Group Reflection!

Firstly, through this IDE, we have learnt about how people often make use of fashion to send out messages or portray a certain image. This is especially seen in political leaders, who invest in their clothing in order to create an identity or public image for themselves. For example, Hitler dressed in military uniform to show that he had the authority to lead Germany. In addition, we learnt about how fashion trends have evolved over time, and what historical events or social situations of the time have influenced fashion. Furthermore, another thing we have learnt is whether people choose to conform to these fashion trends and who influences these fashion trends, for example editors of fashion magazines and fashion bloggers. Moreover, we learnt the different theories behind why people choose to dress in a certain fashion style as well.
This module turned out to be an interesting one, where almost every aspect and all the assignments were fun and enriching as we get to translate what we have learnt into our product. One of the first highlights was the introduction of understanding the life of a model, where we watched short clips of models going for castings before they are booked to model for fashion shows. Modeling and advertising a pair of jeans for Ed Hardy was the first application and hands-on we had and that allows us to incorporate all the lessons we learnt, giving us a taster before we design our final product - A Gothic T Shirt. In addition, the learning journey to the National Museum has further showed us and allowed us to draw out the similarities between the wedding dresses and the fashion trends of that time.

Being a model is not as easy as it seems. One needs to have the prerequisites, a good and well-maintained body and the courage to face rejection. Designers’ work are tough because they have to think out of the box all the time, to create fresh new trends and innovate on the existing ideas. We have also became more interested in fashion magazines. As we read them, we tend to take advantage of what is already published in the magazines, without realising how tedious it is to produce just one magazine.
We have also learnt how to appreciate different kinds of styles like Avantgarde and Goth through different media such as magazines and fashion shows. We have learnt that every outfit, no matter how crazy or random it appears to look, is as superficial as one might think. Every outfit would in one way or another have a meaning behind its designs.
Our group has also learnt more about the different fashion designers and their unique inspirations and meanings behind their respective designs. During our field trip to the National Museum of Singapore, we gained a different understanding of how the designs of wedding dresses evolved over time and were affected by the societal and economical background during a particular point in time.

Vogue-September Issue Reflection

1. What goes into a fashion magazine?

The coverpage is the picture of a famous celebrity. In the magazine, there will be a short introduction about the celebrity on the coverpage. Tips on makeup and dressing and matching clothes will also be included. Other than these, 70% of the magazine is filled with advertisements!

2. How does the fashion magazine help determine the fashion trend?
The celebrity featured on the coverpage will have an effect on influencing people to dress according to that particular style. People look up to the celebrity and will think that since their favourite celebrity is wearing that particular clothes or brand of clothing, they may follow to try to look like the celebrity or keep up with the latest trends.

3. What are some of the reasons given for supporting the fashion industry and what are some of the criticisms of the fashion industry?

Critics feel nervous about fashion and excluded from the 'cool group'. Some also feel that those in the fashion industry are weird and cannot imagine anyone doing fashion as a fulltime job. They may feel that models are too perfect. On the other hand, those who support the fashion industry feel that it is evolutionary, exciting and chic.

 Sienna Miller on the cover of Vogue Magazine.


This is the powerful and stylish woman behind Vogue's success, Anna  Wintour!

T-Shirt Portfolio

Front View

Side View

Back View

Movie on Fashion Icon- Coco Chanel

IDE124 Fashion

Worksheet for the Movie on a Fashion Icon

Movie: Coco Chanel. Dir. Christian Duguay. Perfs. Shirley MacClaine, Barbora Bobulova. Screen Media Films, 2008.


Poster for the 2008 movie, Coco Chanel

Iconic & Distinctive: Describe Chanel’s style. Point out what is distinctive about it.
Her style is classic, chic casual, elegant and against the stereotype that women were restricted to wearing only long dresses and corsets.

Iconic & a breakaway from previous styles: How is her style different from previous trends?

Previously, women wore very restricting clothing such as the corset; many of those had stiff collars and showed the long elegant lines of the women’s bodies. However, Coco Chanel managed to break away from that trend by introducing more comfortable clothing made of different materials like jersey. In order to make her clothes comfortably fitting for her customers, she had the clothes specially tailored and meticulously handmade.
[In previous trends, women wore elaborate dresses and stiff corsets, as this was seen as lady-like and accentuated their figure. However, these clothing restricted their movement and were uncomfortable. On the other hand, Chanel’s clothing consisted of dresses that were shorter and made of more comfortable material such as jersey, which allowed for women to be able to move around with greater ease, and fitted them better.
In the past trends, women wore elaborate dresses and stiff corsets that accentuated their figure and were deemed appropriate for a lady to wear. Yet these clothing often restricted their movements and were uncomfortable. Chanel’s style of garments were more comfortable. Her clothing, unlike the past trends, were shorter and made of more comfortable material such as jersey. Her clothing were also all hand-sown and  cut in such a way that the woman wearing it would be able to move around with greater ease yet still look fashionably nice.

Icons: What personal qualities does she have to become a successful fashion icon?

Coco Chanel is entrepreneurial, because she was the one who thought of starting up a business selling hats, and she started her career from scratch with only the financial help from Boy. After which, she progressed quickly and expanded her collection by making specially tailored clothes. Besides, coupled with her talent in making hats and clothes, Chanel followed her passion and never swayed from it, even when times were hard and there were not enough appropriate materials available for her to make clothes. She explored and experimented making clothes with the different materials instead and, true enough, her risk-taking spirits and innovative efforts paid out, when many started to love her clothes and her business boomed. Chanel was also determined and persistent. Although she had to work her way up from the bottom and faced harsh criticism from many, she did not give up on making her own line of clothes and hats. In addition, she was not afraid to experiment, go against traditional stereotypes and challenge what was considered to be socially acceptable at that time. Furthermore, she was a perfectionist, and worked diligently to achieve excellence, insisting that all clothing and hats must be painstakingly stitched by hand. Additionally, she had foresight and understood her customers wants and needs, which kept her clothing line and other apparel popular. These qualities enabled Chanel to become successful as a fashion icon.


Iconic Label: What are the factors that enable Chanel to be successful?

Firstly, Chanel had the financial and emotional support of her love, Boy. Boy gave her the strength to carry on and pursue her dream even though she faced numerous problems and disappointments along the way. Meanwhile, her friend Adrienne provided her with assistance in manning her shop.  She also had connections, which helped her to become recognized by the rich and some of the top designers. Chanel had the grit to let women at that time know that they had the liberty to wear clothes that are comfortable and elegant at the same time. Her grit propelled her to come up with creative and innovative ideas that suited her concept of fashion, which made a breakthrough and was eventually accepted by many. Her grit gave her the drive to do what she thinks is right, despite all the insults and rejection she has faced on her route to success. Lastly, Chanel insisted on meticulously handmade products. Due to this, all of her clothing and accessories like hats and scarves are all very long-lasting, elegant and trendy. The social and economic situation during that time, due to the war, also worked in Chanel’s favour. She was able to take advantage of the war to attract customers as her clothing were more comfortable, enabling poor women to be able to move about in their work with greater ease and the rich to go on without their servants. Therefore, these factors contributed to and paved the road to Chanel’s success.

Our Progress with the T-shirt

Sketching the skull. We decided to draw a picture of a skull to show the ghostly, sinister concept.

 After which we did thorough spray painting; we had to be very careful not to get the paint sprayed onto the skull as we wanted the skull to be white. We chose dark grey as the main colour of the shirt as the other accessories and parts of clothing will be black (using the black netting). We tried to used different shades of black so that the whole Gothic feel will not be so dull due to the monotonous shade of black.

 We sew the sleeves upwards to give a 'crumpled' and ruffled effect to add on to the uneven texture which we have seen in many Gothic Lolita outfits.

Draft of our T-shirt

                         


                         Front View




                        Back view