Arts Thread

Great Expectations- Miss Havisham For this project, I have taken inspiration from Queen Victoria's "all black mourning wardrobe" and based the character of Miss Havisham on this. I have created her to have an "all white wardrobe" stuck in a time warp of the 80s (when she was jilted at the altar). By looking into both 80s and modern day fashion I have been able to explore different materials, silhouette shapes and extra features such as headgear in order to create a costume that suits a contemporary audience.

For this project, I explored the relationship between WW2 and fashion. My research began by looking at different designers in the years between the 1940s to the 1950s and how with the restrictions of the war, fashion developed and progressed. I looked into the idea of 'make do n mend' whilst also working to a couture standard. The subject of my first design is a young woman called Penny, who is living in Paris. She is 24 years old and, before the war was an aspiring actress. Despite everything the world has gone through in the war, Penny is optimistic, and determined and hopes that in time, her country, and the entire world, will recover. However, with the war dreams had to be put on hold. She played an active role in the war and at just the age of 18 years old she could be found helping out at the air raid shelter providing food and safety for troops arriving from ports and railway stations. She helped find them basic things like clothing, which gave these people dignity in their hour of need. Now that the war had finished the character of Penny is set to pursue her dreamt about career and make a name for herself. She is unable to afford fancy designer wear so sets out to make do and mend her own version using materials and old fabrics from wartime.