It is the night before...

It is the night before design selection...

I am running over the criteria with a fine tooth comb, in shock, denial and utter bliss that i have completed everything required of me for tomorrow the 25th March, the day i have been dreading for weeks... Design Selection.

Below are my final collection of black wool swimsuits, which reflect and compliment the concept which i gave birth to and researched extensively, Nudity Nightmare. Each design mirrors an aspect of our nightmares based around nudity, plotted to further exaggerate the issue...An example being, i have manipulated the black wool fabric to gather, fall and drape to symbolise the heavy sagging skin that the human form develops during the ageing process. The procedure in which majority of our culture tries to avoid, it is a torment that i have pinpointed and exaggerated- oh what a nightmare...

Wish me luck...

Neglect...

With Design Selection on my mind i fear i have been neglecting my blog...

however, in saying this... my hours and minutes have been constructive, consisting of constant journaling and planned distractions to calm my anxious behaviour after an exaggerated amount of time spent sketching and designing. Design selection is this thursday and the stress has arrived with suitcases...

Did i mention...

Did i mention that while journaling i have a tendency to go crazy...

I am into the early stages of my third week of journaling and twenty pages are complete and safe (3 did not survive my obsessive compulsive ways). Every second i can spare i lock myself in my room and make myself anxious by flicking threw the sparse pages of the rather empty visual journal while also pacing the room a few to many times to count.

But despite this i have finally begun designing...

Welcome to my concept...

Nudity, the state of NOT WEARING CLOTHES.

Nightmare, a FRIGHTENING dream.

Nudity Nightmare inspired by Annette Kellerman, (the first women to bare it all in a nude scene recorded on film, 1916) explores the self conscious mind of women, in relation to the naked body. From public exposure and human emotion to the innocence of a child and the process of developing into a women, i will explore the nightmares of nudity and rein-act them threw a collection of black swimwear...

Once my concept was born, i instantly began sketching and toying with words...

Can you envisage your deepest, darkest, horrifying nightmare? Does it involve exposed or undeveloped breasts, petruding hips, thunder thighs, lack of a gluteus maximise or the infamous tuck shop lady arms? Is nudity your nightmare? If you can't stand the sight of exposing yourself to.... yourself, unmask the swimsuit that takes these nightmares and toys with your mind... are you game?

Its all about the technique...

I have never explored the avenue of manufacturing swimwear...

Due to this my design studio lecturers took the time out to show the class a variety of TECHNIQUES. I was instantly inspired to launch a swimwear label then and there (imagination running wild with a label name, variety of prints and target market) when i realised how quick a pair of bikinis could be made as well as how many techniques arose for each of the general processes e.g.. hems and/or finishes, straps, cuts, embellishments... the possibilities were and are endless.

My World...

I Stefanie, VOW to not be obsessive compulsive and rip pages out of my journal...

Each semester my journal becomes my world... i do not let it out of my sight for a long period of time, often falling asleep amongst its carefully crafted pages. I am very vigilant to let myself touch it when A. I am overtired B. Frustrated or C. Stressed. Due to making the observation that this is when i spend a significant amount of time on one or two pages and then become anxious that they are not up to standard, and without hesitation find myself violently ripping the pages from the journals grasp. And so the research begins...

Woollen Mermaids...

Confession... i am a blogging virgin!

So as a virgin i feel i must explain the reason behind my sudden urge to begin blogging. I am Stefanie, a student currently studying a bachelor of fine arts, majoring in FASHION DESIGN. This blog is to document my design process, developments, ideas... frustration and tears based around my current design brief ... Woollen Mermaids. So basically, a concept is to be born, inspired by the original mermaid Annette Kellerman, and a collection of one piece swimsuits is to be designed, one of which will be manufactured. oh... and did i mention we are restricted to the use of BLACK WOOL!

And so it begins... i am currently living amongst a plague of magazine clippings, taking over my bed, desk and every corner of my house, spilling out of my handbag and diary and even occupying residence in the back seat of my car. The crisp, fresh, starch white pages of my new visual journal excite me as i begin my design development, slowly making use of the clippings and getting closer and closer to the birth of my concept.