Final result

The final project was originally titled ‘Beautiful, bold and reborn’ but I changed this to ‘She who dares wins’ as I thought that this flows a lot more and is more relatable to the subject of women rebelling against barriers in fashion. The final outcome of my project included a crop top I made from a previous top and a photo shoot displayed in a photo journal. This was different to my original plan of designing a costume type piece that took inspiration from the 1920’s. Despite not creating a full outfit like I thought I was going to, I did stick to the idea of finding a quote from the 20’s and using it when I began designing. I’m glad I did this as the quote allowed me to focus on pattern design and this was one of the main elements of my piece that displayed the 20’s theme. Doing a photo shoot and re designing a top has allowed me to realise the importance of an overall theme to projects. By doing both I realised that every detail needs to be as important as the other in creating a well thought out final piece. Even though I used both the 1920’s and today as my main eras, the elements from both of them needed to be found in the top and the photo shoot in order to display my inspirations. I now know that when creating a final project, even if you do one final piece, every other element done in the project needs to be as important as the others as this shows understanding and development of your ideas and ultimately what message you’re trying to tell people.

Due to studying art before my foundation, I am used to using sketch books to illustrate ideas, research and show progress towards the final piece but I did not use a blog before. At first, I was very wary about how to lay out the blog and how formal my language should be in communicating my ideas, but as time increased, I realised that this is a good way of simply explaining each idea and how your thought process is towards your final piece. I started to write about research, any ideas or even small creations I made so I could show that I am doing varied methods of art to get to what I want for my final piece. At some times, I found creating posts difficult as I felt like I was repeating myself and relying on pieces of work I done rather than fully explaining my thoughts and so I feel the blog has some disadvantages as it stops people from explaining their ideas in their own style (compared to the freedom of a book). However, I believe that blogs are helpful in personal work as you can discuss your ideas and thoughts freely; I may not use it again in my work, but possibly in my spare time.

Furthermore, I am very pleased with the outcome of the top created for my final piece, but I would like to experiment with creating one myself to improve my cutting and sewing skills. As this is something I’m not confident with, it would be very helpful for my future if I improved my sewing abilities. Considering I’m looking for a career in costume design, this will be very useful for me. Although, the project has been helpful for this aspect, as I want to design rather than be a maker in the fashion business. I sketched many different types of design for my final piece and I think this made it possible for me to show my progress, not only in my project, but my ability to sketch. 

Mounting

Once I had my photos printed in a photo journal and had prints made of my favourite photos, I had to mount my work. Although this seems quite simple, I had to work out what I wanted people to instantly view and what looks most appealing. 

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I decided to keep in very simple and place the photos vertically, with the journal hanging on the side so that people can open it up. I also added two quotes to explore the comparison between opinions on lifestyles from the 1920's and today. I included F.Scott Fitzgerald's 'I want to give a party where there’s a brawl and seductions' from Tender is the Night and American Apparel CEO Dov Charney's opinion on feminism 'It’s out of balance, and that’s why young people haven’t embraced feminism, because it’s out of balance'. I done this in order to display a contrast in the two eras I've focused mainly on and hope that when people see them, understand why I did. Both these quotes enable people to see into the lives of two times, both wild but for different reasons. The reason I chose the quote from Tender is the Night is due to the fact that this shows how where there was glamour there was decay. I chose the American Apparel quote because although there are multiple issues connected to sexual advances with the brand and the owner, it seems he has a strong opinion on what he thinks feminism is and does this influence the fashion they make? I added the top I created also , to show I designed and made as well as done a photo shoot. I think this displays my work well as I didn't want a lot shown but only stand out photos.

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Final photographs

I have chosen my final photos for my final piece and have edited them further. I have added American Apparel quotes to provide a advertisement feel and some quotes from different people from the 20's and today. I have had them printed in a brown paper journal in order to make them look like they are in a book from the past but inside, include photos that look like adverts from today's time. I am very happy with the final outcome as they are how I pictured them to be. I wanted to create a selection of photographs that displayed women in today's society but involve feminism from the 20's and current fashion brands. I added the quotes 'I want to throw a party where there's a brawl and seductions' F. Scott Fitzgerald and 'It's out of balance, and that's why young people haven't embraced feminism, because it's out of balance' Dov Charney. I done this because I wanted to contrast the different lives and allow viewers
to have an insight into the two times and what fashion means to women. I am pleased that I didn't 
take grand, dramatic photos as the less included in mine, the stronger they are (both visual and the
 point of them). One of the main aspects of the photographs I hoped would be the strongest part 
were the colours and I feel they are. The contrast and brightness are balanced and the setting 
increases this as it is simply white. Using only a model and no props may have been a bad choice as I
had to rely on the person and the photographs might have been dull, but I'm happy I chose to do this
 as It focuses more on the theme and photography. Although I was unsure about the result, they
 are how I pictured them to look.

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Mouth collage

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I decided that I wanted to do a set of repeated photos like Tyler Sheid's work. I chose to use lips in order to do this as I could display many expressions using just one feature. Much like the rest of the final piece, the images needed to be simple and this is why I used just the mouths. I did the same effects on these as the other photos, as all I wanted to do was darken the colour red and contrast the lights against the black blouse. I think this has come out really well considering it's very simple. This is my favourite 'photograph' out of the collection and therefore this will start my album. I wanted to experiment with the photographs and am glad I did a set of repeated photos as I think this breaks up the set of 'advertisement's I created.

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Edited photos

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These are the photos I edited from my photo shoot. I decided to use the most simple editing tools as I only wanted to brighten the photo and darken the temperature. I didn't need to add layering or touch up the photo; I simply needed strong contrasts to be seen. I am not going to use all these photos, but this enables me to see what ones work best once been edited and what ones work well together. I am going to put the photos in an album in the aim they will look like advertisements, so I need various poses that do not cause repetition. At the moment I am very pleased with the photo shoot and hope that the more editing I do, the final photographs will be how I imagined them to be.

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Favourite photos

Out of all the photographs I have taken, these a my favourite photos. I picked these as the colours are how I imagined them to be and this will allow me to edit them easier. I want to increase the brightness in order to make the white stronger but will increase the temperature also as I need some colours (like the red and yellows) to become bolder. Each photograph includes a different pose and this is how I hoped they would appear: this enables me to have a wide range of choices and I can include different features on each one (such as text) as there is some spaces available.

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Final photoshoot

I did some test shots in order to look at the lighting and whether or not the models appearance was correct for the shoot. After being pleased with what I took, I decided that the lighting was bright enough for my photographs and I needed to begin the photo shoot. 

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Even though I found the lighting fine, there wasn't enough shadow between the person and wall. I hung a sheet in front of the window to block out mainly all the light and this provided a stronger contrast in colour. Using the American Apparel adverts as inspiration, I got my model to pose in various ways but in a smart, fashionable outfit. I kept my original design and think this worked really well as it was simple, but dark enough to allow the model to be the main focus but despite the simplicity, created a great contrast in colour. I really like the variety of photos I took as they show different poses inspired by different brands and ideas of how women are shown in the fashion industry. I hope to show an answer to this question through my final photos, therefore need to pick my favourite photographs and begin the editing process.

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Accessories

When I did my research for my final project, a lot of the images I found showed how many women wore gloves in both the day and night time. I thought that including gloves in my photo shoot would add another element of history to the photos and it also meant I would have more to do in the styling. I didn't have enough time to make them myself so decided to do the same as the top and add new elements myself. I bought a pair of gloves from a fancy dress store and started to plan how I can use gloves from the 20's and inspiration for mine. I cut a hole at the bottom of each of the palms and added a yellow stitch round the edges so that they'd be similar to the pattern on the top and so they would have bright detail. This was quite simple but the thread began to come undone due to the thin fabric. If I'm ever going to make gloves, I would use thicker material next time in order to avoid parts becoming lose. I bought buttons from John Lewis as well to increase the 20's feel. I bought gold ones to create a the idea that they would belong to a rich, glamorous woman of the 20's. These were quite easy to sew on but at some points they became tricky due to the shape. I put them at the bottom of the holes to add a fastened appearance and chose not to change them anymore. I'm really happy with the outcome of these as I feel they not only look as if they could have come from the 20's but will provide my photos with an extra element of fashion from that time. There is only on part I do not like and that is the material of the gloves: if I had time to make them, I would've bought a thick satin or a similar material to add glamour.

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Photography

Tyler Shields is a photographer whose work involves fashion and celebrities. Continuing a specific style, his work tends to be simple but bold.. An aspect I find alike to American Apparel is, the setting. He frequently sets his photographs in basic areas such as bedrooms (much like the fashion brand). This is also what I want to use for my final photo shoot as it allows the person to be the main centre of focus in the photo. Like his photos, I am also going to include the colours red and black, so by having a white background, this allows the model to stand out. A common element in both sets of photography is the body language, I too will include a model doing various positions in order to make the images reminiscent of my influences and to take more interesting shots. I really like his lip photograph and would like to also like to experiment with this technique. The colours are extremely bright due to the high exposure, but equally contrast the black surrounding background. 

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Figure 1 Unknown author. Snack snaps. 2010. [Online]. Available at http://whoisscout.com/tag/tyler-shields/

Figure 2 Unknown author. 2013. http://highlife.sk/kontroverzny-fotograf-tyler-shields/. [Online] Available at http://highlife.sk/kontroverzny-fotograf-tyler-shields/

Figure 3 Jaron Schneider. A glimpse at Tyler Shields "Mouthful" exhibit. 2012. [Online] Available at http://fstoppers.com/a-glimpse-at-tyler-shields-mouthful-photo-exhibit

Figure 4 Daniel Sperling. Mischa Barton puts head in oven for shocking 'dark side of fame shoot'. 2013. [Online]. Available at http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a520201/mischa-barton-puts-head-in-oven-for-shocking-dark-side-of-fame-shoot.html#~oEEMxoKXAE1sJN