Week Twenty-Twoooo.

Monday: In a way, I hate my parents for the genes they carry. I'm just over 5'7 and am the same size as the manikins we use in the stuido, therefore I'm a good 'model' for everyone at uni. This morning, as well as doing my own toile review, I also modelled for five other people. I guess it's kinda sneaky, 'cause I get to know how well some other people in the group are doing - not that it benefits me in any way. So, I had my review and I'm really pleased with how it went. As expected, I do have to change a few things, such as lenghtening the top and lowering the waistline on the trousers and changing the buttons I intended to use, but otherwise I think it went really well. I know for sure now that I can purchase the fabrics I am using, which is really handy too.
Wednesday: Buying & Merchandising deadline was today, forturnately I managed to finish this piece of work a week early, so I handed it in on Monday after my toile review. I'm not very good with essays, but I'm hoping that the work I have produced is suitable.

Unfortunately, I didn't stay at uni for the rest of this week to make the changes for my outfit as my Nan passed away and I had to travel back home for the funeral. I have done my best to rectify the changes that I needed to make for my top and trousers, without being in the studio. I do still have a couple of bits to alter, but I will do my best to make use of my time when I return after the Easter holidays.

Week Twenty-ONE.

Monday: Private study day, but I had to be in to model for some of the second years. Fortunately this gave me time to get a bit more work done in the little space there was left in the studio. I didn't get to do much, but every little helps.
Tuesday: Another private study day, and again I was in to model. This time I bought my laptop into uni to continue with the Buying & Merchandising essay, I'm pretty much finished with it now.
Wednesday: Final B&M lecture. I've grown to quite like John, even with his constant 'yeah'-ing. He found out today that I'm from the same county as he is, and he knows the hometown I'm from, so we had a bit of a chat about things back home. It was nice to talk to someone who knew what I was talking about for once. I've quite enjoyed these lectures and I think I've learnt quite a lot about Buying and Merchandising. I think I've come quite far in this area as I didn't enjoy the business side of things when I was in high school, and yet I got on well with this subject. I'm leaning more towards design for our second year, but I would take B&M into consideration.
Thursday: Lectra feedback today, I'm really pleased with my result. I thought that I'd only done enough work to scrape a pass and that the wording was all jumbled, but apparently I did quite well! Had a quite chat with Pat about the possibility of using Lectra for patterns in the future, which I think I would quite like to do. After this, I cracked on with my toile. My trousers in particular needed sorting as the length is miles too long. I think they'd fit someone my height in a pair of heels quite well, but they'd swamp anyone wearing flats!
Friday: Managed to sort my toile out completely today. As I was finished so soon I put a facing on my trousers and pressed it all properly. I've tried both pieces on a model and I think they fit quite well. The top looks like it could be slightly loose at the top of the bust, so I think I'm going to curve the seam so the shape fits better, I'll inform the tutors about this in my review as I don't see the point in making a third toile because of such a minor change.

Week Twentyyyy!

Monday: Sorted out the pattern for my trousers today. I thought it'd be pretty easy, but it took a while to remember how to do the facing. I've added on a turn-up to the bottom of the trousers, but I think they may be a little too long still, because the toile example is quite long in length already. I'm slightly confused as to how a turn-up actually works, but I'm hoping I've got it right. Because the actual shape of the trousers was taken from the pattern blocks I'm hoping the shape will fit alright without having to adjust it at all.
Wednesday: John bought in a load of his shirts today, which we had to discuss. The task was basically to define specific qualities about different shirts. For example, some of them were long-sleeved, some were short-sleeved. Some had prints, some didn't. Some were heavy-weight fabric, some were light-weight. And so on. It was quite interesting to see how many different qualities you could find in what may seem to be an 'ordinary men's shirt'.
Friday: Cracked on with my trousers today. Put them all together, they fit around the waist perfectly. However, as I'd suspected, the length is muchhhh too long. I thought they were going to be long, but not as long as they actually are. I'm quite happy with this problem. There could have been something much worse happen, at least shortening the legth of the trousers is nice and simple to fix!

Week Ninteeeeen.

Monday: Over the last couple of weeks I've been cracking on with designing for my CDP project, we have 100 designs minimum to achieve. I'm struggling with so many, as I like for the designs I produce to be good ones, not just any old design. Anyway, today we had to show our 'collection' to Karen and Pat, and chose which design I wanted to make. They both seemed happy with my choice, and also liked the fabric swatches and trimmings I have chosen for it. I went home a very happy bunny after this. Now to finish with the rest of the designs...
Wednesday: B&M lecture, today we all had to bring in some pairs of jeans and were talking about stock we'd order if we had our own stores and stuff. I must've not been myself 'cause I couldn't stop with the suggestions. I was annoying myself 'cause all I could hear was my voice! I quite enjoyed the lesson, it was nice to do something a bit more interesting than listen to John talking to us. We also got back our maths tests today. I didn't do fantasticly, but I would've still passed had it been real. I've never been great at maths so I think I did quite well.
Thursday: Started to create the pattern for my chosen outfit. Because the top is such a tight-fitting structured piece I figured it'd be easier to model on the stand use pattern pieces and adapt the shape. I think I've decided that modelling on the stand is my prefered way to pattern-cut. I tried to ignore the trouser pattern for the moment and am going to try that next week. I traced off the top panels and made paper patterns for it. I got out some calico and straight away got to making my first-draft top. As soon as I'd made it I put it on a manikin to see the fit and someone over my shoulder went 'that fits way to nicely for a first toile!' I was so pleased. I think the back needs to be slightly tighter and the bust section could do with being a little longer, but otherwise the fit is great!

Week EIGHTEEN...

Wednesday: B&M lecture, at first what was said didn't make all that much sense, because I missed the second half of last weeks lecture. I figured out which pages I'd missed, and I'm going to re-read them so that I can catch up properly. I managed to pick it up again and understood what was being explained throughout the lesson. I've started the research for my chosen store within my assignment, but I need to go into the store so that I can do some further research.
Thursday: Lesson on manipulating patterns in Lectra. The first thing I did was change the bodice pieces from the original t-shirt pattern into a vest. I made the shoulders a lot thinner, I lowered the front neckline and then lengthened the vest so that it was past hip-length. I didn't have any problems with this at all, I worked out which functions did what without trouble. After I'd changed the shapes, I tested to see if they worked by 'marrying' the front and back pieces together. I noticed that one of my pieces had a lower armhole because of the way I moved the shoulder in. I changed this little detail, and 'divorced' the pieces et voila, I had to perfectly fitting vest panels which I made all by myself! Although this wasn't technically part of the unit, I have decided to put the work into my folder as extra work.
Friday: Lectra deadline, I managed to get everything compltetly finished and handed in on time. Those of us who went to London Fashion Week were given an extended deadline, but I tried to work hard all this week so that I could get it handed in and not have to worry about it.

London Fashion Week!!

Thursday: Lonnng first day, had to be at Victoria House in London for 9:30am, then didn't leave until about 7pm. Basically what today was for was meeting all the other crew members and setting everything up. My gosh there was a LOT of stuff to be set up. Pretty much the entire area which we were in, was completely empty when we arrived, and then was jam-packed with stuff when we'd left. I found that a lot of the people who were working at LFW were from AUCB too, but on different courses. I didn't really talk to anyone I knew beforehand, I've already made a bunch of new friends. We decided on our lunchbreak that we were going to get lunch together so we could bond a bit, so off we went to Nando's. I really enjoyed getting to know each other better. And to top it off, one of the customers go arrested just as we were leaving! Very strange. When we got back after lunch we met all of the backstage dressers and carried on setting up. Some of the designers had arrived by this time and were putting their exhibition clothes on the manikins that I was setting up, this is when everything started to get really exciting for me.
Friday: Got in at 1:30, the place was packeddd! The final stages of setting-up had come together and the place looked fantastic. There had already been one fashion show on that morning which was Charlie Le mindu, where musician La Roux was seen front row, and there was another one due to start. At the beginning I was stewarding, pointing people to where they had to go for the shows and such. There were a lot of designers wandering around within the exhibition areas, so I got to meet quite a few interesting people. I also saw a celebrity whom I recognised, Megan Prescott who plays Katie in the TV show Skins <- I love that show, so I was really excited when I saw Megan. Jodie Harsh and Sophie Anderton were also seen front row at the Ashley Isham show today, where majestic couture pieces in molton bronze and deep violet set the scene for a victorious finale procession. Saturday: Most of today I was stewarding, which is getting a bit boring and I was on the doors with the On|Off umbrella for quite a long time too, it's wayyyyy too cold to be doing that! Anyway, today's main show was the J.Maskrey show which led on to an after-party which I stayed to help at. The J.Maskrey show was the first one I actually got to watch (even if it was from behind a wall!) and it was incredible. Skin jewellery adorned the models, which perfectly set off the sparkling futuristic, biker chic of the colletion. Once the show was over, everyone was moved through to the exhibition area and we had to rush around clearing up and moving benches ready for the party to start. Once the party started, the room filled up fast. Some were dressed up, some were dressed down, it was really interesting to see the contrast at a party like that. I spent some time near the front door, watching everyone coming into the party, I recognised a few of the people, particularly the Sugarbabes when the walked past. The Sugarbabes were the live act that were playing on stage, they did a fantastic job and had everyone singing and dancing. I got to speak to them as they were leaving, they were really friendly. I helped out by collecting glasses and litter, guarding the backstage doors (where some rather rude people tried to get past me) and welcoming people at the doors. I also had a chance to do a bit of mingling, I didn't stay for the entire party, because I had to travel back to Surry before the trains stopped, but I enjoyed my time while I was there.
Sunday: Today was a bit quieter than the past couple of days, there weren't as many people at the shows and everyone at On|Off were exhausted from the night before. The day was also shorter than normal and we got to go home early, which was really good for me as I was feeling really under the weather. The second show of the day was Falguni and Shane Peacock, their label, known for its bold and audacious prints, showcased a melting pot of colours, textures and vivid embellishment for its autumn winter collection. This would have been really helpful to us for our Melting Pot project, if only we hadn't done that yet! We decided that as we had finished early, we were going to go over to Somerset House where the rest of Fashion Week was taking place and have a look around. We got hold of some passes that let us into Somerset House where we looked around at some of the exhibitions, which were amazing and I wish I had lots of money to buy, buy, buy! But unfortunately not. Afterwards we went outside, as we knew Vivienne Westwoods show was due and we wanted to do some star spotting. We waited a long time, nobody showed up. So we asked someone about it and turns out we were in the wrong place, so we ran to another building (ran past John Rocha!) and found loadssss of paparazzi outside. Didn't see Vivienne Westwood, but we did see Pixie Lott, Kesha and a few other celebrities.
Monday: Whistles chief executive Jane Sheperdson was seen today at the Roksanda Ilincic show where fluid draping, floral embellishment and exaggerated lapels on outerwear were key features. Pam Hogg's collection was punk rock rebellion at its best, as outfits left little to the imagination! Thigh high PVC boots, huge net hair pieces, sheer cape jackets, plunging bodysuits with slashes of lace, PVC and leather and Pam’s signature catsuits sashayed down the catwalk. Pearl Lowe, Peaches Geldoff and Jaime Winstone were all seen front row. At the time of this show I was on the front doors, thus I didn't see the show, but I spoke to Pearl Lowe, Peaches Geldoff and Jaime Winstone to explain where they were to go for the show, which was quite exciting. After this I was put in the VIP area, where I hadn't been before. Unfortunately because there wasn't a show on or due for a few hours, there weren't many people around, but I enjoyed the chance to do a bit of bar-work instead of stewarding. The last show for On|Off was Ziad Ghanem. This was the only show which I managed to watch myself, all the way through. It was incredible. My absolute favorite outfit was the last one, where the model came out in a pink dress, removed the pink dress to reveal a green one underneath, the removed the green one to reveal a white burlesque-style outfit underneath. I was stunned, it was really gorgeous. One other thing I did finally get to do today was have a look at the Alexander McQueen tribute. On one of the walls near the catwalk there was a display imbedded with forty ipod’s. The ipods featured hundreds of images taken from Catwalking.com’s extensive archives, including McQueen’s own label menswear and womenswear collections and from his time at Givenchy. I didn't have time to look through all of the images properly, but it was incredible to see how much work he's achieved over the years. I thought this was a fantastic idea for a tribute, it gained a lot of attention and served it's purpose well. This evening we all stayed really late to de-rig the entire set-up of the On|Off fashion show, which was really hard work, but didn't take too long. Afterwards we had a little celebration, finishing up the alcohol left over from the bar and eating cake that was absolutely lushhh. There was a little awards ceremony, I didn't get anything as there were some people who worked a lot harder than I did, but we all got little goody bags. I also took home one of the helium balloons which are about half my height, which was really awkward to get back to Bournemouth! I'm not sure whether the whole experience was what I had expected, but I did enjoy the opportunity and would definately take up the chance to do it again.

Week Seventeen!!

Monday: Back in with our homework! I didn't colour in my illustrations, because I'm not great at colouring-in and I didn't want to ruin them - I like what I've drawn! I drew two models with designs I'd already created, and put a new design idea on the third model. We all shared the illustrations between everyone else in the class, there are some really fantastic artists in our group! I think I will definately use this magazine-style technique in the future because it makes the figures look flexible and free. Also today we looked at Oni, one of the assistants' old work. She was a student at AUCB like us, so she showed us some of the sketchbooks from her time at AUCB. They were fantastic, and if I'm honest, they've really scared me. My sketchbooks aren't exactly good in the first place, seeing these have worried me. I've got some ideas of things I could do in my sketchbook to improve the work that I do though, so hopefully I've benefitted from it.
Tuesday: Eeeeep, capitals presentations today! I'd prepared a few slides, my part of the presentation was based on the fashion within Australia. Not the actual designers and garments, but I looked into the fashion week and fashion festivals which take place. I tried to make my part of the presentation really effective with bits flying in from the sides and coming up as I talk, but I mucked it up while talking and got in a bit of a panic. I managed to keep my cool though, got to the end of my part and let the rest of the group continue. I also put in a video about the fashion week, which got us a few bonus points because I don't think anyone else in the group had used that idea. I think the worst thing was that one of the members thought we were doing Austria, rather than Australia and had to change her slide at the last minute. It was completely different to the others 'cause we didn't have time to put it together properly, I think this spoilt it a little bit. I'm just glad to have it out of the way, I don't feel very confident talking in front of lots of people unless it's something I'm confident I know a lot about.
Link to presentation, first two slides were created by me.
Wednesday: I only got to sit in for half of this session, as I had a train to catch for London Fashion Week and had to leave early. We were given mathematical questions to figure out the answers for, which I didn't quite complete, but I thought I'd done pretty well considering it's been about 4 years since I last did maths! We get the results next week hopefully, I want to know how well I did.