Final collection:
Assignment 4
Statement:
There’s an old Swedish saying that goes Vill man va fin far man lida pin. It translates as “If you want to be beautiful, you have to suffer for it.” This term has been sarcastically used to describe all the painful processes women have endured to be considered beautiful throughout history, ranging from corsetry to plucking of the eyebrows to waxing of the legs and so fourth. It simply refers to this unrealistic view of hurting yourself to live up to the expectations of society and that self-inflicted pain is an underlying meaning of beauty.
Artist:
Piet Mondrian
Composition No. 10
1939-1942
Mondrian’s non-representational paintings consists of rectangular forms separated by thick, black rectilinear lines. His use of abstraction and universality by reducing to the essentials of form and color expresses a new utopian ideal of spiritual harmony and order. The vertical and horizontal direction of lines makes for a simplified visual composition, yet the paintings exhibit a complexity that belies their apparent simplicity.
His use of lines and forms is what will inspire my process in construction of shapes composed together. However, whereas his methods are a means to express utopian ideals, mine will focus on a dis-utopian aspect of beauty and the fact that the function of clothing has made its transition from aesthetic enhancement to lethal consequences, displaying the sarcastic notion between pain and beauty.
Designer:
John Galliano for Christian Dior
Rita
Evening Trousers ensemble
Spring/Summer 1997
This haute couture design consist of a choked neck piece and lace trousers. It exhibits elegance in it’s constructed ensemble due to material and method.
Like this design I want to play with shapes in the material construction and in the trims. I will also adopt the silhouette and exaggerate certain elements.
Silhouette:
Restrained and Exaggerated
Fabrication:
Polyester Organza, Cotton Knit Jersey and Lace Trim
Method:
Draping
Sketches:
Swatches:
In Wonderland: SURREALITUDE
Our dress was inspired by Bridget Tichenor’s piece, Los Encarcelados along with the style of Alexander McQueen. Taking inspiration from the bars, we used tucks along the bodice to create the vertical lines. The dress is completely made from black organza to give a sheer look much like the heads of the piece looking out. We created about 60 cubes around the skirt to mimic the stacked boxes of the piece. Once the dress is put on, the wearer becomes one of the heads looking out of their prison cell.
