Classification of Dress Design in Fashion Designing

What is Dress Design?
A dress design is an arrangement of elements of design and principles of art like lines, shape, colors, form, fabric, texture, balance, proportion, rhythm and emphasis that create a visual image. For example: to create a new version or a style for garment.

A design which is appropriate for you is fully as important as an appropriate color. If you understand and apply design properly, you are a long step farther along the way to becoming a confidently well fashion designer or dress maker.

To create a highest level of design, designers consider carefully all of the art elements and apply his/her knowledgeable manipulation in clothing.

In general, design is the arrangement or putting out creative ideas on paper or any of the three dimensional form.

The nature of design is equally as complex as that of technology.

Archer wrote that:
“Design is that area of human experience, skill and knowledge which is concerned with man’s ability to mould his environment to suit his material and spiritual needs.”

Before designing a garment it is necessary to know, what is design? How to create a good design? Because we spending our lot of time, effort and money only for designing and decorating a garment. To make clothing attractive and pleasing to the eye every fashion designer should know about design.

Factors of Dress Design:
There are four factors that influence dress designing. They are in below:

• Functions
• Materials
• Technology
• Style

Classification of Dress Design for Fashion Designer:
In the fashion design area there are two basic divisions of designing. There are two types of dress design:

1. Structural design
2. Decorative design

1. Structural Design:
Structural design is includes the all over design of a garment. A specific size of dress is expressed by some lines. Each clothes has a specific size and measurement for express the design. Form, shape, color, texture and line involved in assembling the sections of the garment such as dart manipulation techniques, pleats, tucks, layers, yokes, plackets, pockets frills, flounces, gathers, bows, fasteners etc. Structural design details in a dress include collar, sleeves, yokes, pockets, skirts, position of seam lines etc. In weaving, different kinds of weave design is use as an example of structural design. The designers in the buying house do these designs.

Structural design may add a decorative quality if emphasized by color contrast or row of top stitching to outline the basic garment parts. In apparel, structural design is more important because it is the fundamental component of design.

Elements of basic structural design are derived into four ways. They as follow-

• Silhouette (Straight, Bell, Bustle Silhouette)
• Lines (Straight and Curved Lines)
• Colors (Warm and Cold Colors)
• Textures (Smooth, Stiff, Rough and Shiny)

In present day different structural fashion design styles are more popular in the world. Most of the famous fashion designers are now create new structural fashion style for runway to show their creativity.

Some popular structural fashion styles are in below:

A. Luxuriously Ribbed Womenswear:

B. Structured Iridescent Fashion:

C. Futuristic Hipster Frocks:

D. Digitalized 3D Dresses:

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E. Abstract Paper Runway Collections:

F. Architectural Fashion Design:

Requirements of good structural design:

• It should be well proportion
• It should be suited to the purpose
• It should be suited to the material with which it is made.
• It should be simple.
• It is far more importance than decorative design because it is essential to every object or garment whereas decorative is the luxury of design.

Structural design depends on the form and fabric. It is also created by the construction details as a design. It is inherit in all garments. Because it creates in construction details together including seams, collars, pockets and texture of the fabric. It is an integral part of the garment is a structural design. It may be very simple or to be very elaborate simple or to be very elaborate.

In a garment of a solid colored fabric, its structural design is its silhouette, neckline, placement of the waistline, sleeves, length, location and fitting of darts and tucks.

Structural design is far more important than decorative design since every garment has it, while decorative design may or not be added.

The basic requirements of a good structural design for clothing:

• Character and individuality in line, form or texture.
• Design appropriate to its use and to the needs of the wearer.
• Silhouette pleasingly related to the body structure and expressive of that time.
• Well proportion individual parts that offer unity with variation.

2. Decorative Design:
Decorative design refers to the surface enrichment of structural design. For the purpose of adding a richer quality, any line, color of materials that has been applied on structural design is called decorative design.

Decorative design is drawn by the beginner fashion designer as well as the boutique designers. These drawn will be draped over it. When the design is accepted by the management or senior designer, then they will select the garment that is designed. For these designs the fabric style and color combinations are selected and make a sample for approval. It is the design and outfit is made for an individual customer. Structural designs are more permanent better quality and expensive; and more durable than decorative designs.

Basic beauty is the structure of design. Decorative design is only the luxury. e.g.: After weaving, when the impart design it is express decorative. To increase the garment luxury the outer ornamentation are added. Decorative design may consist of unusual buttons, a belt buckle, a constructing collar and cuffs. Example: Appliqué, printing, embroidery, quilting, painting and any kind of trimmings for clothing decoration.

Requirements of good decorative design:

• Decorative design should be used in moderate the design and quality.
• It should be placed at a structural points and strengthen the shape of the object.
• The decorative design should be suitable for the material and for the type of service.
• There should be enough background space to give an effect of simplicity and dignity to design.
• Surface pattern should cover the surface quietly.

The basic requirements of a good decorative design for clothing:
Decorative design should reinforce the basic design concept created in the construction of the garment. This is achieved when the placement of trims is created to the structural design. Decorative design is very attractive when it is created in size and structure to the textile of the garment. Suitable combination of textures includes:

• Embroidery designs apply for fine fabric.
• Rickrack applies for medium weight cotton dress.
• Sequence for shiny fine material

3. Other Classification of Design for Clothing:
On the basis of variation of features, sources of beauty, senses, motive and personality design can be classified in different heads. Such as;

Classification of design according to motif:

1. Natural design: It is the design where motifs are collected from nature. Here flowers, leaves, creepers, animals, hills and mountains, rivers and streams are taken as subject matter.
2. Conventional Design: When an object from natures adopted to suit the purpose of the object and be decorative the motif ceases to be naturalistic.
3. Geometric design: In this system motif like circles, triangular, square, rectangle, oval, parallel lines and other shapes are used to perform the design.
4. Abstract design: It is the design which follows certain complicated motif to sketch anything. Motif which does not have the nature as the source but the combination of lines producing irregular form i.e. not easily recognized. The modern art is an abstract design.
5. Stylized design: It is the design where the designers are uses his or her personal creative power giving due importance of the time being natural stylized designs are made of through basic system.

Classification of design on the base of beauty:

1. Distinctive design: This design distinguishes address for its special tracing.
2. Classic design: The design which helps dresses to be differentiated easily is called classic design.
3. Ordinary design: In this process dresses are plainly designed, it may be considered as an ordinary one.
4. Poor design: The design which doesn’t add beauty or increase that it may be considered as an ordinary one.

Classification of design according to sense, motive and personality:

1. Athletic design: This type of design is use on games, sports and exercises related to dresses like football, cricket, basketball, swimming and running.
2. Romantic design: The dress made ready to reveal out or express cheer of mind, emotion and imaging concept is called romantic design.
3. Grammen design: It is the dress which reveal out over flowing youth after design. The word grammen means-small in size, young in age and friendly casual in manner to en-light these specialties.

Classification of design according to source:

1. Architectural design: Architecture and fashion have a lot in common, both fashion designer and architect use geometry to generate forms; they create structure, design lines and shapes.

It is the design where fabrics as a building materials, creating both hard and round lines. Oversize proportions, exaggerated angles. Use strong silhouettes with emphasis on structure, shape and form. Major pleats, folds, pinning, layering, surface texture and three dimensional designs are apply to make this kind of design.

Fashion can often be ephemeral and superficial, and uses soft, fluid materials; whereas architecture is considered monumental and permanent, and uses strong, rigid materials.

2. Historic design: It refers to the famous monuments or building, historical costumes like historic temple, Taj Mahal, different periods costume design and motif of emperors etc.

3. National design: National design mainly influenced by the country culture, religion, social commitment, people acceptance etc.

4. Modern design: To do this kind of design, fashion designers are following the latest trend in the world.

References:

1. http://tpc.hcmute.edu.vn/
2. http://textilemerchandising.com/application-structure-design-apparel/
3. http://www.brainkart.com/article/1–Structural-designing–2–Decorative-designing_1867/
4. https://www.slideshare.net/franqi/architecture-fashion
5. https://www.textileschool.com/243/textile-design-in-apparel-making/

Image courtesy: https://www.trendhunter.com

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1. Different Types of Fashion Categories for Dress Design
2. What is Silhouette in Fashion | Types of Silhouettes
3. Dart Manipulation Techniques for Flat Patterns
4. Different Types of Dart Techniques in Pattern Making
5. Important Fashion Design Tools for Beginners

Mazharul Islam Kiron

Founder & Editor of Textile Learner. He is a Textile Consultant, Blogger & Entrepreneur. Mr. Kiron is working as a textile consultant in several local and international companies. He is also a contributor of Wikipedia.

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