Hi, Nice to Meet You!

I wanted to start off this blog journey by introducing myself and who I am as an artist & designer. As I have never done or even remotely come close to creating a blog before, let alone post one. I figured I would start things off light and tell you why I'm here.

1. I'm here because of school.

This is my final year in my undergraduate program and my professors thought it a good idea to keep track of my research, findings, and overall reflection. To be perfectly honest, they're not wrong. I do enjoy the thought process of my mind wandering into daydreams and coming out the other side with something only a 5 year old would come up with. Although, my thoughts aren't always relevant to school; they are relevant to what I love. Which brings me to my next point.

2. I enjoy fashion and specifically, what you can show through fashion

One thing I realized coming back into my final year at Sheridan was that I loved fashion. Although, I don't always wear whats considered "High Fashion", you'll constantly find me sitting on my couch in kitschy halloween pajamas and a t-shirt that says "Boo-Yah". But beyond that aesthetically unpleasing visual, I enjoy what people do with fashion and when fashion can tell a unique story.

Ya, you could say I enjoy that new coat in Aritzia's 2021 winter collection. It works for what I need but, compare that to Alexander McQueen's "Deep V-neck embroidered velvet gown"(pictured below-found on https://www.matchesfashion.com/us/products/Alexander-McQueen-Deep-V-neck-embroidered-velvet-gown-1160224), there's a huge difference.

Theres a certain amount of veracity, tension, curiosity, passion, and pure wild-like nature to designs like this. A huge reason a design like this catches my attention in the first place is because it's a gown. Dresses have always caught my attention. Something about the female body and how it's elevated to this stature in this simple yet complex silhouette is outstanding. Whether it's a gown form Vera Wang, Joanne Fleming, Alyssa Kristin, Alexandra Grecco, etc. One thing in particular about gowns that really intrigues me also brings me to my next point.

3. I love weddings-in particular, the wedding dress.

When I was younger, I started watching "Say Yes to the Dress" like any love-struck wannabe dreamer would. I stared at the television for hours and yell incessantly if a dress looked good on someone or not. It became a form of fantasizing for me and what my future might look like. As I continued to watch it over the years I stopped fantasizing and started to pay closer attention to designers, fits of the dresses, the specific fabrics used for each dress, etc. It became a well known fact in my house that I was a "Say Yes to the Dress" abuser.

Through that televised-journey, I realized how much I really enjoyed the aspect of weddings, but more importantly, wanted to know what the bride was wearing. I loved seeing new designs on instagram, seeing collections and noticing changes and similarities between collections, or even between other designers work.

I think what I truly love about wedding dresses is the idea of why an individual is wearing it. When you attend a wedding, you go to bask in the love of 2 individuals wanting to commit to each other in life. Nowadays, a wedding dress doesn't have to be white but there is something dainty and very porcelain-like about wearing white. Even when I wear white clothes I feel delicate. So seeing women wear white on such a tremendous day in their life brings a certain kind of joy to my soul.

Now, what I wanted to do for my capstone thesis was create a contemporary wedding gown and bring in 19th century traditional wedding dress nuances and ideals of love. This gown will tell a visual story of 2 individuals and their lineage's coming together; connecting them with their past and uniting them into their future.

I'll eventually be going over my research, new developments, and explaining why I want my thesis to go in this direction. So, as you continue to follow me in my journey, I hope you enjoy my progress, reflections, and samples.

As always,

JT