when i was younger i never used to wear dresses. and i mean never. i was the biggest tomboy and i had short hair for the longest time. frankly i really did look like a boy and there were many times when i went to the restrooms and would get told by some old lady, "boys go that side!"
i think i only started wearing skirts and dresses when i was like...maybe 17 or 18. and even then i probably only owned like 3 skirts. it wasn't until i was 19 or 20, and after i went to japan that i started really loving dresses and found how well i love expressing my individuality through them. i think it must have been that singapore only had really boring dresses, nothing that i wanted to wear. when i went to japan and found this whole array of different styles, it was like a whole new world had been opened up in front of me.
designing dresses for class was something that was really exciting to me, but i tried to rein myself in because my teachers have said that i can get too costume-y.
our inspiration had to come from architects, and after some research, i decided i found many inspiring ideas from herzog and de meuron. the duo from switzerland used to design really simple buildings, but their recent projects show a different side of them that i found really exciting. they were using a lot of lines and almost grafitti-like swirls, and combined with sharp lines that they still use now, i just imagined so many different clothes in my head. they are also the pair behind the fabulous prada building in tokyo, as well as the beijing olympic stadium - which looks like a bird's nest. i love it!
here are the rough sketches that i drew. they are so ugly i can't stand it. i really wish i could draw better. initially i wanted them to be brown in color... then as i painted a few in brown, it just bored the hell out of me and i changed my color scheme to red, blue and plaid!! thank god!!
|