cutters must:

 

 

-The first step when making my pants was to create my design:

I looked at many different options some of which were these:

 

 

-However I chose to go with a straight legged trouser for my final design as I felt it was more truthful to the 1920s as it was an homage to the a line flapper dresses of the era.

-I then researched the jazz in the 1920s:

 

1920s jazz:

Key figures:

Louis Armstrong

King Oliver

Duke Ellington

Kid Ory

Billie Holiday

Bessie Smith

These artists were also especially important as they lead jazz in its ‘future’ in the United States as well as also in other countries abroad. Over the years the 1910s to the 1920s jazz culture, which had started out in New Orleans, then headed towards Chicago, as many were looking for employment and Chicago had better options. Yet by the 1920s jazz culture largely started to accumulate in New York City. When jazz was still only at its beginning, the influences of how a song or composition would be stylized was still very heavily influenced by the record companies. However, Louis Armstrong was a pioneer of his time, as he was taking a more liberal approach to jazz. Before then companies produced hits such as ‘bye bye blackbird’ which had a more pre-written sense to it rather them Armstrong’s work in the 1920’s. Additionally, a piece which was very important to mention for this time is ‘stardust’ by Hoagy Carmichael and Parish- as it was the most recorded standard tune of the year.

Popularized within the 1920s the term ‘jazz age’ describes a preponderance of various jazz-related activities which became increasingly popular. This included specific dance styles, such as the Charleston, as well as fashion etiquette when going to a jazz club etc. However, the period ended with the Great Depression. Yet the ‘experiment’ of mixing and combining various cultural musical crescendos and beats, which ultimately lead to the birth of jazz continued to blossom, and by today has had the tremendous impact of pop culture and the music industry. Jazz was also used by the youth to generate fashion statements, as it was used to generate rebellion against the already well – known styles and traditional culture, which had been glorified by the previous generations. An example of these bold fashion moves would be the flappers, as well as women daring to talk about sex whilst lighting a cigarette, as their husband would. Hence mostly older more narrow-minded folk would describe jazz as the music of the devil and spread the rumor that jazz would make women more promiscuous.

Furthermore, with the rise of female power during the time, ideas of sexual equality increasingly gained popularity. Hence one could observe the rise of female singers alongside male musicians, such as Billie Holiday, an all-time jazz great, and musical legends like Bessie Smith. Also, these women were further important as they were the woman of color which became icons, which had not been common before. Yet both singers have through time become representatives of jazz and nowadays are some of the most well-respected singers of all time.

Idea:

‘’ Additionally, a pice which was very important to mention for this time is ‘stardust’ by Hoagy Carmichael and Parish- as it was the most recorded standard tune of the year.’’

Here I also thought because the song is called Stardust and in the 1920 embellishments that had shine, sparkle and pearls were incredibly popular, maybe we can use it as inspiration, for example, so that our collection has an enigma which is relevant to stars or the surface of a star, to explain, material that is embellished or silver or something of this idea- we would need to further discuss this.

 

 

 

-I then generated the pattern for my pants

– then I cut both back and front each twice for both fabrics, the nude mesh and the embelished fabric.

-then I stitched both onto one another – laying each embelished piece onto the nude piece

this i did so that the pattern would be the same and match

-next step was to cut the waistband: for this i repeated the same process

-then I started to assembe the legs – first the outer layers (back and front)

-then i sewed a little part of the crotch to assemble the pant, leaving open the part where I will work in the opening / closing of the pants

-then I closed both legs by stitching down on each side

-The next step was to attach the waistband. I assembled the entire waistband (after having stitched the darts) onto the pants, and then ironed it and folded it over hand stitching the closing.

-before completely closing the waistband however, I clean finished the closure of the pants.

-I now clean finished the entire inside using the surger, however before doing so I went over each seam cutting it so that there was no exess fabric or pearls as these would be dangerous to surge over!

-Then I attached all the hook and eyes and matching loops for closing the garment successfully

• Then I ironed the pants and finished them successfully.

 

Evaluation

 

For this project, the objective was to generate a pair of pants inspired by a specific time area. I’m my case the 1920’s. I started this project by researching the area, as well as some of its key influences, such as jazz. However, an aspect which further influenced my project rather greatly was the opulent use of embellishments and glamorous surface qualities, which were frequently evident within the so-called flapper dresses of the 1920’s. Another factor that caught my attention was the fact that muted pastel colors seemed to have been very popular during this time, hence this aspect further became a strong influence when generating my pant design. As this was a group project, the mentioned research was broadened even further by the help of my colleagues, as we divided task within the group, in order to create a successful outcome, our collection. Together we decided to use the idea of muted pastel colors and a sense of embellished glamour to visually link our garments together and generate a cohesive collection.
When starting my process of sewing the pants, the first thing I had to do is settle upon a design. I chose to create a straight ragged, rather wide pair of pant, as an homage to the line flapper dresses, which were an immense influence on my design. I then chose two fabrics, a heavily embellished silk tulle, and nude colored stretch tulle. I then combined these two materials to form one piece of fabric, so that the trousers would not be completely see-through yet still let the human form subtly shine through the fabric, to create a sensual enigma. This was an homage to the rumor of women in the 1920s being particularly promiscuous, yet elegant. The process of creating the pattern was challenging, as I wanted to lift the waistband slightly to visually elongate the legs slightly. However, I first struggled to generate the fitting form for the waistband, which resulted in the pattern being too wide, yet after revisiting the pattern several times, I successfully created a waistband that hugged the body the way I had planned. The remaining process of creating the pants worked rather successfully. However, I do have to say I felt it was very challenging to work with the two fabrics I chose. This was due to the fact, that the embellished fabric featured stitching which was incredibly thick and featured an immense amount of pearls which kept on breaking the sewing needle, even when sewing as slow as possible to stop this from happening. Another aspect which made this even more challenging was the fact that the stretch fabric underneath became irritated by this manner and folding, as well as stretching in various directions. I tried my best to stop this from happening and proceeded with caution every step of the way, constantly reopening certain elements, where this issue occurred and restitching it. Ultimately, particularly due to the pearls, I had to sew great amounts of the pants using only hand stitching. However, I am grateful to have been able to learn from this experience and to have had this challenge as now, if I was to create another pair of pants, I know how to handle these issues more successfully and know how to use my newfound skills. Having said so, if I was to have more time I would revisit the pants and rework some parts again, as I had never worked with either of the materials before and wanted to challenge myself, yet feel as if in this case this did set me back a little. Nevertheless, I am glad to have gained a greater understanding of these materials and how I need to work with them as I feel this will be very helpful in future projects and collections yet to come, as sometimes encountering an issue leads to a much greater tomorrow.

 

 

Final lookbook:

 

final Image: