Throughout this module, I really enjoyed the lectures and tutor’s voice though some parts of the lecture confuse me. Actually I have explored a variety of books and magazines which I found some more interesting ideas and communicative skills than I have learnt before. I like writing, but I’m not sure how I have done, because I am not a native people in Britain, I need learn more.

Within the task ethic writing, I have never seen this before and I cannot understanding the whole lecture. It spent so much times on doing research and analyze what we can get from the image. The problem is that I am not sure the articles and sources on the website are reliable and some chapters I cannot understand very well.

When I was reading the books, I try to understand the meanings, but some articles are so professional that I need to check some aspects on Wikipedia. Then I realized WSA library is a reliable way to get resources and information. So maybe in the future, I will choose library rather than the internet.

For the majority of the tasks during this module I focused on doing research and reading books and try my best to complete the essay according to our requirements. Also my course become busier and busier, but I never leave it behind though it is a little bit tough for me.

To sum up, RCS module offers me the ability to distinguish whether resources are available or not, and provides me with skills which may be useful for my further course.

After reading Fashion as Communication book, Barnard analyzed and explored etymology, which is concerned with the origins and development of meanings of words in chapter 1.He believes that the origin of fashion was something one did, or the idea of a fetish, and facere is the root of the word ‘fetish’, which means people will make a decision about social status according their wearing, it called ‘social hieroglyphics’. Also fashion and wearing may be an important way to construct relations and social experience. In my opinion, this kind of new social concept about fashion, which will probably distinguish people from different status unequally, can be regarded as a manner or demeanour in that age.

As a verb, Barnard believes that fashion has a sense of activity of making or doing, but it is used as a noun. William McDonough (2015) said, as a fashion designer, we fashion garments, and as an architect, we fashion buildings. However, the meanings of fashion is far from clear, except positive or negative values, fashion is substituted for “adornment”, “style” and “dress”. So in last words, Barnard thought whether “fashion” is suitable should be examined.

Tinckner believes that fashion is a rich and multidisciplinary subject, and a point at which history, economics, anthropology, sociology and psychology. For example, in the last 30 years the luxury industry has become the secondary largest in fashion area. So fashion is not only a point in these aspects, but also itself is a reflection of social, economic, cultural and psychological changes. In terms of economics of production, the positive benefits to the balance of payments budget may be taken into account. In history experience, fashion are studied in terms of humanism and liberalism, which may not receive negative valuation.

From my prospective, in late twentieth-western society, fashion and clothing impacted cultural tide, as well as enhance the development of society and economy. However, fashion cannot be viewed as personal opinions. It depends on how much parts in our multiculturalism and complex social system, so fashion is a macroscopic word.

McDonough, W.(2015) Sustainable Fashion: What’s next, 2nd Edition, Bloomsbury Publishing Inc

Zegheanu, L (2017) Fashion Trends’ Impact On Society, Available from:https://www.notjustalabel.com/editorial/fashion-trends%E2%80%99-impact-society. [Accessed 20 November]

In fashion, designers take inspiration from various sources, and there are countless possible uses and outcomes of visual research. For some it might be about photographs, architecture and mixed historical periods. For example, Vivienne Westwood, mixing different ages of research together. And other designers focus on clothes-based research, such as clothing types, fabric colors, especially rooted in the background of that age. Willie Walters, course director of the fashion BA at Central Saint Martins, thinks that if we do focus on history of a country, it is so narrow, everything can be an inspiration such as a flower, a tent, or maybe a bathroom floor.

Art- inspired headwear by Stephen Jones at an exhibition of his work at MOMU, Antwerp, Belgium, in 2010-11.

Inspired by Stephen  Jones shown here in 2004 retrospective show in New York

In my further research, some fashion designers have often looked to fine art for inspiration, especially during the postwar period, the fine art were to have a huge influence on fashion in London and Paris. For example, Alexander McQueen was much influenced by modern art such as the photography of Joel-Peter Witkin and mixed-media artworks of Damian Hirst. In London, some companies were inspired by Pop art, and use comic –strip prints and bright colors recalled the work of Andy Warhol.

In recent years, fashion designers might pick an obscure art movement and mix the past one with modern elements, disparate elements to create a narrative one. On the contrary, a designer named Vivienne Westwood is much likely to use the art of the past, such as the romantic portraits and idealized landscapes of Fragonard or Gainsborough. The history of fashion and clothing is the designer’s largest resources. And they draw on the past as well as using their own skills, experiences and vision to create for the future.

Reference list:

Borrelli, L (2016) An Art Crawl Through the Spring 2017 Collections. Available from https://www.vogue.com/article/spring-2017-ready-to-wear-fine-arts-trends [Accessed 24 October 2017].

Leach, R (2012) The fashion resource book. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd

For my first time I worked on weaving project, I looked though some websites and magazines but I did not find anything useful. After my class I went to WSA library and borrowed a textile theory book, I found some helpful concepts on materials, fabric chosen and textile construction methods. The first chapter is introducing the role of textiles in fashion and I found the influence of the textile had impacted politics, lifestyles, laws and technological advancements throughout human history. For example, the Silk Road was an overland trade route that linked all over the world. (picture 1 and 2) It started Changan, China, with hundreds of smaller byways. The northern route ran westward from China to the Black sea and the southern route was included Afghanistan, Iran, and India. The most important is, the Silk Road delivered gold, food, animals and agricultural and metallurgical technologies. Textiles from far-away lands for use in fashion became a status symbol and a profitable business. That was a huge innovation.

Furthermore, I found an interesting theory on five basic steps of the field of textile manufacturing which are fibres, yarns, construction method , dyeing and finishing. Firstly, fibres are the basic material from naturally occurring (natural fibres) and man-made (manufactured and synthetic fibres and structural characteristics of fibres).The next stage on the journal to create a fashion textile is yarn production and spun and filament are two main classification of yarns. Then in woven textiles, there are three basic weave patterns which are plain weave, twill weave and satin weave. Here’s some sample of woven textiles. My first project was on woven design, so l collected some pictures on woven textile. Although it was difficult and spending time, I had a lot of fun on it.

Saved by Heta Davis

Archaeological investigations extend the known age of the ancient road connecting Asia and central Europe called the Silk Road.

Silk Road merchants on the ancient trade route through Asia. From an illuminated 1375 Mallorcan manuscript

Cadigan. E. (2014) Sourcing and selecting textiles for fashion. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Kris Hirst (2017) Along the Silk Road – Archaeology and History of Ancient Trade. Available from : https://www.thoughtco.com/along-the-silk-road-167077?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=shareurlbuttons_nip [Accessed 15 October 2017].