This is my Jiji blog. Basically I will be recording my personal alterations of different clothes that I find in charity shops, eBay and on the rare occasion when I want to spend more than £20 on one piece of clothing, vintage shops. I can honestly say that apart from 4 items, all of the clothes in my wardrobe were bought either in a sale, off of eBay or from a charity or vintage shop. But don't think I am some kind of expertise alterations seamstress, oh no. I am merely a 16 year old student who loves a bargain. Who doesn't? I hate buying something at the full price and then seeing it in the sale section 3 weeks later. But I also love the feeling of wearing something that is unique, that you can guarantee no-one else will be wearing the same garment the same time as you which is why I love personalising and customizing my clothes. Also finding vintage treasures in charity shops and getting them for £2.99 is equally satisfying. Warning: If you are someone who finds the thought of 'wearing something that someone might have died in' completely disturbing or simply thinks that being seen stepping into the British Heart Foundation is 'uncool' then this blog is probably not for you. But life goes on. So you should expect to see makeovers of pieces of clothing in photos and words over the next few months - and please feel free to ask questions along the way; I will try to answer them as well as I can. And in September I will be starting a Fashion B-TEC course (basically another form of an A-level) so there will be bits from my sketchbook thrown in along the way. Which is what my first post will be about. Time for a new paragraph I think.
So to start the Fashion course, we have all been given 3 pages of summer work to keep us... I think 'entertained' was the word used. Which actually isn't too bad. First assignment - You will need to produce a review of a current or past fashion trend that may have influenced your design style and is of interest to you. Ok, so I don't really know of anything that has influenced my design style (before I read this first assignment I didn't even have a design style) but here are the first ever pages of my sketchbook:
I hope you like the corrugated cardboard - my personal touch there. Yes, I chose
lace as my favourite trend. Ok, I know its getting a bit old now but I like it all the same. And just to sound as if I know what I'm talking about I think that the long flowing drapes of laced material as seen on the catwalks of designers such as Valentino and Erdem (pictured above) create a romantic atmosphere which is exaggerated by the folds of the fabric, metaphorically representing the flowing of life. And yes, I did just make that up on the spot, and yes, I have just personally copyrighted that sentence, so if you are feeling lazy and you don't know what to write for your textiles/fashion essay which just happens to be on the trend lace, I will find you and I will kill you. But anyway, I hope you like my collage of magazine images and bits of ribbon and cardboard because I do. And drawing out the title took me ages!
Lots of love, Jiji xxxxx
