Second Year of Uni | Fashion Design (Practical)

If you want to read how my first year went, definitely have a read of that post first before this one because the experiences were quite different.

I mentioned that I was looking forward to my second year after being on a six month Summer holiday, so you could imagine that my mind was screaming for some structure and routine in my life. I went back to uni, refreshed, ready to tackle the projects. It was great settling back in, you know seeing everyone from last year, everyone's excited, good energy is flowing, there were a few new faces which is always nice.

Second year in Fashion Design usually means harder projects, more freedom. More freedom also means your decision making and problem solving is put to the test x 10. Having the freedom to make whatever I wanted sounded great however more freedom doesn't mean that it's easier. I learnt that, real quick and by force.

Below is an explanation of what we did throughout the year (some of the images are of unfinished garments but you get the gist). I felt I just got on with the year as opposed to first year where I fretted about everything and being criticised. You get used to it, fashion is not for the faint hearted, you really have to own want you design and produce. If you're not confident about your own creations, your teachers will grill you and you're left not being able to justify your design which makes the whole process pointless. Whether they like your shit or not, be confident about it and own it like a boss.

We were thrown into the deep end and had an external client project. The design team from the Absolutely Fabulous movie came in with a brief. They wanted us to create the collection in the movie for the designer that wants to showcase his collection at a party. We (me and my peers) made that collection. I've linked the trailer for the movie so if you pause at 0:49, you'll see the all red jacket that I worked on. It was stressful, to say the least, the deadline was THE deadline. There were hardly any spaces for error, our garments had to be perfect. It was a great experience and I'm glad I got the opportunity to do something like this.

Whilst doing this external project, we had to make a replica of a tailored designer jacket. I chose to do the Dior bar jacket which was a nightmare to pattern cut but I think I did pretty well with the construction and fit. With fashion design, it's all about trial and error until you get it right.

From the start of the year, we started a new module called Design Conviction. It was a module based on a word. It started off great for me, I had crazy ideas and the creative juices flowing however after Christmas, it was time to make a garment and my module leaders were throwing me off track with their sometime-ish advice so it went downhill for me from there. I did make a jacket (I'll do another post of the photoshoot) and I loved it and I also passed for the year. So not all bad. This module was a year long as opposed to being split up into different projects.



The last project was also with an external client, Teatum Jones, a British womenswear duo. We had to create a collection, a line up with moodboards, colour and fabric boards and also make a garment. I chose Josephine Baker as my muse. I loved her flamboyance so I wanted to get a basic everyday garment and add her touch to it. 

This post was based mainly on the practical side of the year, we had to also do portfolios and essays, line ups but the post will be so long if I include them all so do let me know if you want to see those also.
I'm going into my final year of my degree (decided to not go on my gap year) so I'll keep you guys updated throughout the year if I can. I will be vlogging my day to day so make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel as I'll be showing my process to my final collection.

Hope you guys enjoyed reading my post, whether you're starting your fashion degree or moving into the second year, just be confident within yourself and what you create. Don't let the work pile up, stay organised, eat well, feel good and just remember, it's not the end of the world if someone doesn't like what you create, it's your vision not theirs.

Take care,
Jesslyn