Forgive me world, for I have missed too many days without posting. Wanna know what I've been busy with? Well, even if you don't, I'm about to tell you.
For my final project in class, I designed an eight piece collection of men and women's futuristic outfits that are a cross between
Star Wars and
Terminator... (or at least it seems that way to me).
I was a huuuuge
Terminator 2 fan, back in the day. My family used to watch it all the time. It's really a brilliant piece of work. Very realistic and not at all corny or dumb. I don't remember the first Terminator as much, though, and I never saw the third one. But I'm thinking I kind of want to see the latest and final installment that opens later this month. Although I did read an article talking about how Christian Bale basically demanded an entire change of the script and stuff. Don't know if it's true, but if it is, and if he ruined it he's ganna pay. (I mean, jeez, a guy plays
Batman ONE time and he gets a huge head).
Anyways, back to my project: all semester I had to concentrate and do various facets of the project on one fabric of my choice. I, being that I was/am obsessed with all things Marie Antoinette and since somebody had already chosen
lace, I chose
brocade. First part of the project was the history and 5 designers that are known for using it. Brocade originated in ancient China, is woven on a loom from both the top and the bottom, it's designs consist of metallic fibers, traveled to Europe via the silk road, and from Europe to the middle east through the crusades. Five designers that are known for using it from time to time (or at least once) are James Galanos, Christian Lacroix, Oscar de La Renta, John Galliano, and Azrael's Accomplice - (I had to throw that one in since it's more "me").
Second part: the one I found the hardest. Find and obtain at least 40 swatches of said fabric. Honestly, I screwed up big time on this part, and therefore stressed the hell out over it and had to turn it in late because I originally went about it all wrong. I went to a fabric store in chinatown, thinking I'd have the most success seeing as how they sold pretty much nothing BUT brocade, but the guy I dealt with was very mean and I was feeling very meek that day. Ugh. Lesson I learned? I have to be more aggressive if I'm going to be a successful business person. But I'll work on that...
Third part: Find pictures of 30 fashion uses of brocade, 30 interior uses of brocade, (both those parts so easy it hurts), and 30 INDUSTRIAL uses of brocade. This was kinda easy too if you just "relax your brain" as my teacher likes to say. I found pictures of fancy silverware, antique sword handles and pistols, kaleidoscope images.. all things that are made of metal, and engraved/embossed/etched with flowers and other designs typically seen in brocade fabrics.
Fourth and final part: The Industrial uses led up to this. I had to think of how brocade will possibly be used in the future. It didn't have to necassarily be a fashion use, but mine ended up being that, for the most part. In thinking of the engraved silverware and also of advancements in technology, I predict that in the future technology and "plastic" surgery will become so advanced, that humans will have finally perfected the construction of robots. And since human vanity and the endless pursuit of perfection will always exist in society, who's to say that instead of botox injections to stave off the ravages of age, humans simply won't just replace entire limbs with better functioning robotic ones??
And of course, they'll still wanna look fashionable. So why not make robotic limbs and body parts engraved with brocade designs? (Hey, I was instructed to think "outside the box"... if this isn't "outside the box", then I don't know WHAT is!!).
Whenever I hear the word "future" I immediately always think
Star Wars, for some reason. And I'm not even that much of a star wars junkie/fan/nerd. But I do admire the costuming and whatnot. Very creative indeed. Anything goes in the future... because we haven't lived it yet, so who's to say that we WON'T all be wearing
Princess Leia buns and long robes in the future??
I can totally picture
Shiny Toy Guns wearing my designs:
Well, maybe with a few tweaks. Oh yeah, and this is an old picture of them. They have a new female singer. Speaking of which, it's taken my up till NOW to finally begin to like the latest Shinys album,
Season of Poison, and now I can't stop listening to it. The title for this post today comes from the song "Blown Away". It's kind of sung in a sad way, but I felt it was kind of fitting seeing as how it HAS been days since I've posted a good entry here, haha. I also accidentally clicked on the song "Poison" when I was downloading these off iTunes, and I ended up liking my accidental download a lot more than my intentional ones. I kept listening to it all last night, while finishing up my robot fashion project. It has a very futuristic, interplanetary feel that only served to inspire my designing further. That's why I love music. It's how I manage to design my best creations.
On a ROBOT related note, after turning all this in and getting a grade today, I came home to find that my favourite goth/alternative model,
Ulorin Vex, posted a blog entry about this recent photoshoot, in which she was styled as a half human/half robot:
Coincidence??
I think NOT.
It's kinda funny when I think about it: robots seem to always creep their way into my life in some way or another. I mean,
LOOK AT THE HEADER AND NAME OF MY BLOG!! The picture is a still of
Bjork's
"All is full of Love" music video, and the name is from a
Kill Hannah song:
"Everyone is Robots with their heads Held on by Wires".
Another good futuristic robot movie:
Artificial Intelligence, starring Haley Joel Osment and Jude Law. That is one SAD movie. But excellent. Watch if you already haven't.
Domo Aregato, Mister Roboto.
Congratulations to you if you made it through this entire entry! You get a cupcake!
:)
