My Major Textiles Project (MTP) is an innovative, feminine three-piece outfit, consisting of a fitted bodice with an off the shoulder neckline and a flowing, highly embellished skirt overlay attached to a figure-hugging pencil skirt. The design fits into the Textile Arts Focus Area due to its emphasis on decorative and aesthetic features. The final garment showcases high quality specialist fabrics and materials including silk, organza, tulle, taffeta, and chiffon. It also features innovative and creative design techniques such as fabric manipulation, hand painting, beading, and ribbon embroidery. In terms of design inspiration, the glamour of 1950s eveningwear, which celebrated the female form, contemporary designer, Iris Van Herpen, and the late 19th century Impressionist art movement, all significantly influenced the final concept. In particular, the beauty of nature often captured in the respective works of Christian Dior and Claude Monet have ‘steered’ the overall aesthetic of my garment – specifically Monet’s painting “Artist’s Garden at Giverny” and Dior's “Junon” dress SS1953 influenced the volume and complexity of embellishments seen in my final design. Further inspiration for the skirt overlay has been drawn from Iris Van Herpen's obsession with sculptural form and movement in her ‘Syntopia’ collection, whereby the detached skirt overlay uses layers of sheer organza in soft, muted greens to create the petal shapes, resulting in the overlapping of fabric which creates dimension and movement. The entire creative and production process was a rollercoaster, and it taught me so much about how to translate design into reality and the importance of experimentation. I learnt that you need to continuously experiment with actual production techniques to ensure you are able to ultimately deliver your design vision. For one of my concepts, I had intended to create 3D wire sculptures to embellish my garment, however through experimentation I learnt that the sculptures were incredibly challenging to create, and led me to explore other embellishment options such as fabric painting. The ‘petal’ inspired skirt overlay was both the most enjoyable and most challenging part of the creative process. The creation of hand painted petals allowed me to combine my love of visual art into textiles, however it was also the most time consuming component as it required 32 petals to be laser cut, each individually hand painted, hand embroidered, hand beaded and overlocked. Ultimately the skirt overlay was the ‘hero’ feature of the garment and contributed to the overall visual success of the project.
