Students reinvent the little black dress

First year fashion students at the University of Gloucestershire have been reinterpreting the little black dress, and their work is now on display at The Wilson gallery in Cheltenham.

The students, who started at the university seven weeks ago, have been studying the Research, Archive and Design Creativity module. Their induction project included a drawing day at Painswick and they were each given a commercial pattern from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s for inspiration.

Margaret McDonough, Fashion Course Leader, said: “The module is the cornerstone of developing student awareness of the importance of research and archive sources in relation to their design journey.

“From their starting points they were encouraged to research the Vogue Archive at the university’s Francis Close Hall campus and explore the inspiration and influences which informed fashion from the 1950s to the 1970s. We were delighted to see that our students came up with some amazing results.”

The students’ final work is being showcased at the Wilson until January 31 2016. Students were also invited to the private view of the Audrey Hepburn, Portraits of an Icon exhibition, where they were also able to see their work in situ.