Heirloom Elegance, Something Old is New

As products reach the end stage of the life cycle, decisions must be made regarding how to dispose of them. The most common approach is to donate usable items to charitable organizations and to channel those with limited or no use to garbage destined for landfills. Designers dedicated to social responsible actions can develop creative ways to reuse and extend the life of all or parts of end-stage products. Household textiles are ideal resources for up-cycling because while their initial use may no longer be fashionable, their heirloom status makes them difficult to discard. Re-purposing heirloom textiles not only extend their life but it also sustains precious and cherished memories associated with their previous uses

Transformative Innovative Pattern Cutting and Draping

Overconsumption has been a trend since the turn of the 21st century. This idea of buying quantity not quality has created negative influences to our environmental, economical, and societal resources. Celebrities have a powerful influence on consumers. With today’s competitive social media scrutiny, celebrities are seen wearing a designer fashion only once. Dedication to social responsible actions is the primary focus for my design research, inspiration, and development. Investigating various techniques to incorporate sustainable practices into design exploration. Re-purposing post consumer waste was utilized in a previous design Heirloom Elegance, it was created by re-purposing heirloom textiles. (Moretz, 2013) Zero waste design experiments address the fabric waste from apparel manufacturing. The design Transformation Inward Out evolved from an experimental skirt that was derived from the investigation into Rickard Lindqvist Kinetic Garment Construction Theory’s sphere concept. His methodology explores an alternative paradigm of draping and pattern cutting. The result is a kinetic construction theory that works from the body outward in contrast from the traditional method of working from the outside inward toward the body. (Lindqvist, 2015) The purpose of the final design, Transformation Inward Out, is to incorporate innovative design, draping, and pattern making with a sustainable focus on increasing the value of the garment by encouraging extended usage. Transformable garments have great potential to prevent and minimize waste in a product’s lifecycle by encouraging consumers’ natural engagement in sustainable fashion acts. (Fashion United, 2015) The Transformation Inward Out garment can change both in the length and silhouette and can be worn in different ways and in various contexts

Photos and Silhouettes in Evaluating the Need for BSSO Surgery in Adult Females

Introduction: The objective of this study was to determine the anterior/posterior position of the mandible at which an orthodontist and oral surgeon would advise bilateral sagittal split osteotomy advancement or set back when evaluating adult female photos and silhouettes. Material & Methods: Fifty-one adult female profile photos and lateral cephalograms were collected. Subjects were selected who met three criteria: 1) ANB of 0-2, 2) balanced profile image, and 3) age greater than 18. The image and cephalometric tracing were morphed together to allow software simulation of mandibular prognathia and retrognathia in 2 mm increments. Orthodontists and oral surgeons evaluated morphed photos and silhouettes to find the profile break point at which BSSO surgery would be recommended. Both prognathic and retrognathic profile break points were evaluated. A two group repeated measures ANOVA test was used to determine a group effect. Results: The two group repeated measures ANOVA test found a statistically significant difference between orthodontists and oral surgeons when evaluating class II and class III profiles for surgery (P = 0.000). There was a statistically significant difference between photos and silhouettes when evaluating class III profiles (P = 0.014), but not when evaluating class II profiles (P = 0.213). Conclusions: Oral surgeons and orthodontists do not recommend surgery for the same level of jaw discrepancy when they use photos and silhouettes. Oral surgeons recommended BSSO surgery at a lesser degree of retrognathia. Orthodontists recommended surgery at a lesser degree of prognathia. Photos and silhouettes were evaluated differently for patients with prognathic mandible

Sustainable Fashion Design Exploration: Transformation to Zero-Wash

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

Spiral Into Zero-Waste

The ever-increasing production and consumption of fashion has lead to an equally increased use of resources, especially fabric. Traditional garment production using the cut and sew method yields approximately a 15% fabric waste. Zero-waste fashion design addresses this concern by producing garments without fabric waste. The pattern making stage needs to be an integral part of the design process. Looking for an innovative method to provide a sustainable solution to address pre-consumer textile waste, a double spiral pattern was developed resembling a yin-yang cut apart, but leaving the square edges attached to the bottom areas of each spiral. This pattern was used in a previous skirt design and the only vision for this design was to use the same basic pattern to create a full garment with zero-waste. There was no other preconceived concept for the design outcome prior to the draping of the separated spirals onto the half-scale form

Transformation Inward Out

Contextual Review and Concept: The contextual review for this design originated from the investigation of Rickard Lindqvist Kinetic Garment Construction Theory and his Shirt/Sphere design. Lindqvist theory is a method of garment construction that instead of using a traditional construction method of working inward by considering fabric or pattern first, Lindqvist method works from the body outward. In keeping with his theory, movement of the wearer’s legs and interaction with the fabric were considered with this design. This project evolved into a design that features a skirt that originates from the underside of the dress to transform from long to short. Review of transformative design reveals that they not only transform from long to short but can also grow, change, re-figure, reform, or re-structure. Transformable garments involve technologies that can convert them into different styles or silhouettes, thus reducing the need to purchase new garments and extend the garment’s lifecycle

Reading attitude and academic achievement in third, fourth, and fifth grade children

The purpose of this study was to determine if a correlation existed between reading attitudes and academic achievement of elementary school children in grades three, four, and five. Also, the researcher wanted to determine if variables such as gender or time in school affected the relationship between reading attitude and academic achievement. The subjects consisted of seventy students from three intact classrooms. This study took place in a middle class suburban elementary school in southern New Jersey. Twenty-seven students were from third grade, twenty-one students were from fourth grade, and twenty-two students were from fifth grade, Thirty-eight females and thirty-two males participated in the study. The reading attitudes of the subjects were assessed with the Educational Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS) developed by McKenna & Kear (see appendix A) This survey consisted of twenty questions dealing with recreational and academic reading. Each question had four standard pictorial figures for subjects to use as their answer. The academic achievement of the students was collected by obtaining the scores for each subject on the IOWA Test of Basic Skills, a standardized test taken by each student participating in the study. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to statistically analyze the data. Positive correlations between reading attitude and academic achievement were found to exist. The relationship between reading attitude and academic achievement was not significant when looking at the groups by gender. The findings also indicated a negative trend between reading attitude and achievement (academic, reading, and comprehension) exists as students progress through school

A preferred vision for leading elementary schools : a reflective essay

Leadership is a quality that one wants when leading a school or leading any group of people. The way to describe leadership would be strong, fair, and data driven. All leaders possess many different combinations of the above leadership qualities. My values, beliefs and the critical elements will go a long way in helping me become the leader I want to become in the near future. They will give me direction and a place for me to come back to when I seem to be falling out of place. My beliefs will always be a part of the way I want to lead a school because they are the values by which I will lead my life. The elements of ethical decision making, creating positive climate, preparing for change, and communication will always be important because they encompasses so much of my beliefs. In each area of the elements, a common theme appears like treating people with respect and doing what is right for students. When I am able to carry out the beliefs, elements, and common themes in my reflective research paper then I will be a great leader

The Construction of Activist Identities in the Democratic Party: A Study on Collective Identity and Political Activism

This study uses ethnographic methods to explore the relationship between collective identity, personal identity and activism in local Democratic clubs and county groups in Eastern Virginia. Drawing from interviews with activist group leaders and group members, participant observation at party events, and document analysis of party documents, I introduce the concepts of maximal reality and submaximal reality to help understand how individual and group practices reinforce collective identities that promote group activism. I argue that the emphasis of maximal realities through practices of silence and group activist rituals creates a dialectic of political participation that ensures Democratic identity is reinforced and group activism continues