We were given the option of picking either a black or white leotard which would be the foundation of our pieces. I chose a white leotard as I thought it suited the bright coloured theme better and it would give me more options when it came to decorating the leotard as I would be able to tye dye it or paint over it unlike the black. When I receieved my leotard and placed it onto the mannequin I was able to see how challenging the project was going to be as I have never really done a textile based piece so I didn't have much knowledge on how to form or piece together the ideas I was wanting to create. However by having the leotard as the basic outline we were able to create around it and onto it which was much easier and less daunting.
When we were first given the Alexander Mcqueen project we were assigned different themes to focus on from his already existing collections. The dancers were wanting a variety of looks ranging from his Gothic, tarten types themes to his bright Manta summer collections which was an advantage for us as we all favoured different things. I was more interested in researching into his Manta type collections as they included bright colours rather than dark, thick materials. After looking at his other collections I took a liking to his 2012 spring, summer collection that was supported by Sarah Burton. I loved the pastel pinks and other warms colours that were seen in this collection, I especially liked the textures of the dresses and how he had gathered the dresses up into a flower/ruffled type effect that gave it a really pretty, feminine effect. I was also really fond of the detail at the top of the dresses that enabled you to see the collar bones of the model, giving the dress a sense of elegance and unique twist.
After researching into Mcqueen's summer collection I was inspired to go pick out similar colours and textures for my own design. I first went and chose some samples of materials including a bold red and a pastel orange and purple. After playing with them on my mannequin for a while I descided I definetley wanted to use these colours when creating my outfit. I planned to use the red material for the main skirt and the other two pastel colours combined for the wings and maybe add some extra remainders to the main skirt. However after going back to the shop there was no red left so I had to suddenly change my colour scheme. I still went ahead with the pastel materials for the wings but picked up a meter of orange to replace the red and some other more translucent, thick orange material that I could use as the under skirt to give my skirt a big more volume and energy. My first design ideas were to drape either the orange or red material around the waist of the model as a mid-length skirt that met at the left or right of her leg so she had a slit running straight down the side that I could add different coloured materials to, for a mixed texture. However as I began to put this into motion I realised how different it was beginning to look compared to what I had imagined. The skirt was much flatter against the mannequin and lacked life, it was also restricting the dancer from moving due to the material clinging to the mannequin. 
