Fashion Design Commons^™

Innovator - Spring 2023

Innovator

03 - The President’s Column

06 - Time Machine: Fabric of the Heart

10 - The Nexus: News at Jefferson

20 - Student to #Philebrity: Influenced by Jefferson

24 - The Light Fantastic

30 - We Are One Jefferson

34 - Question & Innovate

36 - Reimagine

40 - Ram Roundup

44 - Class Notes

56 - In Memory

58 - Trivia

Innovator - Summer 2022

Innovator

05 - The Provost’s Column

08 - Time Machine: John K. Mitchell’s Automaton Chess Player

12 - The Nexus: News at Jefferson

22 - Empowering Amputees to Conquer the Seas

26 - The Legend: Coach Herb Magee ’63, HOF ’11

34 - Common Threads

38 - Pitch Please

44 - Question & Innovate: Natasha A. Trice ’14

48 - The Future is Now Farewell to Dr. Stephen K. Klasko

52 - A Father’s Life Inspires a Son’s Giving

54 - Reimagine

60 - Ram Roundup

64 - Class Notes

72 - In Memory

Wasteful To Useful: Investigating The Metamorphosis Of Textile For Construction Methods, Elizabeth Rodriguez

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Every year, the average American generates over 80 pounds of textile waste. Since the 1990s, consumer behavior has shifted as mass production of items has become the norm. Production of clothing alone already impacts the environment as it requires immense amounts of chemicals, energy, water, and other natural resources. So, when consumers throw away clothing and brands decide to discard overproduced items, it ends up in landfills where it takes over 200+ years to decompose. Furthermore, a large percentage of unwanted clothing will be sent off to third-world countries to try to resale or recycle. Yet, the amount being imported …

Uni_Form Space: Exploring Environment Through Fashion+Architecture, Alanzo Price

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Henry Van de Velde advocated for the German concept, ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ which translates to ‘total work of art’. This concept became popular during the Art Nouveau Movement around the 1890s when architects began utilizing their knowledge of scale to design fashion and other everyday objects like silverware. Though this concept has produced intriguing designs, architects still shy away from design processes that seem ornamental assuming that they will not produce work that is ‘architectural’. The goal of this project is to create an architectural environment by curating designed elements that use a recognizable design language present in fashion and architecture. The …

The Connection Between Gen Z And Online Fast Fashion Media; Aiming To Create A Sustainable Future In Fashion., Rachel Peters

School of Art Undergraduate Honors Theses

It is impossible to think about culture in the past two decades without referencing social media. My generation, commonly known as Gen Z (born between 1997-2010), has been on the forefront of social media development. One of the first generations to grow up with some form of unfiltered online social experience, Gen Z has been hard wired to consume media. While using social media alongside my peers, I have observed a problem that has resulted from this: mass consumption. A mass consumption of food, beauty products, home decor, and clothing in particular. On social media we see hundreds of videos …

Disability Advocacy In Fashion Design, Erin Higinbotham, Susan Macdermott Otd, Otr/L

Spring 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Originally marketed towards older adults followed by children, adaptive fashion greatly impacts the everyday independence of all disabled people. Utilizing the Person-Environment-Occupation model and understanding the relationship between the disabled community, clothing, and occupational participation and again with the fashion company, the designer, and their fulfillment of a need or gap in accessibility lead to the purpose of this capstone of identifying occupational therapy’s role in designing ready-to-wear adaptive clothing through understanding and bridging the gaps in fashion education for designers. To address this, advocacy in education and educational materials were created to fill this gap and promote accessibility and …

The Impact Of Instagram Usage On Body-Esteem In Young Women In College, Kirsten Etzinger

Honors Projects

Instagram as a platform is increasing in popularity, especially among young women. Young women may use Instagram to keep up with their peers, follow trends, or as a way to express themselves. However, it is evident that young women can be negatively affected by the content they are exposed to on Instagram. This study examines the impact that increased Instagram usage can have on body-esteem in young women in college by evaluating their degree of Instagram usage, motivation to use social media for body comparison, and feelings of body-esteem. An online survey was conducted with BGSU college-age female students and …

Arnolfini Double Portrait Research Intensive, Hannah Grace Shirley

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Creative and Artistic

The Significance Of Mourning Wear And Customs During The Civil War, Theresa Fail

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Creative and Artistic

African American Fashion Legacies, Yasmeen Orozco

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

This was an exploration of how African American Designers, former and current have contributed to fashion legacies. Key points that will be presented will be – brief biographies of seven African American designers, that covers their upbringing, education, and their fashion legacies. The seven fashion designers that will be discussed include - Patrick Kelly, Willie Smith, Anna Lowe, Stephine Burrows, Laquan Smith, Dapper Dan, and Zelda Wynn Valdes.

The study further features fashion trends that originated from the African American community. Notably, African Americans have been a pioneering force with creative styles that have been ignored and rebutted. Finally, the …

A Modern Twist Based On The 17th Century And Victorian Era, Kenzie Styles

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

This project was an exploration of the 17th Century and Victorian styles with a modern twist to suit Cher, who is an iconic famous signer and actress, in her teens and early 20s. Most of the inspiration for the designs was taken from undergarments and silhouettes inspired by both eras. As well as light feminine colors inspired by the eras, combined with dark greens and blues to create a modern effect. Details of the garments include lace and embroidery inspired by the artwork of the 17th century.

Romantic And Victorian Era: Fashion Reimagined, Sara E. Pacheco

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

This venture was about reimaginations of the Romantic and Victorian era fashion through the person of Audrey Hepburn, a famous 1960’s Movie star. The Romantic and Victorian eras were chosen because of their similarities and the beauty of those eras in expressing femininity for women. The colors served as a main source of inspiration because they conveyed a feminine vintage feel for the garments. Additionally, inspiration was drawn from the patterns and textures of fabric, especially silk textiles whose satin finish complemented the shiny, smooth, and silky feel of the fabrics. The reimagined fashion images on display illustrate how a …

An Exploration Of The Black Female Cosplay Experience, Geneisa B. Ragin, Geneisa Ragin

Honors College Theses

Cosplay is the practice of dressing up as a fictional character whether it's from a television show, video games, or even a book series. Many people participate in cosplay to show their dedication or admiration for their favorite character and sometimes cosplay a character that helps reflect their own character or personality. This thesis will mainly focus on the experience of being a Black female cosplayer in pop culture, social media, conventions, and other places where people can share and communicate. In this thesis’s research, participants' answers about their experiences were centered around their inspiration to start cosplaying, their ways …

Between Specificity And Myth: An Analysis Of Carlos Mérida's 'Mexican Costume', Sofia Ortega-Guerrero

Kaplan Senior Essay Prize for Use of Library Special Collections

Sitting evenly upon close-toothed paper, vivid pigments compose harmonies of color and form (Fig. 1). Lines of cerulean wiggle upon a velvety cobalt blue. Between crisp boundaries of ink, veins of the white folio carve out a lattice and tapered fringe to impart legibility: a striped, blue shawl generously cloaks a figure, who nearly disappears beneath her dress. Cinched by a violet-vermillion belt, three bunches of black and white pleats fold in rhythmic lines. A small, low-heeled shoe peeks from below the voluminous skirt, recalling the figure beneath the fabric. From the abundant shawl, a head emerges in profile with …

You Need This: Global Fast Fashion, Environment, And Consumption Culture, Alexandra Lamm

Student Work

In looking at how global production of clothing has increased and shifted, we see the impacts in places like workers rights, environmental issues and cultural consumption. Although vastly different, through examination we will see how all are intrinsically linked. We have reached a truly global economy, and even when threatened with negative consequences of mass consumption in our daily lives, the road to actual change in the fashion industry becomes harder in time due to our dependency on the industry as a whole.

Vivienne Westwood And The Socio-Political Nature Of Punk, Ashley Rosato

Honors College Theses

Punk fashion, which helped define the punk movement in the 1970s, has been ever changing as it adapts to modern times. Before it was the watered-down, mainstream mass-produced aesthetic that it is today, punk style was full of counterculture meaning and signs that communicated counter-hegemonic ideologies to the public. Vivienne Westwood, one of the contributors to early punk culture and the mother of British punk style, designed clothing that was central to the ethos of the early punk movement. Through a semiotic analysis of five of Westwood’s designs from the 1970s, this study aims to demonstrate how Westwood’s early punk …

Creating A 1940s Costume: A Historical Investigation, Jennifer Mott

The Confluence

The purpose of this Art History research investigation was to create a costume from the 1940s by immersing myself in a time period when people often made their own clothing. This was done to better understand what it means to have a personal connection to the items I wear. Our experiences as consumers in the twenty-first century are vastly different than those belonging to the people that lived during the mid-twentieth century because almost all of our clothing is purchased from corporations and created by people that we will likely never meet. For this investigative study, I shopped for and …

Sustainable Fashion Design Exploration: Transformation To Zero-Wash, Colleen Moretz

Sustainable Fashion Design Exploration

Sustainability has been at the center of my scholarship across the apparel and textile disciplines. Focusing my creative design scholarship on sustainability generates awareness of sustainable issues within the apparel industry to hopefully encourage change in fashion practices. This concentration on sustainability has been an evolution of investigating sustainable design processes through the exploration of transformation, aesthetics, zero waste, and up-cycling.

Creating Adaptive Face Masks With Clear Inserts To Aid People With Hearing Loss, Blare Offenbacker

Apparel Merchandising and Product Development Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to create adaptive face masks with clear inserts to aid individuals with hearing loss. In early 2020, when the world went into lockdown and quarantine, guidelines were set by the Center of Disease Control (CDC) on how to protect yourself from Covid-19. Covid-19 is also known as SARS-CoV-2, which is severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2. The main protection against Covid-19 at the beginning of the pandemic was the use of face masks that covered the nose and mouth. This has been a continued recommendation for protection against Covid-19 with the different variants …

Superficial: An Exploration Of Decoration, Fashion, Taste, Camp, And Trends, Jillian Ohl

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

Since the rise of consumer culture in the late 19th century, Americans have had a complicated relationship with decorative objects, the idea of taste, and the cycle of trends within our classist society. This essay examines some of the decorative objects in my childhood home such as patterned wallpaper and an antique chair as well as a contemporary brand name mascara. While these objects do not have major functional properties, their decoration and superficiality bring me joy. To better understand my appreciation of decoration and aesthetics, I assess how an object or fashion is considered in good or bad taste. …