Launching Austentatious

As Austentatious will be sold at Harvey Nichols it will be launched in the OXO tower which is owned by them. The launch party will be champagne and canapés. There will be an exclusive guest list of celebrities and top bloggers. Emails will also be sent to the people whom bought tickets for Ladies Day at Ascot, inviting them to the event.

 

 

 

 

There will be a goody bag in an Austentatious shopping bag which will have a scarf from the range which has the logo printed on the bottom. So when they are worn their friends will see clearly where it's from and that's 'free' advertising. There will also be a little book about the brand and a sample of the brands signature scent.

 

Magazine Advertising

I will be advertising in the magazines they are most likely to read which are; Vogue and Harpers bazaar. They also like to read gossip magazines such as Ok and Hello but Austentatious fits better inside a fashion magazine.

There will a band around the outside of the magazine so that nobody can miss the advert as well as a glossy double spread advert in the middle of the magazine. This is the page that most people flip to and with the paper being a different texture it will stand out from the other adverts/articles. Keria Knightley will be the model in the outfits as she is endorsing the range.

We're now on Twitter: @austentatiousDS

I have created a twitter account called @austentatiousDS.  Most of my target market have smart phones and they are constantly on social networking sites telling the world about new things they’ve bought or how their day is going, so I thought this brand has to have an account where it would be able to share news about the brand and let people see new designs before they go on sale. This is also a really easy way to connect to the target market and to talk to them.

 

For the twitter page I have used the blog header as the background and profile picture to create an authentic and uniformed look.

 

I have also put the follow twitter button on the side of this blog and this blog url on the twitter page so people are able to see all of the ways they can keep up to date with the collection.

Austentatious is flying First Class

 

 

 

 

The target market is often going on holiday to places such as New York, Sydney and Paris and they travel in style. Austentatious will be advertised in the first class lounge at the airports by having refreshments with their logo on the wrapper and having inserts in the magazines. The computers that are available to use in the lounge will have their homepage set to the Austentatious website so that everybody who uses the computer will see the website and it will stick in their mind. For this to happen there needs to either be striking imagery or something which is controversial, such as a pun which will make them look twice and think about the double meaning.

Once on the plane the screens in the first class will also have adverts for the brand which feature Keria Knightley. This advert will feature her stepping off a flight wearing clothes from the brand so the viewers can relate to her.

 

 

 

Celebrity Endorsement

 

As well as making sure my collection fits my target market I also have to make sure my marketing does too. To make sure that people can relate to the collection I've chosen Keira Knightley to endorse the range.  

Keria Knightley has a good reputation and has worked with other designers before such as Versace and her biggest endorsement being Chanel.'She embodies the classic and chic Chanel aesthetic' which I think is portrayed throughout the Austentatious range. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marketing Austentatious

 

Although advertising is important and I need to make sure that there is hype around the arrival of the brand. I also have to make sure that it's not 'over advertised' and therefore losing its exclusivity. I will do this by having targeted marketing.

 

 

I've looked into my target market who is women aged 25-35, who are married to businessmen. They are ladies of leisure who lead a luxurious lifestyle of going to the theatre, dinner parties, cocktail bars and exclusive events. Their spare time is spent treating their two children, shopping and going to the gym. They like to read Vogue, Harpers bazaar and of course Jane Austen.

 

 

I've researched where these ladies spend their time and one of the main events is Ladies day at Ascot. Austentatious will be sponsoring the event and therefore the brand will be on everybody’s tickets and programmes. As well as featured around the event. Keria Knightley, as the celebrity endorsing the range, will be there wearing the brand.

Outfit #2 Finished

 

I've now finished my second outfit I began the top exactly the same as the toile, the tucks worked really well and I managed to make them without drawing the lines on the fabric. I originally was going to bias bind the armholes and neckline but I thought it would look extremely messy inside from all the tucks. So I lined the top, I flat stitched all of the seams and this has made a really neat finish on the garment. I am really pleased with the lining and it does make it look smarter, neater and the garment is now practical as it’s a good quality to be worn.  I also was initially going to sew an invisible zip on the back of the top but when it came to this stage I decided to change the zip to an open ended zip, as the top is fitted along the sides, and this just makes it roomier and easier to get into. I am so proud of my zip on this top. I took a lot of care with sewing it on and it has a really professional finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The top took me such a long to do that I didn't leave that much time for the trousers. I have simplified the design of the trousers again since the toile by eliminating the hanging material from the front. I do actually think with the design of the top being quite elaborate and detailed the bottom half of the outfit needed to be simple. Although, if I had had more time, I would have improved the finishing of the trousers.

I made the trousers the same as the toile. I found it quite hard to press the seams open as the material was beginning to pucker. I embroidered the waistband, to match the yolk on the dress. I really like this section of the trousers although as I had to make the waistband bigger because the embroidery scrunches up the material it was hard to sew the waistband to the trousers. On the outside of the trousers I think the waistband looks smart but from the inside it could be neater. 

 

 

 

Overall with this outfit I think it stays true to my theme and the material of the top works really well. I think I should have used a heavier weight material for the trousers as I think that would have helped with holding it in place and stopping it from puckering.  I am really pleased with the top and don’t think I could have done anything else to improve the standard of it. I am particularly pleased with the application of the zip.  However I am disappointed with myself with the trousers, because I know if I had more time I could have delivered them at a much higher standard, and I actually think the waistband I applied on the toile is better. To have made the waistband neater for the final trousers I need to think how I could manipulate the ‘extra’ material into the trousers. In hind sight I think I should have interlined the whole of the waistband to make it more structured.

 

Outfit #1 nearly finished

 

Carrying on from the first 'nearly finished' post;

After I pinned it to the bodice I made sure that the front of the overskirt both began under the darts on either side of the bodice to make sure they were even.

 

I then only sewed to the back; this meant that the backs of the skirts were still open. I then inserted my invisible zip, although Figen said I have inserted it really well I should have tried to use a dark green zip, instead of the cream one that I did use. I did try to buy a dark zip but there weren't any in any of the shops I looked in. Before inserting the zip I also shortened it and covered the end to reinforce the new end I made.

 

Next I had to sew the overskirt and underskirt separately, this was really difficult as I had to make sure that I didn't catch any of the other material when sewing. I also had to make sure that there wasn't a bulk where the end of the zip was.

 

Finally I still need to hem the underskirt, unpick and re-hem the overskirt and I need to find a way of attaching the rest of the lining to create a neat finishing on the inside of the dress.

 

 

 

 

Outfit #1 nearly finished

I've now nearly finished my first outfit, as I have decided against the sleeves since buying my material, *I realised that the whole design will look more elegant and less theatrical without them*, I had to create the top in a different way to the toile.

 

I made the top twice from the same material, although I only embroidered the yolk of the bodice that will be seen once it's constructed. I then lined the top, I began by doing it the same way as before but I had to sew the arms together as there are no sleeves. It's quite hard to visualize how you will pull the lining through at the end and it will become a top facing the right way. But when I had done one side I felt confident about doing the other and it worked out really well. I spent ages pressing all the seams in the top but I definitely need to improve with my pressing skills.

 

Next I hemmed the overskirt; I decided to use black thread as it blended well with the dark green material, although I will be changing this to green. I then sewed the side seams together. I joined the side seams of the underskirt together with a French seam. I am not overly pleased with the two French seams I sewed as I know I can do them a lot better, and I showed this with the final one I did joining the back. I found it hard to control the fabric as it was heavy and kept slipping off the table.

 

I then gathered the under skirt and over skirt together so that I would be working with them as if they were one skirt. For the over skirt I also made three pleats on either side of the front of the skirt. And then pinned it to the bodice, but not to the lining.

How my garment is getting along

I have now sewn the bodice of the dress. I decided to line it to make sure the edges were really neat. The lining was quite tricky to do as you have to make sure you don't catch the material when sewing and that you turn it out correctly so that the bodice and lining become one.

I really like how the embroidered yolk looks, now that's attached and I've decided to also embroider the waistband for the trousers too. Before sewing the lining to the bodice I decided that I no longer wanted the sleeves as I think with the material I've chosen it looks more elegant without them.

Outfit #1 - Embroidery

This week I also embroidered the yolk for the bodice on the dress. I did this on the sewing machine, by changing the foot to a free embroidery foot and setting the stitch and width to 0 so that I could move the material around to draw the shape I wanted.

 

 

I used a metallic gold thread and sewed small connecting circles.

I really like how this has turned out and I am looking forward to sewing it to the bodice to see it with the material.

Material

 

Today I bought the material for my collection. I've decided to use the same material for both outfits to make it look more like a collection. When I went fabric shopping I went to Guyhawk road, Berwick Street, a couple of markets near where I live and finally John Lewis in Oxford Street. I was surprised that I didn't find Asian fabrics in Guyhawk road but I actually ended up buying the Indian inspired fabric from John Lewis.

When I began this project I thought I would have ended up with floral prints as that fits the Regency theme, but I think going down the Indian route for the material and colour theme and the Regency route for the silhouette Is definitely more effective.

 

The traditional colours used in Indian clothes are very dramatic as they use deep royal colours, whilst Regency gowns are made from earthy tones and pastel colours. So my main colour is a bottle green, with a deep purple and finally gold.

 

This green is going to be for the bodice and over skirt. I think the pattern is really great for my theme. For this material the weight was crucial as I am going to be lining it for the bodice.

In my second outfit I will be using this for the trousers, and again I didn't want it to be too heavy weight.

For both of the outfits I needed this material to be able to hold darts really well.

 

 

I found this cream material with a gold shimmer from a charity shop. I will be using it for the yolk of the dress and will be embroidering it before I sew it. I will be interlining it to make it stronger.

For my second outfit I am making the top from this material, I need quite a light material as I am sewing lots of tucks onto the top and I need to make sure they all hold well. I am also going to be using this for the waistline for the trousers and embroidering it to match the yolk on the dress.

Finally I bought purple georgette for the under skirt. I think this tone compliments the green and I hope it will work well with the other materials. I am not overly confident about using chiffon as I find it hard to work with. I will be sewing French seams to join the sides of the skirts together and this is a technique I could definitely improve with.

I originally was also going to have sleeves on the dress but I think it looks more elegant without them.

On the second outfit this will be used as the extra material which is draped from the trousers.