A brief presentation on how I got where I am and where I want to be in the future

1. From Now,To Then. By Gemma Dugan

2. Where Am I? At the moment I am embarking on my second and final year at AUCB. In myself I’m ready to get out into the World. I’m 22 and have been in education for long enough. I’m looking forward to earning a regular wage and saying goodbye to 14p soup and 9p noodles.

3. How I Got Here I went to college straight from school, I thought I wanted to be a child psychologist so took Sociology, Health & Social Care, Psychology, Critical Thinking and a short course of which I can’t even remember. I realised it wasn’t for me and left after AS Levels. I then got a full time job whilst trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I can assure you selling mortgages at Nationwide wasn’t my calling. I had always been interested in fashion but my family are all very academic so I never even contemplated a vocational course. Fashion as a career didn’t exist to me until one day it did. Simple as that.

4. I decided I would apply to AUCB, I went to the BA open day and accidently stumbled into FdA. Well that’s fate if I ever knew it. I didn’t know the FdA course existed. So I applied but got rejected. Without any relevant qualifications and a pretty shocking portfolio I don’t know why I was so surprised. So I went back to college at 18 to study Art & Design, Business Studies and Fashion & Textiles. Unfortunately it was to my family’s dismay. They didn’t approve in the slightest. And I was lucky enough to have ‘the talk’. Apparently I had never excelled in anything I had ever done, would drop out of college and never make it into uni. The list went on and on. Two years later after finishing my A Levels and adjusting to living on my own I reapplied to AUCB and got in. And here I am now in my second year able to whip up a jacket whenever I feel like it.

5. How I Will Approach This Year I am very aware that I won’t be staying on for a 3rd year. After only getting a 2:2 in my first year I am motivated to do some serious work. Hopefully that doesn’t dwindle towards the end. My aim is to plan, plan, plan! I am also going to try and get everything done on the day we are set it and then try to add little extras to it.

6. Where I Am Heading Well I know I want to be a Sample Machinist. Which is a huge relief because figuring out you want to be in fashion really isn’t enough when there are so many jobs within fashion you can have. I’m not massively worried about finding a job as I’m told there is a national shortage of seamstresses. Apparently it’s not a very ‘cool’ job to have. So I will probably start in a mass production factory. Just getting amazing at sewing. Then when I have enough experience I will venture out into the high end market.

7. Where It Might Take Me Once I am in the high end workshop I hope to gain some real couture sewing skills. This could take me anywhere. I definitely want to be my own boss at some stage in my life. But the invaluable skills I will earn will enable me to make my own clothes on the side to sell in boutiques. Who knows, maybe I’ll end up in Paris making Dior.

8. Who and What Might Influence me on the Way Thinking about what might influence my future is a hard one. Not much could deter me from the Sample Seamstress dream. Someone telling me I’m not good enough at sewing would just drive me to get better. Practice makes perfect after all. The main problem for me is that I don’t want to live in, or commute to London. I would like to live close to my home town to be near my family. But where there’s a will there’s a way so as it stands I won’t be losing any sleep over this.