BOTANIC-INSPIRED BODICE – CIRCA 1660s
Experimental Costume Unit (May - June 2022)
PROJECT BRIEF
To design and create a bodice from the 1660s inspired by a plant named Atropa Belladonna. The objective was to demonstrate conceptual skills as well as making skills and craft, including cut, construction, embellishment and decoration.
We were encouraged to employ a variety of techniques and executions such as matching/mismatching colourways, pipe, applique, slash, layer, print, paint and embroidery.
A sustainable element to the fabric and/or materials was mandatory.
MY design CONCEPT
The plant Atropa Belladonna is a deadly poison that stops the heart. So I chose to create a beaded embellished heart as the focal point of my design. Growing upwards towards the heart is an embroidered representation of the actual flower.
My sustainable elements were the recycled and hand-dyed top fabric, beads and buttons from a second-hand scrap store, and the black trim repurposed from our studio “fabric wall”.
PROJECT LENGTH
A 5-week unit (concurrent with a separate unit - “Drafting on the Stand”)
