Madeline Clements 11/2/20 Madeline Clements 11/2/20

O’More School x Goodwill Collaboration

This past spring, we had the opportunity to collaborate with well known thrift store Goodwill on a completely up-cycled outfit. Up-cycling is one of my favorite design methods, so I knew I was going to really enjoy this project.

Walking through Goodwill is overwhelming; color and pattern assault the eyes from every rack, and the options are endless. Out of everything, I found the aisle that captivated me the most was the men’s shirting rack. This rack was the most monotone rack in the store; it was mostly made up of various blues and whites. This became my main inspiration and color palette for my Goodwill design. For my pattern making, I wanted to juxtapose the cleanness of the men’s shirting color palette and design with the loudness of pattern mixing and color blocking. I was also inspired by modern streetwear silhouettes (as seen in my mood board), and wanted to find a way to make the dress shirt cool, casual, and slightly feminine.

I created a fun, whimsical silhouette that retained some elements of the dress shirt while simultaneously completely transforming it. I created a super wide leg pant to create drama and play with proportions, and included paneling throughout the look with different shades and patterns of blue and white. I created a feminine empire waist top that includes the original button placket from one of the dress shirts. I then created a cheeky “over top” (as I would call it), that is purely for aesthetic purposes. I maintained the original collar of one of the dress shirts and opened up the sleeves and added a striped detailing. Overall, I am very happy with how this garment turned out and the vision in my head really came to life.

Madeline Clements 10/20/20 Madeline Clements 10/20/20

Junior Capsule Collection: Inspiration

Sketches for the first 3 looks in my junior capsule collection.

For my junior capsule collection, I was challenged to design a collection for an underserved market in the fashion industry. For my underserved market, I decided to focus on the market for sustainable, ethical clothing at an affordable price point. Gen Z and Millennials are particularly passionate about sustainable clothing, but often times don’t have the economic means to meet the current price points offered by sustainable fashion brands. The fast fashion prices are much more appealing to these consumers, but their drive for social justice is leading more and more people to boycott fast fashion companies.

For my collection, I am creating garments with prices that would be competitive with fast fashion, but without the unethical production. My designs are made of upcycled, thrifted clothing; thus helping reduce clothing going to landfills. I want to give old clothing new life by transforming it into new designs and unique silhouettes, using clothing sourced from thrift stores, wholesale deadstock, and other places that would be sending clothing to landfills.

Mood board for my junior capsule collection

For my designs, I was inspired by fresh spring pastels and patch-working. In particular, I wanted to utilize serged edges as design details throughout the capsule collection. I am also using patch-working to create panels out of deconstructed, second-hand garments. With my designs, I really want to push myself to create garments that are very outside of the box, but still somewhat commercial. I am very passionate about up-cycling and I’m excited to incorporate it into my capsule collection.

Madeline Clements 10/13/20 Madeline Clements 10/13/20

Boycotting Fast Fashion as a Broke, College Student

In January of this year (2020), I finally fully made the commitment to no longer shopping at any fast fashion brands. As someone with an intense love of fashion who uses clothing to express myself, I have always relied on fast fashion brands like Forever 21, Zara, and Princess Polly to dress on trend and express my personal style (while staying on a college kids budget). After taking my freshman and sophomore year classes as a fashion design student, I simply no longer feel ethical contributing to the exploitation of workers and our environment that happens with fast fashion companies.

I could write an entire book on all the negative impacts of fast fashion, but instead I will just give you a brief overview with some shocking statistics. Because the trend cycle has sped up so much, people are going through clothes at a faster rate than ever before in history. Factories have made their costs so low that people are able to afford buying into trends and then moving on to other trends extremely quickly. Once they are tired of a trend, people are donating or trashing the clothing. So much clothing is going to waste; an entire garbage truck full is being burned or dumped in landfills per SECOND.

Source: https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/01/numbers-economic-social-and-environmental-impacts-fast-fashion

Not only is fast fashion detrimental to the environment, it is also putting workers in third world countries at risk. Garment workers, who are primarily women, are being severely underpaid and subjected to dangerous working conditions. These effects are absolutely not worth me having a $12 off the shoulder sweater for fall.

Ever since pledging to myself to boycott fast fashion, I have challenged myself to purchase less, and purchase things I know will last. I have also found amazing second-hand clothing from thrift stores, Depop, and Ebay. In my experience, my personal style has not suffered at all from this switch. If anything, I’ve had to get more creative with my outfits which has made them more original and creative. I will continue to educate others about fast fashion and encourage them to also make the switch.

Madeline Clements 10/5/20 Madeline Clements 10/5/20

The Reality of Going to Fashion Design School

For anyone who loves fashion, working with clothes, color stories, and fabrics on a daily basis may seem like an absolute dream. I’m here to tell you: it is! But what they don’t tell you is that a fashion design degree is not for the faint of heart.

I have a unique perspective on being a fashion design student because I am pursuing my degree as my second degree, after working in the fashion industry for 2 years. In 2016, I graduated with a B.A. in English from Rhodes College. I always knew I loved fashion and originally I planned on being a fashion journalist - but after an unsuccessful few months of job searching for fashion journalism, I ended landing an internship in fashion merchandising.

I worked my butt off for 6 months at my first internship. I stayed at the office from 8am to 7pm almost everyday, and did everything from drafting replenishment orders to moving racks and boxes (sometimes for an entire day). After I was hired, I worked for 1.5 years in merchandising and learned a ton about the fashion industry. However, my biggest takeaway was that I yearned to be in a different department: design. I would jealously watch the sourcing associate flip through books of fabric and the assistant designer curate mood boards for upcoming collections. I wanted to be a fashion designer.

I started at O’More School of Design at Belmont University in the fall of 2018. I honestly expected it to be a little bit of a breeze for me - I was 25 while other freshman were 18, and already had one degree under my belt. However, by second semester I realized that in order to succeed in this degree you must be willing to devote your life to fashion. Almost half of my years fashion design students didn’t make it past the first semester - it’s a program that really weeds out who really wants to be there. The 5 of us left are extremely bonded because of all the late nights (often weekend nights) spent in the studio, and we all value each other’s critiques and work.

I have put my blood, sweat, and tears into this degree (quite literally - I can’t count the number of times I’ve stabbed myself with sewing needles or broken down after sewing a seam wrong for the 5th time). Even so, I have never been excited to do schoolwork before this program. Everything I do feels so relevant to my career (especially because I have seen designers in action), and I respect my professors opinions and advice immensely. Even though I will be entering one of the worst job markets for my field, I know that I have the drive and passion to stand out and work as a designer.

Madeline Clements 9/22/20 Madeline Clements 9/22/20

The Politics of Fashion

Last semester, I was given the assignment to create a cocktail dress that was inspired by the upcoming election. This assignment came about because Belmont University, my college, is set to host the 2020 presidential debates (a very exciting feat for my university).

As someone who doesn’t find politics too inspiring, I was a little lost on where to begin designing a cocktail dress that represented such an abstract concept. As I dug a little deeper, I decided to design with hope for a more united future, and I wanted to represent that. I created a dress with an asymmetrical hem, representing the diversity in America. I used color-blocking throughout the piece to show that even though we are all fundamentally different and have different life experiences, we all work together to create a cohesive country. I created just one sleeve to further show that we are united in our differences, and those differences can be beautiful and are to be celebrated.

I think that fashion can be an important tool to convey political messages both overtly and covertly (the political message is definitely more covertly conveyed via Christian Siriano’s Spring 2021 Resort Collection). Siriano used his most recent collection to encourage US citizens to use their voice and go vote in the upcoming election. Going forward, I ask myself; how can I use fashion to spread awareness? How can I use fashion as a form of activism? How can I help represent those who are underrepresented in society?