Victorian-style outfit
Carly Hitchcock
Havelock North High School
Year 13 Technology
Teacher: Carol Rimmer
Carly's father, a GP, needed an outfit to wear to a formal dinner at a medical conference at Wellington's Hotel Intercontinental.
Carly's task was to design a solution that was functionally and aesthetically appropriate to the location and occasion and to the client's hobbies/Interests, lifestyle, figure type, existing wardrobe, beliefs and values.
In consultation with her father, Carly decided on a Victorian theme. Carly did some historical research into the functional and social reasons for the designs of male clothing in the Victorian period, and also looked at 21st century interpretations of the style. An influence in this regard was New Zealand designer and inaugural member of the New Zealand Fashion Hall of Fame, Jane Daniels. Some of Daniels' work features Victorian styling, which she creates through line and form, and the use of appliqué and hand-painting as embellishment.
During her April school holidays, Carly took part in an eight-day Performance Design (costume and set for stage and screen) course taught by Brian King whom she subsequently involved as a wider stakeholder for her project.
Sourcing interesting fabrics is always a problem in Hawke's Bay – early on in her practice, Carly assessed her options so she could consider them as her design developed. Construction was a lengthy process, as menswear was a new experience for her and involved developing skills in tailoring, hand embroidery and painting.
Carly's father wore the outfit to the medical conference and found that it perfectly suited his needs. She also received positive feedback from other attendees at the conference and from Brian King.
For her work on this project, Carly received the Top Scholar Award for Technology in the 2007 New Zealand Scholarship examinations.
Teacher comment
Carly took complete ownership of her project from the very beginning. She made excellent use of all of her stakeholders and carefully recorded the detail from all conversations and used the information gained to constructively formulate her next moves.
