During our re-brainstorming session, we knew that we had to re-think the concept of DIY which we were so attached to. Initially we understood DIY as being something that needs to be made from scratch, beginning to end, wanting to promote self-empowerment by means of learning a new skill while creating someting useful. In a way we were barking up the wrong tree although our intentions and goals were valid.
The flaws of our project were intially brought up by other students from the class after our prototype presentation. Such observations as: some people don't necessarily want to do any kind of sewing or stitching by themselves or dig up an old coat and wear it as if it was the current fashion of haute couture (based on our "pretend" client's needs).
While thinking about DIY and why it was important to us, we saw that it had aspects of playfulness, creating a bond between wearer and user through personalization, among others. All of the right criteria was there but we were having great trouble in transforming these criterias into an actual product.
We decided as a group to meet with Rhona personally to discuss certain issues about our project and to help us return to our rightful path.
The theme of the discussion eventually led to "modularity" and rather than following the acronymes of DIY to the T, offering a certain variety of use would be more constructive and in-tune with our initial goal.
mod·u·lar
Pronunciation: \ˈmä-jə-lər\
Function: adjective
Date: 1798
1 : of, relating to, or based on a module or a modulus
2 : constructed with standardized units or dimensions for flexibility and variety in use
— mod·u·lar·i·ty \ˌmä-jə-ˈla-rə-tē\ noun
— mod·u·lar·ly \ˈmä-jə-lər-lē\ adverb
With that in mind we re-evaluated what the object would be. One suggestion Rhona made was to have a long strip that could be wrapped around the body in different ways. This reminded us some of our initial sketches, which stemmed from our play session during class, we realized that this had been something we had considered since the beginning but for some reason it got lost and thanks to Rhona, we were able to be reconnect with this idea and finally push forward.
As a result, we began playing around with the length of this strip and the number of ways in which it can be worn. Here are images of Marian demonstrating the various "vests" procured during her own "play session" with some tape measures.
Rhona aldo brought to light another project which was done by a past Design student coincidentally for the American Apparel clothing company. It is a scarf that can be worn in a variety of ways, giving it new life with every use while giving creative freedom to the wearer.
Also, it embodies DIY in the same way that we had hoped our project would. It doesn't requirer the wearer to have any form of special skill, the only skill needed being imagination. This is precisely what we didn't know we were aiming for. The main strength of the whole culture of DIY is promoting imagination, and involving the user in the object they are wearing/using.
Here is a fan video demonstrating the scarf and how to use it:
fan made youtube video of circle scarf
While researching this product we came upon two other similar ones from American apparel called "Bandeau" and "Le Sac Dress" link .
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