AHHH THERES A BEE!

 The bee was the last addition to the outfit. I made it using yellow tights stuffed with wadding to give the shape of the body.  I then sewed on the details on by hand using scraps of fabric I found laying around the house, This gives its a more rustic homemade feel, like the rest of my costume has. I then created the legs and wings using my favourite material, WIRE!! This kept the wings looking delicate and see through. I contemplated using tissue paper to fill in the negative space between the pieces of wire, but I thought that this would make them look too heavy and not translucent anymore.

Taking it even further. . .

 Like I said in my last post. I wanted to take my fascinators even further by making them demand more space. I therefore took them from being a fascinator to a full outfit. I did this by using the techniques I learnt from making the fascinator but just upping the scale. This meant I could work quickly as I had already mastered the paper folding element to it. A challenge I did face was the fact that I had to find a way to support the petals so they didn't droop, due to the fact that the flowers had become heavier and couldn't support their own weight. I did this by threading the wire through the structure of the flower so it had some support for the petals.

I also like the fact that I used bright colours as opposed to white paper. This meant that the person wearing the outfit became almost invisible as all the attention is drawn to the brighter elements of the costume. This is what i wanted as I didnt want their to be any focus on the person but all on the flowers.
This is the reason I dressed the performer in all black
, and if this were to be used in a performance I would like for the background to be black also. This makes the colours in the costume pop, and look much brighter in contrast to the background.

The bee was a later addition which I believe ties the whole piece together.

Origami Part deux.

I took my ideas further by using a combination of more complicated paper folding techniques to create a more intricate fascinator, once again fixed onto a wire headband.

This one is more effective as it is bigger and therefore has more impact due to it taking up more space. I also like the way it obscures the face more than the last one as it feels like its taking over the person wearing it, and they are becoming the flower, not just wearing it. In order to take this work even further I would like to experiment with using more colour in the work as well as increase the size even more. I like playing around with space and different sizes. I think increasing the sale even more will make the work have an even greater impact.

Who knew origami makes a great hat?

Using simple origami techniques I created this bird fascinator. I began using this material due to the fact I wanted to make something fun out of something plain and ordinary that we use every day. The Japanese art of paper folding was the first thing that came to mind. I began with one of the most simple folds you can do, which is the bird. I then attached this to a headband I made from wire. This was comfortable to wear and sturdy. I then added extra bits of decoration to make it look more like something someone would wear for fashion reasons. 

I liked the way this looked, as it was simple but effective. I got the idea for this piece from looking at crazy fascinators as a way of people expressing themselves. I think this linked in well with Alternative Miss World as its all about self expression and creating pieces of art from simple materials. Not only this but it represented the way that AMW should be celebrated like any other formal event, not just cast aside because its different. 

Isn't that fascinating?

I wanted to look at making something out of simple materials, so I thought what's the simplest materials that I have access to that is also lightweight and cheap to use in large quantities? PAPER!!

So I started looking at simple origami techniques. After looking at the wide range of eccentric fascinators that have been created by different artists I decided to attempt making one myself. But before I start I will have to look at some research into how they are constructed and most of all how the different ways that they can be held on the head.