DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

As a second year student, majoring in Fashion Design, I believe that i have developed an aesthetic over the past two years that can be viewed as a consistent theme through each of my garments, often exploiting femininity by exposing what lies within a women's mind. I am not only, continuously inspired by the idea of stereotypes and the expectations that lie beneath the heading of a female, but i am also intrigued by fellow students views, and other creative practitioners concepts. The materials (soft floating fabrics and feminine laces, often featuring in the 'candy spew' colour pallet or a floral arrangement) and techniques (voluminous gathers) I often use have created a 'Thats so you' reaction from my peers. I learnt to love the techniques and outcomes of hand sewing quilts and garments from a young age, i feel that my strengths as a designer lie in my ability to think laterally and take risks to produce outcomes in my designs that challenge the norm. However when designing, I more often then most, create a target customer for that particular design/ collection, from the hobbies she partakes in, to her morals and beliefs. I basically design for 'her' she always has a name, and i aim for my consumers to be similar to her in that when they look at my garments there is an instant 'love at first sight, touch and fit' reaction. After researching the in's and out's of the issues surrounding sustainability and fashion, i found myself build a strong morality not only as a designer, but as a consumer also. Only yesterday I was walking threw Endeavour in Paddington thinking to myself, if i don't buy these garments, who will save/ stop them from being treated as waste and adding to the masses dumped into landfill yearly. I was fretting to the point that I must have had SUCH a distressed look on my face, for the volunteer behind the desk to notice and ask, "Are you okay... You look overwhelmed". In the future i hope to incorporate second hand clothing in my practices by up- cycling and creating 'one of pieces' that will be LOVED, no longer pre- loved.

No more tea parties.

My visual presentation revolves specifically around pushing the dialog to express femininity.

I see myself dressed in my doily cape and lingerie, my hair and make up is done as if i were a doll.

I was inspired by the idea of a tea party, as being a feminine representation.

During the design process of the lingerie garments, i visited various op shops to find the right second hand garment/ material to adopt and up- cycle to create a soft vintage style/ shape bra and panel for the french underwear. Initially i was searching for a sheer fabric, preferably floral, however i had no luck in finding any suitable patterns. My head was constantly reminding me that the doily cape was the main attraction and I was wary to not draw the focal point away from it with an a-stranged colour combination that majority of the florals i came across offered. So after trial and error (one garment was bought, cut and then scrapped) i decided to reach within my own wardrobe and up- cycle one of my own dresses, due to the guilt i gained after putting a stop to a garment having a valued second life. Up- cycling within my own wardrobe was a challenge, it is not a pleasant experience cutting into a garment you once felt 'love at first sight' for... but for my own conscious, it was a rewarding spin on the experience of constructing a garment from Up- cycling pre- loved clothing.

HOW TO

make a cape of Doilies

• Collect a variety of second hand doilies, preferably circular in shape. The amount is dependent on the desired length of the cape/ train, and the size/ shape of the hood.
• Begin with one doily as the centre piece, on a flat surface hand sew accompanying doilies using 70% Bamboo 30% Cotton, around the centre piece, overlapping small portions where necessary.
• One technique of hand sewing is utilized in the construction of the garment, Hemming Stitch.

HEMMING STITCH

• Work from right to left with a single thread.
• Fasten the thread with a knot on the wrong side of the doily.
• Bring the needle out of the wrong side and pick up a few threads of flat fabric just above the overlapping edge
• Make the same stitch through the overlapping fabric.
• Work your way around, following the circular shape of the overlapping doilies

• As the cape grows in size, begin moulding it into a square shape by creating straight lengths of medium and small sized doilies and corners of large sized doilies. Continue until satisfied with the size/ length.
• Test this by: picking up one corner, wrapping the doilies around the shoulders of a mannequin or yourself, survey the volume of draping, length of the cape and the length and width of the train. (the horizontal corners wrap and drape around the figure while the opposite vertical corner creates the point of the train).
• Using the same technique, beginning with one doily as the centre piece, hand sew accompanying doilies around the centre piece, eventually moulding it into a rectangular shape by creating a width and a length. Continue until satisfied with the size/ shape.
• Test this by: picking up two corners, from either side of a length, pin them together on the inside,creating the centre seam of the hood. Place on the head of a mannequin or yourself and while holding the neck piece in place survey the length/ fall around the face and the volume gathered behind the neck.
• Purchase 3 m’s of ribbon, 7 cm’s in width. Lay the ribbon on a flat surface. Place a soaked tea bag, at random on the ribbon, allowing the material to absorb the tea. Hang ribbon on the clothes line to dry.
• Cut one piece of ribbon at 34cm’s- interface
• Fold the remaining length of ribbon in half, to find the centre- interface 30cm on centre.
• Overlock the pinned centre seam of the hood, in a rounded motion.
• Overlock 50 cm’s (will vary due to the size of the hood, always overlock the length) of the length of the hood. (leaving the two widths to fall around the face)
• Cut a semi- circle shape, of approximately 60cm, out of one corner of the doilies.Overlock the raw edge
• With a sewing machine, and a pin feed the overlocked edge of the doilies at a 1cm seam allowance into the straight stitch machine. As the doilies are catching, lift the foot slightly and with a pin, tuck the fabric under itself to create a pin tuck. By doing this we aim to tuck/ gather the fabric of 60cm back to half its length of 30cm.
• Pin tuck the overlocked edge of the doilies cape at a 1cm seam allowance.By doing this we aim to tuck/ gather the fabric of 50cm’s back to 30cm’s.
• Top stitch the pin tucked edge of the doily cape onto the bottom edge of the 34cm piece of ribbon, leaving 2cm’s at each end.
• Top stitch the pin tucked edge of the doily hood onto the top edge of the 34cm piece of ribbon, leaving 2cm’s at each end.
• Fold each end of the ribbon, 1cm and straight stitch it to the edge of the centred 30cm interfaced area of the remaining ribbon.
• Top stitch the doily cape into the 30cm interfaced area of the remaining ribbon, making sure to case the pin tucked edge in between the two ribbons neatly.
• Top stitch the doily hood into the 30cm interfaced area of the remaining ribbon, making sure to case the pin tucked edge in between the two ribbons neatly.

• Throw the ribbon around the neck of the mannequin or yourself, tie the ribbon in a bow, drape the doilies around the figure, and display the hood while congratulating yourself on constructing a garment that is...

“An outfit that wants to change the world” (Alexander 2008)

"An outfit that wants to change the world"

(Alexander 2005)

TWENTY- NINE hours of hand sewing and constructing documented

This is an outfit that hopes to change the world in relation to the issues surrounding fashion and sustainability. The doily cape intends to do this by not only promoting the up- cycling of second hand or pre- loved clothing, materials or objects but by also inspiring consumers to research and become aware of the impact that the manufacturing process, life and after life of the textile and/or garment is having on the environment before making a purchase. The garment also not only aspires to stimulate designers to explore sustainable alternatives to utilise instead of say, cotton, when constructing a garment, but hopes to install a trend that see's designers hand sewing their garments to promote sustainability in fashion. A hand sewn garment is harder to part with, therefore will not be treated as waste and dumped into landfill, through this trend will also come a decline in fast- fashion resulting in less textile waste again.

As previously stated, this is....

"An outfit that wants to change the world"

(Alexander 2005)

"Growing a green aesthetic"

(Menkes 2006)

TWENTY- SIX HOURS of hand sewing documented

Twenty- six hours over a period of two weeks have been spent hand sewing delicate, frail doilies.

TWENTY- ONE HOURS of hand sewing documented

Twenty one hours over a period of a week and a half have been spent hand sewing delicate, frail doilies.

How Green is Bamboo?

My determination towards finding a sustainable alternative vs cotton thread lead me to three options... Human hair, Cotton Twine and 70%Bamboo 30% Cotton Wool. After researching the sustainability of human hair in comparison to Cotton thread, i was faced with a moral dilemma. Human hair proved to be the more sustainable option, however its positive impact on the environment lead me to believe that using it for thread to construct a garment would not provide it with a greater value then its use as a clean up technology for oil spills around the world. So, therefore i was instantly down to just two options. I decided to sample the alternatives and I tested the strength of the twine and wool, the ease to thread and hand sew the products and the overall effect that was being added to the fragile doilies. In comparing both the cotton twine and the bamboo/cotton wool, the alternatives proved similar to cotton thread in strength, however when hand sewing I found the twine difficult to use. Due to its texture and thickness, the twine was stressing the delicate doilies often damaging and changing their shape, where as the bamboo/cotton wool was no different to cotton thread easily threaded, hand sewn and disappeared into the detail of the various doilies. After sampling the alternatives i made the decision to use 70%Bamboo 30% Cotton wool to hand sew my garment. BUT...

Is 70% Bamboo 30% Cotton wool the sustainable option?

HUMAN HAIR

COTTON TWINE

70% BAMBOO 30% COTTON WOOL

SAMPLE: HUMAN HAIR

SAMPLE: COTTON TWINE

SAMPLE: BAMBOO COTTON WOOL

BAMBOO

Does bamboo have the poetical to be a more sustainable and eco- friendly alternative vs cotton?

Botanically categorised as a grass and not a tree, bamboo is used for a wide variety of commercial uses, including food, construction, decoration and clothing. Bamboo has earned a reputation as a environmentally friendly and renewable resource due to it's natural and rapid growth, without the use of any pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers. As a result of its rapid growth it can be harvested within 4 years, and as it embodies a vast root network, bamboo does not require replanting after harvesting as it continually sprouts new shoots. Growing bamboo improves soil quality and helps rebuild eroded soil, its vast root network, as mentioned previously, also holds soil together and retains water. Furthermore, Bamboo plantations are large factories for photosynthesis which reduces greenhouse gases.

"Bamboo plants absorb about 5 times the amount of carbon dioxide (a primary greenhouse gas) and produces about 35% more oxygen than an equivalent stand of trees" (Michael 2007).

However, most importantly, Bamboo clothing (both mechanically and chemically manufactured) has proven to be 100% biodegradable and can decompose completely without emitting pollutants such as methane gas into the atmosphere and waterways, UNLIKE COTTON.

When researching the manufacturing process where Bamboo the plant is transformed into Bamboo the fabric, the Sustainability and Ec0- friendly lustre surrounding the grass became slightly tarnished. "It's hard to imagine that the entire bamboo plant- including both its leaves and tall, woody stalks, can be transformed into soft, silky fabric." (Ginsburg 2008)

Mechanically and Chemically are the two manufacturing processes that produce Bamboo fabric. By crushing woody parts of the bamboo plant, then using natural enzymes to break the bamboo walls into a mushy mass so that the natural fibres are combed and mechanically spun into yarn. Due to its similarities in manufacturing bamboo made mechanically is often referred to as Bamboo Linen. Mechanically processing is more labor intensive and costly, therefore very little bamboo linen is manufactured. Chemically manufactured Bamboo is produced by 'cooking' the entire plant in strong chemical solvents such as sodium hydroxide and carbon disulfide.

"Both Sodium Hydroxide and Carbon Disulfide have been linked to serious health problems. Breathing low levels of Carbon Disulfide can cause tiredness, headaches and nerve damage. Low levels of exposure to Sodium Hydroxide can cause irritation of the skin and eyes" (Michael 2007). Bamboo, like cotton with its pesticides, uses toxic chemicals, in the processing of the fibres, that have proven to be a health risk to humans. In countries with economic issues, neither employers or employees are financially able to fund protective equipment and are at a higher risk to these symptoms and/or fatalities. However when researching i became aware of newer manufacturing facilities, that have begun using other technologies to chemically manufacture bamboo. The process used to produce Lyocell from wood cellulose can now be modified to use Bamboo cellulose.

" The Lyocell processing is substantially healthier and more eco- friendly because N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide is supposedly non-toxic to humans and the chemical manufacturing processes are closed-loop so 99.5% of the chemicals used during the processing are captured and recycled to be used again, only trace amounts escape into the atmosphere or into waste waters." (Michael 2007) This just might be the sustainable solution that will ensure that there is truth behind Bamboo's Sustainable and Eco- friendly reputation.

Bamboo is a more sustainable alternative vs Cotton Thread.

Although the manufacturing process of Bamboo tarnished the lustre surrounding the sustainable reputation it upheld, i still believe that in comparison to Cotton, Bamboo is the more sustainable alternative. No one has the answers to produce a 100% Sustainable object, there are objects with sustainable qualities, and some qualities are more sustainable then others. Therefore, with masses of Cotton clothing being dumped into landfill yearly, emitting pollutants into our atmosphere and waterways while it SLOWLY decomposes, Bamboo's ability to decompose 100% in soil with the use of micro-organisms and sunlight, without emitting any pollutants is a favourable, sustainable quality to possess. Quite Simply Cottons Con's on the environment list is much less favourable in comparison to Bamboo's Pro's on the environment list.

After much research, i have made an informed decision to use 70% Bamboo 30% Cotton wool

as the more sustainable alternative vs Cotton Thread!

Visual Presentation

My visual presentation revolves specifically around pushing the dialog to express femininity. I have produced a detailed plan of how i hope to visually present my garment before i have completed the actual making of it. I thought it best to document this detailed plan, my inspiration and introduce my design before the detailed plan lost all its detail...

Doilies: I have always had a fascination with doilies. WhenI heard Heidi's concept of pushing the dialog to express

femininity, her preferred materials (delicate laces, human hair and wax) and her favoured colour pallet known as 'Candy Spew' i was instantly inspired. I was mainly drawn Into Heidi's use of human hair, and began researching

alternatives to cotton thread to construct a garment, (tying in with sustainability). My material of choice is pre- loved

doilies, i aim to thread them together with a more sustainable option vs cotton thread. The end product will be a hand sewn cape, featuring a hood and train.A delicate feminine lingerie piece will feature under the cape.The colour pallet is 'CANDY SPEW'.

Tea party: I was inspired by the idea of a tea party, as being a feminine representation. Young or old girls serving tea to their dollies or their friends, in pearls, lipstick, heels and sheer lace blouses. Nibbling on cupcakes with pretty pink icing on the antique china,a garden overgrown with beautiful flowers and green grass. It's a feminine scene, it is our sanctuary and a representation of our innocence, our childhood. Doilies remind me of a tea- party: delicate, girly, innocent.Doilies= table cloth?

Ballerina Music Box: After being inspired by the scene of a tea party, i was obsessed with the idea of femininity within a young girl. The idea of wearing your mothers hats, dresses, heels and jewellery, carrying around your doll and treating her like your baby. Femininity is installed in us from a young age and i believe that the ballerina music box is an iconic symbol of every young girls childhood.

Yvonne Todd: Heidi Stevens presented me with a book of Yvonne Todd's Art, a series of images of women who look like dolls. I was drawn to this particular image as the model looks like a young girl/doll, in a wedding dress, dull and lifeless holding a symbolic single rose. Heidi mentioned that she was also inspired by the ideaof marriage, in the way of being the end to your life as an indépendant. My take on this concept was the end of your childhood.... NO MORE TEA PARTIES.

SHORT FILM

As my visual presentation i wish to shoot a series of still photographs and create a short film. As an extension of Heidi Steven's art, i wish to put myself in the garment, as she does her art. To set the scene: I see myself dressed in my doilies cape and lingerie, my hair and make up is done as if i were a doll. I am in a garden with a backdrop of beautiful flowers. I am sitting down at a small round table, with teddies and dolls. You can not tell i am wearing the cape, the hood is down and the train is sprawled across the table servicing as the table cloth. A ballerina music box is playing in the background. I poor each of my guests a tea and place a cupcake on my plate. I turn around as if i have heard my name being called, I see a man in a suit with his hand out, expecting me to go with him. I look down at my hand and their is a ring on my engagement finger. I put my hood on and slowly walk away taking his hand. As i walk away the teddy and dollies fall off their chairs, the table cloth follows me spilling the coffee and cake on it as i leave (close up view, showing the texture of the doilies and the motion of the spilling tea cups)... I look back as i am walking away with sadness.

Salvation Army

EXCURSION TO THE SALVATION ARMY.

The warehouse was neatly congested with boxes upon boxes, bags upon bags and mattresses against mountains of toilet paper. This is where it became apparent to me that the fashion industry produces trend after trend for each season of each year and as the new season is released, last years season is no longer loved, but pre- loved and buried within a bag in a warehouse like this, hoping for a second chance, or treated as waste, dumped in landfills. With companies producing mass replicas of high end fashion, at a lesser quality and cheaper price point the era of disposable fashion is born, the fast fashion garments are what filled these crates and industrial hessian bags before me that day.

Referring back to the week 2: Reuse Recycle ppt. Clothing and textile waste in the UK is 2.3 million tonnes- 40kg per person with 1/4 recovered (13% material recovery and 13% incinerated to recover energy) (Feltcher 2008) The remaining 3/4 (30kg) per person goes to landfill and as they break down produce methane emissions among other pollutants that are emitted to air and also make their way into groundwater (Fletcher 2008).

When i stood before the mass of clothing that filled this warehouse these statistics became real to me. Sub- conciously i began bickering to myself, if we did not have such a fast pasted industry the masses of clothing before me could be halved. Therefore halving the material and energy used initially, and then waste that goes to landfill. If companies weren't ripping off high end fashion, using fabrics that did not keep their shape and selling high end designs/ trends at a low price point these garments would not be so easily disposed of.

As a designer this experience was an eye opener, i have since been into op shops where i have been collecting garment after garment, envisaging the potential to up- cycle the material, to hopefully result in a more successful second life. I believe that by producing a one of piece, the garment will be appreciated, loved and admired to the point where the buyer could never part with it.Therefore the garment would never add to the textile waste statistics. As a consumer, only yesterday I was walking threw Endeavour in Paddington thinking to myself, if i don't buy these garments, who will save/ stop them from being treated as waste and adding to the masses dumped into landfill yearly. I was fretting to the point that I must have had SUCH a distressed look on my face, for the volunteer behind the desk to notice and ask, "Are you okay... You look overwhelmed". It is quite clear that I have been impacted and inspired by this excursion and this semesters theme of sustainability already. In the future i hope to incorporate the second hand clothes by up- cycling and creating 'one of pieces' that will be LOVED, no longer pre- loved.

SALVATION ARMY WAREHOUSE REDHILL

The Salvation Army provide a service to help the homeless, the poverty stricken families and the elderly, supplying shelter, clothing and household items at a far less then reasonable price. Please donate your unwanted clothing, mattresses and furniture to the Salvation Army, to help the charity and stop waste being dumped into landfill. The red bins that were once available to secure donations have been taken off the streets of Brisbane. Once a charge was enforced to dump trash at the tip, the red Salvation Army bins became a dumping grounds for human waste, dead pets and grass clippings, the bins have been removed for the health and safety of those volunteers who sought threw such 'donation' bags. Make your donations to your local Salvation Army store.

Up-cycling Doilies

"Early doilies were round and made of a white or off- white cotton crochet thread"

(Higinbotham, 2002)

My material of choice, Doilies, are in fact made of cotton thread (more often then most). As previously stated I was bombarded with alarming facts and horror stories when researching the growing and processing of cotton. It's contributions on the Environment are in no way, 'Environmentally friendly'. Tonnes of used cotton is dumped into landfill yearly, impacting on our environment furthermore. As a designer, what can I do to contribute, ensuring a more sustainable future?

"Green is the new black for cotton".

(Blanchard, 2007)

UP- CYCLING

"To go forward, we need to be proactive and visionary in ideas".

(Thomas, 2008)

The first apparent record of the term up- cycling, was by Robert Pilz in 1994, "We walked around the impending EU demolition waste streams directive, 'Recycling, I call it down- cycling, they smash bricks, they smash everything' What we need is up- cycling where old products are given more value, not less." (Pilz, 1994) The goal of up- cycling was, in later years, previewed in the 2002 book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the new way we make things, written by William McDonough and Michael Braungard. Authors McDonough and Braungard explain that the goal of up- cycling is to prevent wasting potentially useful materials, by making use of already existing ones. In turn, the book reveals, by reducing the consumption and use of raw materials, the reduction of energy usage, air pollution, water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, will be the result of up- cycling.

Due to the devastating impact cotton has on the environment in its growth, processing, life and after life, I feel by up- cycling the material i am providing a valued second life to the product. As a designer i am, ensuring the reduction of energy usage, air pollution, water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and the masses of junk dumped into landfill yearly and i am doing this by UP- CYCLING unwanted doilies.