Skirting the Issue

Sketches:

Process:

Cutter Must:

Pattern:

Muslin:

Final Images:

Designer’s Statement:

For the project Skirting the Issue, initially, I was so focused on combining two different skirt silhouettes that my designs for my original social issue, climate change were not that creative or outside of the box. I then changed my social issue to something that was more personal and that I could relate to, which was racial relations, white privilege, and white guilt. At my high school we were divided into different levels for each subject. It was evident generally what level a class was just by walking by the room. Generally lower learning levels had more black kids and higher levels had more white kids. I did more sketches and reached a final design, which combined a pencil skirt and an A-line skirt. I decided to use black and white cotton fabric to represent race and two other gray tones to represent the mixture of black and white in some of the levels at school. On the front side, the pencil skirt is divided to show racial divisions. The front side of the A-line skirt has four tiers to represent the different levels at my school with the lower level being the smallest panel and the higher level being the biggest panel. On the back of the skirt I tried to represent simultaneously white guilt and the idea of a white governing system that does not reflect the variety of races in our country. To show this, I made most of the back of the skirt black with a white triangle so it appears like the black is overwhelming the white triangle, but the white triangle is still strong and holding up against the black. I enjoyed seeing my design come to life from sketch to muslin and then to the final fabric. The most difficult and time consuming part of the whole process was adjusting and grading the pattern from the mannequin so it would fit me. Overall, I think the combination of the two skirts and panels is an interesting juxtaposition and I am pleased with the way it turned out.