I have encountered problems with my project timings.  My own undergrad teaching commitments have overtaken my time and I have fallen behind schedule with this project.  Just as I wrap up teaching and assessment at work with a view to fully committing my time to the MA, I suffer with a back injury and am signed off for three weeks with a suspected slipped disk in my lower back!

I apply for an extension on the deadline and am awarded 10 days extra time.  My revised summative submission deadline is 4^th September.  I revisit the Gannt Chart to propose alternative timings and am relived to feel that I can in fact still achieve my project aims in the reduced time (see appendix one). 

However, I am forced to reduce my proposed output from two outfits to one.  I feel a sense of sadness that I cannot ‘deliver’ outcomes that respond to the rich qualitative data captured in both interviews or fully realise the ideas I have developed in the garment analysis that features in my sketchbook. However, I do believe that generating one outfit that is adaptive and ‘fits for a lifetime’ will be challenging in itself.  By reducing the quantity of garments I am able to fully exhaust my technical pattern cutting skills and delve deeper into the solution for one outfit rather than producing more items that only scrape the surface of adaptive fashion for ageing bodies. I make the decision to pursue development and production of Barbara’s grey wool dress and overcoat.  The nature of the fabrics (100% wool) and 60’s style A-Line silhouette lends itself to a more structured, tailored shapes that I had explored in earlier research (in the module TMA1431).    

Despite feeling satisfied with the decision to pursue Barbara’s outfit, I want to maintain good working relations with both participants.  Despite not producing a final output from Margarets Jacques Vert outfit, the insight gained from analysing the garments, capturing her voice and scrutinising the ways her body has aged over time has been hugely influential and I am grateful for her input.  I make the decision to write Margaret a note card and include photographs of my sketchbook to keep lines of communication open (see appendix 2).

Next Steps;

Work on toiles for Barbara (dress and jacket)

Contact Hainsworths for grey cloth solutions (sponsorship?)

Arrange toile fitting with Barbara and get her opinion on colour for linings