For my pre collection brief, I have been working on some print ideas to go onto my outfits using Egyptian as a source of inspiration. Looking at repeat pattern, scale and collage. At first I experimented using black ink and bleach to create these prints, ink and bleach work really well together, however I almost killed myself with the fumes...make sure you wear a mask or open a window. 

Ink and bleach pattern and cut out the same basic floral shape in various scales and placed onto a gold piece of paper.

Doing the same as above, however painting another print on top of the collage. 

Collaging again using different floral shapes and colours

Cutting out large pieces of paper with a design I had drawn on before had and then placing a print onto the back

Experimenting with 3D ideas onto my prints, a print I had produced on photoshop, which then I cut out various shapes of leaves and folded them to make them look 3D. Placing them in a random pattern - thinking of ways in which I could produce this using fabric.

One of my final prints for my collection using photoshop, these were all single pieces and shapes that I had hand drawn, put onto photoshop and pieced together to make a background and then creating the floral shapes to form a repeat pattern. 

Using the same process as the image above but just using different floral shapes.

Designer Inspiration - Givenchy Fall 2010

Whilst researching designer inspiration for my pre collection I came across Givenchy Haute Couture Fall 2010 collection.... which is AMAZING!!!

The detail featured on everyone of these gowns is purely stunning, the hours and hours that it must of taken and a huge team to apply each piece of surface detail. 

I really love the detailing within this collection...this is something that I would really love to include within my collection, I love surface detail, lace motifs, beading etc. I believe the detail is very vivid because of it being attached onto sheer nude fabric.

The way the beading and lace motifs have been placed it resembles a skeleton

Again the lace motifs featured on this gown resembles bone structures, I love the fur jacket with this gown.

So much detail featured on this gown... head to toe beading

I love the ombre feather skirt 

British Museum - Egyptian Inspiration

After watching Cleopatra I became inspired by Egyptian and went to the British Museum in London to gather more research and inspirational imagery.

I really loved the jewellery featured in the Cleopatra film, there was a lot of Egyptian jewellery within the museum, which was highly detailed and chunky which I found was very inspiring. I like the idea of having something chunky and quite masculine and maybe mix with contrasting aspects.

There were a lot of pottery prints that I found would be very interesting manipulate and play with. I like the idea of the prints to be very over the top and very detailed, mixing the scales and print placement.

Gold Egyptian necklace

 Highly detailed gold printed mummy

Egyptian jewellery piece...I love the 3dimensional floral and detail 

Another gold piece of jewellery again I really find the 3 dimensional aspect of this very inspiring for my pre collection

Egyptian pottery featuring repeat patterns and various scales of print

Floral print of concrete piece

Repeat pattern on pottery bowl

I really love the prints and shapes within this sculptural piece

This is my favourite jewellery hand cuff, the colours and the very small detail

Repeat pattern print on mummy collar

Symmetrical floral print on concrete sculptures

I love this jewellery piece all the small detailing and textural aspects within all the tiny triangular pieces

Cleopatra - Collection Inspiration

For my pre collection, I became inspired by Cleopatra after watching the 4 hour long film featuring Elizabeth Taylor. 

Bright colours, the details and layers of gold and layers of fabric. I really love the neck pieces and jewellery, this is something that I would really like to experiment with, by including jewellery pieces into my collection. 

 I love this image of Elizabeth Taylor is stunning, the one shoulder red/orange dress, with the flat plat piece choker necklace and the bird hat accessory is beautiful. I love the contrast of the beautiful red dress with the heavy and bulky gold jewellery.

Layers of gold leaf, huge head piece with the gold dress... very dramatic and heavy yet still feminine.

I love the draping fabric with the print which fixes into the shoulder, I like the layers of fabric and where they are attached. 

The detailing on this harness is very interesting for print ideas, I love the print being a large scale mixed with various other scales.

Gorgeous print and attachment pieces, shoulder attachments, cuffs, brightly coloured print and head dresses.

 Repeat pattern around the collar, print placement, contrasting colours and shoulder points... masculine

I love this.... I love the shoulder attachments and the waist belt on top of the yellow shorts

Leonardo Da Vinci - Anatomist

 During the last summer holidays I visited London to look for inspiration for my next Fashion & Textiles brief. Before going to London I looked online to see what exhibitions were on and  came across Leonardo Da Vinci's Anatomist exhibition at The Queens Galley - Buckingham Palace.

I thought this would be really inspiring and it really was. I love hand drawing myself and was amazed by the excellence of Leonardo's ability to draw in such detail, the sketches looked 3D and life like. I found the muscle and bone structures of the body drawings almost mechanical, holding the body upright and erect, panels of muscle and bones in different scales, shapes and forms - FANTASTIC IDEAS FOR FASHION CONSTRUCTION DESIGN!!! - I immediately became inspired and very very excited.

Love this - Reminds me of feathers

This is my absolute favourite of all the sketches - The detail is beautiful, several layers of muscle building up ton top of each other either running horizontally or diagonally forming a complete structure - So inspiring

 The spine - The centre part of the body that holds everything together - I like the idea of muscles and bones all join together to the spine - another idea for fashion construction

This again was another of my favourite sketches -  Panels of muscles joining from the arm and flowing into the next, breaking off showing these gaps in-between.

This is definitely one of the best exhibitions I have ever been to, can not wait to start sketching!

Mr Louboutin - The red sole man

Last year I visited the Christian Louboutin Exhibition as a concept idea for my dissertation, previously last year I wrote an essay on fetishism and the corset - I wanted to look at this further  in regards to fetishism and shoes. At the design museum the Christian Louboutin exhibition held a secret dark passage with glass jars containing shoes that nobody would be able to walk - not that they were designed for walking. Louboutin collaborated with Photographer David Lynch for the exhibition, with imagery on the walls of the fetish passage walkway. I have never seen shoes like this before, however even with the fetish concept the shoes still hold the trade mark Louboutin wow factor.

                              Siamese shoes joined together at the heel and form into one heel

                               I would not recommend standing in a muddy field wearing these

                                                         They say - 'Beauty equals pain'

                                                            A different kind of stiletto

                                                   Stilettos with handcuff hells and strap

                                                                  Sketches and designs

                                      The smallest shoe I have ever seen - so sweet

On the way up to the exhibition was a stairway full of light and candy cane hoops hanging from the ceiling with Louboutin shoes hanging the the centre of the hoops - one day I hope to own a pair of Louboutin shoes ( not fetish shoes) not so I can wear them just so I can hug them!