Blog Post 3
The better lives course has been highly beneficial to my studies and future creative practice, as I have gained a broader understanding of the main themes of sustainability, social responsibility and diversity, as well as learnt how important they are to our fashion industry.
The seminars have been highly enlightening as I have discovered historical subcultures, such as punk, glam rock, mod and sport casuals, which I had never acknowledged before; therefore, these classes have demonstrated diversity and social reasonability by giving an insight into different cultures. Within our group masterclass, we reconstructed and deconstructed sportswear to communicate our fashion language, our choice being the glam rock subculture. Specifically, our focus was to reinvent body shapes and silhouettes, therefore outlining the themes of diversity, as one size does not fit all. As, our previous lectures gave intel on how to implement sustainability into a styling practice through repurposing, reconstructing and customization, we chose to use solely pre-owned and recyclable materials found within our homes, to generate our looks. When creating these styles, we chose to use a reflective gold jacket, an iridescent harness, a belt as a choker, black sweatpants and Nike running shoes. Importantly, we chose to obscure the face using repurposed chrome foil from a previous shoot, this inexpensive technique effectively created an avant-garde silhouette, through a sustainable method. Also, by withdrawing the identity of the model, this represents gender fluidity as no specific gender is associated with the look, therefore highlighting the theme of diversity. Overall, the styling represents sportswear due to the inclusion of reflective materials, practical and flexible garments and conventional sportwear pieces; as well as this, the avant-garde silhouette, harness, refashioned jacket and strong poses all connote a glam rock aesthetic.
Due, to the current covid-19 pandemic, our second group styling masterclass was reorganised to be conducted individually at home, the objective being to create a sportwear look that highlighted the better lives themes. My response being, a flat lay look designed for your daily one-hour exercise during quarantine. The visual displays a pre-owned oversized white shirt, a nylon sports bra, customized nylon leggings, sports trainers, Nike tube socks, a cap and a surgical mask and an antibacterial hand sanitiser. Due, to the inclusion of classic sportwear pieces and heavy use of branded garments, the look expresses a sports casual aesthetic. My reasoning, for the unusual additions, are because a mask and hand washing are essential precautions, we must take to ensure our safety when leaving the home during the pandemic, moreover these elements connote social responsibility. Also, as all the items were repurposed from what I found within my household, this represents sustainability as no unnecessary waste was created.
To conclude, the better lives unit has majorly changed the way I conduct my work, as I have developed an understanding on how we can easily repurpose garments and source materials sustainably, without raising issues with consumption and unnecessary waste for landfill. On the point of, I am now aware of how important it is that, as creatives, we consider sustainability, social responsibility and diversity in-depth within our work, as they are crucial elements to evolving the fashion industry to be a better inclusive platform which also supports the environment.
References:
Figure 1. Cubbidge, N & Jones, E (2020) Look one from our group masterclass [Photograph]
Figure 2. Cubbidge, N & Jones, E (2020) Look two from our group masterclass [Photograph]
Figure 3. Cubbidge N (2020)Flat lay of a sportswear look during lockdown [Photograph]
7th May 2020 @ 9:52 am
For better lives peer review I decided to focus on Niamh Cubbidge’s blog post 3. In his post he discussed the subcultures, and further more he talked about the idea of picking up those subculture elements from the past to merge into his sportswear in his group masterclasses. He uses the perspective of a stylist to look into the shapes and the silhouettes of the whole style, which is what I’ve always keep in mind when I create my look. Not only he practiced the methods of reconstruction and deconstruction and customization, he also keep in mind of the key themes of sustainability. The regeneration and the use of collecting materials at home to incorporate with his sportswear style has demonstrated the idea of being sustainable. The approaches of creating avant-garde look, Niamh has recorded his creative process step by step into his blog. I specially love the part where he decided to obscure the face using chrome foil, when I see the outcome of the picture he included, the effect of the foil paper provided a stronger visual effect and a sense of avant-garde look, which is what he was trying to achieve. He stated “the styling represents sportswear due to the inclusion of reflective materials, practical and flexible garments and conventional sportwear pieces; as well as this, the avant-garde silhouette, harness, refashioned jacket and strong poses all connote a glam rock aesthetic.” It was refreshing for me to see he’s acknowledging what elements should be included in sportswear, and bring back the style of glam rock culture.
In conclusion, the outcomes were well presented and clear. Niamh’s way of conducting the themes he learnt from the lectures into his creative process was really impressive. The explanation of the material use and the style and theme he was going for are all really well written. He also mentioned about the current pandemic situation, and his response of adapting this situation by completing his additional work during his quarantine time. He further explained how he let the project continues, and the new idea and new concept are inspired by this pandemic. After reading his blog, I’m also being inspired. Being in quarantine in this situation are really stressful and specially difficult for me to be creative and focus. He was able to continue his addition project and pick up what he had at home to create new project, to me it was impressive. Think outside of the box and think creatively about the surrounding resources may end up to be something unexpected.