Comparative Shopping

For this task I decided to visit Nottingham as there was a bigger range of shops in the market place. I visited most shops that were in both the Value, Middle market and Premium (Designer) to get a good insight of the different shops layout and the actual garment quality.

I focused on specific garments such as scarfs and jumpers. I found the quality changes as u go up a level in the market place.

These images I took of the scarfs in Dorothy Perkins. The colours were bold and colourful; the technique to create the scarves was woven and then printed. I found the quality wasn’t that great and the seam finish wasn’t good as the edges were easy to fray. The shop was very cluttered, small and busy and the sales assistants really weren’t much help.

I then visited All Saints and found a lovely scarf made with thick material that was dyed and then woven. The scarf was big and chunky and well suited for this season’s weather I could tell the quality was much better than Dorothy Perkins. I also found the building very interesting, very theatrical looking, dark and well-spaced out layout. The sales assistants were very nice and helpful and always made sure I was ok or needed anything.

Lastly Paul Smith was my favourite. The Scarves on display were beautiful with fine silk and so delicate to touch. The technique was printed silk with a nice finished hem. The shop layout was so lovely and spaced out it was like an exhibition in a grand house, I felt at ease to take time to look at the garments and when I wanted to try on garments that reached prices of £180 the sales assistant asked if I would like to try it on and then gently took it from me and put it in the changing room much to my positive shock. The photo of the cardigan below was from Paul Smith.

Print samples!

After these past 4 weeks I was able to create 6 digital print samples, designed from my summer project “City life – Not on the high street” I used Photoshop to alter and manipulate my sketches and to create interesting patterns and abstract prints.  I really enjoyed the designing bit but I had a few hiccups with the printing as the images were not very strong and so I had to repeat the process and make the background darker so the print came out bolder.  I really like the designs I created and think the detail is really effective on them.   Below I have two of my prints which I can visualise on a non-sleeve dress and a thin belt on the waist; basically the dresses that are in fashion now.

The 4 week rotation so far

I'm finding the 4 week rotation on my course quite intense and busy.  I like being busy and having things to do but it feels rushed and hard to understand what I have been asked to do and complete for the crit.  At the moment I'm printing and I used to dislike print and found it board me because I couldn’t create texture, but after many fun experiments  last year I have discovered that print isn’t that bad and I could specialise in it.  I am very competent in Photoshop and I feel my designs are improving and becoming stronger the more I work on them.  I really like beadwork so I will add detail in my samples once they have been digitally printed.  I haven’t used the digital printer before so it will be interesting to see what the samples look like.  I have one week left to get all my 6 samples ready so I'm slightly feeling pressured but my motivation and determination to do my best will allow me to succeed in this.  I will then move on to knit which I enjoy so I can’t wait to start a new project and create new designs and experiment with the techniques and machines.  

Looking Backwards and Moving Forwards...

During my time in University I have been able to create my own personality suited to me and my skills in textile design.  I have also noticed a distinct style; full of colour, floral pattern, detail and beadwork which I think would be my own design handwriting.  I know that my creative mind is strong as I'm a very artistically minded but I know my professional mind isn’t strong and I know I still need to focus on the lectures and assessments and to improve my knowledge by studying and preparing my work professionally.  My sample work in Knit, Print and Weave also need to have some professional work and experimentation developed.

The reason I decided to do the BA Hons Textile Design started at GCSE level. At the start of the 2 years of Art and Design GCSE I thought I wasn’t good enough compared to everyone but with encouragement from family and friends my artistic skills grew stronger and I improved so much that by the end of the 2 year GCSE level I received the Art and Design award in my year in both campuses.  I was over the moon and knew that I had a gift in Art and should take it further because it was the only subject I enjoyed but I did not think of going to University at this time as I didn’t think university was for artists but just for really smart intellectual people.  I then did a BTEC National Diploma in Art and Design and further developed my skills by learning and developing new techniques.  It was through these two years that I enjoyed Textiles as an art and was encouraged to create wall hangings and create fashion accessories.  So I wanted to study textiles further and was encouraged to decide if I wanted to study it further in University.  Then after open days and interviews I came to Derby University and so far I have developed a strong passion in fashion and I want to create samples in textiles suited to fashion.

My dream job would be altering garments preferably 2^nd hand and revamping them to suit the current trend and reusing clothing to help save the environment which I'm very much serious about. I would love to have my own business with people to help me with the financial and business aspect of it.  But in an ideal world I think I’d be more suited to a company where I would work in a specific area maybe in design and recreating the garments.