Final Theme

I realise I must have changed my theme a million times by now, but this is my final theme. This is Kosem Sultan. She was born (under the name Anastasia) and raised by a priest in Tinos, Greece. When she was a young girl, Ottoman Pirates came and raided her home town, and took many of the healthy villagers away to be sold into slavery and the young girls to be concubines in Constantipole (now Istanbul). Many saw the life of a concubine to be better than their daily lives, but only if you could enter the harem, of the current Sultan. Kosem entered he harem of Ahmed I, due to her beauty and grace. The Sultan took a shine to her, and eventually made her, his wife. When he died in 1617 she was transferred to the old palce, but she was consumed by the power she wanted more of it. She got her wish when in 1623 her son Murad IV, came to the throne but as he was still a minor the power came to Kosem and she became the first of two women in history who ruled the Ottoman Empire officially and alone.Murad IV also craved the power and feared his brothers might take the throne from him, so he ordered the deathof his brothers. Ibrahim I was spared possibly because Kosem saved him, or Murad IV thought he was too unstable to be a threat. When Ibrahim I entered the throne in 1640 he was too unstable to rule alone so Kosem still had the power, and she loved it. However Kosem knew that eventually Ibrahim I would be disposed of and she would have no heirs to the throne left, so she persuaded her son to find a woman and have a son. The son was born and named Mehmed IV, and at the right time she presented him to the Divan and said "Here he is! See what you can do with him!". The problem was Mehmed IV's mother Turhan Hatice. She craved the power that Kosem had, and Kosem knew that she would have to find a replacement for Mehmed IV, with a more quiet mother. However Turhan caught news of the plot and decided to have Kosem killed. Kosem stuffed jewels in her pockets and ran thruogh the maze of the harem, and hid in a small cabinet, to hide form the Janissaries (Turkish Soldiers). Her skirt got caught in the door of the cabinet and she was spotted. They pulled herout, tore her clothes, stole her jewels, and then strangled her with a curtain. Then they took her lifeless body outside for all soldiers to see. Alot of poeple mourned for days and sometimes weeks.Turkish curtain, used to kill Kosem.

She was the most powerful woman ever in Ottoman history.

Draping

This is my draping on the stand from today, and it was all created from this one simple shape seen here in the first picture. I am so proud of my work and I think its just amazing. Thats just my opinion though.

Drawing

First drawing lesson today, and this is what we drew a load of bones. I actually did better than I thought, as you can see. My teamwork picture is the first one. Its not my favourite lesson but I do understand how necessary it is to get to uni, so just got to power through it. Hopefully I will have some decent drawings by the end of it.

Sooo Much!!

I had no idea how intense second year would be. They need to stress how hard it will be, because compared to first year its nothing. Seriously, I've only been back two days and I need 3 A4 folders, and an A4 notebook, and loads of work for next week. This year is going to be ridiculous but it will all be worth it when I get into Nottingham Trent University.
*Fingers Crossed*

Nottingham Trent University

My trip to Nottingham Trent University was AMAZING!!!! If you take a 3 year old to an open day, its going to be eventful. I went with my 3 year old cousin Bellicia, my mum and uncle. The course looks so good and Nottingham looks like a nice city to live in. And from what Rakhee tells me it cant be that bad! The course offers many opportunaties such as exchange trips to the fashion institute in New York, and Tokyo. My dream is to travel to Japan at least once in my life. The course is spread over 3 years, and in the third year you can swap over to the fashion business course if thats what you want. It covers modules such as colour theory, although your first project is white, to get to be more creative and focus on the structure and design of the garment. You can work alongside the students on the textiles and knitted courses. They have 3 or 4 sewing machine rooms, and maximum 10 people to one tutor but its usually less. I think this course is made for me, and Nottingham is an amazing location as I wont be too far away from Birmingham.
I LOVE IT!!!

Royal Blue - Summer Research

Well looking back I realised I should have started my project as soon as summer started,but I cant change that now. I worked so hard at getting my sketchbook up to a good standard, as if I dont like, and feel good about it, I wont hand be happy handing it in.

I feel this is my best sketchbook yet, but thats just my opinion.

I started looking at Cuffs, Collars and Corset. Then I realised we made cuffs and collars for productions in practice for making our white shirt, so I photographed them and put them in there as primary research.

I decided to use trimmings throughout to give my sketchbook a united feel.

I then looked at garments from the TV series Strictly Come Dancing, as they are all very costume like and relate to this project. I also looked at Shakespeare and outfits used in his Globe Theatre.

I then looked at designers collections. I looked at slightly costume-like collections and single colour collections to understand how they used texture and print to create a garment that was exciting and not bland, and boring.

I then looked at European history, and I can tell you now, for my theme a lot more visits to the library will be needed. I first began looking and Italy and Spain, places close to England. Then I looked at Iceland, a place where we dont know much about here in England, and this is where I found my theme. I then went on to Russia and different eras of British History.

This is an overview of my sketchbook.

Enjoy!

Change Of Theme - Iceland

Whilst doing research for this project, I came upon an episode in European history that I found interesting, and something that isnt that well known in this country.

I wanted to do something that I dont think anyone else would do. Queen Victoria, and things like that are just too obvious for me, as too many people would be instantly drawn to that.

I choose to look at 'The Turkish Abductions' of Iceland.

The Turkish abductions were a series of raids that took place in Iceland between July 4 – July 19, 1627. Both Austurland (the eastern edge of the country) and Vestmannaeyjar (islands off the south coast) were raided by Barbary pirates from the regency of Algiers.

At this point Iceland had relinquished the right to the crown, and their right to initiate and consent to legislation to Denmark, howeven Denmark did not protect them.

In 1627, Jan Janszoon hired a Danish “slave” (most likely a crew member captured on a Danish ship taken as a pirate prize) to pilot him and his men to Iceland, where they raided the Icelandic city Reykjavík. They only managed to steal salted fish and a few hides, so they kidnapped people and sold them as slaves. The number of slaves kidnapped from Iceland is disputed, with figures as high as 400, and as low as 8.

Anyone who resisted a life of slavery were killed on the spot. The pirates only took people with good health, so they would make the most money possible.
When the pirates invaded Vestmannaeyjar, a minister and some people left for a cave in the mountains, but later that day, the minister went see if it was safe, when the pirates saw himand killed him. They then found the cave with all the people. Those capture were sold into slavery on the Barbary Coast. The most notable captive was Guðríður Símonardóttir who was sold as a slave and concubine in Algeria before being bought back by King Christian IV of Denmark.