I have been real busy lately. I now live in London and am studying Fashion further at uni BUT before i left Portsmouth, i did show a small collection of 5 things in the first ever Southsea Fashion Week which will be BIG next year and the year after, and the year after. You know what I am saying.
Basically, I wanted to show you my designs and the video of day 1 which was the Ready-to-Wear/Demi Couture day. You can link from this video to the second day, which was the Avant-Garde/Haute Couture day.
My theme was Tarot cards. Yes, Tarot.
Not something that would be portrayed straight away, but with alllll the research and interpretation I could explain a little. Some ideas were taken and developed from the key words and meanings of the cards whereas other ideas were taken literally.
Confused? You'll see what I mean in a minute.
Confused? You'll see what I mean in a minute.
Ok so, from left to right the cards I used were;
Justice (first two outfits) - One of the main symbols in this card are a set of scales. This is because it revolves around balancing things such as the balance of life etc. I used this symbol and made 2 asymmetric dresses, as there are 2 sides to a scale and I liked the unbalanced side of life.
The Fool - The fool is the start of the journey in a tarot pack. All the fool cards have a symbol of a rose. I took this symbol literal and created a skirt and a bodice which represented the petals and the thorns of the rose.
The Hermit - The hermit is a reserved card, meaning solitude. Becasuse of this, i wanted the Hermit design to be full and not revealing in the slightest. (Reserved body - hiding under the clothes as the Hermit does his cape) The high neck and structured bodice and long length skirt was designed to portray this.
Finally I have The Tower card. This was my final card (in order of the Major Arcana deck). I cut out brick by brick and created a tower like skirt to represent an actual tower. This took me forever! The top of the dress is sheer and it is also backless. This is because the Tower also means exposure. I felt leaving the top half of the body exposed portrayed this well.
After being inspired by Rei Kawakubo (she does not use any colour in most of her collections) I created this from mainly faux leather and spotted mesh. Keeping is black and white was also part of my intention to show no emotion through neither of their faces or colour. I wanted the structure and hidden meaning to portray a variety of emotions personal to each viewer as Tarot cards have the same effect on people.
Enough talking about this now, I just wanted to show you and I haven't blogged in a long time!
Here is the video I promised.
(mine start at 1.46 but it is worth watching the whole thing! It is only short as they are clips)
Love Nicole xxx
