Reflective Essay

     Are you into Fashion? Are you not?  Either way, you wear clothes everyday.  Take a look at what you are wearing right now.  Have you ever thought about how the clothes you are wearing became what they are?  Have you ever wondered how much work has gone into the design, the sketching, the material choice, the finding of qualified people, and the actual making of the clothes simply from the designers idea?  Look at the shirt you are wearing.  Have you thought about how many pieces it's made out of and how these pieces have effortfully been sewn together?  Most people think that fashion and design has nothing to do with them if they are not at all into fashion. Wrong. In fact fashion is all around us. EVERYDAY.  „You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to ur closet and you select that lumpy blue sweater because your trying to tell the world that you take yourself to seriously to care what you put on your back, but what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, ist not turquoise, it's not lapiz, it's actually serillium.  And ur also blively unaware of the fact that in 2002 Oscar de la Renta did a collection of serrilium gowns and then I think it was Yves St. Laurant who showed serrilium military jackets. And then serillium quickly showed up in the collections of 8 different designers and then it filtered down through the department stores and then it trickled on down into some tragic casual corner where you fished it out of some clearance bin. However that blue represents millions of dollars and countless  jobs and it's sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exems you from the fashion industry when infact your wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room.“  The devil wears Prada (Miranda Pricely editor in chief of Runway Magazine)  For my 9th grade project I picked the topic: Designing clothes and following through with the process from a simple Idea to a final 3D professional product.  Through this my goal was to learn about the fashion industry, fashion blogging, gaining inspirations, photography, sketching, presenting the project, and a lot more. 

     When we first started the Project in November I had no motivation at all.  I had serious trouble picking a topic.  I finally gathered all my nerves and made a mind map with all my ideas.  It came down to three ideas.  After some more consideration I finally chose my topic, which originally was to create a fashion line.  I have not yet fulfilled that goal but I am hoping that in the near future I will be able to create an online business and definitely continue designing. Because I researched fashion (fashion shows on youtube, pictures, vogue, and blogs from teenagers my age) I have decided that instead of making a lookbook with me wearing my clothes as originally planned, I would create a blog.  And so, I did.  I have now decided to as I keep on designing and to keep on blogging.  I have also asked the woman, who I found, who can make my dresses to teach me how to sew, because I have discovered that it is quite impossible to become a professional designer without this skill.  One  knows best what you want the final product to look like and that is why ist best if you can sew it on your own. 

     In the end I was definitely satisfied with the topic I have chosen.  I am obsessed with the fashion world ever since I have started looking at blogs, watching movies such as the devil wears prada and blogging on my own.  I have bought a new camara to learn about photoshooting and I think that that will be a great part of fashion in the future. 

I was also glad that I have chosen this topic because I discovered a talent.  I was surprised that my sketching skills were actually quite good and with practice did improve alot.  I have also learnt that I am very creative with my ideas for clothing and can come up with revolutionary trends.  I have been inspired by the vintage fashion scene. 

     In this project I have learnt many new things to do with my topic and design.  For example, I have learnt how to sew on buttons, how to cut pieces of fabric, how to draw a pattern, how to sew little flowers, how to buy the right fabrics according to the designs and a lot more.  All these things are to be found on my blog and on the “Benefits from this Project” mindmap.  Yet, most importantly I have gained many new life skills which I can use everyday.  For example, I have learnt that in life you have to talk to people, be outgoing and questioning and open minded.  Your plan has to be flexible because you may come across obstacles or have to encounter extra steps which take up time. This means that it is always best to start early with the project and plan your time well.  You have to stick to this plan.  My main problem was finding a Tailor.  I firstly contacted people in China.  I would have scanned and emailed them my designs.  Yet, I discovered that it might be better to be there to actually try on the dresses.  So I talked to a bunch of tailors in the surroundings of Frankfurt.  I nearly gave up. I had worked so hard on my sketching and designing and now I would not find anyone who could professionally make and show me how to sew them for a reasonable price.  I had a 2 week break where I did nothing except for work on my blog.  I was thinking about maiking the dresses on my own but since I had no sewing experience at all and since my project was actually only design and I wanted a professional product, I decided that maybe there would be alternative ways to present my designs in a 3D manner.  Yet, these weren’t even close to as cool as having my design made and then being able to wear them myself.  A couple of girls were also going to have a fashion show for which I would have wanted to wear my designs.  Another problem I faced was that I underestimated the amount of time I would need to make the presentation.  I started my presentation the night before the project was due and it was a big mistake because I worked late into the night.  Yet, I was very proud of the way I presented my work and there are pictures on the fis website and also on my blog.  I learnt by looking at the presentations on the Gala night that the way people see your product can be affected by the way you present it.  It’s a bit like people buying a perfume only because they think that the bottle is pretty.  The most important lesson I have learnt is that when people support you things get a lot easier.  Collaboration is very profitable.  In the future I will be working together with the Tailor, who truly enjoyed my designs and her and I art friends now.  I will be designing her dress for a wedding she will be attending and she will make it.  I hope that further collaboration of this sort is possible. 

     In conclusion this project has given me the feeling that I have used my spare time well in the past months.  I have so many new insights about the industry in which I am hoping to work later on.  I have proved to myself that it takes a lot more than just a smart idea to become a famous designer and it takes hard work just like other careers.  Through this project I have opened a new door or aspect of my life because fashion designing and blogging has already started to become part of my everyday life.  That was what I was hoping from when I first picked my topic. I wanted to pick a topic that will help me learn about a subject or direction in which I am hoping to head in the future. Normally we are too caught up with school work and other events that we neglect the things we are actually interested in. The project gave my true dreams and plans a chance for the first time since I have started thinking about my future and I am very glad that the project forced me to engage in my future career plans.