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

Photo shop

To see what my full outfit would look like, I decided to make digital designs using photo shop. In order to do this, I used a pencil to draw out a couple of simple figures so that I would have a template to design on. I scanned the work in and opened them into photo shop and then filled the bodies in using the bucket tool. I then did the same thing to the clothes but found this part easier than the bodies. As I did the outline, I found that this was very complicated using a mouse and therefore would've been better using a graphics tablet. The outcome isn't too neat, but I found this really helped me develop my digital skills and outlook on my work. I found doing the detailed very hard as well as the designs were so intricate that they were tough to get accurate. I decided to do the designs in the style of normal fashion designs and American Apparel adverts to see the comparison between expected models and controversial. I am using the American Apparel positions to question the idea whether fashion is used to provide women freedom or are women used to sell fashion? I am really pleased with the outcome and even though I think I could've done better, I am happy I did the designs.

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My final piece

I decided that I should start making the top as I need to do my photo shoot soon. I want to change the neckline, transform it into a crop top and add embellishment. I will use the deconstruct week as inspiration for this as I found it very educational and enjoyable. It allowed me to realise that not all pieces of clothing need to be made from scratch, but instead one thing can be made into another by using creativity and skills. The first element of the process I need to to do it cut the bottom off so that I can see the size of the top. Considering the top is already hemmed in the centre, I cut along the edge of the mesh panel in order to create a crop top. By doing this, I can now re design the neck line and see how it measures onto a model. I chose to cut a square neck. After I done this and was pleased with the results, I moved onto the patterns and embellishment. Keeping to my chosen pattern, I hand stitched the design at both sides of the piece using yellow thread and cotton. This was easier than the earlier practices, but I still found this quite complicated as I wanted the stitches to be neat and even. After stitching 3 rows per line for a few hours, I am mostly happy with the result of it. On a few parts, there are some smaller stitches but due to the larger outline row, this is less obvious. A simpler way of doing this would have been to use a sewing machine, but I prefer to hand stitch as it's easier to be more accurate to your design. I then added diamantes (some round and some square) to add the glamour the the 20's and to add some extra feminine aspects. Overall, I am very pleased with my top as It is how I imagined it to be. I need to do a photo shoot now and this will be the main focus of the photos.

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Figure 1 Unknown author. 2014. [Online] Available at http://www.boohoo.com/restofworld/clothing/tops/icat/new-in/sammy-sheer-panel-vest/invt/azz32389

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Final pattern

I decided to test out stitching styles on basic cotton material. I used black and dark yellow thread and cotton to do this. I hoped to see how simple or hard it was to do this stitching and whether I should use it it for my top. If I didn't practice this, than the idea perceived may be completely different from the actual piece. The pattern was quite simple at times but tricky to get the stitches even. I need to practice this in order to have a clean, detailed result. The second attempt I did included thick thread, as I used it as an outline. I want to create a thicker effect and think this has really helped achieve this goal. I will use this style for my final piece as I think it has turned out the way I wanted it too and has also helped me understand more about hand stitching and the process of embroidering.

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20s Patterns

I have started to think about the patterns I am going to use for my top. I am researching common patterns from the twenties to inspire this design and keep the theme of the jazz era going throughout my project. I don't want the design to be too complicated as I have chosen to hand stitch the pattern with multiple materials but will be sticking to a dark yellow colour. I have created some basic, digital patterns to get an understanding of how it will look. I done this in a basic way because due to the contrast in colour, the outline of the stitching will be the most obvious part of the top (very little detail will be seen). I like the first piece the most as it is both common of the twenties and the art deco movement. The others I like as well, but I feel they do not create the feminine effect I need for my piece. Even though I am aiming towards a style that includes elements of masculine fashion, I want to balance it with small feautures such as the patterns.

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A piece of literature that has helped me chose this is T.S Eliot's poem the poem 'The Waste  land'. The quote that really stood out to me was 'the glitter of her jewels rose to meet it, from satin cases poured in rich profusion; in vials of ivory and coloured glass': this automatically made me think of bottles and I began to research glass perfume bottles from the twenties. The photos I found include sharp geometric shapes and this makes me sure of what I want to use as I find my pattern and the bottles similar.

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 I also found an illustration and a pillow that include similar styles. They both have straight lines that include squares and rectangular shapes. Every item I have looked at are quite a like and I feel that including this in my top will allow people to understand what decade the style looks like it's from.

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Figure 2 Billie Anne Taylor. Exquisite perfume bottles. 2013. [Online]. Available at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/255931191297825246/

Figure 3 Unknown author. Things I like: perfume bottles. 2013. [Online]. Available at http://www.lilikoijoy.com/2013/02/things-i-like-perfume-bottles.html

Figure 4 Unknown author. Vintage perfume bottles. 2008. [Online]. Available at http://romantichome.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/vintage-perfume-bottles.html

Figure 5 Bettina Deda. The art of decorating in the 1920's and 30's. 2013. [Online]. Available at http://www.bdcolourdesign.net.au/the-art-of-decorating-in-the-1920s-and-30s/

Figure 6 Helen Lane. [Online]. Available at http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-154936739/stock-vector-art-deco-abstract-pattern-for-the-invitations-cards.html?src=Ce1Zq4Lsl46syZDjO6gcAg-1-88

Figure 7 Unknown author. Art deco. [Online]. Available at https://www.mandauefoam.ph/blog/art-deco/

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Styling

For my photo shoot, my model will be wearing the top I am re making but I want to also fully style the rest of the out fit and setting. I could simply photograph the top as this is the main piece I have worked on and therefore would be the center of the viewers focus, but instead I feel like by putting as much effort into the rest of the outfit, a theme will be made evident. I have decided to dress my model in black suit trousers after researching historic, fashion icons and noticing they broke gender barriers. I have also chosen to keep the background extremely simple due to the inspiration from the American Apparel adverts. I hope this will provide enough contrast in colour (black and white) to allow the top to become an highly focused element of the photographs. By doing this, the main detailing will be on the top also, therefore this will also allow people to focus on the top I created.