Party Outfit Evaluation

Evaluation

For this project my task was to design and make a party outfit. The theme of my party dress I went for was a Louis Vuitton inspired dress to be worn in a red carpet.

Before designing and making the party outfit I have researched on different types of party dresses to see what types of dresses are in fashion in 2013. Researching the different party dresses I have found that there are lots of different styles on the dresses such as gatherings, pleating and layering, I particularly like the pleating technique in a skirt because it gives more movement to the skirt. I have also looked at different designers; my favourite designer I looked at was Louis Vuitton. Louis Vuitton dresses visually interest me because I like how the skirts of the dresses are short and pleated. I also like the colours used on Louis Vuitton dresses. The colours are rich and bold colours such as gold, black and cream.

Secondly, after researching on party outfits and artists I have looked through secondary sources such as fashion magazines and collected images by cut out images from the magazines of different styles of party dresses. I then mounted the images on a piece of A3 sheet creating a mood-board.

Thirdly, after I created a mood-board I had a more clear idea of what kind o party outfits was in fashion in 2013 and what type of look I would like to go for. To help me visualise the party look I have created a style board and I have put together a complete party outfit including the accessories.

After creating a mood-board and style board I then drew fashion flats of dresses all in different styles. I thought about different style techniques to put onto the dresses such as pleating, gatherings and layering’s, I also thought about what the length of the dresses were going to be.

Moreover, I then decided from the fashion flats which style of dress I wanted to go for. The style of the dress I chose was long sleeve lace top with a pleated knee length skirt. I chose this style because it reminds me of Louis Vuitton dresses from my research.  I then took that fashion flat design of the dress and drew a final fashion illustration of how I want the dress to look when it is made. I have added colours to my illustration, the colours I went for my party dress is gold and black. I have chosen these colours because they are glamorous and elegant.

Before making the final dress I have first made some samples of pleating and gatherings out of calico. I have made samples so that I have a perfect idea what I need to do when adding the style techniques to my dress such as pleating.

After making samples I have also made a toile of the top out of calico so that I know where all the darts and seams should go when I start making my final piece. It also gives me a clear idea of what size I want my dress to be.

The fabric I have bought for my dresses are black satin (£2.50 per metre) and gold and black lace (£3 per metre).

To begin making my dress I started off by cutting out pattern pieces for the top of my dress and marked out were the darts and seam allowance should exactly go.

Secondly, I used the pattern pieces as a guide to cut out my fabric to the exact shape and size I want for the top.

Thirdly, after I cut out the fabric the first thing I did was sew the darts in using a sewing machine. I added darts to the dress top so the fabric can fit nicely around the body and the curves.

After I sewed the darts in, I over-locked the sides of the fabric to stop the fabric from fraying and to neaten the edges. After I over-locked the sides I put the separate pieces of the top back to back on the right place facing the wrong way up and sewed the seam allowance (1.5cm) to attach the top together and make it one piece. I then turned the top over to the right side and I had a finished top. After that I then added long sleeves to the top. The fabric I used for the top and sleeves was gold and black lace inspired my Louis Vuitton dresses.

I then made another boob-tube top made out of black satin to go on top on the lace top.

After I completed making the top part of the dress I then started making the skirt of the dress. To make the skirt of the dress I placed the two fabrics, satin and lace on top of each other and added pleating at the top of the skirt. I then sewed the pleating using a sewing machine so they are secure in place. After that I grabbed the bottom of the skirt and folded the skirt in half way and hand stitched it under the skirt to give the skirt a puffier effect. After I had completed the skirt of the dress, I attached the skirt and the top together using the sewing machine.

Finally to finish the dress off I added a fastening to the back of the dress. The fastening I used for my dress was a zip. I have used a zip for the fastening because it is easy to get in and out of the dress without any struggle.

Overall I think my party outfit came out how I planned because the party dress looks like my final fashion illustration. My strength during the process in making the dress was making the skirt of the dress; this is because I practiced making pleating out of toile. The disadvantage in making the dress was making the top out of lace, this is because lace it a very difficult fabric to cut into. It was also quite difficult to sew onto lace using a sewing machine because it was a very stretchy fabric.

I think I could improve my party dress next time by adding some hand embroidery to it such as sequins or gems to make it look more glamorous.