Department of Fine and Performing Arts
Taylor Bennett
Grown & Sexy
Thesis Statement
As a senior majoring in VCDMA, with a concentration in Fashion Design, I created a women’s swimsuit collection titled as “Grown & Sexy” to showcase as my senior thesis. Each garment was designed by me, which will emulate a theme that focuses on the evolution of women’s swimsuits. This visual timeline of women’s swimsuits will begin with the 1940’s and end with looks that can be classified as more modern. The collection will entail a total of nine swimsuits with two to three accessories per look to complete the entire collection. As a VCDMA (fashion design) major it is my responsibility to emphasize the importance of fashion history to the audience. More importantly, as a black woman it is my passion to underline the extensive timeline of limitations that society has set upon us fashionably and socially due to sexist discriminative motives. Considering the fashion show and exhibit will not be held on campus due to Covid-19 restrictions, viewers are encouraged to review the entire site in order to grasp the objective of my virtual exhibition.
- Major and Concentration: VCDMA - Fashion Design
- Senior Thesis Website
- Throughout the past four years here at Bowie State I was required to complete a sequence of courses that were solely fashion and history related. At first, I did not understand the correlation of fashion and history until my junior year. I then, began to realize how prominent my major is to nearly every aspect in the world. Many people fail to acknowledge the demand for designers and individuals who are visually creative. Fashion Design is present in each profession of life, from, engineering, mass media, information technology, “air and space” science technology, and so on. Items, machinery, and people will always require some form of design. As senior year grew closer, I felt compelled to incorporate a portion of history into my senior collection. While I brainstormed and contemplated various ideas for my senior thesis project, I decided that emphasizing the history of women’s fashion would be the most important factor to the collection. I began by reviewing previously completed assignments from my fashion courses. One fashion designer who stuck out to me was, Christian Dior. He single-handedly modified the style and presentation of women’s formal wear during the 1940’s and 1950’s. Evaluating how influential his designs are to other high-fashion designer brands caused me to focus on highlighting the timeline of women’s fashion. I knew that this timeline would encompass societal barriers such as, restrictions, untraditional, and styles that men deemed as inappropriate for women. Subsequently, I finalized my senior thesis as a swimsuit collection that would emulate a grown and sexy approach, while embodying a look that suited the assigned time period. Providing a visual timeline of how women’s swimsuit collections have changed over the past 70 years serves as a sense of liberation and societal change. As I mentioned in my Thesis Abstract Statement, the exhibition of my collection was inspired by legendary artist, Beyonce Knowles-Carter’s video “Party”. Stay tuned to see how I will combine outside inspirations with my original unique ideas.
