Summer Project Outfit

We were asked as part of our University summer project brief to Design and make an outfit to wear on our return to the deep depths of 4th year. The only requirements were that the outfit should define each designers personal style and aspiration.
The outfit consists of a charcoal, light weight jersey jumper with an inverted cowl neck that can also be worn like a normal cowl neck and tailored skinny fit trousers that were made double the length to create the gathers. To accessorize I made the frame of a vest top out of silver chains to be worn over the jumper.

What Kerrie Alexander had to say about my outfit.

"I would describe the outfit as simply bangin’ it speaks for itself really. Stylish, contemporary and wearable. The idea behind the trousers is fantastic and works so well. The cut of the trousers let the body do all the work I LOVE this aspect of the design. They look hilarious when held up in the air, a bit of humour within fashion never goes a miss with me. Here are some up close and personal snaps to sneak a look at."

Thanks for the great words Kerrie! x

Kerrie Alexander's Summer Project Outfit

What Kerrie had to say about her outfit.

"I would describe my outfit as a bit of a MISH-MASH. I spotted the trouser fabric in a shop a while back and really liked it so I swung by to pick some up once I heard about this project. It just developed from there. I have used a similar pattern for the trousers as I have used for a previous pair I made. I suppose baggy, loose, oversized are elements that I would consider part of my design aesthetic.
The jacket was made from a hand-me down baby blanket and material that had been wrapped around a bouquet of flowers for presentation purposes. The story of the blanket caused a bit of hilarity for the family as to cut a long story short this blanket had been brought over as a gift for someone from America, it was then took to a car boot sale in an attempt to get rid of it which obviously proved a struggle and so on and so on. The blanket finally landed itself into my Gran Newton’s hands and was then passed onto my big cousin Lisa for baby Penny. After all this malarkey I ended up snaffling it from Lisa after saying I liked the fabric and here the story ends! I turned up at my Gran’s for a coffee with my mum and she couldn’t stop laughing when my Gran said that she liked the coat without realising where it has actually came from haha. I do love a nice little tale behind a garment. I hope Penny isn't bitter about it; I was literally stealing from a baby. Maybe I can keep it for years and hand it back down to Penny one of these days! Here are some more snaps for a closer look."

Parallel Skin

The piece De resistance of 3rd year! Our end of the year capsule collection. The inspiration for my collection was actually the print from my surreal dress. I was still very much interested in furthering my exploration into the shape and lines from the print I designed based around the surrealism movement. I wanted to see how changing the shapes and direction of the lines on garments with different looks and silhouette would come together. So I began designing casual, glamour and dress up, dress down garments with print ideas but refining the print to compliment the garments and making them more on trend. With the nude colour palette and parallel symmetrical lined print i named my collection, "Parallel Skin." The end result was extremely successful and was the opening to our 3rd year fashion show.

Left: Denim jacket, loose woven cotton blouse & jersey leggings. Middle: Knitted woolen jumper & skirt. Right: Dress with close fitted bodice & decay effect print with draped loose woven cotton skirt.

The Surreal Dress

The next garment we had to design and make for one of our 3rd year modules was... the surreal dress. I won't go into much here as the picture of the article written about the dress will explain all. So why not give it a look.

 Photo Shoot Spread

 The Article

 The Surreal Dress Front

The Surreal Dress Back

The Denim Outfit

As part of our 3rd year we were asked to design and make a denim outfit inspired by a designer listed on the brief. I chose Ed Hardy for the strong masculine silhouette, attention to detail and the colourful embroidered embellishments. For the jacket I went for the classic biker style popular with the Ed Hardy brand and used a knitted rib for the collar and waist line. Inspired by loose baggy trousers worn by gangs and influences from street culture I made the cut of the jeans so the crotch would hang low at the back giving a baggy bum. I also added a little extra length to the legs and created a bell shape from below the knee to the hem so that the jeans can be tucked into boots and the fabric would gather slightly up the leg. To make the outfit complete and give that classic Ed Hardy look to my outfit I bleached out areas of the back of the jacked and the left back pocket of the jeans instead of using embroidery to give it my own twist.

 Denim Jacket Front

 Denim Jacket Back

 Denim Jeans Front

 Denim Jeans Back

Denim Jeans Back Pocket Detail