I am also in the process of creating some pressed dried flowers. I could sew them into fabrics or use them as print ideas...

Below is a board showing future areas of interest and dsigners who have followed a similar theme that i could look into. I could further research textile and trimming ideas, fabric ideas (incorporating leather maybe) and adding embellishment to bust lines and other areas of outfits i will design.

I could also look at the way flowers have influenced hem lines, like the tulip hem. There is so much more i can research as the topic is very broad. Flowers and print, the different types of flowers i can create from fabric, the way petals can create layers on hemlines. I can take the theme of flowers in my work and create differnt directions and topics! The theme of 'goddess - greek/roman dress' is a bit more constricted but i think this ties in really well with the floral theme as it helps create the whole 'feminine' look to my collection idea. I still need to come up with a name but i don't want anything 'cheesy', i want to give this a lot of thought and have lots of ideas before i decide!

To summarise (as i have not finished researching and i will continue to use my blogger as a visual diary), i feel i have started my research off looking at pesoanl areas of intrest that has brought me to the conclusion of the 'flower/goddess' idea. I will use 'dress' designs from the greek/roman idea and incorporate flowers as a 'decoration' to fabric or as a second influence to my designs.

Here are some designs i have carried out using illustrator. I have used colours similar to those from my colour palette. I want to design dresses mostly for my collection as i think they fit in with the whole feminine/goddess theme.

Above is my moodboard taken from all the pictures i have collected that have influenced my ideas the most. I also came to the conclusion of a colour palette with ahving nudes as a base and flower colours as accent colours.

After looking through my research i have created a colour palette for my collection. I want to use 'pale nudes' (white, cream, pale beige & light gold) as the main colour scheme for the collection. I also want to use gold for embellishment (beads, embroidery, print) and several colours as my accent colours. The accent colours are the colour palette below. These colours will compliment my main base colour and be based on the theme of flowers. I have a sketch of my ideas which explain the colour ideas in more detail.

Below is a page from the 'Goddess - the classical mode' book. It shows greek/roman dress robes and the flats for them. This page will give me the 'base' for my design ideas based on greek/roman dress.

Sketch below, the main dress is of a 'nude' tone, the embellished scoop neck is of an accent tone.

Below is the weblink to my slide show as i still cannot get it onto my blogger, i think this is because i changed to the blogger betta account. I have no idea whats wrong i have tried everything 10 times over!


http://tashacross.slide.com/p/1/Slide+show+for+Blogger_21?view=true

The scanned corsges i have created are a little 'liney' but you can just make out my samples...

I created some flowers using chiffon, satin and a polyester silk all with buttons, beads and sequins to repreent the centre of the flower. These would look great on an outfit, all over or maybe as a decoration... the fabrics i have used are what i hope to use in my collection.

Flowers2

Same flowers as before, this video is a little blurry. I wanted to show close ups of the flowers, especially the pink lilly.

Dress by Dolce & Gabbana.

This dress, shot in 10 magazine, really connects well with my ideas. The shirt worn underneath has a 'goddess' feel, floaty sleeves in a pale gold/beige colour. The dress has silk embroidered poppies embellished onto the lace front. This has given me even more ideas for my work. I could create corsages based on flowers and sew them onto areas of outfits...
The dress is really different and represents the areas i have been looking at.

I looked up terms i have been using through out my work in the dictionary. I wanted to make sure my work was fitting together and was fitting in with my proposal. I have commented in brackets next to some of the descriptions.

god·dess, Pronunciation[god-is]
–noun
1.a female god or deity.
2.a woman of extraordinary beauty and charm. (Aim to create my collection to these traits)
3.a greatly admired or adored woman.
[Origin: 1300–50; ME; see god, -ess]

fem·i·nin·i·ty noun plural fem·i·nin·i·ties
1.The quality or condition of being feminine.
2.A characteristic or trait traditionally held to be female. (connects with 'flowers')
3.Women considered as a group.
4.Effeminacy.

Pink lilly

A close up of the pink lilly, then zoomed out. I want to use the colours of flowers to create my colour palette. Im quite pleased with my own videos they arn't as good as some peoples on you tube but it is my first try!

I took some photos of flowers at the 'scenta flora' in Derby city centre. There isn't as many flowers around this time of year so it was quite difficult finding primary research for them.



The rose and carnations, below, really look like fabric gathered and incased around the centre bud. Delicate but still stiff in structure.








The garment above (Valentino, spring/summer '07/'08) looks really like the carnations in the picture above it. I really like this outfit. Its fun, feminine but still delicate and dainty looking, just like a flower!!








The roses above have a 'velvet' look to them...
This is a fabric i hadn't thought of using before but it could still fit into my idea. It's sensual to touch, would create folds and gathers but still maintain its original shape and sit stiffly.







I like the dasies above, the remind me of daisy chains that you made at school. These ones are really unusual as they have a striped effect to them in Lilac and white. A daisy chaon style necklace could look really cte around a plain dress...

Lillies are by far my favourite. I came up with an idea of maybe zooming in on areas of the pink lilly (as it has more detail and colour), and having a large close up as the 'print' on a garment.

The rose above looks like a silk rose, you can just imagine turning it upside down and wearing it as a skirt with layers of petticoats underneath! Dozens of silk roses all sewn on an area of a garment would look cute.... these are all design ideas i need to put to paper..

For my colour palette, i have found some really nice images of rose petals. As well as using the romaticism paintings and the marble colour theme from greek/goddess dress, these have all created a colour scheme themselves to go on my mood board...

I definetly want to stick to the 'romanticism' theme, i found a really nice picture of romanticism from a seminar flyer: 'Romanticism in Literature & MusicEast – West Encounters, Part II'

I am definetly going to take this direction, inspired by romanticism and greek/roamn dress.

Waterhouse
Waterhouse, John (1849-1917) : Waterhouse was born to English parents in Rome, Italy but returned to England to attend the Royal Academy Schools. Some of his most distinctive paintings depicted romantic and poetic subjects as well as a number of large scale historical and biblical paintings. Waterhouse enjoyed considerable success with frequent exhibitions and support from many distinguished patrons. He worked prodigiously right up until his death, leaving his final work 'The Enclosed Garden' unfinished.

Ophelia

Norham Castle, Sunrise Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, 1775 - 1851)





Even the colours in romanticism art have pale tones, beiges, creams lilac bluess and light yellow. for my colour palette i will look into these paintings and into the 'flower' theme..

I looked through various magazines, old vogues, current vogues, paris vogue, Elle magazine. I also looked on the vogue website and at catwalk shows past and present. I found some aspiring collections and found i really want to produce a collection which is 'ready to wear' rather than haute couture.

Everything Alberta Ferretti had designed on the catwalk fitted into my ideas...

Fashion moments- by Stephen Doig, Vogue

Wispy, delicate slips of nothing, pale nudes and oyster tones, femininity, dresses, freedom - loose easy shapes, girly bows, slinky slithery satin, feeling like a goddess.

Alberta Ferretti

'In this haute couture gown by John Galliano for Christian Dior, the classical allusions are it's body-wrapping construction and the appearance of animated bits of drapery that attatch to it like himations and scarves seen on classical nude images. Gold lame, sunburst pleating, and the trapunto, or channel stitched, quilting seen here all had a period of popularity in the 1930's'.

Spring/summer 2000








I love this gown, it has the drapery and romantic look of roman dress but is modern. This dress imparticular has a '1930's' feel, i would like to design a collection along a similar idea, maybe a more 1970's feel..

Some of my previous images have a 70's inspired feel, hippy boho look to them:

but also with the romantic/drapery twist.

With everything i have researched i need to come to some final conclusions for my final collection..

I have the original '1950's' theme from the interior design pages...

The fairyality theme...

The flower/nature theme....

And the goddess/romantic theme....

I need to pull together all these ideas, maybe rid some....

From the book i looked at previous, 'Goddess the classsical mode' the inside cover hand an interesting introduction:

'The classical mode explores the continually evolving influence of ancient greek/roman dress through the ages.
Artisits and designers have looked to the three major types of classical dress- the chiton, peplos, and himation- and have incorporated from greek/roman sources attributes such as the laurel and brestplate has well as various details, notably the greek-key motif that is familiar as an achitectural element from ancient greek times to recent revivals.
Fashions inspired by the classical ideal can be elegant, romantic, or provocative - reminders of venus, goddess of love, Diana, goddess of hunt or of the martial ancient tribe of women named Amazons.
Most are in pale tones of white or beige, the result of bleaching out of ancient, originally polychromed marbles that has occured over many centuries.'

A collection of 'pale tones' would make a good collection, and then based on greek/roman dress. I really love this book and feel it has inspired me the most. It also fits in with the 'fairy' theme as both are floaty, romantic and feminine.