Looking back at the Paul Smith exhibition we did was great inspiration for the layout of my plans for the Minories exhibition in November.

As you can see in the image below, I had one mannequin, 12 draped samples, a concept statement and 4 portfolio boards. Looking back now the concept statement is too long, and for the minors exhibition I will be making it short and to the point. I also feel the decoration is very minimal, however I think this worked, and will work well for the minors, as that space is also fairly clear. As for the garments, I will be displaying more, and the focus will be a lot more on fashion, so I will have no fabric samples, but will possibly hang my undergarments on a rail instead.

Overall it was good to look back on this and see how I displayed my work, and it will inform my decisions moving forward to collating the minors exhibition.

Today was really helpful as we went through the changes to the module guide, and exactly what we needed to do for PDP. Our presentations have been pushed back so we have more time to prepare, and we have decided our portfolio will act as our way of showing our work. We discussed our instagram and Gill gave some pointers for it, as well as discussing competitions we should enter. Again I feel this was very helpful and I feel confident we will still get out of this course lots of experience and industry contacts.

Due to the pandemic we have been unable to go ahead with our original plans to have a fashion show and our graduate show. This is very sad news, however I am not prepared to let it stop my work from being seen. As a group we have decided to start an Instagram account for our whole year as a professional way to show our work, and we felt Instagram was a great visual platform to do so. It can be accessed by anyone, and we felt it was the best place to have a chance for professionals to have a look at our work.

Artsthread is another platform I have personally decided to use, as I can upload my portfolio to it, so industry professionals can access my work directly. My Personal fashion account is also being updated regularly again to provide another platform for my work to be seen. Through Instagram I have also entered a few competitions for more exposure. Another idea would be to put up a mini exhibition in my house, and then take high quality photographs and videos for my instagram as an almost virtual show, which I hope to get started with once my collection has been made.

During this pandemic, I have finally decided to pursue a long time goal of mine, which is to launch a small swimwear business. My plan is to start small working just on instagram and depop, promoting my swimwear, and selling a few pieces. I have taken the plunge and launched my instagram account @fruitloopclothing and have started posting designs I have made. I plan to start my depop shop as soon as the quarantine has been lifted. For now I am working on making lots of pieces ready to put into my shop once I can. I feel this was a great opportunity to have some time to work on this, and I am feeling very motivated to keep going with it.

An energetic, self-motivated and hard-working individual who thrives in new challenges and high-pressured environments. With previous experience working under pressure and the ability to multi-task, is done so with maturity and professionalism. I am strongly passionate about personal style influenced by street style on Instagram, as well as all things lilac. 

My current work at University encapsulates an eco-conscious idea, creating garments out of upcycled boat sails, and working with stretch Lycra. This contrast in fabrics has given me an even larger knowledge of fabrics and has sparked a passion for stretch wear. 

I have gained a lot of skills throughout my time working and at university, which include, but aren’t limited to, Machine sewing, hand sewing, illustrator and photoshop. It has also encouraged me to be highly organised, building on a strong skill of mine already. 

I am currently employed as a seamstress at a bespoke bridal company called Lucy Can’t Dance. This has enabled me to perfect my skills as a seamstress, and really push myself in a supportive and creative environment. I also have previous experience in retail as a shop assistant in Next. This gave me skills in merchandising, organising fellow colleagues, and working with money. I also will be achieving a degree in BA (Hons) Fashion and Textiles from University Centre Colchester.

In my future plans, I highlighted an interest for completing a teaching qualification, as I have a huge interest in teaching college students. I would ideally specialise in fashion and textiles at college, or art.

To become a teacher you have to complete a degree with a 2:2 or above, and then be accepted into and pass a PGCE.

Teaching qualifications require;

• 120 days of practical classroom experience in two schools or more
• academic study, giving you the knowledge and understanding to teach successfully
• experienced professional mentoring and tutoring in classroom management
• ongoing assessment of your teaching skills.

For me a PGCE would be the best route, as it involves a year of study and work placement to gain the qualification. If I were to do this, I would ensure that I had a couple years previous of work experience in a school so that it would aid me the most, and give me the best chance of being accepted onto a PGCE course.

Throughout second and third year I have been in charge of the finances. I have gone about this in a very organised way, creating an excel spreadsheet to keep track of all our classes incomings and outgoings. I feel it was a good role for me to have as I am a very organised individual and enjoy keeping track of money. I feel this will help me a lot in the future if I decide to run my own business, as I will have to do all my own finances.

During todays meeting with Gill we discussed how we think we could promote our work through the new working from home problem. We had some discussion, and decided that a group instagram would be the perfect way, as it is a collaborative platform where we can show images of our work, and connect with industry professionals easily. We did think of starting a website, however that may be costly and once we finish university it would go unused. I am happy with the Instagram idea and feel it will be a great way to promote our work.

I have had a really positive response from my mentor during this quarantine and she has been really supportive. Although it is very difficult to fully engage, it is very similar to how we would have communicated before, through emails and direct messages. We have recently discussed how this situation will effect us, my university course and her small business, and she has given me some different tips of how to go forward. We will be having a zoom meeting to talk further about everything soon, which should help me a lot and give me another boost of motivation to continue working hard throughout these last few months.

Due to graduate Fashion Week being cancelled, some students have created an account to repost 2020 fashion students work. I contacted them directly and asked to be featured, and they did. This gave me a little bit of exposure and accounted to some new followers which is good. I am going to continue looking for accounts to repost my work as I feel this is a good way to gain exposure for me and my work.