BLOG THREE.
Better Lives unit gave us all the chance to be creative in a completely different subject and learn something different than what we are used to. I chose In and outside of fashion: sportswear fashion language and sub-cultures. Prior to better lives, I have never done any styling other than putting my own outfits together and I was really interested in how much there is and thought that goes into styling.
One of the main things that I have learnt through my classes is how to read an image and what message the stylist is trying to convey. For instance, if the model is looking down to the camera it could portray ideas on power and in control compared to images of a model looking up at the camera. Styling of the body and body language can be a way of communicating feelings and intentions which can be globally read. The lessons also made me conscious of cultural and class appropriation which could come across controversial and I think this knowledge will be so useful as a fashion journalist.
We also looked into a lot sustainable styling and the idea that trends are cyclical, so keeping items of clothes from previous seasons can be re-used and kept for future styling when that trend returns. I was so interested by the work of Sheena Matheikin’s ‘Uniform Project’ where she wore the same dress every day for a year but styled it differently every day and made it look different! She really pushed the boundaries and I think it’s important that people see her work which could change people who buy an outfit, wear it once to post on Instagram and then dispose it. I do think that the idea of re-wearing an outfit is becoming a lot more socially acceptable, especially if the Duchess of Cambridge can do it then surely, we all can?
I really enjoyed the styling workshops and it was my first experience of styling someone… In the image below, we played around with body shapes, giving the female model large biceps and put in shoulder pads which is quite a “man-ly body shape”. We chose rave, 80’s subculture with the bright colours and shoulder-pads which were a big thing in 80’s womenswear. The skirt is actually made out of some scrap paper that I found, and I scribbled onto it words like “recycle”, “save the planet” and “reuse” as I quite literally recycled the used paper into a skirt. She’s posed like an athlete, Greek god or a superhero. The cape and comic body suit also portray ideas of her being a hero. We wanted the image to empower women which I think we definitely achieved!
Here’s a link to the Uniform Project for anyone who’s interested…
10th May 2020 @ 6:23 pm
For the peer review, I am discussing Kaylee-Rose Payne’s third blog post where she reflects on her project and better lives experience. Like myself, Kaylee chose ‘In and Outside of Fashion: Sportswear’ (Styling) as her project brief for better lives, therefor I thought it would be interesting to discover another’s point of view and experience of the same subject.
She begins by discussing the benefit that better lives gave her an opportunity to try and learn something new, and the realisation of how important styling is. I agree with this statement as, by taking part in those activities that other creatives, that you will most likely be working with do, it allows you to appreciate them and their work more. In terms of the styling and production project, you realise how much goes into arranging visuals and how a stylist’s choice can make or break a look/ an image.
Kaylee then goes onto talking about learning about the idea of messages portrayed from the body and camera positions, and how these signals can be interpreted globally so it is important to be conscious of class and culture appropriation. I think this highlighted well the issue that education about diversity, and ethical issues surrounding it, is essential to know before creating work, especially studying fashion journalism, so you don’t offend anyone or cause controversy that could possibly ruin a career.
Kaylee perfectly reflects the better lives theme of sustainability by giving ‘1 dress, 365 days’ by Sheena Matheikin as an example of recycling looks and being innovative with garments. By highlighting the issue of ‘posting for the gram’ – outfit pictures through the popular hashtag ‘#ootd’, she reflects on social responsibility on social media with these trends growing the need for new garments to be socially acceptable. I also liked the fact she pointed out that many trends are cyclical, so by keeping garments that may come back into fashion, a person can be sustainable instead of throwing them to waste.
Reflecting on the styling workshop, Kaylee describes how she worked with aspects of the theme diversity to explore body shapes, adding padding to the biceps and shoulders to create a typically masculine figure on a female model – the idea that women can also be muscly. Her group chose 80s rave as a subculture and portrayed this era with bright colours and shoulder pads, however I feel the subculture could’ve been made more specific by working with a more typically popular example such as Acid House, Punk, New Romantics – maybe this is something to explore further in future. Also, as part of the masterclass, Kaylee seemed to explore sustainability by recycling materials to make garments – drawing on paper to repurpose the print for a skirt. Something I particular like about Kaylee’s reflection of the project, is that she discussed how she added what she learnt about body posture and camera positions into her images of the styled look, exploring diversity through the strong and powerful stance of the model – symbolising empowerment of women and the feminist movement.
The only thing I would suggest to improve the work to make it more relevant to today’s world, is that Kaylee could’ve mentioned how COVID-19 effected the six-week project and how the better lives themes can be applied to this situation when working from home.
11th May 2020 @ 1:03 am
Peer Review
For our final blog post we were asked write a peer review, stating wether the chosen blog reflects on the themes of social responsibility, diversity and sustainability. As a fashion styling and production student I found myself instantly drawn to Kaylee Rose Payne’s third blog on her Better Lives Project which was ‘In and Outside of Fashion: Sportswear Language and Sub-Cultures.’
I really liked the way Kaylee described the relation between the image and the message that the stylist wants to convey. She explained how different poses signify different meanings and gave an example that if a model is looking down to the camera it could portray ideas on power and in control compared to images of a model looking up at the camera. This is something that I relate well to, as I truly believe that the pose of the model makes a huge difference and I always pay close attention to it in my photoshoots. She also touched upon cultural and class appropriation, which is something I am mindful of.
Kaylee penetrated deep into the theme of sustainability. She outlined the fact that trends are cyclical and that we should preserve our apparels from previous seasons as we can restyle them in the future, when a particular trend is reinstated. I truly believe that preserving clothes will help combat the issue of unsustainable consumption. She shed light on Sheena Mathekin’s ‘Uniform Project’ in which she wears the same dress everyday for a year but styles it differently each day. This conveys the message that it is alright to repeat our clothes and thus relieves us of the burden of being tagged as ‘the fashion repeat offender.’ I am in complete accordance with Kaylee on the fact that it is now becoming socially acceptable to repeat outfits. I am glad that the Duchess of Cambridge has also done it.
I was in absolute awe of her final outcome! I found the way she played with body shapes, giving a female model a manly body shape by adding biceps and shoulder pads, to be beguiling. Further, the elements from the 80’s rave sub-culture, such as the use of vibrant hues and shoulder pads which where an integral aspect of that decade, really added a zest to the look. The skirt that she made out of scrap paper really stood out for me because she gave it a very literal meaning by writing words such as “reuse”, “recycle” and “save the earth” on it. The cape and the comic body suit portrayed the idea of her being a superhero really well. The bold pose of the model sent out the message that she is no less than a man.
I was enamoured by Kaylee’s Better Lives Project. She has fully engaged with the theme of sustainability and this reflects well in her final outcome. However I feel that she could have taken this project a notch higher by reflecting on diversity and further expanding on social responsibility. For instance, she could could have reflected on how she collaborated for this project, as collaboration is a key element of social responsibility. For the diversity aspect, she could have linked her final outcome to representation and its relation to media.
Bibliography: https://1920betterlivessmc.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2020/05/06/blog-three/