Final major Project

AWA

Final Statement

My 8 week project for the FMP was Attachment within Addiction with my end final piece being one full garment for menswear, with a photo shoot and a short film. In the essence of my project as a whole I feel that I have learnt a lot on the course and really have broadened my way of working. I feel that I have learnt skills that before I would not have been able to do, such as making a full garment, as I would have to say my sewing skill before were not the best. In the essence of my work I have slowly started to move away from my comfort zone to explore more ideas that wouldn’t first cross my mind. I believe through this project I have also learnt to self critique if I wasn’t doing a particular thing right, revolving in alteration until I am completely confident with what I have done.

Sewing button holes, sleeves, and trousers is one of the many skills that I have grasped during my project as well as having the awareness to develop and explore colours, making that a priority when designing a piece. Nonetheless there are still aspects I hope to continue at and get better, which would include design development in more depth as I still feel the urge to rush into a design without considering the extension of structure and shape which could affect the way my final garments are made, causing similar final garments.  My pattern cutting skills is something that I too need to practise, as I am unable to really go outside the box if my pattern cutting skills are minor. Nevertheless I am very pleased with how my final piece turned out and I feel that I have made a lot of progress and have learnt so much during my project, plus managing my time using the FMP planner timetable really worked for me as through the project I didn’t feel as though I was falling behind or having to rush due to lack of time; I was able to work strictly to my planner which allowed my project to go by smoothly.  Through the FMP plan research was something that was a strong point for me in this project as I allowed myself a lot of time to fully explore my theme and to really dive in deep to gathering ideas that I wouldn’t originally think of first hand, and as before my research wasn’t practically my strong point so I was very pleased that I focused more upon it which also made my sketchbook flow more and displayed a much more clearer concept. Time management when creating my garment was something that too went smoothly as I was able to plan out exactly how many days needed to make it so I didn’t end up spending too long or a little amount of time to make it which resolved in me taking my time to make it causing little to no mistakes in the making. I hope to take these with me in my future course of managing my time well and really developing further my ideas.

When starting my FMP I originally wanted to focus upon very intense, vibrant neon colours as going through my research the vibrant colours is what attracted me the most and I felt lured in by its striking appearance; however as my project went on, I had struggles coming to terms with how the neon colours would blend together as a whole piece, as I began to feel a little unsure with the whole idea of using colours so bold. In terms to my project I also felt that it didn’t really relate, especially when my project began to turn quite personal and more so looking into self-esteem and youth, it just didn’t seem to work for me anymore.

During my group reviews I was told by my tutor that my project initially was not personal enough and it seemed that ‘addiction’ seemed to only be based around others lives or in the general rather than my own life, which I could understand where he was coming from. This is when I decided to look into obesity, and layers of skin with the use of fabric samples and looking into an artist called Jenny Saville this brought my attention to skin tones and the way the colours change within mood and each stage of the skin which I found very fascinating, making me divert my colour scheme towards nude colours and delicate pinks.

I had decided to make this choice as I felt that the colours could represent my garment in a way that really displayed my theme regarding my personal connection to the project. In addition to my fabric choice, which also altered to suit the concept of my project, as initially I explored light fabrics such as silk, chiffon, waterproof, and so on; however when it came to putting the fabrics together they did not work well as a whole as they only seemed to contrast with each other, therefore I decided to go for stretchy nude fabrics as I felt it resembled the look of skin quite nicely without being too heavy and over-powering as I wanted it to press against the models skin like a shield; however I used the outer coat as a way of covering up like our body is more of a burden, therefore needs to be hidden. Nonetheless the different cut outs and the openings within the coat displays my mental process,  as I tend to be in my own world so I get these hallucination and anxiety as though everyone is watching me and they can read me like a book and my shelter is the only thing that can stop everyone from looking.

 In the essence of the padding and heavy covering the reason behind this was through myself not feeling attached to my body, having to live with myself and wishing I could love myself; constantly feeling out of place and not good enough, causing me to be cautious of my surroundings and obsessed with others thoughts on me as pleasing everyone was my priority more over myself, and covering my skin to blend in the sight of the people around me became very important. This is why for the outer coat I wanted it to have a heavy kind of fabric as a way of carrying fears and doubts, with lots of layering to show off my struggles dealing with my own low self-esteem and concealing myself. Another reason as to why I had a great amount of padding within my outer coat was due to my brother passing away as after he died it affected my parents severely to the point where they became too over protective that it might happen again. I felt as though I was being suffocated by them, that I was feeling trapped and babied down like I didn’t get to have control over-myself; constantly being watched and shielded to the point where it just became too much. I felt as though I was being sucked in by their obsessive worrying; slowly watching everyone around me move on with their lives while I am strapped down and cushioned like a child no longer having that freedom to breath, so much so that I kept to myself feeling isolated; gradually watching myself sinking into the saturation of my own protection.       

The bottoms too express my feeling of being babied and isolated. I chose to create a pair of dungarees with some alterations on it and a print of jelly babies. I felt that the jelly babies really suited with what I was trying to get across as I feel that you instantly think of a child when looking at these sweets, also the use of the ‘babies’ just shows the position of being stuck and this kind of fake world. I had chosen to do this as a way of displaying my lack of freedom and being forced to come to terms with my inner child. I felt that dungarees represented an image of innocence like a child. I also felt this strong attachment and obsession with my past and how it has effects my self esteem and lack of control over myself, I felt was due to my brother’s death being so sudden and being so young that no one had the opportunity to adjust to the realisation that he is no longer there so all that’s left is the past and no future, like the past has replaced the present and the future. With the garment as a whole it is very similar to pyjamas with its cosy image shows a representation of being lost with your own mind; attached towards your own thoughts like a baby letting your imagination and fears move you further away from reality.