BA4 - Reflective Journal

Week 3

This week was more about 3D work on the stand so that I would have a better idea for my designing. However, I felt that to get the extra influence needed to include the authenticity in my designs, I did some further research into late 19th century menswear; so to create the right silhouettes and shape in conjunction with the tartan.

19th Century Menswear

Fashion in the late 19th century was very particular in its style, with certain garments made for men but, more colourful than seen in previous fashion eras. It mostly consisted of the

frock coat....

The frock coat is a straight cut and was worn for very traditional occasions as well as semi formal events. It can be double or single breasted and is normally with a full pleated skirt as the bottom half and having a higher waist creating the fitted look. The lapels are normally made of a different cloth to create more texture and so that the lapels would stand out against the main bodice fabric. Their was an earlier version of a garment called a 'Frock' where it would be single breasted with a square cutaway and tails - more in resemblance to the dress coat and morning suit.

...the morning suit

The morning suit began to overtake the frock coat in popularity towards the end of the nineteenth century. The morning coat has the diagonal cutaway fronts so that the trousers and bottom of the waistcoat is more exposed. I have decided that the diagonal cut to the bottom of the coat will be a prime design feature in my designing process.

cravats........silk scarfs

Silk scarfs were traditionally used at this time to be used for Ascot cravats where they could be worn inside the shirt (informal) or outside the shirt (formal). This could be an idea to include the final outfit when accessorised.

 distinctive hats....

Hats were very big at the time, so that they would make an impression regarding to their suitability of dress i.e. the bowler hat would be worn for sporting attire whereas the bowler hat would be more suited for casual wear and finally, the tophat would be worn for formal occasions.

.....lounge suit

The lounge suit became more popular around the same time as the morning coat so that, it helped to boost the frock coat to be worn at more ultra-formal events. The lounge suit can also be referred to as the "three piece suit" or "the ditto suit" due to the waistcoat, the jacket and the trousers being made of the same cloth. However, to make it more stylish, waistcoats could have been made of a different pattern to create a contrast and the lounge suit has always been made single breasted.

shirt collars.....

The shirt collar was very much a staple in menswear so that they would have different styles concerned with the right type of dress; the turned down collar would be worn for moew informal events and the stand collar more formally worn, possibly due to its upright and elite look.

....military officers tunic 

The military tunic was worn by military officials but also, influenced the styles of the frock coat where frock coats were traditionally worn in the Napoleonic wars. Military tunics are accurate in their structure and are very fitted and use toggle like fastenings.

Saville row tailoring research

Using the book; Saville Row: The Master Tailors of Bespoke, I looked through to find the staple elements that made saville row famous for what it is today.

The first fashion venture was the creation of the dinner suit (the Tuxedo) first created by Henry Poole (said to be the "founder of Saville Row"). It is classic in design with a simple lapel layout and made of a black wool fabric, traditionally worn with a bow tie and with contrasting button down white shirt and white pocket and handkerchief.

Another thing that really stood out for me is the 'Inverness' cape made by, once again, Henry Poole and was worn for sporting attire, inspiring me to include some sort of sporting element into my designs.

When looking at Saville Row, Hardy Amie must be looked at. He was the first designer to bring menswear to the ready-to-wear catwalk and best known for being the official warranted Queen's dressmaker. Amies revolutionised men's fashion by including socks, belts and slippers into tailoring as design features and that the outfit must always have at least one article of clothing that does not match (a lot different today, but not then).

Checks, plaids and tartans came more into fashion in tailoring in the mid 20th century. This gave me the idea to include the tartan in my designs as different parts of the garments, i.e. just on the sleeves, the lapels, cuffs or even just the pocket linings. This is what gave me the final push to see that my idea was not just too historical because by using the tartan, in the right context, with tartan I can make a traditional looking ulster coat - a modern creation.

Designing

 

Designing came about to me quite easily after all this extensive research, as you can see from the above selected designs, I tried to keep the tartan consistent throughout my designs. I also added elements of the frock coat and variations of the cape coat with buttoned on flaps instead. I also exaggerated on the lapels and their shapes. Finally, I included elements of revealing the skin at the shoulders and the elbows as well as the sides of the waist. However, I am not too sure with this idea as it does not fit in entirely with the whole concept.

London

 
 Myself and a few of the people on my course visited London on the Tuesday, to source for fabrics in relation to our projects. I already knew that I wanted to feature tartan and leather into my final design, so as soon as we got to Berwick Street, I found dress tartan for £9 a metre. The leather was sourced from Fabric World on Goldhawke Road. This is also where I found the idea to include gold chains, in my designs, when visiting Berwick Street. It gave me the idea to include the chains on the bottom of the cape to weigh it down so that the cape would hang nicely over the shoulders.

Experimenting with fabric

To give myself a little more push forward in my designs I decided to do a little experimentation on the stand with the fabrics I got from London:

I liked the idea of the leather bounding the fabric in place, or lining the edges of the tartan suit, so to create a definite outline of the design aesthetics and to give it a modern twist.

Start of toile

Due to the experimentation, I realised I knew what exactly what I wanted so I got stuck into creating a men's suit jacket block with dolman sleeves. After, reviewing the final outcome, and by working with Laura the collar and its height, we thought best to make the sleeves raglan as it would create the right fit for the jacket.

Therefore, I went on to draft a pattern block from a shirt block (as a normal men's straight block with raglan sleeve was not available) and adapted the sleeves by rounding the armhole up (had a dropped armhole) and curving the shoulder dart for more give for a shoulder pad. However, due to the raglan sleeve not being suited for the shirt block, the sleeve had a lot of excess, so I went on to adapt the sleeves and I also wanted to make the block longer so I added 5cm onto the bottom of the blocks.

 

I rounded the armholes of the sleeves and the front and back bodices so tha tthe armhole would be further up underneath the arm and there would be less excess.