Throughout this module and the RCA lectures I feel I have found them helpful for my understanding of research and communication. IO have found certain tasks in this module challenging and I have required help on a few occasions. If I’m honest there was more tasks I did not enjoy than tasks I did enjoy.

Starting of the module I was worried that I was going to struggle with certain tasks as I suffer from minor dyslexia. The first few tasks in the module soothed my worries as I didn’t feel like it was that much of a struggle. When I came to the more in depth writing tasks I began to worry, one in particular being the, ‘reflective writing task’ I felt the words used in the article where very high-end words and I spent more time researching what words meant rather than undergoing the task itself. I was focusing too hard on reading the sentences there for the information I was reading was not staying in my head, this may be due to my minor dyslexia or the fact the article was I bit too hard. I tackled this issue by selecting a little part of the article and I reviewed that one section in depth.

Also, I feel that the tasks I found easier was the ones I enjoyed, these being, ‘Ethical Issues” and the one which included creating a mode bored. If the thing I am writing about is something that actually interests me, I go into a zone where I could happily exceed the word count. When it is something I don’t enjoy I struggle to maintain focus on what I’m doing and I run out of ideas very quickly.

The ethical issues task I thoroughly enjoyed as I found myself caring and having a strong opinion on stuff I never thought I had an opinion on. These opinions being equal rights and feminism. I enjoyed analysing the image and coming up with things that that the company could be trying to get across to the audience. When It came to deadlines and partaking in all the lectures, I wasn’t very consistent. Not turning up to a couple of lectures put me in the dark for a few of the tasks and I missed out on notes that could have proved valuable when it came to writing them. Also allowing the tasks to build up on top of each other just pilled on extra stress on top of my practical work.

If I were to redo some of the task or even for future tasks/research I want to make more use of the library as I didn’t use it nowhere near vas I intended, I relied on the internet a lot in this module.

Overall I feel that this module has done me the world of good going forward into the second semester in terms of research for my projects. My skills such as referencing and identifying what is legitimate and what isn’t has grown tediously.

Biblography

• https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/balenciaga-shaping-fashion
• https: //www.harrods.com/en-gb/designers/alexander-mcqueen?cid=PPC_UK_GGL_alexander_mcqueen_exact_nb_d_alexander_mcqueen&_cclid=v3_ab2cb8f7-45b6-551d-ba64-018a20eab79a&gclid=CjwKCAjw7MDPBRAFEiwAppdF9PJIZue7qsSzWbxLWAEsFk9NfWskEGYa9V5ATmSEnYoOQY45zGS9pRoCPpcQAvD_BwE
• https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/soton-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1986627
• http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/exhibition-alexander-mcqueen-savage-beauty/
• https://www.allsaints.com/
• https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/fashion/exhibition-london-somerset-house.html
• https://matthieubelin.myportfolio.com/
• http://www.carlosnunezphotography.com/
• https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/duncan-quinn-suit-ad-depicting-strangled-woman

When I take a first glance at this image I don’t feel any sense of discomfort, until I look a bit closer and dive deeper in the hidden meanings behind this image. It is an image of a man in a nicely tailored suit looking very smart. It appears that he is holding what either looks like a piece of rope or a rather aggressively put together tie. There is also a woman that looks to

Either be exhausted or unconscious laying across the bonnet of a car that I’m assuming is the gentleman’s. It looks as if the woman has been dragged across the car as the tie is around her neck and it looks like the ties is being pulled by the man. The body language of the women suggests that she has given up fighting and has lost all self-respect, this is due to her hands and body being in a very neutral position, suggesting she is just letting it happen. The background of the image is in complete darkness suggesting they are alone and no one is there to help the woman. The image looks like it is trying to represent an 80’s style by the look of the car and the contrast put into the black and white image.

After reading up further into the image I have noticed there are many articles titling the image, ‘dead sexy’ by this I have gathered that the women is meant to be dead. This could suggest that there is something sexy or some sort of sexual fantasy for a women’s body and having full control over it. I feel this image is shouting out ‘control’ in many different ways. Another way being how it is a man having the power over a woman, this could show how back when the image is trying to be conserved, men had full control over women and got all the final say in all important decisions. Maybe the poster is trying to put across the message that women are trying to fight back in equal rights and feminism, but men will always have that little bit more power. I get this impression as the man is holding on the tie like it is a loose for a dog. It’s almost as if the loose suggests that mean aren’t going to let go of the power they once owned.

The poster could quite simply be signifying the muscular power that men will always have over women, and by this it might be trying to show that they have the greater say. Looking at it simply maybe it is suggesting some form of sexual role play.

Thinking of the modern growth of fashion and how it looks to be heading the poster could represent menswear. This may be due to the fact that the menswear sector in fashion is growing rapidly and is nearly coinciding with women’s wear. This could suggest the future plains for means wear and how they look to overpower it.

Reflective Writing

The opening paragraphs/page talks a lot about fashion trend in it’s time and how it can be changed by an individual, not just this but mainly the surge of fashion magazines throughout the years. The article also talks about Le Mercure Galant magazine being ahead of its time, evidence to this was when it re-emerged as ‘Mercure de France rather than, ‘Le Mercure Galant’

For the main bulk of this review I will be focusing on the first chapter of the article, I feel it is an important part of the article as it determines whether the reader is engaged in what they are reading. In this chapter, it shows the impact of France in fashion and fashion marketing, especially in a promotional sense. It mentions, “functioned not only as repositories of the progress of sartorial fashion and the most up-to-date, social, cultural and artistic development” they are trying to put a cross that magazines are like mini where houses holding all the latest information and trends with fashion business. I agree with this statement I regard magazines as my go to source when I’m wanting to find out about the critical information in the world of fashion. The article also discusses how “le Mercure Galant” was seen a gazette rather than a magazine, this is evidence of the amount of intellectual detail that it has over magazines. The article talks about how fashion magazines changed their style to coincide with the enlightenment of other merchants and businesses. They had to invest lots of money to gain even more money in the future to make the magazine more logical and informative. this was shown by, “by transcending their initial informative and commercial remit” and “acquired the wider intellectual profile which conferred upon them the status of worthy by-products of the enlightenment” The idea behind this was to risk a lot for the growth of the company in an economical sense.

The sentence, “the unexpected role the concept of taste was to play within this newly emerging context of the fashion magazine” show how important taste is to the magazine and how it keeps people reading. The fact that people see taste as a reason to buy the magazines shows how much power these magazines have on modern trend.

The article mentions things that I agree and can relate too, one of these being, “Magazines are truthful mirrors of their time” in some ways this is a correct statement and in others it’s not. Looking through the entirety of a fashion magazine can give you a good idea of the trend and styles that are around in this time, but there can 1 or 2 articles that where they are trying to betray a different look from around the 80’s or 90’s. I also agree how important taste is to the growth of fashion magazines, as well as this how much people rely on the words and wisdom put into them for their own personal benefit.

To summarise this review, I feel like the article goes into real depth on the history and the pattern of old and modern fashion magazines. It shows the importance of French magazine in trend and taste, also how it wasn’t easy for commercial businesses to grow in the world of fashion.

Fashion Photograph By

                       Matthieu Belin

In my image, there is a model modelling a garment on top of a roof top which seems to be a hot country. The garment she is wearing is in line with the top of the wall which creates a well organised and choreographed image. The floor in the image is wet and creates a reflection of her legs as well as the shadow casting up the wall behind her. The mood of the image is quite happy as the vibrant colours create this effect as well as the half smile on her face.

The image is simply showing off a fashion labels clothing range but there is a lot more context behind the image and moods that Matthieu Belin is trying to give off. One being the upper class and the riches, I get this mood from the holiday/Villa looking scene, not only this but she is wearing a high-class coat as well as holding a purse in what appears to be a hot summers day. The line matching up with the top of the wall could resemble how smart the clothing is, it’s like they are saying nothing is miss placed.

If you compare it to this image taken by a fashion photographer called Carlos Nunez, it is a lot more polishes. The Nunez image gives off a more rough and untidy vibe as the model’s hair is all messy and the facial expression is moodier, the location is more rural and deserted rather than urban like the other image. The clothing worn by the model is more relaxed and casual.

In conclusion, the image I have chosen seems very simple and basic but gives off many possibilities and moods if you look deeper in to the image.

Book:

Bowles MB and Isaac CI, (2009), Digital Textile Design, First ed, Britain, Laurence King.

I choose this book as it has lots of helpful information on my current project in Printed textiles. It supplies lots of helpful types and ideas.

Website:

All Saints, (1994), all saints retail LTD, https://www.allsaints.com/ [Accessed 13^th November 2017]

I choose the All saints website as it I a very successful and well accomplished high-street clothing brand with a professional website making it very. This website is clear and very fluent, making it easy to find reference information.

Newspaper Article:

Elizabeth Paton, (2017), Why Fashion Can’t Stop looking North, The New York Times, November 13^th, N/A

I have chosen this newspaper article as it focuses on modern day trend and is centralised around one of the fashion capitals of the world New York.

Task 2 Primary and secondary resources

The book-  Alexander McQueen: Genius of a generation

Author- Kristin Knox

Published- 07/05/2010

Chapter- Summer/Spring collection

Photographer- Unknown

Image description- This is an image of a design by Alexander McQueen, it is a garment that I feel slightly links to myproject through the strips of fabric.

Website description: The Harrods website

Website link: https: //www.harrods.com/en-gb/designers/alexander-mcqueen?cid=PPC_UK_GGL_alexander_mcqueen_exact_nb_d_alexander_mcqueen&_cclid=v3_ab2cb8f7-45b6-551d-ba64-018a20eab79a&gclid=CjwKCAjw7MDPBRAFEiwAppdF9PJIZue7qsSzWbxLWAEsFk9NfWskEGYa9V5ATmSEnYoOQY45zGS9pRoCPpcQAvD_BwE

Photographer: Unknown

Image description: Women modelling clothing from the alexander McQueen branch on a beach.

This is an image of a website that talks and reviews the Alexander McQueen exhibition called Savage Beauty. It gives lots of information on his creations/designs, so combing and linking these three research methods can supply me with lots of information.

My process consisted of finding a book on the library website that was interesting to me, this being the Alexander McQueen, “Genius of a generation” I choose a garment he designed that I felt was relevant to my project at the time and this was looking at lines and in my case strips draping down from the garment. This reminded me of the research and the content I was looking at previously.

When it came to finding a website that fit the criteria of the Alexander McQueen book, I found the website, “Harrods” this supplied me with an image of a garment from his clothing range that still grows following his tragic death. So, the garment was the object from a website that I found.

For the collection sector, I found an exhibition From V and A called “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” This had shown the different garments and design process in his work. As well as this it shows us close up details of the garments.

I found out different types of information from my different methods of search, one being Alexander McQueen trained in to become a fashion designer on Savile Row. Another is that Sarah Burton is in charge now that McQueen has passed. I have gathered tis information from the harrods website. I discovered that the garment I choose from the ‘genius of a generation’ book was part of the summer/spring collection in 2001. the intent of the modals positioning was a baby bird trying to catch a wing. I discovered from the ‘Savage beauty’ website that the exhibition took place on the 2nd of August 2015.

to conclude these research methods, I have discovered that using books from the library can provide you with a lot more original and reliable information, as well as this it is more factual than a website as it had been published by an actual author. From the book, I was able to discover more personal information about the photograph/object. So, overall gathering information from a book is a lot more authentic and original than gathering information from the internet. The internet can provide you with false information and as well as this people end rip with very similar information as it is the easiest way to gather it.

Fashion review (V and A Exhibition) 

The exhibition is showing the work from the designer, Cristobal Balenciaga and how he has shaped modern fashion to what it is today. He his designs shown in the exhibition are work from a masterclass designer.

Alongside his work he has terrific garment designs form designers such as, Paco Rabanne and Oscar de le Renta. This is probably due to them being very out there and sharp. A lot of the designs from Balenciaga are very floral, a dress in particular stood out to me as it was darker and drained of any colour. This was extremely different to the others as they are normally packed with vibrant colours, but this one felt like it had more meaning behind it. The Garment looked like a thick plastic bag with almost a reverse dress shape as it is bigger around the shoulders and decreases in size as it goes down.

A huge part and focal point of the exhibition was the x-ray shoot looking at the “Taffeta Evening dress” as it shows the inside details and the making of the dress. This is defiantly something for the “fashion nerds” as it is the close-up details of a dress made by someone who changed modern fashion. I feel that the inside details shown on the dress show how hard and how much hard work has been put into it. I particular like the amount of layers shown in the garment.

Balenciaga once said, “a woman has no need to be perfect and or even beautiful to wear my dresses. The dress will do that for her” I feel this quote has a good reflection on his designs.

I am looking at a review from a newspaper called “Time out” they looked at the exhibition hosted by V and A Fashion. They go into lots of the depth over the description of the garments and what they could mean. The newspaper draws the audience in with a positive, capturing first paragraph as they talk about the first floor and described it as, ‘will have fashion nerds in their element” From what I saw this quote is very accurate when I consider the details shown in the making of some of the designs, the “fashion nerds” can really get the inside details.

The newspaper mentioned the nick Veasey’s x-ray photography, this stood out to the news like it did to me and they’re view, “deceptively simple work was actually incredibly intricate” they highlighted this in a paragraph just like I did which is more evidence that it was a focal part of the exhibition. They also talk about the second floor and how it talks about his legacy and the embroidery of his designs.

As a whole and judging from the review of the Time Out article it is defiantly worth going and as someone who hasn’t visited myself, I can confidently say I would like to visit myself as a up and coming designer. So, I would defiantly recommend people going along to this exhibition when it comes around the next year.