Sunday, May 16, 2010

Tea & Symathy




Entered another competition on Friday. Don't worry, I'd already made the garment for this one. In fact, it wasn't too hard for me to fulfil the criteria for it- the outfit had to be at least 50% recycled, and considering most of the materials I use are pre-loved, it was just a matter of which look to use.





I decided on the outfit I designed and constructed for my major work whilst studying abroad in Hannover, Germany. Our brief was to design and style a portrait shoot. Being a little nostalgic these days, I decided to create a vintage style world.


Sourcing fabrics where I was living was not an easy task. But I did enjoy frequenting the Flea Markets, so managed to pick up and old jaquard woven table cloth. Meanwhile, I had everyone I knew drinking tea so that I could use their tea bags...


I dyed the table cloth to try and resemble a used tea bag, with creases from the folding, and had tea bags drying on every flat surface in my apartment. I actually think the land lady totally freaked out and threatened to kick us out (a scary conversation when spoken in German) because she found them all up in the attic laid out to dry.



Every vintage lady (in my mind) has a gorgeous parasol to accompany her, and so I bought a cheap umbrella, ripped the fabric off, and made a new one from the tea bags. I sourced a crocheted lace scarf from an Op Shop in Stockholm (a worldly outfit), which fit perfectly.



"Oh, are we doing a little craft project"- my flat mate didn't quite understand the intricate workings of a wearable artists's mind, but the umbrella was a success in broadening my scope of design.



Despite the fact it doesn't fit amazingly well, and I broke my friend and photographer's camera half way through the shoot, I survived the land lady and I think the portraits turned out OK.


Tea & Sympathy.

(With the gorgeously talented, Spanish wunderkind, and photographer extraordinaire of all these images, Gabriel Seijo Leiro)

It's kind of like a patchwork of memories from my time in Europe.


But wearable.


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