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ONLINE EXHIBIT THAT CHRONICLES JAPANESE STREETWEAR - showing how gaming has affected the way people dress - ‘Cosplay 2012 The shinjinrui junior generation (younger new breed generation) born in the 1990s brings a cosplay approach to fashion, and takes over the leading role in street style. With cosplay style becoming common, people are changing their hairstyles and makeup, as well as their fashion, on a daily basis.’ https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/tokyo-street-fashion-and-culture-%C2%A01980-2017/ogKCPmGdPtB7Iw?hl=en (NO AUTHOR NAME GIVEN)

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Which elements of armour do I hope to inspire my design?

- Armoured Surcoats and Pauldrons - aka layered lames. 

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One particularly interesting aspects I learnt here about armour - firstly, armour’s dead end AKA Armoured surcoats which had the armour attached to the fancywork on the top, which made it unhelpfully easy to stain and therefore render its wearer unrecognisable from his army, making him vulnerable. I am interested in the idea of creating a hardened structure which is then overplayed with fabric, which draws similarities from armoured surcoats. 

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There is a wide and interesting variety of armour varying from country to country and from function to function. Although some structural similarities can be noted, there is a wide range of material use, such as steel, gold, copper alloy, leather, sometimes velvet and iron. They can be used for battle as well as jousting, and are passed down through many generations of soldiers. There are varieties of mail - riveted mail and butted mail, which are small hoops of mail woven together, the only form of weaving in metal armour. It is interesting to see the way the mail moves in comparison to armour. 

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Armour is a symbolic garment of courage and confidence, and I would like to use it as a part of my final design in some way. Having spoken to Mark, he told me to look into which elements exactly I wanted to reference from - the welding of the garment aka the way it was made? The etching? The structure? The materiality? I looked at the Wallace collection to gain greater insight into which particular elements of armour that interested me. Firstly I found that the physical weight of the garment was a very interesting part of it, for example, the partial armour adorned with the red velvet around the waist weighs approximately 11kg. I can imagine this would have an interesting effect on the body. The crinet above it, made for a horse, is also particularly interesting to me because it has been fashioned similarly to a pauldron, aka the shoulder part of armour, which consists usually of multiple layers. This structural part of the armour is particularly interesting and I think would resonate the idea of armour well as an inspiration in my design. 

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3d pen sample 

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Creating 3D Pen sample

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Drawings made from testing

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Interesting comment made in the second life forums about harassment online - how even as an avatar, one can be discriminated. this ties back to the idea of online gaming and anonymity surrounding that. clearly, discrimination occurs regardless of knowing someones real identity in these types of real world games. It has been hard for me to get responses on second life forums as I am not an established player - the more popular forums get answered its not like a direct messaging system from what I can see. However there is loads of really useful information about how gamers are feeling about the game and the experience. even just the fact of how elaborate the forums are, the gaming jargon that connects all of these individuals would suggest the importance of the game to the users. 

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Playing second life, trying to get a personal understanding of why people are so interested in this game. Aesthetically the game is interesting and I doubt ive discovered much of it at all! It has a juxtaposing aesthetic, some of it fantastical some of it more realistic. This video is in the learning part of second life where you learn all the controls. The background sounds is utopian, birds chirping, it is peaceful. So far I haven't been able to chat in the game, however, the place for talking are the forums, that hold loads of really interesting information about the game and its gamers. Within the game, I can choose my avatar,  to be a ‘normal’ person, fantastical, or vampire.  I can customise to some extent what  I wear, and send chats. Outside of the game ive found that there is a whole universe surrounding the game. Shops for every piece of clothing imaginable, be it vintage or costume, it is like real online shopping. It is trying to emulate real life, but also make it a more pleasant and carefree place. I can understand how people indulge in this game, however I can also see that it certainly has its flaws. 

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Shape testing in progress 

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Interesting way of using offcuts - I think this is a successful blend of pachinko with armour. This was accidental but I I like the more subtle way this could be used to reference the pachinko research.  

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Unsuccessful draping  - trying to form shapes - But will create some drawings from here 

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Testing suiting - how can my design give a nod to the inspiration/ research taken from the lives of business men in Tokyo who frequent arcades to game? Layering with thick materials also connotes armour draping ideas. - need to draw this layering idea more 

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Exploring the concept of armour - ‘the power of armour’ - how does it convey protection, confidence and power to the wearer? AND, armour is frequented often in the gaming world, especially fantastical war games, which are hugely prominent in the gaming world, like fortnite. Does a gamer idolise their alter ego (the character they play in the game) and does this armour symbolise the strength and confidence they feel whilst playing as this character? How does the armour create this image ? I would like to take aspects of armour to add to my design because I feel it holds a key tie with the aesthetic from gaming AND the feeling of power and confidence. Armour fuses these two ideas together.

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Exploring alternative ways to use pachinko pinball machines as inspiration in design - aka function rather than the adornment

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PART 2