27/4/15- The Weekend

This weekend I continued with my design development with how I can mix the rich and poor together. So far I feel like I have narrowed down my research to areas I find most interesting, this has helped as I felt before like I had too much going on and was getting confusing. My key elements are: the work of Nick Hedges, the idea of having to keep warm, the irony of paying so much for clothes that look poor and rich interiors specifically panelling and gold gilding. I chose these as I think they give me lots to work with but also all relate to each other and will portray what I want in my outcome. They don't stereotype or judge the rich and poor but are exploring both ways of life through the beauty or rawness that has fascinated me. Adding the ironic element keeps the collection current as the unbalance of rich and poor is a real issue of today and I want to portray these issues not in a political sense but just how it makes me feel.

I have mainly been designing from the collages from last week, taking silhouettes and elements I liked such as a skirt shape or a neckline and developing and building on these to turn them into designs by drawing them and changing proportions and combinations. I have also been able to think about fabric combinations from this such as on the left thinking about a hessian raw looking tunic top combined with an elegant silk skirt. I also like some of the silhouettes such as on the right in the picture which are interesting and exciting because of the combinations in them.

However I am struggling at the moment as although I like these designs I am not sure if they are the right attitude or look for my final collection. I think the designs on the right almost feel too polished and don't betray that imbalance of rich and poor and the struggle that I have looked at. I think I almost need to now go back into the poor images and explore them more, bringing back in my earlier print and thinking how I can combine this with the gold gilding and paneling. I want to continue to develop some of my silhouettes I have at the moment but I feel I need to bring back the rawness I loved in Nick Hedges work. 

I am not quite sure what I should be doing next, I think I need to experiment again with my earlier print and combine this in with elements of what I am currently doing to see if this starts to look more like what I feel it should. I think I need to get the look I want for the collection this week so I can finalise my designs at the beginning of next week and I can then really explore fabrication and the final details before making as I think this will really make the collection strong.