, and for once I am pleased with the outcome. I really liked my sketchbook pages, and the low key textural approach, so that featured in my portfolio, hopefully giving me an edge, something different. Of course I could have spent 10 more years on it, but for time I allowed I think it is successful. The clear perspex works well as it allows for an interesting front cover to show through. I found the technical flats difficult to produce as the garments were deconstructed, however I feel they were successful after giving it my best shot.

Overall FMP has been amazing. I am immensely happy with the out come especially of my garments, as I was so in the dark as to how they would turn out. I lost faith many times, regained it and have got to this point, where I am finally finishing my degree- the biggest rollercoaster I have been on. Of course there is room for improvement, exploration and development, and I have my whole life to work on that- I never want to stop learning new ideas, processes skills. I pushed myself throughout and I feel my final outcomes show. It was a collection of all my best skills and processes, a development from pre collection and an exaggeration of my on style- I stayed true to myself and what I enjoyed which helped me stay focused and motivated. So now I push myself even further to gain experience and land the career I dream of (easier said than done, but not impossible), showing off my work and talent.