What have I done to my self?

**Dreadbelly** · 11th February 07, 08:45 AM

So, in between hooking a few hats, I cracked open my textbooks for school. I have to do a scavenger hunt in a fabric store, a few into things, etc.

And I cracked open one of my actual lesson packets... And I don't know what to say.

I started dabbling in my jeweler's course and it made sense to me. I couldn't complete my lessons and fell behind because I just couldn't keep up with the costs of supplies, or tools, or trying to make a work bench, and some other reasons which I wont go in to... But the jewelery stuff made sense as I read it. Thus the switching of majors.

Dress Making and Design... It is like reading an alien language. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of technical terms I need to memorise. Stitches. Terms. Jargon. The language of, well, whatever these people that speak this language are called. Tailors. I cracked open my books and immediately felt overwhelmed, as if they expected people who take these courses to have well established backgrounds in the field. Which I don't. What I am studying is different too. In the jeweler's program, it was apply saw to brass sheet... Cut in circle. Now, there are things like design theory, design history, trends, fashion, etc. I don't keep up with fashion, in fact, my ideas of fashion are hundreds of years out of date. (Kilts, etc) I don't read women's modern fashion magazines. I don't know where I stand here. I understand fibres, and fabrics, and things of that nature just fine... I KNOW I'll do well in those areas. I know I'll do well in the design and creation process, at least I hope so. But fashion shows? Cat walks? Modeling? Fashion theory? Oh geeze, I am over my head. All I can think of for a fashion show is calling upon my fellow X Markers to come strut on a cat walk for me while I snap pictures or maybe cheating and borrowing a few pictures from Hamish to create a fashion gallery. I feel I am at a strong disadvantage here because I don't fit in with the 'in crowd.' I don't follow fashion trends. I don't fit in period with the mobs of people around me. I don't dress in the latest cookie cutter styles.

I feel a touch a panic. Hell, I feel a lot of panic. It is kinda like walking in to a room full of 'beautiful people' and knowing I don't belong there.

Or maybe I am just overwhelmed.

**Blu (Ontario)** · 11th February 07, 09:27 AM

My first workbench was a used door from a junk pile. For legs, I bought a couple of folding legs from Wal*Mart. Some basic tools are available really cheap at the the 1$ stores.

It's possible to cheap out on some of the basics.

**Dreadbelly** · 11th February 07, 09:41 AM

Blu, there were other problems too... Like having to buy sheets of pressed silver for projects... And the fire marshal and the management of the building I live in saying that things like acid and tanks of explosive gasses can't be stored in my apartment. There were a lot of factors for failure.

It was nickle and diming me to death. I couldn't even progress in to my lessons because I was in a constant state of paying off a credit card or saving up for the next purchase to get things I needed.

For me, and what little money I have, it will be a lot easier on me to drop 25 bucks at the fabric store for a school project than 350 dollars for precious metals and other assorted supplies.

No brainer.

Edit. I can also ransack the Salvation Army and Goodwill to find supplies for projects with the nickles and dimes I find in my couch cushions... Which is much better for me.

**Canuck** · 11th February 07, 09:50 AM

I think if you approach the fashion design to what you are familiar with.
For example; if you were going to build a house. You either start with a plan or "Pattern", create a list of materials. then procede according to plan.
For your house you may want to incorporate features, options, you draw them out.
So think of the garment as a building, you have plans, material. Instead of nails and screws you have thread needles, pins, fasteners.
The nail gun is the sewing machine. you're taking 2 dimensional objects and turning them into 3D. Grain of material etc.

**Dreadbelly** · 11th February 07, 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by Canuck

I think if you approach the fashion design to what you are familiar with.
For example; if you were going to build a house. You either start with a plan or "Pattern", create a list of materials. then procede according to plan.
For your house you may want to incorporate features, options, you draw them out.
So think of the garment as a building, you have plans, material. Instead of nails and screws you have thread needles, pins, fasteners.
The nail gun is the sewing machine. you're taking 2 dimensional objects and turning them into 3D. Grain of material etc.

Great analogy. And I get it.

I am more worried about the other stuff... Like, well, seasonal colours. Not wearing white after Labour Day. Fashion theory I think is going to trip me up because I don't pay any attention to that. Stuff like reading aids called "Always in Style" "Fashion History" One of my scavenger hunt type activities is suscribing to a fashion industry magazine, the kind that predicts trends and styles and tells everybody what to wear for spring, summer, fall, and winter.

I'll be right at home when I am up to my elbows in textbooks about textiles and properties of fabrics... I fear I will be totally lost when up to my elbows in learning adds about the magical effects of pastels in the spring season. I'll do ok when I have the textbooks for gutting, greasing, and deburring a sewing machine... I'm probably going to have a hard time with principles of design and understanding the inside of the fashion industry.

I want the technical aspect of the clothing creation process, the how and the why. I am having a hard time giving a damn about insider looks at the latest Paris fashion movements. I know how I am... How my brain works. I have a very difficult time studying or retaining things I have no interest in.

This is going to be hard for me.

**Erisianmonkey** · 11th February 07, 11:30 AM

I feel for ya, Dread. I have had to fill requirements for my bachelor's degree that had absolutely nothing to do with Psychology. Believe it or not, I had to take a class to fulfill an "ethnic studies" requirement that was in the engineering department of the school, of all places! As you sweat through it, just keep reminding yourself of this ineffable truth: Fashion is fleeting, true style is eternal.

**Rob Wright** · 11th February 07, 01:50 PM

It seems overwhelmiing at first cousin. I know what your going through. There has been some good advice given you. I would add do not get to deep into your books and materials. Stay just far enough ahead to where you are not taking on too much that you do not need at the moment. Plan blocks of time to study and go over your stuff. Take breaks, do things to take the mind off school work. Pace yourself. Do not be afraid to ask for help!

Rob

**ckelly327** · 11th February 07, 01:57 PM

Dread, I feel for you too, but I do have the confidence from what I've read here that you will come through glowingly. I don't have the first idea where the designers get those ideas for the runway shows (well except for Victoria's Secret). The best thing that can happen is that you bring things to the mainstream and not get hungup on the designers who only design for the stars and that no normal woman or man would ever wear. Look at what women like Cheryl Teigs or Jaclyn Smith have done for the clothing lines at stores like Sears or KMart. They haven't done the actual sewing but they have helped design practical clothing that every woman can wear.

I have a degree in Chemical Engineering and can honestly say that I never used 90% of what I learned in actual work environments. In 4 years of college I had one class in Polymer Science and two in Organic Chemistry but somehow managed to work for 10 years in polymer processing. Keep an open mind and learn what you can. When you're done you'll be ready to get the world kilted.

**Dreadbelly** · 11th February 07, 02:27 PM

Kilts?

How about clothing that actually FITS comfortably for full figured voluptuous women and man sized men? REALLY! What a concept! And looks good. But that wouldn't be fashionable now would it? Noo... You have to hang a size zero dress off of a bag of antlers to be considered fashionable. Bah.

The world does not need an angry iconoclastic fashionista. Or maybe it does. But nobody will want to hear what I have to say. Dress sensibly. Dress comfortably. Dress modestly. And pull up your damn pants, stop walking around looking like you have a load in there. Ladies, you are far more attractive when you leave a little something to the imagination. Gents, don't wear pants that look like you spray painted them to your body. A really good example can be found here. (Warning, link is PG13ish so I didn't include the picture here)

And for the love of self, don't wear clothes that rob you of a healthy body.