I called this piece ''Moving House.s this REALTY or is it just a dream?'' but the judges asked me to change it once it was accepted to be in the show.I took ages to think of a new name, as I felt the name was perfectly matched to the concept..and the fact it literally was a moving house!
The new name I decided on was ''Kiwi Quarter Acre- Is this REALTY or is it just a dream?''
This was a week before it was completed..giving you the basic idea....the pristene dream house ! All knitted and latch hooked.
This was the back view depicting the reality of realty trends in New Zealand..all the barriers in the way to reaching your dream house...excuse the model who was DEAD tired and far too short and skinny for this! The stairs are hiding under the skirt top. NOTE. the door was left open to show judges the entry point.It was closed with concealed knitted cords and rocks etc.
This is a terrible shot..but it gives a rough Idea of what it would look like on a model .The dress is for a size 12 figure, not a size 8 girl..hence the porch disappearing under the skirt top, even on tip toes!!
The front depicts the dream house we all grew up hoping for. The elusive kiwi quarter acre...perfect!
I started this concept after writing a brief inspiration/concept and drawing up a rough image, not far from what you see now..
(Don't laugh at my BAD drawing skills..I have never been taught to draw or shade..I get my ideas across to myself, so thats all that matters when creating with other materials.
I actually started the whole design from the backyard. I kept coming back to the thought , that no body seems to know each other anymore..it is rare to have your neighbours over for a bbq..I kept recalling my childhood years , so carefree and blissfully unaware of the difficulties to come when I dreamed of owning my own piece of NZ .. like my parents had...
This was the basic feeling, what drove my design in the early stages 3 years ago...
Moving House.
(Is this REALTY or is it a dream)
Inspiration.
style of dress was used to mirror my concept -difficulty moving around and not being able to control where you go or what you do.These dresses restricted where you could fit in So they mirror each other well, showing the restrictive cumbersome thing we carry around like it or not.
Moving house constantly creates new communites who find it harder to plant their roots down .Families are unravelling because of this.
NZ families are accepting this new way of life that is transient.Moving house all the time.
Transient ways of today mean our children are constantly moving house, missing out on a settled childhood . They seem to have lost their sense of belonging...because we uproot and replant then somewhere else all the time.Who really knows their neighbours anymore..do our families grow up together and look out for each other..are we doomed to this being a past trend?
Is it unravelling of the family unit/community./.
Are we paving a path for them..are we affecting our future generations??
When we move house we need to look past the lovely gardens and pretty facade.
Every family dreams of owning their own piece of land..their perfect house and picket fence.It is the ultimate kiwi dream.
Some are lucky enough to achieve this goal, while others have to dream.
You can rent a house, but you never feel like its your home.You can never settle down and truely make it your own.forced to move around when rents go up, landlords decide to have their house back etc..
Heartbreak watching your kids grow up moving from house to house,never being settled as you can never be sure how long you will be in any one place.Constantly being uprooted and unable to plant themselves anywhere long enough to establish their roots in the community...
Behind the facade is the real picture..unravelling families who can’t make this dream a reality.
Instead we are forced to watch other people do-up houses to make a quick dollar.Watch people who are always searching for the perfect house... All we want to do is have the opportunity to stay in one place and finally plant our roots down.
3 YEARS LATER.....this is what judges read.
CONCEPT
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The style of the dress was a crucial part of the design process for me.I needed a dress style that was going to show difficulty in movement.. These dresses restricted where you could fit. With renting there is a lack of control where you go and with what you can do.
I created my home...my moving house to express the transient society that has seemingly come to NZ. So much life spent moving from place to place, door to door. Neighbors who you wave to, but not really know...because you’re temporary, soon on to the next place. Maybe its a new job, or income...but its all the same. A moving house. a house you can’t embrace as this dress embraces the model, because its not yours...your soon to be gone.
The front of the dress shows the kiwi dream.One of home ownership..the perfect little house,quarter acre section with picket fence.,beautifully paved with a rose garden to die for! I grew up believing I would one day buy my own house, follow in the traditon of my grandparents and mother..owning my own slice of New Zealand.The path always looked so smooth, so easy to walk down.
(my favourite style of house..the victorian 2 story.I based this design on a house in Nelson, I dearly wanted to buy,but could not afford)This was a few weeks before i handed it over.
The back of the dress shows the reality of realty today!The house appears far less accessible.No windows to see into this house.A door too high to reach..the path to this house blocked by many obstacles.The path is a rocky one to achieve this dream, if at all.
I can plant a garden at my rental home, and watch roots take hold...but those are not my roots. They are not my tangible roots to a community. i watch moving vans and people come and go and know I’m not the only one. It’s everywhere...people moving here and there, never knowing the town they missed, the community they could foster and thrive in. To have common purpose, not moving house...or moving heart.
(these tree was unplanted with roots exposed,subtle, but I knew it was there!)..note this tree is not finished in this photo, it had tonnes of leaves at end)
My dream, our dream really, to have stability and to plant my tangible roots that hold us close and stable in a community. Transient living today means our children are constantly moving house, missing out on a settled childhood. They seem to have lost their sense of belonging, because we uproot and replant them somewhere else all the time. Who really knows their neighbors anymore? Do our families grow up together and look out for each other? Are we doomed to this being a realty trend? It is the unraveling of family, of community.
Every family dreams of owning their piece of land, their perfect house and picket fence. It is the ultimate Kiwi dream. Some are lucky enough to achieve this goal, while others have to dream. You can rent a house, but you never feel like its your home, and you can never settle fully and truly make it yours. Forced to move around when the economy dictates that rent goes up or landlords need to sell, or move back into the house you’re renting.
It is heartbreaking to watch your kids grow up with moving house to house, no foundation of home and community. Friends they have known since childhood and streets they know like the backs of their hands. We are constantly moving, uprooting and unable to plant ourselves anywhere long enough to establish roots and foundations in the community.
Behind the façade is the real picture, unraveling us, our families who can’t make this dream a reality. Instead, we are forced to watch contractors come in to refurbish a home for a quick dollar. Watch people who are always searching for the perfect house. All we want to do is have the opportunity to stay in one place and finnaly plant our roots down. Leave behind our moving house, leave behind the transient lifestyle and afford a home, embrace a community and wear that feeling with pride!
CONSTRUCTION
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The dress is constructed much like a house would be.I built it from a foundation. I placed my dream house into this with recycled parts, like my recycled dream of owning a home, each time renewed with a new rental house...that feeling of i want my own! My own home, so i recycle my dream as i create this moving house.Being a knitwear designer,I really wanted to stretch my skills and have a challenge.Notrhing on this dress was from a pattern,I had to create everything,much like a builder has to with a real house.
The skirt was made by splicing knitwear with latch hooked grass panels.I then set out to plant a garden with knitted flowers and plants. All were handknitted as I believed strongly in the need to stick to the comfort and warmth of wool and the closeknit part being represented. The Latch hooking is something from my childhood that I wanted to incorporate. It is something you want to reach out and touch.Much like the dream house.
I created the grass using balls of NZ wool and wrapping them around a wooden stick to achive a simialar lenght.They were then cut to form approx 50 at a time.In total I used 65 balls of wool,totalling approx 57.000 latches in all.
The knitted parts were all knitted on very fine needles,5 sizes less than usual.I did this to show strength.
The roof and porches were close cell foam as i felt it would still be light enough to manipulate and wear with ease.
They were reinforced with coat hangers!
The pickets and weather boards used 23 balls of wool and were also knitted on fine needles by hand. I used recycled upholstery foam from a friends business..awesome using trim foam BUT boy were they dusty!!
The stained glass door was made using a crotcheted panel and tiny bits of knitwear sewn into the back.
The boulders were recycled foam from out of cars that were being relined etc.I ripped them into chunky pieces and sewed knitwear around them..
This was 3 days before it was due..I had NO sleep at all over the last week..walking Zombie!
The skirt is made from 2 recycled laundry hampers..garden hose on the ends to produce the rounded edges I hoped to achieve.I felt this was best as knitwear is never squared off.It always as a spongy soft look to it.
The frames and connectors were glued together ,before close cell foam was used to cover the frame. Once this was achieved I sewed on the shade cloth and latched onto it.
This garment was started 3 years ago.I have spent up to 20 hours a day doing this,esp for the knitting and the latching.in fact the weeks leading up to handing it in were up to 23 hours over the last month..many no sleep nights!
If i had to add up all the hours it would be equal to...working a fulltime job over a full year! Hope you enjoy!
Sadly. costume was not selected for any prizes in the end..But it did get seen by approx 30,000 people ! Plus I got to see it for a few seconds on the news,which claimed the ones they showed in the background were some of the best...so I was chuffed at that !
If you are not selected for a prize, you MUSt remind yourself of the huge achievement getting it accepted in the first place. Designers come from all over the world now, the calibre is very high, So all is not lost.
Now I have to wait to hear if WOW want to keep my costume for the wearable art museum or not...I'll post when I find out!
In case you are wondering...I have 4 ideas for next year!
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