Can a piece of Wearable Technology engage in conversations about body politics and femininity?
Roles: Design, Fabrication, Engineering
Volume is a piece of wearable tech designed “for loud mouthed women who enjoy taking up space”. The garment reacts the volume of the wearer’s voice by expanding in volume.
This project was featured in the Wearable Wednesday's section of the adafruit blog.
Concept Development
I started this process by sketching out a few designs and creating paper prototypes before deciding the final function or meaning of the grament. This process allowed me to narrow in the the asthetic and feeling that I wished to create with this piece.
The User
This is garment will be made for the “Urban Woman”. This garment will be worn by ‘larger’ or ‘plus’ body sizes. This piece is made for a woman who gleefully demands space and who delights in her occupation and use of public space.
Mechanism Design
Once I decided that I wanted the garment to expand in volume I began researching possible mechanisms. I found the inspiration for my final design while looking at a Pop-Up Book. I started trying to make my own moving parts out of paper and string and continued to develop multiple designs using this technique, keeping in mind the shape of the wearer's shoulder and possible shape of the garment.
The final design included a mic imbedded into the neck of the garment. This mic, which was connected to a Flora micro-controller, which would trigger two servo motors to pull the strings that raise the shoulders of the garment based on the mic's input.
Garment Design
I started by draping onto a dress form.
And created a paper pattern.
Then translated this pattern back to fabric.
