Class: Soft Structures

Assignment: Design and create a headdress for an icon that you greatly admire. The piece must be finely crafted on the inside/underside and the outside, each side addressing an aspect of your hero’s character. The piece must collapse and be easily portable so it can be worn at any time.

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Concept: My Hero(ine)

My heroine is what I titled the “Modern Day Woman”. Although this title applies to the general population of women, this character specifically is an individual dealing with outdated struggles in modern day context.

What is their passion?

The passion of my character would be to foster equality among all human beings and to teach future generations the same moral. During my research, many women held back their opinions/voices or were misjudged: issues that could have been avoided if the world viewed every person equal.

Why are they your hero(ine)?

The “Modern Day Woman” is my heroine because I see this type of character in so many women in my life, my mother being the leading example. This character has the qualities of strength, perseverance, and most importantly of all, patience.

What are the two sides of their character that you want to highlight and why?

The outer side of my character is the face that others see her. It acts as a mask to hide the character underneath,  which is the side the character truly is. This is a mask that she is comfortable in and a mask that encouraged confidence. The mask protects her from negativity and judgement that would doubt her character underneath.

 

Sketches:

The goal of my headdress is to protect who wear its, thus the gas mask filters and protect armor style, although I was challenged to not cover the femininity of the character. To achieve this, I sketched a mask that extended down to a shoulder and then to her arm.

 

Paper Prototype:

Muslim Prototype:

Gathering Material:

I used upcycled men’s suit wear for the look of professionalism rather than masculinity. During research, I learned that women who wore men’s suit wear discovered that it was more comfortable and empowering as opposed to tightly fitted women’s clothing. By using a men’s suit, the woman will be comfortable wearing the mask and comfortable being the character she is.

Process of the Shoulder and Arm Pieces:

Process of The Mask:

Edit of The Mask: