Archive for December 2011
Become a Fashion Designer With Dress Up Games
In general, girls love fashion more than boys. Some of them want to become fashion designers when they grow up. There are even some that are too young to know what a fashion designer is, but they love dressing up with mom’s clothes and combining them in several ways in order to come up with the prettiest outfit for their tea party with their stuffed animals. There is a tool that’s very easy and cheap to get access to for those girls who want to hone their skills.
Fashion on Internet
Thanks to the world wide reach of the Internet, now girls can get access to tons of styles, clothing and accessories from all over the world, even from cultures that are very different from theirs.
What is needed?
There are only two things you need, a computer and Internet access. If your reading this article, chances are you have them already. If you have a child in your house, I’m almost sure you have them already.
Dressing Up a Virtual Doll
There are literally thousands of dress up games at the reach of a few clicks. With only the imagination as a limit, programmers and designers have created dress up games that feature almost every celebrity and character that there is, and even groups of girls. From the Powerpuff girls to the Bratz dolls, and from the RBD pop girls to the cast of High School Musical, girls can play fashion designer with their favorite character, singer, actress or celebrity. There are, of course, generic nameless dolls dress up games, which are more suited for fashion only gaming.
Gameplay
Dress up games are very similar to old fashioned paper dolls, except with a far wider range of clothing. Girls select from a range of different pieces of clothing and accessories for a virtual doll to wear. Girls have fun by making the doll look pretty, stylish, elegant, cute, funny or whatever other idea they might come up with.
One of the most interest aspects of playing dress up games created from places all over the world is that girls are exposed to styles from different cultures. They will be dressing their dolls with Japanese kimonos, Indian Saris, Mexican sombreros, French bonnets, etc. You can even mix several elements from all over the world in order to make the perfect international look.
Building Up a Portfolio
It’s a good idea to save your or your girl’s creations on your computer for later reference. There are several advantages, for example, re-creating a look or style in real life, or printing it in order to decorate a room. You can also use one that you really liked or enjoyed as a screen background on your computer. Over time, a portfolio will let you show others your work, or give you a base to develop styles of your own. Of course, you can also post a printed version of your girl’s work on the fridge, or another special place, to show her how proud you are of her creativity.
How to Run a Fashion Show For Prom Dresses
A fashion show intended to showcase is different from an ordinary high street fashion show. Not only will it take much longer for models to get into their outfits (which rules out quick changes) but the value and delicacy of the items means that a great deal of care needs to be taken.
Timing your show
You need to allow around two minutes per model. This is enough time to walk down the catwalk, pose and walk back down the catwalk.
In terms of back stage timing you need to allow ten minutes for a girl to get a dress on for which she will need at least one helper.
Boys
If you can, its great to have male models accompany your female models down the catwalk. A local hire company may be willing to lend you suits if you give them a call.
Announcer
Ask someone with good presenting skills to compere the show. Their role will be to announce the name of the model and give a commentary about the dress that they are wearing. For example ‘This is Amy, she is wearing Bella, one of our pink prom dresses. This dress features stunning genuine crystal beading with a flowing tulle skirt’.
You should provide your compere with a script for each model/dress. This script should be organised in the same running order as the show.
Music
You should choose music which is both popular with the students in the show and appropriate for the occasion. Pay attention to the bpm (beats per minute) of the music. Your models will walk in time to the music and if the beat’s too fast they may end up half jogging down the catwalk (ruining your timings!).
Vet all music before hand to ensure that it doesn’t contain expletives.
Walk Through
It’s a good idea to have a walk though of your fashion show. While it is common to do a full dress rehearsal (wearing all the outfits), you should think carefully about doing this. Every time a prom dress is handled it runs the risk of being damaged. It is therefore not advisable to do a full dress rehearsal.
Backstage help
You will need at least one person to help when a girl is trying to get into her dress. If you can stagger the girls putting on their dresses then you won’t need as many helpers.
You also need a stage manager and an assistant stage manager. Both of these people should have a clipboard with details of the order in which the girls will go down the catwalk.
The stage manager stands in the wings and is responsible for ensuring that the right people go on stage at the right time.
It is there responsibility to make sure the girl starts putting the dress on in time and to make sure she is down in time. They need to be female so they can go into changing rooms.
Changing rooms
Ideally you need two rooms close to the stage. At least one needs to ensure privacy.
As prom dresses are worth hundreds of pounds each it is important to ensure they will not get damaged in the course of a fashion show.
One way to ensure that this doesn’t happen is by ensuring that no food, drink or make up is allowed into the changing rooms. Only the girls themselves and people helping them to get ready should be allowed in the changing room.
Ask girls to take responsibility for dresses
Begin by explaining to the girls involved that they will be personally responsible for taking care of their dresses. Each girl should formally ‘sign out’ the dress when she takes it off the rack. At the end of the show, someone needs to be appointed to check the dresses back on to the rail. A girl’s name should only be checked off the list when they have brought their dress back.
Enjoy it!
Running a fashion show can be great fun so finally, have a great time!
Become a Fashion Designer With These Basic Steps
Becoming a fashion designer is a creative journey in uncovering the student’s likes and dislikes. Styles and fads come and go and then come around again. This is true of the fashion design industry also, particularly so! The industry is often influenced by the entertainment industry (television, movies, music, etc.) For example, “That 70′s Show” gave hippie fashion a new comeback chic. This is true of other movies as well. A great example of this would be “Pirates of the Caribbean” that brought about a huge influx of skull and cross bones designs. The typical pirate symbol, more related to a gothic or punk style, became mainstream after the debut of the movies.
This pop culture influence inspires mass market designers. However, couture fashion designers strive to be the source of the inspiration rather than an imitator. The difference between this can be found in the training of the merchandiser versus the designer. Many aspiring fashion designers choose to go into fashion merchandising. However, these two fields require slightly different curriculum. One will focus on sales, marketing, and business where as the other–fashion design–will focus on creativity and imagination in bringing ideas and concepts to life.
Following middle school, students can choose college preparation courses to direct their educational tracks to their own possible careers. For a student wishing to take the path of a designer of any type, art classes are essential to building the basic knowledge and core concepts that they will use.
High school courses should be selected to assist in building a professional portfolio to show to potential design colleges. By starting their educational planning very early, it is possible for students to make the most of their high school years by focusing on extracurricular activities that will add spice to their college applications. For example, potential fashion designers can take classes not only in art but also specialized math and computer classes, multimedia classes, and drama activities that will allow them to explore different aspects of the fashion world. Some high schools even offer classes in small business ownership or entrepreneurial skills.
For students who end up at the college level and wish to break in to the fashion design industry, it is never too late. Courses in drawing, painting, life drawing, and silkscreen, and color theory, fashion and art history are some of the beginning requirements for any fashion design student. Advanced students of fashion design will continue with patternmaking, sewing basics, advanced sewing techniques, and digital designing.
It is crucial for a fashion design student to have access to this type of basic curriculum in college in order to prepare for the true test of their abilities: their internship. Once the student has taken the basic and advanced courses, it is time for them to specialize in some aspect of the fashion industry. When people think of fashion, they think of runway shows and couture collections. There are fashion centers throughout the world, but most people tend to consider New York City the center of all fashion design. If the college student did not choose a college near a fashion design center, it may be possible for them to choose an internship located in that area. Some other possible internship locations would be Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, and other metropolitan areas.
The best source of internship possibilities will be the college faculty and guidance counselors. It is important to do your homework by researching potential internships; but, they can definitely guide the student to someone that they may not have considered.
The fashion world has its niches. Every designer starts somewhere. They do not just graduate from college and poof have their own design house and their own collections. They were mentored by someone in the business. Some of them were self taught and did not have the opportunity to study in a college environment but learned in the school of hard knocks. Whatever the case, if there is a desire to learn the fashion design business, then there is a way to do it.
Consider working at a place that does alterations or tailoring to build up sewing skills. Consider designing your own clothes. Think of functionality, practicality, body type, personal statements, coloring and fabric choice. Study the masters–who is on the edge of fashion now that you want to emulate? Why do you like their style? What IS your style?
By taking all of these factors into consideration, any student pursuing fashion can find their place in the design world.