DELIA’S PRIZEFIGHTER
DEGREE COLLECTION 2019
This womenswear collection is conversely inspired by male boxing culture during the mid 20th century in Ireland.
The work plays on the stereotypical gender polarities of an earlier era. Throughout the collection, there is an interplay between established tailoring techniques and moments of experimental design and construction.
The neat silhouette of a 1940s women’s costume is contrasted against the bulky physique of the star boxer’s body, idealised during the same era.
“Inspired by my grandparents, the elegant femininity of my grandmother, depicted by tailored separates, contrasts with bulging latex inflatables reminiscent of the muscle of her prizefighter husband, himself a stylish dresser.”
This collection and catalogs some of the research material, aesthetic reference points and artifacts of family history that influences her work.
Much of the research behind this collected consist of re-publishings of articles found in boxing journals and books of the mid 1940s. It serves as a backdrop to the collection, and underscores the social and personal experiences of those who made up the boxing community of this era.
LOOK ONE: RUBBER MATCH
When two individuals have fought twice, each having won one of the previous matches, the third and
tie-breaking match is called a Rubber Match.
This decisive third outfit consists of an evening gown in bright turquoise rubber and a set of evening, or opera gloves-come punching mitts.
The gown features a cascading series of pleated layers, producing a series of elegant waves. Though it is a classic motif in the 1940s evening gown, this verbose pattern is atypical of the common-place, industrial material in which it is rendered here.
The gloves represent a prime instance of the hybridity which features throughout the collection. Like an oscillation between one archetype and a distant other, frozen at a kind of grotesque polymorphic mid-point.
LOOK TWO: GLASS JAW
A subversive re-imagining of the traditional boxer’s outfit, these cotton waffle shorts and top pair as a fighting singlet, layered with a large groin guard.
The coat features two openings, adjustable via draw-string, which accommodate the expansion or contraction of the inflatable flesh-like latex breasts beneath. Translucent brown inflation valves double as artificial nipples.
The term Glass Jaw refers to a fighting vulnerability where one is easily knocked out via a single hard blow to the chin or jaw. With tongue firmly in cheek, this outfit disrupts the conventions of sports garments, whose function is to protect certain body parts during combat. Instead, the clothes stage a revealing encounter with the vulnerable human within.
LOOK THREE: BOB AND WEAVE
An observational take on the classic 1940s tailored skirt suit, this outfit is constructed in brown moire taffeta with beige contrast cotton piping, and lined internally with silk.
It’s inflatable top is rendered in turquoise latex and can be filled via oral valves – such as those found on water safety devices. The top’s large expanses at the biceps, shoulders and back, emulate the exaggerated features of a typically masculine, athletic musculature. The jacket is tailored to contain the specific volumes of the fully inflated undergarment.
The term Bob and Weave refers to side-to-side, rolling movements that are used in defence to
avoid punches. The tactic was perfected by heavyweight boxer Joe “Smokin’ Joe” Frazier.
