Beidie Wu

My Shoulder

Class of: 2027

Major: Fashion Design BFA

Medium: Paper

Faculty: Aviva Maya Shulem

Prompt: I want to convey through my works that everyone’s body structure has its characteristics, and you don’t have to feel inferior just because your body structure is different from others. Because the theme inspiration of my design is “low shoulders”, due to my own reasons, my shoulders have been lower than others since I was a child, so my shoulders have always looked awkward in terms of dressing and body shape. However, gradually I discovered that I don’t have to feel inferior because of my differences. It is also a kind of enjoyment to show my differences generously. Therefore, I explore a lot about the human body structure in my design. Especially on both sides of the shoulders, I made them three-dimensional through folding geometric figures, giving people a concave visual effect and highlighting the differences on both sides of the shoulders. I think this design aligns more with the theme I want to express —“Low Shoulders”. In my work, the back design also uses geometric cutouts to reveal the human skeleton through folding.

The theme for this work is about my own body. I sewed the pieces together using needle and thread stitches, whereas on individual designs I mainly designed a rocket-like shape, as one of the triangles was folded and fixed, and so on to piece together each small design pattern. Together they can completely imitate the human bone structure and shape, which also fits my “low shoulders” theme very well. In my design, I display geometry. I carve patterns on the geometric figures closely related to my theme and skillfully use flat geometric patterns to fold into unique 3D shapes to imitate them as much as possible— the structure of human bones. In the geometric art and fashion I design, I think it brings a sense of aesthetic order to my work, making it a unique design. In my design work, it has both flexible functions and can be fixed on the human shoulder. I chose to measure the shoulder size of a normal person and make it to a suitable size so that it will not slip easily during the wearing process. Also, I tried the needle and thread method to connect, but I found a problem. The paper and thread are easy to fall off, so after completing my work, I repaired it at least twice, so I thought I’d look for a more stable way to secure my setup. This is because the theme inspiration of my design is “low shoulders”, due to my reasons, my shoulders have been lower than others since I was a child, so my shoulders have always looked awkward in terms of dressing and body shape. However, gradually I discovered that I don’t have to feel inferior because of my differences. It is also a kind of enjoyment to show my differences generously.