Commentary

February 03, 2022

Commentary

For my Extended Project Qualification I chose to research how fashion has evolved from the 1940s to modern day, and present my findings through visual media. I achieved this by styling and creating a look from each decade starting with the 40s, and then making an element of each outfit such as a bag or headband so I can apply practical skills and advance my own knowledge on fabrics and alterations. Once I had made each chosen item, and assembled the looks, I filmed a video showcasing each outfit from each time period. In order to remain accurate, I would constantly refer back to my research of trends from that decade, and would compare this to clothes I had. I mainly sourced clothes from my own wardrobe, many being vintage inspired, however I also sourced clothes from charity shops and secondhand sites as a cheap, ethical alternative to items i didn't already own.

The biggest challenge I faced was the production side of the project, as it is very physical in terms of making items and filming. I already had prior knowledge of hand sewing and using a sewing machine, but wanted to gain more skills such as knitting, crochet and working with mesh/wire. This was mainly achieved but was not as straightforward as I anticipated. Learning to crochet was very time consuming and difficult to get the hang of. To be more time efficient, I purchased a crochet bowl that you threaded through and manually spun in order to loop the wool together in a crochet design. This enabled me to spend more time on other projects such as knitting a headband for the 1980s look and working with mesh and wire to make a fascinator for the 1940s look. Both of these items were relatively simple to make and I didn't struggle with them as much as I did with the crochet. Therefore I can now confidently use these skills, and can acknowledge I gave crochet a go before letting a machine help me.

Filming and editing my video also created challenges as I had limited setting to use, and settled on the whitest, most bare part of my house; my upstairs hallway. This meant I had a white background and secure, natural lighting from the window opposite. I originally chose to film outside however bad weather prevented this from happening. I could also walk out from my bedroom when wearing each look, to create a transition between each decade. Editing the video was easier as I have editing experience with Adobe Premiere Pro and phone editing apps. I filmed a lot at home over the holidays so I ended up filming on my phone, and found it more efficient to edit on my phone as well using an app called Splice.

Research for my EPQ took place over the first six months of my project, where I looked at old magazines from the past, as well as online catalogues and sites like Vogue and Netaporter that had articles about the history of fashion and how trends were created. My main conclusion from my research is that fashion is often recycled and reused from past trends, with the 90s taking inspiration from the 60s in form of mini skirts and and knee length boots, and the late 2010s to current day, taking inspiration from the 90s.

I chose to look at fashion evolution, starting from the 40s as this decade was the start of massive changes in terms of women's freedom with clothes, with the introduction of trousers and mini skirts holding two different ideas of femininity, yet both finally normalised for women. Social expectations relaxed a lot from this decade, with the 60s bringing a newer wave of fashion liberation for women. This is something I also looked at when researching fashion history, such as trousers being worn by women not to make a statement, but to cut on fabric costs during WW2 and to be more practical as women took on their husbands roles whilst they were fighting on the front line.

I have enjoyed making this project and I am pleased with its overall turnout, I knew it would be a challenge in terms of time and production, and towards the middle of my project I did think I had potentially given myself too much to complete. Despite this, I persevered and ended up extending my deadline from December to end of January, which I met. Gathering materials and finding the time to make them alongside uni applications, other school work and my part time job proved to be most difficult, but I believed it to be worth it as filming and editing my video was fun and rewarding, especially to see looks I had styled worn and compiled together.

Overall, I have gained a wider understanding on how fashion has evolved for women, as well as skills such as knitting and crochet that will be useful in the future. In particular, I hope my EPQ will prepare me for my chosen course at university; Fashion Communications;which looks at styling, directing, editing and creating fashion based work.

Pictures of my finished item of clothing I made for each decade;

1940s fascinator-