Alice Whelan

Costume with Textiles BA(Hons)

For my final major project, I have produced costumes and textiles samples for Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol. However, I added a modern twist; I wanted to make a mature version of the film that explores gender dysphoria as I believe the original book is about self-discovery. The book/films have also been associated with drug use, so I explored this really interesting concept. For my patterns, motifs, and fabrics I researched famous artists that had drug addictions. I allocated each of my chosen characters an artist with an associated drug that I believe best matches their personality or storyline and used this to create my textiles samples. When choosing the silhouette of the characters, I still wanted them to link to either the selected drug I had chosen for them or key features of the description of the characters. I researched when each of the selected drugs was most popular and chooses that era for the silhouette.

During my placement year, I developed my skills in teaching while working at a secondary school. This was a great experience as I was able to encourage the younger generation to expand their skills in the arts.