5 Steps to Garment Construction

Garment construction is one of the key aspects of Fashion Designing. Here, the most important thing is the sequence that is used to construct or manufacture the garment. The fashion industry has identified a standard sequence for Garment Construction, which is as follows:

Sketch/Design: This is the first step in most designing aspect. However, in garment construction along with sketch, designers draw up ‘working drawings’. These are detailed sketches that lay out the measurement and pattern of the garment.

Production Pattern: Here the pattern maker creates the design on a standard ‘pattern making paper’. The tissue paper pattern is the most commonly used technique in the industry. In the later stage, the tissue paper pattern becomes a blue print for designers to create the garment.

Grading: The purpose of grading is to determine the perfect size of the garment. Pattern sizes are usually large, medium, and small, but when graded manually the graders have to alter the pattern at each and every point, starting from armhole to neckline. 

Market Making: In this step the fabric yardage is determined as per the style of the garment. Nowadays, there are computer softwares to determine the amount of fabric that is required to create a garment.

Sewing: This is the final step and common to all designing aspects. This step involves sewing the fabric together using different techniques and assembling different parts of the fabric to create the final garment. 

 

These five steps are just a precursor to this subject. Garment Construction requires great understanding and knowledge. The finesse can be acquired through a formal education in institutes like Whistling Woods International- Neeta Lulla School of Fashion. Here, an aspiring designer can explore different techniques in garment construction along with venturing in different avenues of fashion designing.

Historic Indian costumes and weaving techniques

Fashion draws inspiration from the past and historic costumes. Therefore, an aspiring designer needs to be well-aware about the subject of ‘Historic Costumes’. The study of fundamentals of historic Indian costumes gives resourceful insights to the students regarding fashion of a particular era. They can understand the fabric used in ancient times and the culture of the period. Understanding historic costume can trigger a student’s imagination to create something incredible. For example, the historical costumes of the Mughal period have inspired designers to reinvent sherwanis, churidars, and anarkalis.

              

But along with understanding historic costumes, understanding the weaving techniques that were used is also imperative. The basics of weaving are same today, as they were centuries ago. The two most important weaving techniques that an aspiring fashion and textile student should absolutely know about are the handloom and the power loom. Knitting follows the suit and holds high significance in historic costumes. Crochet, also adds to the list. Though not originally Indian, Crochet has evolved to be a significant technique in Indian fashion over generations.

Historic costumes and the weaving techniques are two of the most important topics for students of fashion and textile designing. The first draws inspirations through cultures of different eras and the latter gives an understanding of how fabrics were made. This knowledge is like raw material to an aspiring designer which provides an idea of the fabric, the draping capabilities, elasticity, and the prosperities of the fabric. As Jaishika Ratanpal, Faculty of Whistling Woods- Neeta Lulla School of Fashion says, “This is studying the evolution of fashion, how a garment evolves from a single drape to complete garments and without this knowledge a designer cannot design a new garment or fabric.”

Watch Jaishikha Ratanpal speak on evolution of historic costumes and why it is essential.

Six Basic Steps of Draping

Draping is the art of creating a garment by arranging the fabric around a dress. This is usually done by using the fabric’s natural fall. For the uninitiated, draping involves techniques like pleating and gathering to create a dramatic effect. However, to master this art one needs to understand the basics. To help you go through this process, here are six basic steps for draping to get you started:

Prepping: 

The first step is to have accurate measurements of the garment. Next, ensure to mark the centre line of the dress by using a tape. This helps to keep the draping even across the dress.

Sketch: 

Preparing a sketch of your garment always helps in designing. But, in this form it gives you a clear idea about how you need to go about the drape. Here, your sketch will help you understand how to best manipulate the fabric in order to get the dramatic effect.  

Muslin: 

This fabric is flexible in its thickness and volume. Thus, giving you a chance to experiment and play around as you desire.

Pinning: 

Pinning is a process in which you pull the folds of the fabric together to create the draping design. Pinning will give you a good idea of how the garment will look after completion.

Basting the Fabric: 

Once you are finished with draping and pinning, the next step is to baste the fabric. Here, you can either sew the fabric to the foundation piece or you can sew the fabric itself to complete the draping process.

Trimming: 

The last step is common across designing techniques. Trim off any excess fabrics that may remain after you are finished with draping. The raw edges of your draping should always be hidden neatly in the seams.

  

Each of the above steps are designed to help make the process of draping easier and develop your draping skills. Another thing that can help you refine your draping skills is a fashion school like Whistling Woods International- Neeta Lulla School of Fashion. Here you can explore various aspects of draping and many other crucial techniques used in fashion designing.

The Rise of Fashion Bloggers

Fashion bloggers have become an influential force in the fashion industry. From small indie designer to the elite of fashion industry, these bloggers cover ever significant occurrence in the fashion world.

Starting in the early 2000, bloggers shook up the fashion business by changing the way fashion was viewed. Masses of people started following social media around this time and blogs became one of the major mediums of communication. Fashion bloggers started presenting a platform for the consumers to interact and connect. Also, buying habits of almost 31% of people were influenced by fashion bloggers as they held power to shape the public perception of a brand. Realising this, big fashion brands started incorporating fashion bloggers in their marketing initiatives. Even fashion magazines like Vogue, EELLE, GQ, and others started tying with well-known fashion bloggers.

                  

               Kristina Bazan

Leandra Medine

Today, fashion bloggers are seen as A-listers at some of the key shows. For instance, Louis Vuitton invited Fashion Blogger Kristina Bazan for its Gstaad opening. Also, Marc Jacobs Intl, for their Marc Jacobs runway show collaborated with prominent blogger Leandra Medine. Even, Dolce & Gabbana promoted their limited-edition Light Blue fragrance through this blogger network. In India, too, this trend is catching, where famous fashion bloggers like Miss Malini, Rhea Gupte, and Ruhi Sheikh have become a regular at fashion weeks.

    

Miss Malani

        

   Rhea Gupte

 

Ruhi Sheikh

Similarly, hundreds of bloggers today make and break fashion trends. Some of the most prominent ones are Wendy Nguyen’s ‘Wendy’s Lookbook’, Leandra Medine’s ‘Man Repeller’, Christene Braberich’s ‘Refinery29’, and Jennine Jacob’s ‘Independent Fashion Bloggers’. 

             

           Wendy Nguyen

Jennine Jacob

Inspiring Fashion Trends from the 1980s movies

In our last blog, we highlighted some iconic fashion trends influenced by the movies in the 50s. This week we move ahead in time and explore the trends from the 80s. The era of stirrup pants and other such iconic trends were immortalised by some of the greatest movies, such as:

American Gigolo: 

Fashion in films usually focuses on women’s apparels, but American Gigolo defined men’s fashion in the 80s. The stylish power suits designed by Giorgio Armani and worn by Richard Gere started a generation of men adopting silk, linen, and Italian cotton suiting. The Armani wardrobe remains a touchstone for well-dressed men till date.

Flashdacnce: 

Starring Jennifer Beals, Flashdance, inspired fans to wear leg warmers and leotards as a fashion accessory.  The movie also pioneered the trend of oversized sweat shirts with one shoulder on display. In fact, the inspiration for this trend is still visible in the reappearance of leggings and asymmetrical detailed outfits. 

Desperately Seeking Susan: 

This film starring the ultra-fashionable pop star, Madonna, introduced the girly-punk that ruled the decade. The movie not only popularised, but showed new ways of wearing mesh tanks, bustier as a top underneath the blazers, chunky jewellery and heavy makeup.  

Pretty in Pink: 

The movie is about a young girl with talent for sewing, unique sense of style and passion for vintage. As the story suggests, the movie created huge fashion trends -- from ladies gym inform to linen suits. Undoubtedly, the movie made a huge wave of fashion trend among the younger generation.

Slaves of New York: 

This movie features a green faux fur coat, which was an instant hit in the fashion circuit. Stephen Sprouse, an American fashion designer, designed the clothes for Slaves of New York. The green coat, the eccentric hats and the overall avant-garde style of the designer created fashion trends, which were remembered in the fashion circuit for a long time.

There were other movies like ‘Wall Street’, ‘Liquid Sky’, ‘Heathers’, and ‘The Breakfast Club’ that created some iconic fashion trends in the 1980s.