tEChnOLOGICAL communion: Revisiting the visual design of the suit

Since I now have a working stretch sensor, I really have to get started with the suit! This is one of the most challenging things for me right now, as I am really a perfectionist when it comes to design.

As this is a conceptual art project, I want the fashion aspect of it to be conceptal as well. Thus, as the concept is a lot about reconnecting with Nature, I only want to use reused or scrap materials. When I was talking about this with some people in my home, my magnificent flatmate Kim said that she has some leftover scrap materials that she won't use that I could use for the project, and so I received a bunch of fabrics that can be used to create the suit! I quickly realized however that I can not just use any fabrics. Since it is to be a performance suit for dancers, it needs to be quite flexible, and as the stretch sensors need to be able to bend properly I need the fabric to be flexible enough to not hinder the stretch sensor from stretching out as far as it needs to. Luckily there were some fabrics in the gift I received that might work perfectly for this! I will list them below.

     A blue velour fabric that is incredibly stretchy in one direction, but no stretch whatsoever in the other

This fabric was very interesting. I received quite a bit of it, and it is incredibly stretchy in one direction but no stretch at all in the other. I figure that this can possibly be used in areas where there is some necessity for extra stretch! I didn't receive enough to make an entire suit out of it though, so I will have to mix & match a bit.

     A patterned black & white fabric with some stretch

This fabric seems most promising this far. I found that this fabric was just about stretchy enough to allow for fluid movement, while being stiff enough to (possibly) allow for the stretch sensors to stretch properly. I also received a whole lot of this fabric, and there is probably enough in here to create an entire suit! I feel like a suit that is entirely made out of this fabric would be quite bland and boring however, but if I use it as a base and then expand on it with minor details it might be usable and actually make the suit look good! I have been envisioning something a bit more minimalist though, but I'll just have to see what other fabrics I find and see what I end up making.

     Some black velour and some random orange fabric

These fabrics I thought could possibly be used for some minor details. At a second look, however, the orange fabric does seem quite hideous (it might just be an unflattering picture, though!), but it might still be utilized for SOMETHING.

     Flowery fabric!

This fabric has no stretch whatsoever, but I found that the flowers would represent the natural aspect of the constellation quite well! I was thinking some kind of patch on the suit might be nice, or something of the sort. I am not sure whether it will stop the movement flow, but it would be nice to have something which represents Nature on the suit!

     Weird net fabric

I feel like this fabric has a lot of potential for fun details on the suit! As it casts shadow it can be used together with lights, and I really like that it's shiny. I really like this one, and I hope I can use it in the suit somehow!

I will just have to check out which fabrics might work together and how, and then just create the suit! Already looking forward to it