Well, it has been a long time. I need to give you a serious update on my most recent fashionista shindigging. Ladies, I have just completed my third year of fashion design studies, which means that I am now granted with a National Diploma in Fashion Design. Hooray, I did it! I don’t know how I got through it all, specifically this last year. Here’s why.

In third year, the major brief for the year is to develop, for the first time, your very own range. This spans the entire process of fashion creation, from concept to garment completion, and all the blood, sweat and tears in between. Trust me ladies, this is no exaggeration. Creating a clothing range requires very literally blood, sweat and tears.

My range was called Escape. Escape is an exploration into the psychological experience of the clothes wearer, so basically, what I did, is really tried to create a range that gives off vibes of cool, calm and collected and allows it's wearers to feel like they are escaping the chaos of daily life.

Obviously, creating this range was not much of an escape for me as designer and creator, if you take the seemingly endless hours of lectures, pattern making, cutting, sewing, unpicking, re-sewing, ironing, essay-writing, presentation-giving, journal-making, and just general chaos in to consideration. There were literally weeks where my average amount of sleep per night amounted to about an hour. There were nights in a row with no sleep at all. But here I am, against all odds, alive, and beaming with pride.

The final show went unforgettably well, and Escape won itself a few prizes. One memorable moment was having a lady come up to me during interval to tell me that my first outfit nearly had her in tears. In a good way. I couldn’t stop smiling.

As for other fashiony things I’ve done this year, I have joined the ranks of the serious fashion followers and started my own blog. Check it out here.

Fairydust follows all my fashion shenanigans and chronicles my latest quest, to turn myself into a fruitful fashion illustrator. I have found a treasure in this professional direction, a way to combine my love for art and fashion into one career pursuit. I’m still learning, of course, but my next step has already been taken: I’ve enrolled myself into the fine arts course at university for next year, so that I can learn all I need to learn about professional drawing and illustration, and when I’m finished there, I’m hoping to do an honours year creating a fashion illustration portfolio. Scary stuff, but it’s all so exciting.

Recently, I also won another Converse competition! This one was called Optimistic Rebels, and it was a search for the young creative barrier-pushers in South Africa. Check out my video entry here.

This beautiful short movie was made by my boyfriend, who is a very talented (and also gorgeous, but I suppose that’s irrelevant) cinematographer. Thanks again Ross! And thanks to all of you ladies who spared me a vote.

As for other exciting news, my boyfriend and I are leaving in just over a week, for a five week long backpacking trip around Europe! I expect it’s going to be simply breathtaking. I can’t wait to see fashion and art capitals like Milan, Paris, London and Barcelona. And that’s only a few of them. Okay, so we will be eating mostly dry bread, and I’ll hardly have spending money, but I’m going to be making some beautiful memories. And I guess memories are what the holiday season is all about!

Drop me a line if you have any comments, questions, or fashion-type stories, Id love to hear from you!

Jess

Ps This was Jess’s December column

Check out her new blog “The paper wardrobe”
xx