Initial Meeting with Zhane Quashie (Dressmaker)

Today I contacted a Fashion Design student, Zhane, within the university to ask for any advice on where to source materials or ready-made clothes for my dancer's styling; however after talking about my possible options she offered to make it herself! This gave me much more freedom when designing the dress as I wouldn't then have to shop for something similar, which she said would be way out of my price range.

When we met up to discuss the details of the collaboration she said she needed me to provide a basic dress silhouette for her to add the ruffles to. We decided it would be best to only use one dancer in the expressive dance scene because then Zhane would only have to make one dress in the short time frame and the film maker, Harrison, can focus on just one dancer which would simplify things and save time. I chose Louise Adamson as I think she is stronger technically and is currently studying dance at Bird College of Dance meaning she will be more confident in front of the camera as she already has experience in this.

Together we picked our favourite design, shown below, because we thought it was the most elegant and high fashion and would allow Louise to move freely.

Chosen Sketch

I had looked at many leotard and skirt options for Zhane to work on so she just needed to add the extra detail; however it became clear that choosing the most appropriate material for the skirt would be vital in making sure the ruffles added on top did not weight the skirt down too much or restrict the model's movement. She said she needed to talk it through with her lecturer first before she could advise me on what materials to buy. I told her I am planning to shoot the dancer's scene on Saturday 4th March so I will definitely need it done by then, but I asked her to aim for Wednesday 1st March to make any final adjustments needed.

I am concerned Zhane has taken on too much work and therefore won't finish in time; however she reassured me that she would make time to finish it in her time management plan. I have only seen a few pieces of her previous work so I am also concerned I won't be happy with the outcome. I will therefore work very closely with her through the whole process, but also have a back up dress if there are any problems.