How to wear a suit everyday

Paige Mitchell

Summary
Final work

I am a designer and maker focused on craft processes and sustainable practices. The work I make is sentimental and often representative of the connection I have with those I make for, when it comes to making clothes, I seek to produce things that will be worn over and over, broken and then mended this way, what I make is ever evolving and will continue to grow and change throughout its life cycle. I try to make with sustainability in mind, often limiting waste by using scrap fabrics and using deadstock and sustainability-made fabric when I need larger lengths. I enjoy implementing craft processes like natural dying and block printing into my work as I think it can add a unique and personal touch, as the textiles I am using become 1/1 as the colours and prints come out slightly differently every time.

I am a designer and maker focused on craft processes and sustainable practices. The work I make i...

My project, aptly named ‘How to wear a suit every day’ follows my inquiry into how I can design and make suits that can be worn for daily activity and not just for one single event or purpose. An early inspiration of mine is Sylvia Plath’s childrens book ‘The It-Doesnt-Matter Suit’ which follows the story of the Nix family when they receive a suit in the post and don’t know who it was meant for so goes down the family to determine who it was truly suited to, culminating in the message that if you truly love apiece of clothing you will do any activity in it. I sought to take this philosophy and apply it to creating outfits for my 3 clients Gavin ( My dad) Jenny ( my mum) and Hayden ( my brother). I chose my family specifically as I’m already aware of how they dress on a daily basis, and with the primary research I undertook during this project ( object analysis and wardrobe analysis ) I was able to design suits representative of the things they loved, integrated into their pre-existing wardrobe and were comfortable and practical for daily wear. All outfits feature a hand block printed lining made by me that features images drawn from the objects they gave me to analyse, they also have the initial of each client embroidered on the facing. These are both features that highlight the hyper-bespoke nature of these garments.