Contact: Maridith Geuder
For a class project in visual design for dress, Phyllis Bell Miller asked her Mississippi State students to put their best foot forward. Literally.
The assignment: take an ordinary pair of ubiquitous flip-flops and use such principles as texture, pattern, repetition, emphasis, and harmony to design a slipper that could wow a team of anonymous judges. As an added incentive, winners would earn extra academic credit in the class.
"I handed out the project the first day of spring-semester class and it was due a month before the end of the semester," the associate professor of human sciences explained. "I wanted the 30 students to be able to use principles of design by taking a variety of materials and developing their own theme."
Now on display in Mitchell Memorial Library, the results of Miller's first-ever designer flip-flop contest demonstrate how the students put their hearts and soles into a range of original creations. The decorations include paint, ribbon, glitter, studs, gems, feather, artificial flowers, fabric, beads, and other materials that struck their fancy.
Judges ranked the entries on creativity, beauty, uniqueness, color use, design elements, neatness, and reflection of the selected theme.
Freshman Leanne Thornton of Mobile, Ala., said she took pop singer Madonna's "Material Girl" as the starting point for her ultimately winning entry.
"So many girls today seek the material things in life," Thornton observed. "It was fun to convey the idea through apparel.
"The shoes are a snapshot of the things I imagine girls like, she said. Pausing, she added: "Feathers, jewels, sunglasses . . . and money."
What she learned from the project went far beyond decorating a pair of shoes. "You had to understand the elements of design before even starting to make sure that you had completely executed each area," Thornton added.
Always searching for creative ways to teach fashion design, Miller-an MSU faculty member for 14 years-next will lead a summer course in England that focuses on costumes. For that learning adventure, she will have students make behind-the-scene visits to the Victoria and Albert Museum, Costume and Research Institute and Royal School of Needlework.
"My goal is to teach something useful that also is interesting," Miller said.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For additional information on the flip-flop design contest, contact Dr. Miller at (662) 325-8783 or pbmiller@humansci.msstate.edu.