V&A London

On the same day I went to the Natural History Museum later I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum because I have always been interested and wanted to go there but had never had the opportunity or time when in London previously. The V&A is the largest museums of decorative arts and design and has a huge collection of over 4.5 million objects. It has objects and artefacts from all over the world and from different centuries and eras, including Victorian, Edwardian, Post- war. And includes fashion, ceramics, furniture, jewellery, metal work, sculpture and textiles.

The first part of the museum I went to was fashion and textiles, I thought it was really interesting how they displayed the dresses and fashion pieces showing really early pieces from the Victorian period and then going through time and era's and had more modern fashion pieces. I loved the prints and the colours of the two dresses above in particular and also the silk scarf below, I thought that the prints were really simple but beautiful. 

As there was so much to look at and such a variety I was surprised as to what I found interesting and was drawn towards. I really loved looking a costumes and theatre design costumes and stage designs. I thought that they were really special and could recognise which show and theatre productions they were from. And the amount of skill and detail that goes into making these costumes. 

This was an exact replica of Kylie Minogue's dressing room, from one of her tours.

There were lots of costumes from both the theatre and pantomimes, including The Lion King, and lots of Shakespeare's plays.  

I was also really surprised that I found the ceramics so interesting, they had a huge selection of ceramics from all over the world and from different era's. These are a couple that I liked the most, the top left are ceramic tiles with one of William Morris' designs on. The other two I thought that the patterns, prints and colours were really beautiful and pretty.

I really enjoyed my afternoon and the V&A and would love to of back and see one of the special exhibitions, as a was a couple of days early to see the David Bowie exhibition, but I think I may be going back to London later in the year, so hopefully I will get the opportunity to go back and see it.

Natural History Museum London

On the last day in London I decided to go to the Natural History Museum, I thought it would be useful and help me in my work as I am looking at animals in particular birds, and I was getting bored of going to the Manchester Museum every time a new project came about, and the animal exhibition was under renovation. I went there mainly to look at the birds, but I also am interested in all different types of animals and insects and found myself wondering around the museum for ages.

I thought that there would be more birds on display, but there was only a small selection that would be suitable for my needs, however I took some photographs that would be suitable for my work. I took photographs of any that I thought would fit into my work, so anything that I thought was a good shape or position, or that resembled a green parrot, (as the story I am working from isn't too specific on what type of parrot it is, just that it is a parrot and it is green) I was also looking at the colours of the birds, how the colours of their feathers blend and mix together and there are no harsh lines or areas where one colour changes into another.

I found this painting in the bird section and thought that the composition was really interesting, although they are all the same type or breed of bird and are all a similar size and the same colour, they all look different and interesting because they are in a different composition or position. I also like how the artist has include the branches, twigs and leaves, I think that this adds more interest and depth.

Like with the photographs I took in Manchester Museum I will use these photographs to sketch and draw from and hopefully they will help me draw some parrots for my designs and patterns for my final project. 

Marchesa Fall 2012

When I was looking into laser cut fabrics and designers that use them I came across the work of Marchesa, a British Fashion Designer duo who met at Chelsea College of Art and Design in London. And began the company Marchesa in 2004, creating beautiful and elegant evening wear. These images were from the Winter 2012/2013 collection, the one dress that first caught my eye was the black leather laser cut dress, I thought that it really linked in well with the Giles designs that I have also blogged about. The Marchesa collection was inspired by the painting by William Adolphe Bouguereau, A Soul Brought to Heaven, this inspired the collation with its use of angelic colours such as gold, cream, white and ivory. Other pieces that caught my attention from this collection were the gold embroidered dresses, I thought that they were interesting, beautiful and elegant. 

Giles

I came across the work of Giles Deacon a few years ago, and really liked his unique fashion collections. The fashion line is called Giles, and the collection that caught my eye was the Spring/Summer 2012 line. 
I thought that the mixture and print fabrics and and block fabrics, but the silver laser leather cut out fabrics really interested me. I am looking at paper and fabric cut outs at the moment for my project on Mexico, I have been looking at Mexican paper cut outs and also the work of Rob Ryan and other paper cut artists. 
Here are some pictures: 

Henry Holland

I love Henry Holland collections and I was looking on the House of Holland website to look at his new collections and I found that his new pre Spring 2012 collection has been inspired by Mexico, both the shapes and cuts of the clothes but also the print, patterns and colours of the clothes.
Here are some photo's:

The collection is bright, bold and colourful, the brings mix together stripes, florals and skulls, all inspired by Mexico and the Mexican Day of the Dead Festival. The stripes also have a Mexican feel also he has used shapes and cuts of clothes that are similar to Mexican ponchos. I really love this collection and I am really inspired by the colours, shapes, print and patters of this collection.  

TRAIDremade

TRAIDremade recycles, refashions, and remakes textiles that would otherwise be thrown away, and they create individual and unique new pieces of clothing from them. Each piece is handmade in a workshop by the seaside in Brighton.
Instead of throwing away clothes TRAIDremade encourages people to recycle their clothes to help fight poverty in developing countries. 
TRAIDremade is un by a UK based charity called TRAID, the money raised is used to fight global poverty. 
Their shops are all based around London and Brighton, you can also volunteer at one of the three shops.

A Question Of

A Question Of is a sustainable and eco fashion collection, whose mission it is to make sustainable living a simple choice. They treat all their workers fairly, with respect, to use eco friendly materials to help the environment and improve human health. Their products are made in Africa under fair trade conditions, they want to support people and workers in developing countries, paying them a fair price for their work, and better working and living conditions for African textile workers.

Eco Boutique

As part of my new brief I had to look into sustainability and eco fashion because of the current effect 'fast fashion' is having on the environment and the earth. 
I found eco boutique online and I thought that there morals and ideas about fashion are fantastic, they want to go back to when people bought  less and cherished what they did have more. They want to promote 'slow fashion', their limited edition collections are unique and individual. 
They also have strong ideas about eco fashion including; the t-shirts are made with 100% organic fabrics, 90% less CO2, and water based inks that are environmentally friendly, when possible use 100% biodegradable mail bags that are made from 100% recycled materials, and any waste that they produce will also be recycled. 
They mostly make t-shirts for both men and women, but they also create accessories including scarves and jewellery. 

Website Address; http://ecoboutiqueshop.co.uk/index.php/

The Eco Guide/Symbols

I found these symbols that might be found on some clothes, especially eco and up-cycled clothes. Some of them are slightly different but they have the same themes.

Upcycled 

Climate Aware

Ethnical

Organic 

Recycled 

Sustainable 

UK Made