Remedy.

Cross-posting...woo!
Several things inspired this. The most important is 'Remedy' by Little Boots, considering it's the one being performed. After several characters being created and tweaked I managed to squeeze it down to one performing the song through her dress. My Dad had once told me how he'd seen Kraftwerk perform using synthesized suits, which I guess comes as the second bout of inspiration. I couldn't get the image out of my head, and with no luck on finding any kind of image or video of them wearing these suits I shot off on my own. A short hop onto Google led me to this video of some Space Age fashions from the 60s (yup, the zipped knitted catsuit!), which then led me to more music videos - 'Freeek!' by George Michael and 'Born This Way' by Lady Gaga. I modeled her hair a bit on Twiggy's, but only because the typical 60's fringe made her look like good ol' Gaga. No thanks.
I wanted the mechanics of the actual dress to be much like a LaunchPad. All information would be sent to The Heart which also acts as a central speaker. (Yes, I've just altered this...you'll see it when I manage to scan it...oooooh!). The earpieces have microphones which follow some kind of cheek or jaw line, these are again connected to The Heart. The information from this central speaker is shared to the other speakers on her arms and legs and back to the earpieces.
Also, the neck detail is supposed to be some kind of LED equaliser. And she's on wheels because she can be.
I'm horribly proud of this design. So much so that I needed to call Iyad to blabber on about mechanics and whatnot...he seems to think it's possible to make this. Watch this space...

~~~

So, after that excitement, roll on 3rd Year!
I won't insert pathetic excuses for no making over Summer. At least I managed to squeeze myself into a last-minute dress for my cousin's wedding (ladies, if your bust size means you're a size 14 don't assume that Vogue's size 14 will happily fit you...learning curve!), I've started a much anticipated hooded poncho for the Winter (no, my fashion taste is not the best) AND I started to learn how to knit! Starting back tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to being introduced to my first project - making a Victorian bustle dress for the University's costume store! Another thing to add to the list of 'things I want for my wedding dress'. Huzzah.
Exciting times!

A Trip To The National Theatre!

This post has been a bit long overdue.

Two weeks ago our crew of SDP makers for the National Theatre visited their hire department for a mooch around, a handful of questions and (of course) a chance to dress up! Not only was it useful to see so many costumes close up to look at construction, any broken down elements and how easily the costume gets worn in, it also gave an insight into how the hire company funtions, their layout and organisation of costumes and their policies when it comes to costume hire.

Every girl's dream...if they worked in TV or Theatre!

I liked the smaller details of the broken down costumes, right down to the subtle mud on the boots.


The armour was interesting too, especially this leather piece and how they've coloured the leather to look older.

Wonderful details on the back of a dress modeled by Emma. We had seen the same dress on a trip to the National Theatre earlier in the year (below).
Myself in a doublet from 'Women Beware Women'. Made from cow hyde, laser cut and dyed pink with hair dye, this was another costume I'd fallen in love with when we saw this before at the National Theatre.
Mandy in Belle's sack-back dress from the National Theatre's production of 'Beauty and the Beast'. We had seen The Beast's costume before at the National Theatre as well, though that time in production! (See below).
So much work seemed to go into this dress, modeled by Lucy, though it had either been loved or neglected too much as the lace and beading was quite fragile.

More ideas (and mis-ideas) for the future!

...and so I come crawling rather slowly towards the end of Candide. Two weeks to go to until the second fitting (top fabric, huzzah!) and a further two weeks to the dreaded hand-in...well, it's time to make typed promises to make more STUFF. I'm sure this time I should be able to keep to these plans, or I'll give whoever permission to break all of my fingers...or something horrible like that.

First things first, my Self Directed Project! (Huzzah for University!).

What I hope to achieve in SDP is to broaden the skills that I will be needing and using in whatever area of work I will be throwing myself into. There are a couple of options of working under a couple of companies that sound interesting - one making shirts, chemises and whatnot for the hiring department at the National Theatre, another making an entire suit for another production company. I'll probably use these as backup ideas, as I'd really like to make a corset.

The Trapeze by Erte

Thanks to my parents for buying me an Erte calender for Chrimbo. This image really stuck out for me, and reminded me of one of my original inspirations for costume - Burlesque. This would be a perfect oppurtunity to sharpen my corsetry skills and to even have a go at hand embroidery or beading for a more impressive look.
With a tutorial on Wednesday to look forward to I guess it's time to hit the books!

Here ends anything that my tutors may need to read!

A couple of smaller projects are slowly looming for me as well. First up is a friend's 21st birthday with a set theme of general 'Fancy Dress'. With an earlier thought of '1920s' I lept on the chance to hopefully make an outfit from Tracy J. Butler's wonderful Lackadaisy. Being a fan from a while ago I'd fallen in love with her character Ivy so what better chance to make myself into Ivy! Time to dig out Janet Arnold.
Next up will be a fight between making a costume for Jessie from Toy Story for London Expo and an 18th Century Polonaise costume for my own 21st. Hmm...those will probablt run alongside one another. Here's hoping they'll both be successful!

So onwards I will roll. I raise my invisable glass to more making! But for now, back to The Subtle Knife.

New Year...and Expo?

First things first, here's to starting second year! (Cheers!).

Second year is BRILLIANT. Wonderful. Awesome. You get the picture. Shooting straight in with corset making (18th Century, one) and tailoring (waistcoat, one). I can at least say that my path towards a job is steadily starting to narrow, which is actually a good thing!
Walking towards more good things, I've had my second lot of work experience! Alterations for Atma Dance...sure, there was alot of unpicking and an impossible lean towards bias binding, but it was a long worth-while process! (Plus I got a new contact out of it...huzzah!).

...and Expo! Things went smoothly, considering I ditched my Alexiel cosplay at the last minute to go as Susan Sto-Helit from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Whilst I have only watched the TV specials that Sky had to offer I have finally obtained the majority of the series (thanks, Dad, for not selling them!). As an almost tribute to not only a wonderful series but also my Father, I chose Susan. Thankfully, all I needed to do was stick on a corset, get a wig and borrow my sister's clothes!As much as I tried to avoid the Sky version of Susan in The Hogfather, it kinda helped I guess!

Bun- yes. Edwardian- possibly. Smug- ?! What the hell?! Do your skirt up!

Oh well, At least I tried! The highlights stood out more than May's Expo...but still, only a handful caught my eye.Yup, that's a Dalek!

World Of Warcrafters, if I'm not mistaken...
Warhammerers! I think I was most impressed by these guys.

Summer Plans!

Ok, so I have now entered the wonderful stage of SUMMER...meaning finding a job and trying extremely hard not to spend all of the money I earn from it. Horray.
One of the best things about this Summer though is that I'm currently helping out cutting out fabrics for costumes for the Hillingdon Dance Theatre Company (the name of which I've probably just gotten wrong) for my friend Lucy and her Mum. Tons of fun, lots of work to get done for a show in a week's time! Hopefully I can get some photos taken of the work I've done, and I'll get a reference by the end of it! Sorted!

In other news, here's Ben Kenobi. (Here for no reason other than this image of him looks a bit like my dad).

I've been on a Star Wars rave recently...especially after watching the newer trilogy I have decided to at some point attempt to replicate one of the costumes. To push myself, maybe try an Amadala/Padme costume. Who knows. Maybe Summer will be a push to make cosplay outfits. I had planned to make the three good fairies/Maleficent costumes from Sleeping Beauty for October, and while money and time issues put me off I'm considering attempting it once more...that or just making the one costume for myself!

Expo Overview

Ok, so Expo was pretty damn awesome. Sure, it's gotten pretty repetative after six years of going, but it's worth it to meet and greet - especially if it's people yo haven't seen for a while.
There may not have been that many costumes that I found absolutly amazing, but the ones I did find were pretty awesome, and I'm sure can be used to stir up an idea or two! The Steampunkness was pretty much the highlight costume-wise for me.

Bonjour! Part 2

So I guess a bit more of an introduction is necessary. Questions, questions, questions!

WTF is with the Blog title?

It comes from the song 'Dogfight' by MOVE. My lyrics in English are 'If there's just a moment to shine, I don't care'. Freedom. Taking every chance you can. Success. Inspirational for me at least!

Costume, huh? Uh, why?

The funny thing is, I always saw mysef as a graphics or photography person. I did 'Digital' Art from year 10 onwards as I sure as hell couldn't paint or draw well. The only link to costume that I can just about muster at this time is cosplay - since I was 13 I'd piece together costumes for various characters from video games and Janapese anime, only making the smallest items of clothing myself, the rest sources from charity shops and my sister!
It was during Sixth Form that I first encountered using textiles in work. Whatever her name was, I must be grateful for the textile artist that visited, showing how she created textile installations. After enjoying the small workshop she offered I thought to myself 'do I really want to be stuck playing on photoshop for the rest of my life?' To open up more oppurtunities for myself I chose to do a Foundation course in Bournemouth - the best move I could ever make.
In that year I moved completly to the opposite scale of Art and Design. I took a textile pathway halfway through the year, and descovered the costume degree. Not wanting to be restricted by the Fashion course, I joined the legion of Costume...and I'm loving it!
...the only sad part is that I had to choose between making and designing. Better marks and more to learn in making? Yes please.

Is that it?

...not really. I originally was inspired to design and make clothing in an alternative image (unfortunatly much like my own personal taste of clothing). I was spurred on by the costumes used by styles like Steampunk, Burlesque, the amazing works of Antiseptic Fashion and (most prominently) various music videos:

IAMX - President
Christina Aguilera - Fighter
My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade
Marilyn Manson - The Nobodies
Marilyn Manson - mOBSCENE
P!nk - Funhouse

To me all of these examples aren't really a case of bizarre fashion - arguably they can be seen as performance, or costume if you will! I wanted to create something like these examples - something special. While I've pretty much branded myself a maker, hopefully I can still allow myself to experiment more!

Aaaand that's it. Apologies for the essay. Any more questions?