In England we have to submit a short piece of text with our university application called a 'Personal Statement' which is basically our only chance to stand out from the other candidates and to let them get to know us. And I didn't have a clue where to start! Should it be ALL like 'me, me, me, me, me, I love me, love me too, me, me, some more me' OR all 'I love you, uni is brill, sucky-sucky up up, your academic rep is like WOW' OR 'I fulfill your requirements... BAM!'
Turns out it should be a cunning mix of the 3 with little bit of humour and quirkiness thrown in. A good basic layout to work from is:
- Why I like the course (my passion, specific knowledge etc.)
- What evidence do I have for being right for the course (experience, qualifications etc.)
- Possible other stuff about me (I love netball and was a prefect..? LAME!)
- What I aim to do with the course (I want to be a fashion buyer for Selfridges etc.)
Sooooo, because I know you're all dying to read it, here's my very own personal statement:
My Personal Statement
Personally I feel most comfortable when I’m naked but I understand that this is not the case for most people. A woman feels naked without her lingerie, it can make her a femme fatale or a Bridget Jones in just two moves and as such I consider it the most self-defining areas of dress. Underwear was my first true lust in life, a complete tomboy, I was transfixed by the textures, the colours, the delicacy and the vibrancy, the thought of ‘sexy’ when I still wasn’t altogether sure what sex was. But most of all it was the secrecy that caught me, under my tree-faded jeans only I knew lay red silk, purple lace, daisies on cotton; it was intoxicating. Later as I became more aware of the ‘facts of life’ my fascination took a change in direction, I became less interested in lingerie as an accessory and more as a part of the body itself. Corsetry, shape-wear, plunge bras and gel pads; we’re all striving for an ideal just beyond our natural reach but with new technology and understanding the gap is fast closing. I’m caught by a consuming fascination for appearances and deception, conspiring to make for a few short hours an ordinary person extraordinary in the eyes of their lover is a thrill I can’t seem to shake.
I have always been academic, taking non-creative A-Levels to study Philosophy at university (which I did for a year at Durham) and a gap year designed to get the creativity out of my system. But I believe that my interest in science and history has aided my creativity as it encouraged my interest in contour fashion. Pattern cutting is the segment of the design process that I find the most interesting and rewarding and so I particularly enjoy pattern cutting for lingerie as this presents the biggest challenge. I find the transition from a 2D drawing and some essentially 2D fabric to a finished 3D garment extraordinary and I feel that my science background has given me the visualisation skills as well as the eye for precision needed that enable me to excel in this area.
During my gap year, I took City and Guilds Level 2 in Lingerie, Corsetry, Fashion and Pattern Cutting as well as Business and a few others. It was from this that I cemented my interest in design and learnt about construction and pattern cutting techniques for contour. Whilst at Durham, my time was not wasted; I designed, cut and made the costumes for four plays including a £20,000 production of West Side Story and discovered the skills of time management and working successfully to a brief. I left in order to complete an Art Foundation and re-apply for Contour Fashion as there is now no doubt in my mind that this is the path for me.
Over the summer I sent out letters requesting work experience and from this chose to take up a 3 month internship in sales with Nichole de Carle. During my time here I was responsible for answering all sales enquiries via e-mail and phone as well as maintaining relationships with current and prospective clients including Selfridges, Net-a-Porter and Coco de Mer. I found the business side fascinating and discovered many of the pitfalls of setting up one’s own brand from scratch.
I was also lucky enough to wrangle tickets to Kriss Soonik’s SS11 lingerie show where I took my own catwalk photos, slipped backstage, found the designer herself and managed to corner her for an interview. From this I wrote my own review of the show which along with the photos I sent off to several style magazines in an attempt to get published. Sadly, they only got as far my blog: lilysaysno.blogspot.com But the experience didn’t deter me; it inspired me to sneak a ticket to the Salon International de la Lingerie de Paris, where I hope to establish connections with many of the brands and suppliers.
With the skills and experience that I will gain from this degree course I intend to bring contour out from the shadows as fashion’s lesser known sister and instead make it the first consideration for every outfit.
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