Coming into our Final Major Project, I've started to think about the idea/concept that I want to base my work around....
Since I am hoping to go onto do costume at university and in my career, I knew that this was something I wanted to reflect in my project, but I also wanted to set myself a challenge that would both test my skills and knowledge to produce garments that I've never made before.
Throughout research produced during the course of unit B1, I've been able to research and discover more closely what it is that I want to persue in the future, and this has lead me onto find out about institutions such as the Royal Opera House in London, who also run an apprenticeship scheme. I think the garments and costumes produced at the royal opera house really well resonates with my personal style as a designer; - having visited the ROH Theatre Craft day, I was also able to go on a backstage costume department tour which allowed me to see the tutus up-close and I loved the real details and intricacy such as hand embroidery, beading and dyeing techniques.. The whole making proccess was really in-depth and hand crafted which was a beautiful thing to see.
Learning about the Royal Opera House costume department has opened up a whole new door for me in terms of career aspirations as it's helped to to see that dancewear is a really specific area of the costume industry that I can see myself fitting into. For my final major project I also think this will be interesting to allow me to look at working with stretch materials more closely as this is something we've touched upon in garment construction lessons and that I've really enjoyed.
For the final collection, I am hoping to create one tutu garment and two other dancewear looks, whether this be something like a stretch dress, leotard, trousers or a jumpsuit, this is something that I need to think about throughout work produced in research stages.
In terms of theme, I am looking at basing my final looks on The Nutcracker, in order to create my own sort of interpretation of what I think a contemporary dance production of The Nutcracker would look like. Throughout research I am hoping to look at both more traditional productions of the story as well as more modern adaptations such as the recent live action Disney movie And the Sadlers Wells theatre adaptation, in order to create looks that are really innovative and boundary pushing.
It will be interesting to look at how I can reflect different acts of the ballet in my designs, for example, I'm hoping to create a tutu based around the land of sweets and perhaps also looking at creating a stretch garment with a custom print based around the jester dolls that come to life in the first act of the ballet... There are lots of different inspirations that I could pull from in the story to create really out of this world, dream like, fantasy designs.
I'm really looking forward to starting this project and creating pieces that really resonate with my personal style and career aspirations. I'm also excited to challenge my skills such as working with stretch and looking at tutu construction.
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