Past garments

Examples of past garments that I have designed and made.  Red evening dress in velvet to fit a size 10 (left) . Prom dress in taffeta and tuille overlay made to fit a size 8 (right).

Design development and final garment of Victorian inspired project

My brief for this project was to design a garment suitable for a glamorous event using luxury fabrics and the victorian era as my inspiration. Here I have put together the initial, developed and final design ideas showing my design process. The final garment, as shown here (made to fit a size 8 model) remained very true to my final design. I modified my dress pattern to incorporate the lace insert and neck/chest and back sections.

StickU urban fashion brand

StickU is my British made urban fashion brand established in 2014. I have designed the whole brand, from the cut of the T-shirt to the design of the website www.sticku.co.uk. We also offer a bespoke design service to create an individual design for the customer using our own design style. (Website screenshots left and centre). Within this year I have also moved my brand into a concept store in Liverpool City centre,  Rex (top right).

Tudor inspired collection

I enjoy using periods in history as a basis for a design project as it allows me to transform a standard historical garment into something that is stylish and could be worn today.  This design incorporates the Tudor ruff as an elaborate collar to the fitted jacket. Ruched layers of taffeta, inspired by the vast quantities of fabric used in Tudor dresses, waterfall down the back of the high waisted cotton shorts. This design fills an A3 page.

Tudor inspired collection

Once again I have used the iconic ruff of Tudor era however I have mixed this with the modern fish tail skirt.  Also, the cloak here adds that regal style which we often associate with the Tutors. The colour palette used is very specific throughout the whole collection in order to really connect the garments and style. Design fills an A3 page.

Tudor inspired collection

This is the most modern, high street look of the collection with the skin tight trousers taking inspiration from the tights worn by Tudor men. The elaborate embroidery covering the arms and bodice,  side and back, has been designed in black so as to create a  much more subtle beauty to the garment than originally the embellishment would have been used for.  Design fills an A3 page.

Tudor inspired collection

With the skirt of this design drawing inspiration from the shorts typically worn by Tudor men it gives a great shape to the skirt,  enhancing the hips and waist. Velvet if used for the black stripes to provide a lustre and luxuriousness. The corset seen here is the only one used in the collection as I wanted to steer away from the 'typical' Tudor style and create a truly unique collection.  I have also reintroduced the subtle black embroidery to the bodice to link the garments throughout the collection. Design fills an A3 page.

Tudor inspired collection

The ornate taffeta, ruched collar is taken from the elaborate neck ware worn by upper class Tudor women. To pull this into modern day fashion have added it to a cropped bright white blazer to really create an eye catching contrast. The dress is also very stylistic of the Tudor era, the gathering at the waist of the dress adds a beautiful volume and movement to the skirt. This contrasts with the simple shift dress underneath.  Design fills an A3 page.

Initial design ideas

My initial designs provided me with a good creative basis for my design process.  It allowed me to experiment with a variety of basic garment shapes and styles which I could then develop. The graffiti also gave me design ideas for the embellishment of the garment in order to ensure it fulfilled the brief. This fills an A3 page.

Testing for final design

Due to the nature of the design, testing was essential in order to guage how the rubble bin liner I was to use as my fabric would react to the variety of techniques which I intended to use. Through doing this testing I discovered a couple of techniques which would not work on the final product , for example,  the can rings which I intended to outline the top with proved too rigid and too difficult to attach to the bodice in the quantities I had originally planned.  After completing the testing,  some minor modifications were made to the design.  Work fills two A3 sheets and has been scaled down.

Costume design for drama society

I am involved in an amateur dramatic society and was recently asked to costume the principle characters in their latest production of "Murder at Haliborange Hall" set in the 1920's. Research was key to create garments true to the era. Each costume also had to be designed to the individual character in order enhance their class, personality and mood.  Due to the variety of ages and classes, this allowed me to be really creative with the elaborate costume needed for film star, Zuleika Daschund,  and then stripping this right back down for the costuming of the maid. Work fills an A3 page.

Final design and product

This is the final design and product for my brief,  to create a statement garment from recycled materials using inspiration from 'the streets'. The predominant fabric used are rubble bin liners, therefore it required very precise handling, as once sewn, it can not be un stitched and re stitched as normal fabrics can. I created an eye catching, original garment using a variety of techniques including CAD, gathering,  embroidery,  appliqué and stenciling. Due to the design, I created the pattern of the garment from scratch and made a toile to test it in order to make any adjustments necessary. The garment is made to fit a size 10.

Developed design ideas

Each of these developed designs has been designed and evaluated against the design specification to identify which best fits the needs and wishes of my client. All the garments are designed to use 100% recycled materials using black rubble liners as the base in all of my designs due to its shine, bold nature and that it contrasts with the skin colouring of the client.

Research and development of recycled materials and embellishments

As part of my research and development process I gathered a variety of recycled materials to draw inspiration for potential fabrics and embellishments.  I also visited a sculpture park which had an exhibition of sculptures created using recycled materials. This gave me inspiration to experiment with creating similar effects of the sculptures on a smaller scale so that they could be adopted for use on a garment. This work fills two A3 pages.

Story board for Street art project

To research the 'street' specification of my brief I went round the Northern Quarter, Manchester as it has a wealth of stunning graffiti work, interesting street art and quirky buildings.  I photographed these and created a story board to draw inspiration of colour, shape and design. On top of this I sprayed on stencilled graffiti work which added to the 'street' feel. I then outlined this by stitching sections which I wanted to enhance. This was a technique I carried through to my designs. This work fills an A3 sheet.