labricoleuse: (Default)
La Bricoleuse ([personal profile] labricoleuse) wrote2008-01-27 04:34 pm

Spotlight on period pattern projects

It's the time of year when we have a lot of prospective graduate students visiting our program; i have a number of resources for them on this blog. There's the sidebar tags for posts relating to the specific courses I teach in the program (such as millinery, dyeing, etc), and i have a series of related "meta" posts on topics like MFA programs, interviews, portfolios, etc. Here's a collection of links to those posts:

Preparing for a Costume Production MFA
Costume MFA Programs: Design vs. Production foci
Advice on Getting Into an MFA Program
Assembling a Portfolio
Presenting Your Portfolio

I'm the only instructor in our program who writes a blog, so thought i can't speak for the other professors in terms of the particulars of their classes, i did want to share some images of student projects for one of the other series of courses: period patterning.

We have several multi-course "batteries" of classes. The grad students in our program go through my series of four required crafts courses (millinery, dyeing/painting/distressing, masks/armor, and decorative arts). They also do a series of period patterning courses covering various periods in history. Those who focus in shop management do four management-specific courses as well. The period patterning courses are taught by Judy Adamson; behind the cut are some images of some of the projects they do in those courses.


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1930s projects and research images on display

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Directoire/Regency projects and research images on display

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another view of same--note crewel embroidery sample accompanying the second project from the left


The students choose research images--usually either a period fashion plate or portrait, or a photo of a surviving antique garment--and reproduce it full-size. They are required to do at least half of a finished garment with trims, notions, lining, understructure, everything, though sometimes they choose to do the complete piece. As with the last above image, sometimes they choose to explore in-depth some of the embellishment techniques appropriate to their garment, such as a sample of the kind of embroidery used.

Pretty cool, eh?