Title page - Brits Abroad
‘Brits Abroad’ originates from my summers spent in Spain combined with universal experiences most Brits experience abroad. The bright neon lights of the strip at night, the markets, the tourist shops filled to the brim with knickknacks, the tacky tropical cocktail bars with parrots and fancy cocktails, the smell of suncream, mosquito repellent, cigarettes, beer and after sun mixing to create the evening scent. The sandy walk back from the beach, the joy of buying a new pool float, ice cream Sundays and lastly the joyous reunion with the staff at our favourite places when we return. It is truly a nostalgic & comedic journey exploring and embracing all things British (abroad edition).
‘Good Girls go to heaven Bad Girls go to Benidorm’ collage
This page explores all things pool floats, focusing on neon squeaky rubber and how it’s become a holiday symbol. To the left I started using pool floats to create interesting silhouettes and start to imagine how this could work as a garment or how I could use them as an alternative fabric. To the right I briefly explored Brits drinking culture and how it often follows them abroad through Stag & Hen doo’s.
research board
This board presents my initial ideas including photography from my favourite photographer Martin Parr, specifically images from his Benidorm series. The highly saturated and raw documentarian style photography provides great inspiration to my project. The board also contains images of sunburn and inflatable which I go on to explore further within my research. I’ve also added images of egg, bacon and chips along with an old Union Jack vest I have that I stuck packaging from a Glenn’s vodka bottle on, these images reference British peoples love for Britain and often lack of embracing the culture of the country they have travelled to, so they resort back to home comforts. Many Brits often sport the Union Jack whilst on holiday.
‘I Don’t Need SPF’ collage & design development
This page explores the Brits ‘tanning’ culture, with the aim for most people going on holiday (including myself) being to get the harshest tan (burn) lines possible so that when they get home everyone knows they’ve been on holiday. With quotes inspired by my uncle tony who used to lather himself in olive oil to sit and cook his leathered red skin even more. To the left I started exploring some silhouettes using sun cream on a burnt body, looking at the cut outs and the harsh contrasts and how this could inform some garment designs.
Silhouette experiments & jacket toile
This page focuses on silhouettes informed from my research. I chose 3 key elements to include within my designs - sun burn/ sun cream, inflatables and union jacks. In the middle I included some images from my jacket toile, using an inflated union jack lilo from this I was able to work out how i should go about using the alternative material in my garment.
Garment construction
this page shows the garment construction behind my final look. After toiling the shorts out of old towels, I went on to create new patterns after realising the toile shorts weren't baggy enough for my liking, once i had altered them i went on to re making them in the union jack towels. The coat was initially very difficult to work with as I had chosen to make it solely out of neon pink lilos, but after changing the needle to one used on leather it was a lot easier. I decided i would work with the material and utilise the preexisting channels to create my jacket, resulting in the jacket panels not being as wide as i would have liked. The bodice pattern was made in one long peice in order to maintain the channels for stuffing. I also ensured that the safety instructions, Intex logo and blow hole were all utilised within the jacket.
