final major project degree show

these are my final designs at university i am so proud of them as i manged to achieve a first with my concepts. this is what i would like to make and do continuously as it is my passion to make and design costumes i especially love period costume which i hope comes through in  these images.

my badger costume based on the book the wind in the willows concept was for a female actor in stead of  of a male one as during my research i found no concepts for a female costume design 

my rabbit costume which is the partner to the badger costume and is taken from the the same book the wind in the willows i loved making this outfit as i got to make a cage crinoline it was hard work out of willow but the final result was really good and worked well with my fabric choices 

my final stand at my end of year degree show 2012  all my ideas for minor and major  work well together as i kept my color pallet earthy and in with each theam 

side view on my minor project , straight jacket design based around the life of the marce de sade yes his life was a bit barbaric and sadistic but i was trying to focus on his struggle which i think i brought to life as the straight jacket its self i have written pieces from his work to try and depict his insanity i also based it around the 17th century dress that he may have worn and tailored the straight jacket to the style of the jacket which he may have worn 

this is the hat that finished of the full costume of my rabbit design as you can see i have styled it around the rabbits head and have use the rabbits ears in my design 

this is the hat that matches the badger costume and finishes the look i based this on the badgers head with the black and white striped i looked at the concept of how the actor would move in the outfit and thought the hat would work better than a full masque 

hats and fascinators

i started to make hats in my 2nd year of university and from then i have loved it i still love making bespoke fascinators to this day for any occasions for friends and family i have made a few for weddings and other social evens i.e the ladies day at the races which is very popular.

                        Start of a fascinator i used an original 1950s hat block as a base for the start of this cream fascinator 

the start of the base of my 2nd year hat project the hat was title a midsummer night dream the inspiration came from the film i based it on the theam of the garden and flowers that the fairly's lounge in 

a different view of the picture above 

wedding Fascinators 

i was commissioned for these by a family member and the request was them to be based around her black an white themed dress for the day 

Fascinators for a wedding the theam was black and white 

 

rabbit costume the begging where it all started

this is the start of my rabbit outfit  skirt and half of a jacket i used the skirt  as the base for the three i finally made it was quiet a simple pattern and was quick to make the jacket was a little tricky as i was not entirely sure on how i wanted it to sit on top of my skirts and from this picture you see below it changed a few times as i modified the pattern to my original drawn pattern.

pic 1and 2  side veiws  of my skirt pattern pic 3 is flattened skirt and  half off pattern for jacket

gloves for final major project 2012

gloves for my final design one  pair was for the badger costume  i designed and the other pair was for the rabbit costume i  had took my idea from the claws that the animals have and as i was doing two female costumes for stage i was looking at how they would be able to easily wear them and the gloves suited that idea i added lace and ribbon also cogs and lace to the design

 close up off  the lace on the cuff which i added i used a variety to create a fuller look and also some to  look ragged like fur

 i also added cogs an wool to give a Gothic / steam punk style the wool was to look like if they had  dug their way out off a burrow in the ground

 painting the false  nails for the badger gloves i painted them black to match in with the design

 rabbit gloves  i did these in the same way  but added some brown fur as i thought they where to cream and needed some contrast   so i added the fur  and added some leather to  the  tips of the fingers to brake it up an look like rabbit paws

adding the  nails for the rabbit i painted them brown and used some  gold dust to the tips to look like dirt i think it  worked well and gave a good effect

costume designs for my final major project at university

the wind in the willows i decided to do this for my major project as i became inspired after some work experience i had done in oxford which gave  opportunity in my spare time to explore the city and i came across a little vintage shop selling books and i seen a second edition wind in the willows which i had to go back and buy as i was so inspired by it the detailing it  the cover and the illustrations throughout the book gave me so many wonder full ideas for my project on reading the book i decided to design two costume one for the main character badger and a minor role  rabbit as i explored the  wind in the willows theatre productions i found non  had a female badger role so i decide on upon doing two female costumes inspired by  steam punk and Gothic styles also with a vintage Victorian feel.

female badger costume design
raged skirt with detachable train on back also
 a corset and three quarter sleeved bolero jacket  

another rabbit design with a slimmer skirt 
and a less detailing on
the skirt but similar design also an alternative corset

female rabbit costume consisting of jacket
 corset and  big layered bustle skirt
i would make a cage crinoline for the underneath  



badger design for female costume  ragged skirt with detachable train at back  this has two corset designs  as i wanted to make a false front  to look like a waist coat  design also i have added a neck ruff and a  laced on shoulder sleeve to part of the design





distresing my minor project samples

 i used some simple distressing techniques at first  just using tea, coffee and some brown fabric paint which gave me this affect on my  discharge print of the writing i had chose

 i started to experiment more adding black fabric dye and really watering it down  also adding salt  and some bleach to take the colour out a bit

 closer shot  of distressing my fabric

this was a sample ruff for my minor project i used some more distressing techniques  such as a cheese grater sand paper and  some ageing spray paint  i loved the  overall effect and adding the bleach and salt aged the fabric more giving it a rotted feel to the garment

final peice from minor project 2011

 pieces from my final design  from my minor project

embellishment and ageing the fabric







 i am embellishing some lace for the top of my trousers










final ruff design for piece