Background Information

Originally used as a survival necessity, clothing has evolved dynamically over the years. Our attire acts as silent words, telling passers by of our social status, wealth, opinions, or views. Though it’s not appropriate to judge someone on their opinion, quoting the old adage “you can’t judge a book by its cover,” nearly everyone does.
This is true in any situation, whether it’s casual wear or formal. One particular yearly event, high school prom, reflects this. It is the one time when students get to don beautiful expensive garb and dress to impress. Without fail it is everyone’s goal to look the most beautiful or handsome. This is a wonderful time for designers to showcase their talent. Prom dress prices can range anywhere from clearance racks to more expensive than some wedding gowns. Though this might seem very lucrative, much design must go into each dress. The designer’s aim is to create a beautiful gown that appeals to mass audiences. They must combine their knowledge of the time’s fashion with the availability of materials. It’s necessary to take color, texture, fabric type, size and cut, and length into consideration. This it not exclusively relating to prom gowns as men’s suits also must be carefully designed.
Before a gown can be made, the designer must take into account several things. For starters, they will have to decide on a style. They might choose a classic design or they might go for a more abstract design concept, such as a short dress, an uneven cut, or a dropped waistline. Whatever the case, their aim is to appeal to a broad range of people in order to sell the most dresses. Color of the dress is important as well, and generally it seems that pink is the most abundant color for gowns while other colors fall into obscurity. Fabric choice is generally not so complicated. There are a few common threads used in prom gowns- polyester and silk. Taffeta and organza have their spots in the field as well as tulle for added volume. If the dress is a custom design, specific measurements for the client must be taken for the bust, waist, hip, length, and back. Mass produced gowns follow the standard sizing guide as they will fit the majority of women suitably.
Men’s suits are surprisingly just as complicated. Suits have several different cuts: American, European, Italian, or contemporary. Though they look similar, the fitting is definitely different. Color wise, black is standard, but few are bold enough to venture for other colors-white being the most common uncommon color. The dress shirt worn underneath is generally a standard design, but the colors are numerous. Typically, the shirt matches the color of the gown. This doesn’t mean the exact shade, but if a girl’s dress is pastel, his shirt should be as well. If her dress is red, so should his shirt.
This project entails designing a custom prom gown and suit to be submitted to a TSA competition. Special attention should be paid to the small details-fabric choice, color matching, patterns as well as the reasoning behind it. Judges are looking for a comprehensive understanding of fashion and the mechanics behind it. As the project progresses, illustrations are made to accompany the outfits in submission. Also included is a portfolio.