Outfit designed and made after a Year and a Half of Research into the Symbolism of Diversity in Art
As part of my A-Level Fashion and Textiles I chose to study how diversity is symbolised in art. For my final outcome, after a year and a half of research and design (including Depression, Gender and Catholicism which can be found under Portfolio) my outcome was this “Dress” made from five rings, each one representative of one of the areas I researched: Neurodiversity, LGBTQIA+, Religion, Race and Nationality, and Disability. The linings were made of five repeated motifs of either flags or symbols from earlier projects over the module, the outsides were black and white while the insides were colourful to represent that a lot of these identities are not outwardly visible. The rings were removable and the concept was that this one-size-fits-all piece could be changed so that the rings a person wears relate to their actual identity. I wanted this entire outfit to be able to be worn by anyone. As such I chose to make undergarments as well. I made a corset top in which the closures were twenty-five eyelets in five rows on each side so it can be worn by men or women of any size. I chose to also make a skirt, it was pleated and could be made smaller and larger as needed. On the segments of the rings I attached shards of mirrored acrylic, some of which had words carved into them. I conducted a survey asking people what was a word they associated with the theme of each ring and these were the words I carved.
