Wearable art, also known as Artwear or "art to wear", refers to individually designed pieces of (usually) hand-made clothing or jewellery created as fine or expressive art. While the making of any article of clothing or other wearable object typically involves aesthetic considerations, the term wearable art implies that the work is intended to be accepted as a serious and unique artistic creation or statement.

Wearable Art

World of Wearable Art Winner 2010Open Section

Loops, Yogesh Chaudhary & Manas Barve, India

Wearable Art

the body materials

signs & symbols

function

Wearable Art

the bodyWearable art is for the body

think about where it will be on the body

What is the function of that part of the body.

Are you trying to decorate the body

Are you trying to conceal the body

Are you trying to accentuate the body

Are you trying to protect the body

Are you interested in body image

How does the media portray the body

Matthew Barney, CREMASTER 3 Waltraud Reiner and Simon Lloyd, Cap, 2004, wool felt

Wearable Art

functionWhat is the purpose of your garment

Is it purely decorative

You may choose to challenge the concept of function.

For example; making a garment out of paper.

A garment has a certain function and paper has a certain function

What are they

Do they relate to each other

think about how different materials have different functions

Lycra is elastic

Denim is durable

Would it be functional to make a swimsuit out of denim

Mariko Mori

Wearable Art

signs & symbols

Signs and Symbols are everywhere

They can be as subtle as colour

or as overt as a peace sign

Some signs and symbols are universal

Some are personal

You may choose to develop your own symbols

Or explore the signs and symbols of other cultures

Every element of your work has a meaning

So think carefully about your choicesFiona Foley, No Shades of W

hite, 2005

Wearable Art

materialsThink about the materials you use

What other materials could you use

Think about materials that are not normally used for garments

Like a skirt made out of bubble wrap

Or a top made out of bottle caps linked together

Jewelry made from barbed wire

Think about the symbolism of different materials

Fur is luxurious, Silk is exotic, Nylon is tacky

Think about combining unusual textures

Like fur and metal, wood and lace

The Montana* World of WearableArt™ (WOW®)Awards Show is an extravaganza that twistsconventional perceptions of both art andfashion and weaves them into a two-hourperformance that has been described as, “Mardi Gras meets Haute Couture at a Peter Gabriel concert directed by Salvador Dali”.Breathtaking works of art are designed for themoving body, then individually choreographedinto an extraordinary theatrical show entwined with every facet of performance: music, dance, lighting, drama and comedy. WOW® is completely unique every year and New Zealand is proud to hold this world-class event, now in its third decade, on local soil.

http://www.fashionfantasia.com.au/

Art on LegsAustralia's Fashion Fantasia

Commercially organised wearable fashion show in Australia

(watch the 2008 show)

"Dream On"Designed and Created by Nicole PeaseModeled by the artist

In Alaska, a fairy godmother would have to use duct tape and a blue tarp to make this evening gown for Cinderella, complete with her pumpkin carriage!

All of us long for our Prince or Princess Charming, so bring it on!

The Third AnnualVAA Wearable Art and Runway Fashion Show"Bring It On!" - February 21, 2009

http://www.valleyartsalliance.com/archives_wa2009.html

Conceived by fashion designer and creative director Gary Harvey, this collection set out to prove that recycled clothing can be beautiful, innovative, and enchanting.

Made from 21 laundry bags

http://fabgreen.com/2009/09/06/fashion-remarkable-recycled-dresses/

A billowy, crinkly confection of a skirt is made from 30 paper issues of the Financial Times. Perfectly newsworthy and recyclable.

This exquisitely structured dress has been made entirely out of recycled old phonebooks, creating something unique and appealing out of an obsolete old item.

The Green Wave Is held in Brighton The educational yet fun eco event helps raise awareness across a broad spectrum of green issues.

Phillip Toledano

“Hope & Fear” is the external manifestation of internal desires and paranoia that are adrift in contemporary American society. What are we afraid of? What do we love? How does our society function, and what does it worship?*All costumes are real2004

http://www.mrtoledano.com

Burca

Laurel leaves, rosehips and assorted leaves and thorns make for a jaunty waistcoat. (Photo courtesy of Nicole Dextras)

http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2009/07/17/forget-floral-prints-these-clothes-are-made-of-flowers/

http://www.friendskorner.com/forum/f31/shoes-made-plantsa-135500/

Jamie Uretsky's Interactive Fat Suit

http://www.meganandmurray.com/2005/05/index.html

http://www.wearableartb

log.com/.a

/6a00e54fd5676f88340115700e5331970c-320wi

Caleb Calabro,

Paper Shoeshttp://atypical-shoes.tumblr.com/page/3

Bloody Wreck

Celeste Marie Jackson

The killing of animals for their fur is disgusting and inhuman. The fact that every fur collar or coat, an animal has suffered is just sickening. It is not only that they have died; it is also the methods of which they were killed, by breaking the neck, lethal injection or electrocution. This is a disgrace to the human race and should not be practiced.

This piece of wearable art was designed and made as a statement about this issue, aiming to bring to light the sadness of animal slaughter. The dress was made using un-stuffed teddy bears to represent fur, and red material to represent blood pooling at the feet and leaving a trail as you walk.

Tips:1. Pick something you feel

strongly about

2. Know that you can do it even if it will be hard (Everyone thought I wouldn’t be able to)

3. Have fun with it, be creative, IT IS ART!!

4. Be yourself; pick something that really depicts how you feel.

5. Stick to it ( This piece took FOREVER)

6. Use all the time you can

Amelia Hulme and Jasmine Markso WORLDS APART

My piece is a representation of learning and the use of raw

materials in the earlier years (say the 16th century.) Made of old burnt book pages, it signifies the fragility of the old ways of learning. And my partner Jasmine’s dress is to signify how we have become sturdier and

improved, depending more on electricity and up-and-coming

technologies. These two dresses are set in contrast but their similar forms represent the ever present

thirst for knowledge and the continuous forward movement in technology and learning that is

synonymous among the entirety of the human existence.

Both our pieces• Jasmine’s piece was modelled in these photos by Hannah

Royster, and I modelled my own dress.

Problems I had with my art• My choice of dress probably wasn’t the best. All I can say is that if you’re

using an existing piece of clothing, make sure your method of application will work with the fabric you’re getting!

• I sowed my pages on, and didn’t realise until I’d started that I would have trouble accessing underneath the outer skirt. I ended up having to cut up the sides of the outer skirt and re-sow them afterwards.

• The bodice of the dress turned out differently to how I’d imagined it. I didn’t think of the lack of elasticity in the book pages, and they didn’t sit well how I’d first planned, so I had to change it.

• I also didn’t consider the fact that it wouldn’t take much strain before the thread ripped through the pages, and some fell off as I wore it for my photos. Thankfully it wasn’t too drastic and I got a fair few decent pictures before I lost too many pages.

• There was a lot more time involved with making the dress than I’d first thought. Due to my lack of planning, I was working on it up until the day before it was due