Sketchbook Pages; 3 - 6; Survey

So I did 2 surveys this term to help me get a feel for a) what women want, and b) what size the actual average woman is. Although my sample sizes are small I'd like to think they reached a wide variety of women, having shared them on various social media platforms. I also made some QR codes to link to the surveys online and stuck them around my university campus in the hopes that some of the students would see them and take part.

Here are the results of survey one, based around what is available in shops, what women buy, what they'd like to see and how they feel the garments fit them.

So I found out that women aren't super happy with the choices available and would defiantly like to see more choice of style and colour. But I did note that fit is a big issue for most women as most women aren't a standard size, or at least don't tick every box of the standard measures. This is an issue I'd really like to try and deal with in my 3rd year collection, and hopefully influence industry to add more size ranges. There are already petite and curvy ranges in mot stores, but where the items are more about tailoring and fit, but don't use stretch fabric, it would be great to see some variation from just the standard 8, 10, 12 etc. Or even another option would be to have an in store tailor / altier who can make adjustments to garments for a small price. Obviously I'd be all for this option since it would give me more career opportunities! I know some shops do offer this, for example Hobbs do offer small alterations that I believe are included in the price? Independent businesses sometimes offer this service too as it gets them a little more revenue but also it encourages people to buy the more expensive, well made garments as they know it can be fitted to them. You could walk into Topshop and buy a suit that doesn't fit well for £30, so why would you pay a lot more for a suit that doesn't fit you from an independent business? The fact that they offer this service definitely increases the sales because the consumer would be more likely to pay more for something they feel they have had a more personal experience in purchasing, and that fits them great!

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Survey 2 was about measurements, I asked the women to measure themselves or get someone to measure them so I could get a good indication of what sizes women commonly buy, but also what measurements they actually have and see how different these are to the UK standard measurements. There were 21 participants in this survey. I have outlined the results below.

Size 6-     2

Size 8-   3

Size 10-   2

Size 12-   5

Size 14-   2

Size 16-   2

Size 18-   1

Either size 6/8-   1

Either size 8/10-   1

Either size 10/12-   1

Either size 14/16-   1

Size 8-   5

Size 10-   3

Size 12-   6

Size 14-   1

Size 16-   1

Either size 10/12-   1

Either size 12/14-   2

Either size 14/16-   1

Size 6-     3

Size 8-   2

Size 10-   3

Size 12-   5

Size 14-   2

Size 16-   1

Either size 6/8-   1

Either size 12/14-   1

Either size 14/16-   1

Size 16/18/20 depending on style-   1

One person answered that they don't buy these kinds of clothes.

In inches:

30-   1

32-   1

34-   3

35-   1

36-   4

38-   3

39-   1

40-   6

42-   1

45-   1

In inches:

25-   1

29-   1

30-   3

32-   5

33-   2

34-   5

35-   2

36-   1

38-   1

In inches:

24-   1

25-   1

26-   2

27-   2

28-   1

29-   2

30-   2

31-   1

32-   2

33-   2

35-   2

36-   1

37-   1

42-   1

In inches:

31-   1

32-   1

33-   1

34-   3

35-   2

36-   3

37-   2

38-   1

39-   2

40-   1

41-   1

42-   1

45-   1

48-   1

In inches:

34-   2

35-   2

36-   2

37-   1

38-   1

40-   4

41-   3

42-   2

45-   1

50-   1

In feet and inches:

4'11"-   1

5'3"-   1

5'4"-   8

5'5"-   2

5'6"-   1

5'7"-   2

5'9"-   1

5'10"-   4

6'1"-   1

From this survey I got a good idea of how sizes aren't set in stone for women, that they can vary a lot from garment to garment. It was interesting to see the different shapes and sizes of the women who answered my survey, and that the majority of women that responded are pear shape like me! I was going to use some of these measurements to draft my patterns but I since confirmed a model to work with so now I've drafted for her instead; she also doesn't exactly fit into one sizing category so it gets my point across.

Sketchbook Pages; 2 Trend

I was originally going to make for S/S 19 so my trend page reflects that, though I later decided that I would actually make for A/W 18/19. The reason being that my colour palettes evolved into autumnal colours which would possibly not be as popular in summer, but also due to the fact that the cloth I'll use needs to be heavy enough to hold my embroidery without puckering or stretching. I was going to use Royal Gaberdine which is a very lightweight wool and can be very difficult to work with. Gaberdine was the fabric that gave me the most flexibility with colour, since suiting wool doesn't tend to come in lots of colours! However, I also decided that I would be using all black fabric and doing embroidery on all the garments. This is rather than my original idea which was to have the jacket in black with embroidery in colour, then have the skirt / trousers in a colour picked out from the embroidery. I became aware early on that this could cheapen the look of the collection as black can be very harsh and I also didn't want to lose the impact of the embroidery by for example adding a super bright pair of trousers to the look. I now think the idea would be much better if the colours from the embroidery appeared in the base garments and accessories.

Below are the more recent trend reports that are relevant to the new direction my project is taking.

The fact that bespoke and craft pop up is great because this shows me that it's likely that an appreciation for craft might be coming back on a larger scale. Of course there are people who do appreciate craft now but unfortunately the majority do not and wouldn't pay the cost of bespoke or hand made, despite the amazing quality and fit that comes with the price tag. Hopefully this appreciation will grow with the new sustainable attitude the world is seeming to have of late.

Images courtesy of WGSN

Sketchbook Pages; 1 Inspiration

Images from my inspiration page.

I've been pinning things on Pinterest all through summer in prep for my Concept Development term.

I'm planning on taking a few of these images and drawing over them as my initial ideas, since I'm keeping my silhouette quite classic there's no need for anything too outrageous! These images all give an air of confidence and comfort, which is what I want to replicate with my designs this term.

If you're interested in following my Pinterest account or some of my boards here's a QR code to get you there :)

Research; Donna Karan 7 Key Pieces

In the 1980s Donna Karan released a collection of 6 easy pieces, to show working women they didn't need a whole wardrobe of clothes for their working lives, they could get along with only 6 well selected and flexible pieces. This is similar to my concept of being able to have a few bespoke suits that you can mix and match, rather than having lots of cheap suits that wear out easily and aren't complimentary of your body shape.

While these pieces are certainly dated today, the idea is still a strong one that remains prevalent, especially now that people are becoming a lot more waste conscious. A smaller about of lasting garments rather than hundreds of throw away ones is certainly an idea people can get behind. Besides, the quality you get from handmade or bespoke pieces is a million times better than that of mass produced high street garments.

“Karan’s collection was based on the idea that with the right basics, a woman could accomplish anything. It certainly struck a note with her audience at a moment when women were transcending career stereotypes and aiming to shatter the glass ceilings of corporations and politics. And her approach still makes sense today, as Karan continued to update and refine her designs with an acute sensitivity for women and their relationships with their bodies.”

Eric Wilson Jul 01, 2015 @ 4:15 pm

http://www.instyle.com/news/history-donna-karan-seven-easy-pieces 

 https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvx2FIJLaXFr175MsyiD2tH5_ayk6zfIiqej_1hMRR8e7r-fletNgHS6CLTOGRfqh3Dedvh6de6z99byLYVe9QdaLeq12AEPWTIHcVZAk_F5D0gBnVr1UMu9Y6k394z2LDhOoTWpMwFY0/s1600/Donna+Karan%2527s+1980%2527s+Seven+Easy+Pieces+Have+Not+Aged+So+Well.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e2/de/88/e2de88e856323c5d7946dfabb0a5b715.jpg 

Sketchbook Pages; 55 Lacing Samples

These are the samples I did for my lacing idea. The lacing worked nicely and I don't think it looks tacky, but I couldn't envision it on suits.

The clothes I used for the samples were bought from boohoo.com in the sale, and though the skirts are really nice and I'm sure I'll wear them, the dress is awful (as you can probably tell from the picture). It's a little stretchy but not width ways, more like it's been cut on the bias so it doesn't sit very well on the body. Bizarre. It's a shame but it was only about £2 so I can't really grumble.