Entry 3: Metal and wire work

Metal and Wire work with Glenda H.

Piano wire ~ £22 (make sure to get plated or music quality; comes in various gauges)
23-24 gauge for wings
cannot solder to itself, you need fuse wire and solder

Take care if soldering with a solder that contains lead

Flux, acid chemical, put onto fuse wire, flux makes fuse flow (say that ten times fast)

when making wings you can attach them by putting a button hole and case in a corset and then sliding the wing base into it.

for 3 denominational wings the base needs to be appropriately shaped, but be careful not to over construct as well.

Can also use wire for

• head dresses
• tiara
• under prop for collar

Ali-flat- for very large crins. To join together needs to be pop riveted

comes in different thicknesses

Brass Shim-thin metal

tin foil is a version of shim 

can use acrylic paint to dim down

Flints- theatrical merchant 

http://www.flints.co.uk/welcome.html

To make a pattern 

1. draw an outline of your actor onto paper
2. Then draw the wing shapes that you want onto the same paper, taking into consideration how they will attach
3. cut pieces of piano wire to appropriate size and straighten and tape to paper
4. attach together with fuse wire
5. heat up fuse wire and piano wire then spread flux (note: 40 watts is ideal for solder iron)
6. apply solder to metal (not to the iron!), you can use the tip of the iron to help it flow

Entry 2:Body Adorned, Lecture 1

Body Adorned with Elizabeth Dawson
Lecture 1: Identification and difference

Dress is used as a means of differentiation between groups and individuals in society, whether in relation to tribe, status, gender or subculture. Dress is therefore a primary indication of both place within society and of the individual.   

Berge (publishers) Fashion theory.

What are the functions of clothes?

• modesty 
• environment

As a species we seem to have this notion of beautifying or adorning yourself

Clothing sends a message

• Personality
• Status
• Job
• Belief
• Gender description
• race
• nationality 

"In framing the body, dress contributes to the symbolic translation of materiality into the cultural images of signifies .. Dress aids the construction of subjectivity as representation"
WARWICK, Alexandra and cavallaro, dani (2001) fashioning the frame:boundaries, dress and the body

STATUS

• Dress has always indicated how people see themselves within the social structures of their particular time.
• Dress acts as an indicator of who one is within the social sphere.
• Dress expresses occupation, gender national or regional identity, religious affiliation and social class

Garments can function as a symbolic meaning
Uniform was important in the late 19th c.

Thornstein Veblem : The theory of the leisured class (1899)

do we wear things to be seen?
Social status shown through "conspicuous consumption"
lavish clothing as a tool for social advancement

Western culture has a "need" for change/advancement or the "new" in our fashion

Women were a way for a man to show his wealth and power in the 19th c. we can particularly see this in the complex dress that became fashionable for the rich and prestigious women in England. "Arm Candy"

Brands
a show of status
quality is valued

Georg Simmell the philosophy of Clothes (1905)
He argued that clothing provided individuality and commonality; or "identification" and "difference".

dress as a statement of national identity in today's mixed race world. how do you express your culture/ sub culture?

Entry 1

Over spring break I've been working a lot on my tatting. I've been practicing motifs as well as working on some long length projects to possibly use as trim on future projects.

Below are some pictures of tatting with patterns that I'd like to try