Fashion Degree: Art Nouveau and 'Make Do and Mend'

We were set two group tasks this week aimed to broaden our knowledge on a particular aspect of art and fashion. The first task on Tuesday was to research as a group a single aspect of art or fashion from our lectures. My group researched Art Nouveau. When we got this theme, I got it mixed up with Art Deco by accident and was a bit disappointed because I didn’t have a lot of knowledge on Art Nouveau. However, from doing research into the style for the group moodboard I discovered that it is mostly influenced by nature, using stylized flora patterns for borders in paintings, advertisements and on glass. One of the areas I like the most from the Art Nouveau style is the metalwork. I love how the metal, a strong, solid material, is curved into these amazing designs of plants, especially on stair banisters and balconies, where the designs are not only for aesthetic, but also for safety. These stylized designs could be interpreted into either a wearable fashion piece or a piece simply for show on the catwalk, with a mixture of embroidery and smooth, swirling designs coming out from the garment.

My group's moodboard- Art Nouveau

The second group task we were set on Wednesday was based around ‘Make Do and Mend’, for which we were all asked to bring in a vintage or retro accessory or garment. My group decided to uses an old man’s coat and turn it into a woman’s piece. We originally tried designing what we wanted to make on paper, but we realised, when we had a basic idea, that we could not tell exactly what the fabric would do when we tried to ruffle it, so we ended up experimenting on the mannequin, pinning it in to make it fitted and turning the sleeves into a ruffled collar. I think the tweed fabric worked really well because it was quite heavyweight due to the interfaced sections on the back which allowed it to be structured more than a thinner fabric. As the jacket was looking pretty plain colour wise, we decided to ado some colour using a tie that I’d brought down the back of the garment. We ruffled it in the same way we ruffled the front of the garment. The red and cream create a good contrast against the grey tweed. Im not that keen on the shoulder pad fabric as it is simply the basic felt that was used in the jacket, if we were to do this again, I would definatly cover these with either the same tweed or with another contrasting fabric. The felt is more apparent to the back than to the front, though, and at the front, the shoulders actually look attractive as they are.

We wanted to give the garment an unfinished look, so we used tacking thread in places to contrast the colour of the grey fabric, turned the jacket inside-out and removed the lining to reveal the back of the seams on the outside, as well as leaving a raw edge on the hem to allow some fraying for aesthetic appeal. Come to think of it, this would have fitted in last season quite well as raw edges were in. I think the unsymmetrical effect created in the garments structural details give it a little more edge, and it looks like something that could be sold in a shop like All Saints. It is different yet it could be worn as smart piece. I personally do not like the tacking stitch around the collar, looking back at the photos, and I think that it would look a lot better either without or if the stitch had been done on machine because we hand stitch it. We tried styling the garment with a vintage brooch, which we ended up taking off because some of the group thought that it looked to Edwardian to go with our garment, I thought it looked good with the brooch as well as without because it added a bit of colour to the front, but I can see that it could draw the eye away from the garment as a whole.