Lesson video

Hello, Year Eight.

My name is Mrs. Finlay.

Today, we're going to be looking at the true cost of fashion.

We're going to revisit some of that lovely work you've already done on how fabrics are divided up.

And we're going to be looking.

starting to move you forward.

Looking at what's really happening in the world of textiles and fashion and design.

Okay, So in today's lesson you will need a piece of paper and a pencil.

You also need to make sure that you are somewhere where you can hear clearly, and you can concentrate.

You may want to pause the video now and just get those things.

Well done.

Great stuff.

Let's get started.

So for today's lesson, we're going to look at some, really focus on actually, some key words.

Let's look at the first one.

Absorbent.

A-B-S-O-R-B-E-N-T.

Absorbent.

Great word.

And this is when the material has the ability to retain moisture and natural fabrics are amazing at this.

Okay, so watch out for that word later on in the lesson.

Elasticity, is the ability for a material to stretch.

And if you think about, there's as a big clue in the front of that word elastic, and we know what elastic's like.

Like elastic bands, stretching.

Okay, What else is there? Properties, this is how we describe the characteristics of materials.

and actually, absorbent and elasticity are great examples of describing how materials behave.

And I think I've got one more word for you.

Let's have a look.

Fast fashion, amazing, is the massive growth in low cost, high fashion clothing.

And hopefully you will have seen some of those words already.

And if not, let's look for them in today's lesson.

Okay.

So now we're going to think about how we divide those two families of fabrics up and I'm sure you've done this before.

So it's really pulling that knowledge through.

So, fabrics are divided into two families.

Can you tell me what they are? Have a little think in your head.

If you can't think of their names.

Maybe you can think about how they behave or what they do.

Let's have a look together, see if we can identify those families.

Okay, so natural fabrics.

Did you get those? Natural fabrics, I'm sure you remember are fabrics that have been grown or those that come from animals.

And we'll be touching on those a little bit later.

So what about the other family? Can you remember what it's called? Let's have a look.

Synthetic fabrics.

Now, maybe you thought it was not natural or maybe you had it as man-made fabrics and that's okay.

But, I really want you to start to use that lovely word; synthetic.

Okay.

So synthetic fabrics, are fabrics which are sourced from crude oil or sometimes we say petrochemicals.

These fabrics, that lovely word sourced, means that it originates from or it comes from.

So we have natural fabrics, which are sourced from plants or animals.

And we have synthetic fabrics, which are sourced from crude oil.

There we are, natural and synthetic fabrics.

So, let's test you a little bit more.

I've got five fabrics here.

I want you to work out which ones of those are natural.

Have a little go.

I'm going to give you a clue, there are three there.

You probably just went to the first one, but try finding three for me.

Okay.

You ready for the answer? Quick little check, make that decision.

Okay.

Let's go for it.

Great stuff.

Silk, wool and cotton, and I am sure that you absolutely knew that.

It's really important for me moving forward, that you can identify these different fabrics.

So well done if you did, it's great stuff.

Now we're going to have a little look at how these materials actually behave.

And that's called properties, the characteristics of those fabrics.

Okay.

So let's look at properties of fabrics.

I already said properties are the characteristics, how those materials behave.

So let's look at the first family, Bring them together.

Silk is very absorbent, it has a beautiful drape and it's very strong.

Drape is how a material hangs.

So silk is very luscious and it hangs beautifully.

I've also put on there cotton and wool.

If you look at the bold words, can you notice a word that appears each sentence? So one word that comes into all of those? Have a little look.

Well done.

That's right.

The word absorbent.

Now, when you write this down later, remember absorbent is B-E-N-T not B-A-N-T, sometimes, some of my students often get that wrong.

So silk is very absorbent.

Cotton is very absorbent and wool is very absorbent.

So we would say those natural fabrics are incredibly absorbent.

That's a property that they all have together.

But there are differences.

There are subtle differences between these fabrics and their super powers, if you like, their great properties.

Cotton is really strong, but it also can shrink if it becomes too hot.

Their fibres can fuse together and it can shrink.

And it also creases really easily.

So cotton is one of those fabrics, that if you have garments and clothing made from it, that you may have to iron for it to look really nice.

Wool is again, natural fabric.

So it's really absorbent.

But it's also a great insulator.

Do you know what the word insulator means? Have a little think.

It means to keep us warm, keeps the heat in.

So you think about those sheep.

They've got lots of wool and that helps keep them warm on those high Scottish highland hills, and it's crease resistant.

That means it doesn't really crease very well.

So again, if you don't like ironing go for the woollen clothes.

Well then every time.

So these are the properties of the natural fabrics.

Now, can you remember what that second family of materials was called? The second family of fabrics? We had natural and.

Begins with a S.

Great stuff.

Synthetic that's right.

Natural and synthetic fabrics.

So let's look at the two I've given you to have a little look at that.

Let's do what we did before.

Can you notice a property word in there, that they both share? That's right.

The word strong.

Synthetic fabrics are really strong.

They've been made to be strong, because they are manmade, remember.

So let's look at polyester.

Polyester, it doesn't crease or shrink and it isn't absorbent.

If we look at cotton.

Cotton is really absorbent and it shrinks and creases.

So polyester almost has the opposite properties to cotton.

Elastane or Lycra, as you might know, is used a lot in gym wear and sports wear, it's really strong.

We know that because, it's a synthetic fabric.

It's not absorbent, but it has high elasticity.

Now, what on earth does the word elasticity mean? Let's break it down.

So elasticity has the word elastic in.

What do we know about elastic? Think about elastic bands.

That's right.

It's got stretch.

Elasticity means that the fabric has stretch.

So a really interesting fabric that we have there, it has the ability to give, if you put on fab.

, sorry if you put on clothing with Elastane in, with Lycra in.

They will stretch and they will allow movement.

Now, quite often, sometimes we mix these materials together, because we want to use properties from each one.

For example, a pair of jeans may be made from cotton and also have 10% Elastane in it.

So that when you pull your jeans on, they're not really rigid and stiff.

They have a little bit of give with them.

And that leads us on to the activity that we're going to do together today.

So, I hope you're ready for a challenge.

I would like you to go and find three items of clothing from your home.

Now it doesn't have to be yours necessarily, but I want you to try and find three things that are different.

Okay.

So don't just get three T-shirts.

So maybe some trousers, you might find your school trousers or a school skirt.

You might find some tights or socks or a T-shirt.

I would like you to go and find at least three pieces of clothing.

And I'd like you to pause this video now and come back to me when you have found those things.

Great stuff.

Year Eight.

Well done.

Okay.

Hopefully you found three things from your house.

Okay.

So I'm going to show you what I found.

So I have got a white T-shirt actually.

Looking at my white T-shirt it's very creased.

I obviously do not do enough ironing in my home, but that could be a clue, couldn't it? Okay, so it's a bit creased.

Okay.

Let's put that over there.

What else have I found? I have got a jumper.

Okay.

Lovely little jumper, nice little bit.

So a purple jumper.

Okay.

Not creased, actually not creased at all.

And some of you have found some, I have found some jeans.

Okay.

What we're going to do is, we are going to identify what material we think the garment is made from.

And then I want you to think why, using your properties words, why would that designer choose to design that product using those materials? And we're going to use the clues that the clothes are telling us.

Now I'm going to start with my jeans.

My jeans are made from denim, which is originated from cotton.

So it's actually cotton.

So the first thing I'm going to have to do for my task, is to think about what were the properties of cotton.

And then, why did the designer choose to use cotton in the making of these trousers? What things will I do when I'm wearing my trousers that are going to mean that cotton is the absolute best fabric to use.

So, let's try and do the first example together.

And then I'm going to let you go and have a go yourselves.

We now know that our jeans are made from cotton.

So the next thing for us to do is to work out what is the properties of cotton? What are the characteristics? How how does cotton behave and why is it suitable for our jeans? So the first place I'm going to look, is go back to that super slide about properties.

And here we are, I've put on here for us.

Cotton is very absorbent.

We know that, because we know that cotton is a natural fabric.

Cotton is very absorbent and strong.

It can shrink and crease.

So the first sentence I am going to do, is to identify and show the reader that I know what fabric my clothing is made from.

So I've written, my jeans are made from denim.

This is a cotton fabric.

Amazing.

Now we're going to look at why cotton denim, is specifically appropriate for using in our jeans and in our trousers.

Okay? So let's see what I've put.

"My jeans are made from cotton, because.

." And that's what I'm looking for you to use, that lovely, connected, that reasoning why.

Because.

"My jeans are made from cotton, because they need to be strong to resist, wear and tear." So think about how jeans are worn.

You sit down in them, you brush up against things.

They rub on wellies.

You're putting your hands in your pockets all the time.

All that wear and tear is happening all the time.

And I've also put, "Therefore my jeans.

." So linking right back to my jeans again.

"Therefore my jeans will last and not rip or damage easily." Okay, 'Cause they're resistant to wear and tear.

They are strong.

This is what I would like you to do.

And I know you can do it, because you've been so fabulous already.

Though, you might want to write it out, like I've written it out.

Or you might want to do some drawings on your paper and use some lovely arrows and a little bit of colour, but really identify those lovely properties words.

It might be that you want to use your paper to design a little wardrobe or make some doors where the, the doors open.

And then you can write all your bits and pieces behind or you might want to make some little T-shirts or some little jeans, and then you can have them in your wardrobe.

And then you can write all your lovely super sentences round the side.

It's up to you.

But whatever you do, don't forget that we want to see those lovely properties words.

But what I would like you to do, is come up with these brilliant sentences.

Identify what do you think the fabric is? And then thinking about the properties of that fabric, why is it so important for your clothing, that the designer chose that fabric.

I'm going to leave this slide with you.

Okay? Because I think this is going to help you, but you might find that you want to rewind some of this video and have a look at some of the information we've put together.

So in conclusion, your task: You are going to write some super sentences about why the designer chose the materials they did for your clothing.

You are going to identify the material.

And then think about those properties that we identified earlier in the lesson.

Pause the video now and have a go at the activity.

Okay, we're going to move our lesson on now.

And we're going to start to think about fashion in the world, and the implication that our use of clothing and interiors have.

Especially on things like the environment and other people.

I'm going to introduce to you a term called fast fashion.

So have a little think in your head.

what do you think the term fast fashion might mean? Okay.

Maybe think about the word fast and then the word fashion.

Let's see what we can come up with.

Okay.

Let's think about that word fast fashion a little bit more.

When we think about fast, we think about quick or rapid and we know that fashion is the on-trend items that are around us at that point in time.

But, I've got two images here, to get you to start to build some stories and some context around that idea of fast fashion.

And we're going to go into the actual meaning of it a little bit later on.

I've got a picture here of a room in a factory in Indonesia and there's also an image of a lady carrying shopping bags.

Let's look at that image from Indonesia a little bit closer.

Okay.

What I would like you to do, is I would like you to identify some.

look really closely at this picture, and identify clues that suggest that products produced through fast fashion might be created.

So what hints are there and tips? And what things can you see that are suggesting that clothing is being made rapidly or quickly.

You might want to pause this video now and have a little look.

Okay, you've had a look, let's look together.

So the first thing I notice, that if this was going to be a mass production unit, actually the rail at the end, there isn't very many garments hung there.

And not only that, they don't seem very organised.

Which suggests to me that things are.

or maybe there isn't a lot of organisation going on here.

I wonder if you've got that bit at the back? Okay, also workers seem to be really close together and quite sort of crammed in.

So it seems to be they're trying to get a lot of people into a small space.

I think if that factory was in the UK, there's regulations that say that there needs to be certain distance between workbenches.

What else? Okay.

So the machinery, it's actually foot pedals, things aren't covered over very well.

Doesn't look to be very safe.

There are different types of tables being used.

And on the floor, I bet you all got this one, there's a lot of waste.

Now there's a couple of reasons why this isn't great practise.

One is because you could easily slip.

Also, any waste materials could be collected and used for recycling and things like that.

So again, it suggests to me that things are being made, maybe not to the highest quality? Maybe that production quality's low and that things are happening very quickly.

And that people have to produce a lot of garments in a short amount of time.

And I've put one more thing in here.

When I first looked at this picture, I thought it was lighting and then I realised, it's actually electricity that's coming down through the top.

But, there isn't a lot of lighting and a lot of the electricity doesn't seem to be particularly safe.

So these are a couple of images that I've pulled from the small factory area in Indonesia.

Okay, Year Eight.

So I've now put us back to this picture.

So we've got the picture of the factory and we've got the picture of the lady shopping.

And let's think about fast fashion.

We know that it's creating garments quickly.

But where did it all come from and what the implications of it? Traditionally, we used to have four seasons of designing and creating garments.

And those obviously, as we have seasons in the year, there would be times when different fashion houses would bring out their new collections.

What has happened, as the years have gone on, is that designers have decided to speed-up that process and have many, many releases of new clothing and new designs.

In order to keep up with demand and in order for people to have what they want, sometimes things slip and often it's quality.

It can be the quality of the clothes and how they are made.

It can be the quality of the materials that are used and it can be the quality control and the welfare of people, or indeed the environment.

Now we're going to move on and look a little bit at this next week.

When we look at the story of some of our garments.

But I want to touch on what some of the main points are from this.

I gave you two pictures, because there were two sides to this.

There are the consumer, we've talked about consumers that start with this lesson, the people who buy the products.

So we've got a picture of a lady with lots of bags.

She's obviously been shopping and buying lots of things.

But, we've also got the manufacturers, the people that are having to deal with the demand that, that leads to.

Now, there are issues in terms of society of people, but there are also issues in terms of the environment.

Okay, so we would describe fast fashion as the massive growth in low-cost, high fashion clothing.

And that's the point.

It is taking clothing that's been on the catwalk and getting it into our shops, in the high street, very quickly.

And because it's being moved so fast, the quality of design might not 100% be there.

The quality of manufacturing, we saw that little factory in Indonesia, the quality of the work might not be there.

The quality of the materials might not quite be there.

So the properties of those materials, maybe haven't been considered.

I want you to have a look at the picture on the right.

Why do you think I've put that picture there? Have a look.

The picture shows bales of rubbish, not just fabric, plastics as well.

And also, paper bags and plastic bags are there too.

If we are increasing the amount, the volume of textile products that we are creating, we are also creating a massive amount of rubbish at the same time.

Not only when they are made, but also when we buy products and the amount of waste we use.

So it's a really striking image for me.

And it's something that will help you remember the implications of fast fashion.

So if we're saying fast fashion is the massive growth in low cost, high fashion clothing.

What specifically are those key points? What are the key things we need to remember and take with us? Well it's high fashion clothing.

So it's things that are on trend.

They are products that people are going to buy for going out with family or for a special event, or a birthday party or something like that.

They're garments that may only be worn once.

They all have low production costs.

So savings is made in production, by using machinery that might not be up to standard, by using maybe not very good lighting, having lots of workers, working in a small space, by not following quality control procedures and checking the product as it's made.

Another key point is the high turnover of products.

This means that many products are made very quickly and they are exported very quickly.

Okay.

So we have looked at materials and how they behave.

And we've also looked to the concept of fast fashion.

So let's see if you can identify some garments that might be considered to be fast fashion.

The question is, which of these do you think is example of fast fashion? Let's have a look together.

A winter coat, now this could be a coat to keep you warm when you go to school.

On trend new top, a top that's bought in the latest styles.

A pair of socks, that's bought maybe for wearing to school and a pair of jeans for going out with friends.

Which of these do you think might be considered fast fashion? Have a little look.

I'm going to give you a clue.

There's two there that I've put on.

Have a little look.

Okay shall we have a look together? Great stuff.

Let's have a look.

So I've put the new top for going out and the jeans for going out with friends.

Now remember, they're going to be things that are on trend maybe lower quality, but that can be produced from the catwalk really quickly.

Okay, Year Eight.

So we're coming to the end of our lesson today and it's really been a fantastic introduction into the world of textiles and looking at those textiles and fabrics that are in our home and starting to make links to that lovely term, fast fashion.

Can you remember the two families of materials we looked at? Natural and Synthetic.

Fantastic.

Can you remember the characteristics of natural fabrics? Can you remember the word we found in the sentence? Absorbent.

Fantastic, great stuff.

And that also synthetic fabrics are really.

? That's right.

Yep, really strong, well done.

So they're really strong.

You've also identified the properties and properties are the characteristics of our fabrics, aren't they? And then you've started to use those in your super sentences.

We've also looked at fast fashion and the importance of making sure that we look after people, and what we consider to be a fast fashion garments too.

Don't forget, at the end of this lesson, there's also an exit quiz you can have.

And I'm sure you'll do fantastically well on that too.

So I'll see you next time, when we're going to start to look at a little bit more into the world of textiles.