Paradise Spread With a Butter Knife

Today was the last day I get to have my anti- fur coat hanging...

Tue, 15 May 2012 14:18:28 +0100

Today was the last day I get to have my anti- fur coat hanging like a creepy visitor in my room! It is now hung in the exhibition space. I originally brought my mannequin from home to display the coat, but with some coaxing from Ash, I was convinced to hang it up using a glass rod and fishing wire. It now looks like its floating in mid air- a really cool effect i think. I also used chicken wire to bulk out the body, and moulded it into this twisted shape. The finished article!

Photographs courtesy of Mr William Pike. I’m please with...

Mon, 14 May 2012 17:42:00 +0100

Photographs courtesy of Mr William Pike. I’m please with the jacket now but have been unable to get a model yet. I’ll try to find someone in college tomorrow before i install the work in the exhibition space.

Photo

Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

A basic illustration depicting each section of the jacket. I...

Thu, 10 May 2012 21:59:50 +0100

A basic illustration depicting each section of the jacket. I have done side and back views too, but thought these weren’t quite the same so left them out. I think this gets the point across though

This painting was done, by me, today, with pencil and paint, and...

Thu, 10 May 2012 14:41:50 +0100

This painting was done, by me, today, with pencil and paint, and some lipstick. Not a biro in sight! Shocking, i know! I copied the image from the cover of The royalty issue of I.D magazine. There’s some great articles inside about Karl Lagerfeld, who I love, who couldn’t? He’s a genius. He also always has some really interesting quotes in interview, such as “The most important thing you should know about me, is that everything you’re told by others is not necessarily the truth.”

wow! I hope our gallery space looks as cool as this! KAWS...

Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

wow! I hope our gallery space looks as cool as this!

KAWS “Nature of Need” Exhibition at Galerie Perrotin Hong Kong

The exhibition runs until June 30th, 2012

I’ve been desperately trying to concentrate on...

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:38:00 +0100

I’ve been desperately trying to concentrate on illustration tonight for A1 sheets in my portfolio. This is an illustration of a silver fox on one of my inspiration pages

“Please do not touch”

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:36:03 +0100

“Please do not touch”

I really want this piece to stand out, not only from a fashion...

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:33:46 +0100

I really want this piece to stand out, not only from a fashion point of view, but in it’s presentation of concept too, so I began making this cage. It’s supposed to be representative of the cages that fur- bearing animals would be kept in when they’re farmed, and it will house my final piece. I had quite a lot of help making this cage, as i’m not exactly skilled in woodwork, but i think it has come out pretty well. It is slightly wonky, but only from the side, so face on it will look straight. As well as this, i plan to make a mannequin from chicken wire to hold the garment. This is partly because i’ve made the jacket so small, it doesnt close on a normal manequin, and also the chicken wire will add to the concept of the piece.

The final piece now has a large hood that I think looks better...

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The final piece now has a large hood that I think looks better than a furry collar; has a cleaner finish. I made the pattern for the hood with grease proof paper and a jacket i own that had a good sized hood on it. This, in my opinion, totally finishes of the jacket, tying up the loose edges of the collar, or at least hiding them. The needle on my sewing machine broke mid- hood sew so i had to finish it by hand but found this still looked pretty good as the thread was the same colour and the line was hidden my a thick hem at the top!

I’ve played around quite a bit with the placement of fur...

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

I’ve played around quite a bit with the placement of fur around the jacket collar and i’m still dubious as to whether to keep it there. I think I may just leave it bear (excuse the pun).

These pieces of fur would be the jackets lapels. I’m not...

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

These pieces of fur would be the jackets lapels. I’m not sure whether to keep them or just keep the fur solely on the arms. On second thought, i’ll probably take them off…

I’ve attached as much faux fur as the length of my own...

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

I’ve attached as much faux fur as the length of my own arms, this is the jacket inside out with the sleeves sewn so far. I think it would be interesting to manipulate the length of the sleeves and cause even more of a “bunched up” look.

The teddy bear eyes are one of the central adornments of my...

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The teddy bear eyes are one of the central adornments of my jacket, so placing them needed to have a lot of thought put into it. It’s difficult to say?? I think they look incredibly tacky, but I don’t really mind, i like the creepy nature of them, and its something pretty different. In fact i dont care whatsoever if they look tacky, i think they’re fun :)

I’ve FINALLY made a descision about which jacket to go...

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

I’ve FINALLY made a descision about which jacket to go with, and decided that the blue/ violet polly- cotton is too garish when paired with all the faux fur, so white cotton drill it is! I guess is most due to the structured nature of my initial attempt; the lines look very clean and tailored which is the original look i was going for!

I’ve even started to attach the faux fur patterns, deciding to use these as big, bunchy sleeves instead of a back panel. I think a back panel makes the jacket look a bit hunch backed.

The next part of my process; fitting the pattern pieces and...

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The next part of my process; fitting the pattern pieces and altering the size. I always make the pieces far too big to begin with so i altered it on the mannequin, and these images show the stages of progression, from pinning to sewing to the (almost) finished product. Again, i’ve uploaded this in two parts as theres quite a lot of images…

EVEN MORE IMAGES!!!

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

EVEN MORE IMAGES!!!

While I was waiting for my lift home, I managed to take these...

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

While I was waiting for my lift home, I managed to take these photos outside whilst for some reason it wasn’t raining?? An old man came up to me and complemented the jacket. He also asked if the mannequin was mine. When i replied “no, i’ve borrowed it from the college”, he told me he could get me a real skeleton if I liked. Thankfully my friend showed up at this point…

The problems I have with this jacket;

Firstly, I liked the original jacket i made because of it’s rigid structure due to the stiff fabric I used. This poly-cotton is too thin and flimsy and looks more like a shirt than a coat. Also the colour and fabric combined reminds me of medical scrubs, certainly not the look i was going for. Once i get it alongside the first jacket i’ll have to make up my mind which i’ll use in the final piece.

I love this graphic by artist and photographer David Bailey. A...

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

I love this graphic by artist and photographer David Bailey. A catchy tag line too, always helps a campaign

I wanted to test out this method that i’d read about on...

Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

I wanted to test out this method that i’d read about on quite a well known blog, http://www.girlalamode.co.uk/. Charlie May, the designer and writer of the blog, suggested a great way to create a DIY sports Lux looks, by using a hole punch set on fabric. Although i’ve yet again managed to make it look pretty weird, and alot less chic by adding my weird googly eyes.. I think I like the original best!