Inspiration for Menswear

After looking at music, lifestlye, generic photos of the 60s I have come across two men that I am extremely inspired by. I love looking at old photos of them, scrutinising what they wear, how they wore it and why it was so dramatic for the time they were living in.

The first photos (and the most of) are of the bassist of the punk rock band The Clash, Paul Simonon. I found a book on the The Clash at my local library and instantly saw the difference between Simonon and his other band mates. He eminates style and confidence, whether wearing a ripping up military tarp, or in a leather jacket. Towards the beginning of their musical career, all the members followed the same design aesthetic, dressing the same under a theme..e.g. looking like the village people. As the photos and time progressed, his style and individuality becomes more pronouced. He is a hard core rocker, safety pins holding his clothing together spiked hair, and yet this turned into sleeked back neat hair, camel jackets and hats, absolute mens style.
I am addicted to looking at photos of him. I find him amazing.

NEXT;
BOB DYLAN a name that everyone knows, except that I had never heard his music before coming across him. His early and late fashion do not appeal to me, but rather his style in the middle of his career. Slim black suits, black boots, short sleeves and pant legs, soft cotton shirts, tiny collars and cuffs, simplicity...but it looks soo good.

Once again, another man with amazing style, whether he realised it or not. I think that Dylan was just trying to look different. To let the music tell its story.

The collars,
The shirts
The Polkadots
The Prints

Bob Dylan would definately be the strongest inspiration towards my design aesthetic. I feel he suits Dries Van Noten and his brand more so that Simonon...But I love Simonon and will continue to follow him...at least his past

First Menswear Fitting

First Fitting of Menswear

The first two photos are of the pants after they have been pressed, then put on the mannequin.

Fitting went really well and I got some great feedback, which just encourages me more. The next toile (due a week after) will just have some minor changes such as the length of the pants and sleeve, I wouldnt mind making a cuff a little bit thinner so it match the collar more. The back armhole needs to be refined because there is too much bagginess around this area. Most peoples garments had the same problem because we all used the same block.

The next time I sew the collar I shall have to make it neater. I plan to sew it a few time to practise making it perfect. As my teacher said, it is the focus of the garment so needs to look fantastic. Todd also made the comment that it would look good in 3 colours?
This is a possiblilty-it would be hard as any imperfections would be easier to see, but it would create a dynamic, interesting garment to stand out from the rest.

I am really happy with how it is turning out, considering I didn't really have an inspiration, nor like it?

First Toile Fitting

First Toile fitting of my Couture garment-inspiration Sculptures by Naum Gabo.
Fitting went really well, bit tricky to put the garment on but this can be changed by increasing the length of the zipper and widening the SA on the hips. The final material will have stretch in it so getting it on should be easier without ripping any seams.

Adjustments; Straightening the shoulder line to enhance the design of the bodice.
Changing a few shapes so that they look more aesthetically appealing.
Widening hips (they were too tight)
Taking the side seam out/Combining two blocks so that there is no distracting line running down the side. This will increase the elegance of the garment by having a flat panel.
Tweaking at the back to make it sit nicer.

Dries Van Noten Spring 2010 Mens wear

bit blurry, but these were my favourite looks of the collection. Beautiful fabrications and details. Van Noten brings back classical elegance for menswear

An absolutely timeless collection..

Assignment 1 for Digital, creating a personal identity folder for my future career...DESIGNER..which is wishful thinking but you've got to have a goal to get anywhere in life...

Quite love the black backgrounds, and the simplicity of everything set up

Draping Experiments in Class
-No cutting, no sewing, minimum of 5 pins.
Simply playing with different materials to see how they move, how to create shapes and volume with minimal securing.
We changed fabrics for different experiments, using only 2 pins, pinning at the back, focussing on one aspect of garment etc.

We should remember to play with the material before using it, just to see how everything moves, the way it relates to everthing else, and to minimise as much cutting as possible

This is an Issey Miyake Shibori shirt, purchased by my teacher 15 years ago. It's still in perfect condition and fits most sizes. Someone tried it on in class and it looked amazing, just as good as it would of looked when it was first bought.
The technique used is Shibori, an ancient Japanese technique where polyester fabric (high thermoplasticity) is wrapped with threads into a certain shape, in this case spirals, boiled and the shapes are held in place after the threads are taken out.
The spirals appeared to be in perfect spacing, about 1cm apart. This makes me think that either someone is especially talented or it was wrapped using a machine. For $600 (15 years ago) it could be the former...