FAMILY ACTIVITY

BOOKLET

FRONTIERS

OF

FASHIONHOW MILITARY UNIFORM

INFLUENCES CIVILIAN FASHION

Colouring inFRONTIERS OF FASHION: 11

Our new Frontiers of Fashion: Howmilitary uniform influences civilianfashion exhibition opens on 23 July andthis booklet has lots of uniform inspiredactivities to try at home.

Military uniform has influenced fashion for many

years. Clothing inspired by military uniform

includes: camouflage print, trench coats,

Wellingtons, bomber jackets, aviator

sunglasses, combat pants, shoulder

epaulettes, combat boots, dog tags,

Dr. Martens and white t-shirts amongst

many others!  Military uniforms are

designed to be hard-wearing and practical

which makes them attractive to people outside the

armed forces.  The cut and the colours of military

uniforms also inspire fashion trends which are

seen in the high street and possibly even in your

own wardrobe!

FRONTIERS OF FASHION: PAGE 1

Creative ChallengesLearn to draw cartoon aviator style

sunglasses or create your own pair of

sunglasses from paper or card!  Aviator

sunglasses were originally developed in for

pilots to protect their eyes while flying! 

Learn how to draw a bomber jacket:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=H7dE88qRaKU Bomber jackets were

originally worn by Air Force pilots to

keep them warm and help them to move

easily!

https://how-to-draw-cartoons-

online.com/cartoon-sunglasses.html

FRONTIERS OF FASHION: PAGE 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7dE88qRaKUhttps://how-to-draw-cartoons-online.com/cartoon-sunglasses.html

Creative Challenges

Create a striped person! Use a large piece of

craft paper and ask someone to trace around

your outline in pencil before going over this

with a permanent or black marker.  Fill the

space with horizontal or vertical stripes using

paint or markers.  For a smaller version you

could draw an outline of yourself on A4 paper

and create a striped body.

Create your own striped piece of art using

paints, different coloured papers or magazines,

fabric, spaghetti, icing in different colours or

modelling clay.

Create a striped design on a pavement using

chalks!

Make striped bunting using paper and markers

or paint. Use different colours for your stripes

to create a pattern.

     

     

FRONTIERS OF FASHION: PAGE 9

Design Challenge

Design your own Wellington boots using the

outline below to get you started.  You could redraw

a Wellington shape, enlarge it and create your own

patterns. Wellingtons were named after the Duke

of Wellington who was in the British Army!

FRONTIERS OF FASHION: PAGE 2

Did You Know?

Striped sailor shirts, or Breton stripes, came

from the French Navy?

The shirt became the uniform of the French Navy

in 1858 and was known as ‘tricot rayé' (striped

knit).  The shirts stripes meant that if anyone fell

overboard, they would be easily spotted in the

water.  French designer Coco Chanel was so

inspired by the sailors’ uniform that she included

stripes in her 1917 nautical collection.  Breton

stripes were worn in Hollywood movies from the

1950s and are now seen everywhere.

FRONTIERS OF FASHION: PAGE 3

Creative Challenges

Create your own paper person wearing a

Try some retro craft and make a soldier doll from

paper or card!  Design a uniform with tabs so that

they can wear it.  Think about what you might like to

wear if you were in the military.  This might include

combat trousers, boots, t-shirt and a hat.

Design a military tabard (short coat) either for you or

a toy using paper or fabric.  Remember to cut a

scooped neck so that the tabard will go over your

head! 

Create your own cool camouflage pattern.

Camouflage yourself at home and post it on

Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag

#FoF. Remember to make your post public so that we

can see it! Maybe you’re blending in with the

wallpaper, a bookshelf or are camouflaged in the

garden!

military uniform. Use this example for

inspiration.

     

     

FRONTIERS OF FASHION: PAGE 8

Creative Challenges

Design your own epaulettes from either cardboard or

fabric. To make using cardboard, sketch your epaulette

shape and then cut out, paint or colour them. Glue on

other accessories such as buttons or tassels.

Design and make a cap badge from felt, fabric, or

paper. Think carefully about what symbols to choose

that reflect you or your personality.

        

FRONTIERS OF FASHION: PAGE 7

Did you know?Cap badges were issued to everyone with an

army uniform from the First World War so

they could be identified instantly including

their rank or regiment.

The Duke of Cornwall's Light

Infantry cap badge shows a bugle

as they were used to give orders on

and off the battlefield. Epaulettes are

ornamental shoulder pieces or decoration used

to show rank in the armed forces. Look at the

fancy epaulettes shown in the photo below.

FRONTIERS OF FASHION: PAGE 4

Natural Plant Dyeing

Explore natural plant dyes by dyeing a t-shirt or

fabric with used coffee grounds, tea bags, onion

skins, avocado skins, blackberries, blueberries, red

cabbage, beetroot or turmeric powder. These all

make good dyes. Make sure to ask for help from a

responsible adult. Wear gloves to cut up the

vegetable or fruit into small pieces. Put into an old

pan and pour in twice the amount of water as your

dye ingredients. Bring to the boil and then simmer

for at least an hour stirring occasionally. Strain out

bits using a sieve or colander and return the

coloured liquid to the pan.  Once cooled

completely, strain the liquid into containers.

Soak your fabric in a fixative first as this will help it

set. For a berry- based dye, mix one-part salt to

sixteen parts water to make a fixative. For

vegetable-based dyes, mix one-part vinegar to four

parts water.  Boil the fabric in the mixture and rinse

it out in cold water.  Put the wet fabric in the dye

pan until you get the colour you want. When it’s

ready, wash your fabric separately in cold water and

dry naturally.

Fabric preparation

FRONTIERS OF FASHION: PAGE 6

Did you know?Red was the colour chosen for the Redcoats of

British soldiers partly because the dye was

cheap?  They were coloured with a dye from the

root of the madder plant, which grew in

England. Madder has been used as vegetable

red dye for leather, wool, cotton and silk for

hundreds of years.

FRONTIERS OF FASHION: PAGE 5