Blog Post Three- ‘Reflections on the Better Lives themes concerning my project outcome and personal development’
The Styling and Production course focused around the main subject of sportswear. We were presented with a range of examples of different subcultures, such as ‘Casuals’ and 90s rave culture, in order to produce two final styled looks that combined conventions of sportswear with a range of different subcultures and our personal style and ideas.
During the unit we were tasked with exploring our own ideas and opinions surrounding style and subculture through means of group discussions and the creation of mood-boards. This enabled me to not only develop my knowledge of fashion, but introduced me to the outright depth and thought that went into every single aspect and detail of a styled look. In order to participate in the styling ‘masterclasses’ and produce a project outcome, we had to work together in groups. This involved all members of the group mixing their own clothes with garments provided by the course in order to produce a diverse wardrobe, working together to plan and produce a final styled sportswear look. In the first masterclass (the brief being to ‘produce one experimental sportswear look under the theme of youth expression’) we decided to focus the outfit around British culture and sexuality, specifically the stereotypes surrounding working class Britain and gay men. Through combining recognisable iconography of working class British culture (through use of an England football shirt and Adidas tracksuit bottoms) with feminine attributes of heels and a skirt on a male model, we were able to present the idea surrounding the misrepresentation of gay men. In the media, they’re often perceived using one of two stereotypes: extremely feminine or overtly masculine; mixing these stereotypes together allowed us to prove how irrelevant and unnecessary such stereotypes are.
The second ‘masterclass’ differs from the first due to the fact that it occurred during the Coronavirus lockdown, and so we were given the brief to create a styled look based off of sporting activities one could do during this period of self-isolation. I decided to create a casual look that could be worn to participate in a number of sports activities from something as simple as going on a walk to something as extreme as running a marathon. The look was made up of a vintage green varsity jacket, white sports bralette, vintage Adidas joggers with ‘popper’ detailing and white ‘dad’ trainers, accessorised with black rectangular sunglasses and gold chain jewellery. This element of diversity that this casual look provides was something that I found to be significant as I believe that people shouldn’t feel like participating in sports whilst on lockdown is necessary, it’s a difficult time for everybody and an incredibly overt ‘sports’ look could be perceived as intimidating to some.
I made a conscious effort to use vintage garments within both looks due to my awareness of the lack of sustainability within the fashion industry and the fact that it’s the second biggest pollutant in the world, with an estimated USD 500 billion value being lost every year due to clothing being barely worn and rarely recycled (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017).
Stylists have a social responsibility to not only have their work reflect what is happening in the fashion realm, but also what is happening in the World. The world is a diverse place with a need for sustainability and I believe the looks created in the masterclasses reflects this.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017) Make Fashion Circular Report. Available at: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/our-work/activities/make-fashion-circular/report (Accessed: 03/05/20).