DESIGNING AND CONSTRUCTION OF GARMENTS

TAKING INSPIRATION FROM LEAVES

Dr. Sarvani Vaddi* and Mrs. Saroj I. Patel**

ABSTRACT:

On the verge of adopting modern silhouette, an attempt is made to create 12 new

garments, suitable for women’s wear constructed, taking inspiration from leaves which
were found 100% creative, original and innovative. It was found that they give new look
and expression to the fashion conscious youth. Among those, the garments imbibed with
“Chrysanthemum, Papaya and Pothos leaves” were graded 100% appealing with aesthetic
sense which has got applause from the designers who formed the panel of judges and
visitors in the fashion show.

INTRODUCTION:

Fashion is a bridge over which new ideas travel from the designer’s studio to the
mass (1). Fashion represents an art form rising out of a period and environment and as such
is no less valid than other artistic creations (4). Fashions when handled in a professional
manner are the representations of latent talented inspirations expressed by the designers (8).
Many times it was found that this divine influence is from Mother Nature (7). The Tree of
life, flowers, fruits, twines, tendrils and leaves formed sources of inspiration for various
arts and also for the vast collection of traditional textiles of India (2), in printing and
weaving on jacquards with the colourful designs.

*Assistant Professor-Design, Department of Fashion and Apparel,

National Institute of Fashion Technology, Hyderabad.
** Reader, Department of Clothing and Textiles,
The M.S.University of Baroda, Baroda.

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 However, impregnating the true shapes and forms of leaves into silhouette designing
was not attempted earlier. A humble attempt was made in this project to bring out a feeling
of wearing the natural leaf on the human body.
Patel Sapna conducted a study on ‘designing and construction of garments with varying
silhouettes’. Her inspiration was from flowers and objects. The study indicated that the
garments provided variety (6). Desai K. conducted a study on ‘designing and construction
of garments inspired from architecture’. Her designs were inspired by architectural
buildings, monuments and temples like lotus temple etc. on evaluation; the overall aesthetic
appeal was rated as excellent (3).
The article is the outcome of inspiration taken from natural shapes, curves and colours
of leaves to design the silhouettes and design details of the women’s wear. Since no two
women would like to look alike, newer fashions are created for women of all ages to make
them confident about their clothing to appeal as individualistic and look different (5). Thus,
an attempt was made to create a variety of silhouettes with a theme, to make them more
expressive.

The specific objectives of the study were:

• To select leaves, those are inspiring artistically as per their genesis.
• To sketch several appropriate designs for garments inspired by leaves.
• To select the best professed designs evaluated by the fashion designers.
• To construct the selected designs with suitable fabrics incorporating the selected
leaves in the structural details and surface ornamentation.
• To evaluate the constructed garments for their justification in terms of :
a. Resemblance to the theme.
b. Suitability of the fabrics.
c. Overall aesthetic appeal.
d. Projection of the natural shapes of leaves.
e. Appropriateness of the color combinations.

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METHODS AND MATERIALS

Selection of Leaves:
Total samples of 225 leaves were collected from various sources. They were
categorized according to the classification of leaves based on their outlines and margins. 25
most inspiring leaves were selected for designing silhouettes. The outlines and other details
like margins, bases, apices, venation, colour at various stages of their life cycle and
thickness of the leaves were noted down for the purpose of construction details.

Selection of Colour Palette:

A colour palette was prepared with different colours seen in leaves at different
stages of their life span. Colour combinations were tried out from this palette and each set
of sketches were colored with suitable colour combinations.

Selection of Materials:
Poplin (100%), Polyester / Cotton (65/35%) blend Tussah / Cotton blend, Chiffon
and Cambric fabrics were used for the construction of the garments. Fusing buckram, plain
woven buckram and sponge sheet of 0.5 mm thickness were used as supportive materials.

Selection of Designs:
Fashion illustrations of 25 sets of designs were drawn each set containing three
different silhouettes. Out of these 12 best sets were selected by 12 fashion designers. Each
of the selected design is made in three colour ways. A preference schedule was
administered to a purposive sample of 50 fashion designers to select one best design from
each set. These 12 selected designs were constructed with suitable materials using
Butterick commercial paper patterns. The constructed garments were evaluated through a
fashion show and the opinions of 50 fashion designers as judges were taken through a
preference schedule. The data was analyzed and results were illustrated through Table I,
Table II, and Pie diagrams I & II and also on bar graphs I enclosed for reference. The
constructed garments are presented in Plates 1-12.

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DESCRIPTION OF DESIGNED GARMENTS

Silhouette I - Design Inspired By Champa Leaf:

It is a sleeveless top fitted, one piece dress with Champa leaves criss-crossing on
the centre front line from either side seams, in two shades of purple. The leaves were
appliquéd on a Carmine background. The veins were painted to make them prominent. It
gave a variety in simplicity (Plate1).
Silhouette II - Design Inspired By Colocasia Leaf:
A jacket in two shades of purple with a fitted knee length skirt in light purple gave
an elegant look to this classic western outfit. The mid vein of Colocasia leaf was placed on
the side seam of the jacket, distinguished with the lighter shade of purple on a darker shade
jacket with full sleeves. The front placket opening was emphasized with buttons in light
contrast (Plate2).
Silhouette III -Design Inspired By Pothos Species Leaf:
Bark brown Skirt and top with mustard yellow and green leaves uplifting the entire
look. The deep marginal cuts were embroidered with lighter shades to make them
prominent. Indian Cotton gave a simple and aesthetic appearance (Plate3).
Silhouette IV - Design Inspired By Chinar Leaf:
Dark green A-line kurta with full sleeves ornamented with Chinar leaves at the
neckline in cream gave bright look with Salwar in the cream. Chiffon dupatta gave just the
right touch to it. Spun shined the entire look of the garment (Plate4).
Silhouette V - Design Inspired By Chrysanthemum Leaf:
The extreme charm of yellow Chrysanthemum leaves on a green fitted boned
bodice made a pleasing contrast. The off shoulders and yoke at hip were emphasized with
the Chrysanthemum leaves. The calf length, half umbrella skirt falls in graceful folds
(Plate5).
Silhouette VI - Design Inspired By Pothos Variety Leaf:
Gradation rhythm of lobes was incorporated in the Pothos long serrated leaves
ornamented on the side seam of A-line olive green kurta. The marginal cuts of the leaves in
succession added to the beauty of the rhythm in design (Plate6).

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Silhouette VII - Design Inspired By Papaya Leaf:
The light orange full circular skirt with papaya leaves patched in darker shade of
the same line made it graceful. The Blouse with full sleeves ornamented with a papaya leaf
gave it sophisticated look. The transparent organza Chunni with circular motifs added to
the grace of this attire (Plate7).
Silhouette VIII - Design Inspired By Pistia Leaf:
Small Pistia leaves hanging from the neckline and sleeve bottom in light peach on
this dark peach kalidar kurta, with gore (kali) in the form of Pistia leaves elegantly
supported by the churidar and the dupatta. Colour combinations appeared on dry leaf was
used (Plate8).
Silhouette IX - Design Inspired By Euphorbia Leaf:
This traditional drape-the sari in light rose was ornamented with green Euphoria
leave by appliqué forming the pallav. The green blouse added just the right look with a polo
neckline decorated with the leaf in radiating rhythm (Plate9).
Silhouette X - Design Inspired By Lotus Leaf:
This body fitted silhouette with sweet heart neckline, sleeves and skirt taking the
outline of the lotus leaf in two shades of green gave an interesting look to the garment. The
colour of bodice was taken from the stem of the lotus leaf to accentuate the garment,
inculcating a feeling of natural habitat of plant (Plate10).
Silhouette XI - Design Inspired By Fan Palm Leaf:
A tight fitted knee length skirt in ash with a pink top gave an unusual combination,
yet emphasized by the fan palm leaves in green, radiating from the neckline of the blouse
and waist line of the skirt, created a different wild antique appeal (Plate11).
Silhouette XII - Design Inspired By Banana Leaf:
The short skirt with sleeveless top, neckline formed by the banana leaf and the
leaves hanging down from the waist line in grading sizes remind of the real banana leaf.
Yellow base of the garment complemented the colours. The banana leaf was quilted and the
parallel lines stitched on light green half of the leaf gave an effect of parallel venation
(Plate12).

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EVALUATION OF GARMENTS

It was found that 80% -100% of fashion designers accepted that the garments
displayed resembled their respective leaves where the design inspired by Chrysanthemum
got 100% applause with positive response which is presented in Table 1. The suitability of
the fabrics used was rated very high ranging from 62%-100%. The design inspired by
Papaya and Chrysanthemum secured 100% positive response which is presented in Table 2.
The overall aesthetic appeal of these designs rated high. The design inspired by
Papaya got the highest positive response which is presented in Figure 1. Projection of the
natural shapes and curves of the leaves in the design details of the garment rated high. The
design inspired by Papaya scored the highest in the excellent category and the design
inspired by Colocasia scored the highest in the very good category which is presented in
Figure 2. The appropriateness of the colors of the garments got a high response of 96% for
the design inspired by Colocasia followed by Chrysanthemum 94% which is presented in
figure 3. 86% of the fashion designers found that the displayed garments had the element of
novelty. The creativity of this experimental work has got 100% positive response.

SUGGESTIONS AND REMARKS

The judges found the study as innovative, interesting and creative which definitely
required a lot of hard work and dedication. Words of appreciation were new idea, original
and creative work, very close to nature and found it as an attempt to project the intricacy
and beauty of leaves. The designers suggested trying out on wearable garments, elaborate
silhouettes and to consider the origin place of the leaves.

CONCLUSION

A variety of designs were created which were unique and new inspired by leaves.
This study presents a collection of garments that are individualistic, possessing personality
and gives a new look to fashion conscious youth. The monotony and boredom of wearing

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garments of similar styles and silhouettes can be overcome by adopting such garments
designed with a theme. Thus, making the clothes more impressive, attractive and
expressive. This innovative idea can be diversified into designing furnishings and other
textile art forms which will give rise to an identity for the Indian designers in the global
scenario of competitive modernized fashion world.

REFERENCES

1. Brockman H., “The Theory of Fashion Design”, John Wiley and Sons Inc.,New
York,1965
2. Craig, Hazel Thompson and Rush, Ola Day, “Clothes with Character”, D.C. Health
and Co., Boston, 1994.
3. Desai K., “Designing And Construction Of Garments Inspired From Architecture”,
unpublished masters dissertation, Dept. of Clothing and Textiles, M.S.University of
Baroda,1995.
4. Garland M., “The Changing Form of Fashion” J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd., London,
1970.
5. Hee-su Kim and Sung-bae cho , “Application of genetic algorithm to fashion
design” seoul 120-749,Korea . John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Academic Press, New
York, 1990.
6. Patel Sapna, “Designing and Construction of Garments with Varying Silhouettes”,
unpublished masters dissertation, Dept. of Clothing and Textiles, M.S.University of
Baroda1992
7. Young A., “Recurring Cycles of Fashion 1760-1937”, Harper and Brothers,
NewYork, 1937.
8. Sturn M., “Guide to Modern Clothing”, Webster Division, McGraw Hill Book
Company, London, 1962.

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 Table 1
Resemblance of The Constructed Garments to their Respective Leaves
Maximum Frequency = 50; Total % = 100
Name of the Leaf Frequency Percentage
Yes No Yes No
Champa 45 05 90 10
Colocasia 41 09 82 18
Pothos Species 49 01 98 02
Chinar 48 02 96 04
Chrysanthemum 50 0 100 0
Pothos Variety 46 04 92 08
Papaya 49 01 98 02
Pistia 46 04 92 08
Euphorbia 49 01 98 02
Lotus 43 07 86 14
Fan Palm 40 10 80 20
Banana 47 03 94 06

Table 2
Suitability of the Fabrics for Projecting the Original Shapes of Leaves
Maximum Frequency = 50; Total % = 100
Name of the Leaf Frequency Percentage
Yes No Yes No
Champa 42 08 84 16
Colocasia 47 03 94 06
Pothos Species 45 05 90 10
Chinar 45 05 90 10
Chrysanthemum 50 0 100 0
Pothos Variety 46 04 92 08
Papaya 50 0 100 0
Pistia 42 08 84 16
Euphorbia 47 03 94 06
Lotus 46 04 92 08
Fan Palm 31 19 62 38
Banana 44 06 88 12

FIGURE:1

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FIGURE: 2

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FIGURE: 3

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