Unconventional Challenge

It was spring 2018 at Savannah College of Art & Design, our professor introduced us to the unconventional challenge, we had to take something that wasn’t traditionally made of clothing and make it into wearable art. I decided to use umbrellas! I took everything apart and was left with the hardware and fabric that made up the umbrella. Then it got tricky, here I am with umbrella parts and was now tasked to somehow make it into wearable art. I began experimenting with different silhouettes, what if I used the hardware of the umbrella into wings? How about making the umbrella look like an umbrella on the model? How about the hardware holding up the fabric? There were so many options, but that’s the thing about creativity there are so many possibilities. So, finally I decided to have a one shoulder shirt with a pleated skirt and have the hardware corseted outside of the dress. In order to hold the hardware to fit the model, I used thick elastic for the waist and collar, then secured it with paper fasteners and electrical tape. This was definitely a challenge I would love to revisit. Below is the process from beginning to end, different design silhouettes and what it looked like on the model.