Can conquer all – Styling Masterclass (deconstructing sportswear)
Initially, in this styling project, we worked in groups of 6 but, quickly realising everyone had too many ideas, the groups needed breaking down into four and two. I was in a group with another person, this made it significantly easier to discuss the idea phase and start dressing. The task was quick, and we weren’t given much time. We had to think rapidly and effectively about the desired outcome. I felt nervous and excited at the same time, this was mainly due to the unknown of the outcome and whether working with a peer who I had never worked with before would be successful. Normally, I am prepared for my shoots with a plan in mind.
At the beginning of the masterclass, I had a slightly negative attitude as I didn’t think the outcome would be anything special. Also, I was slightly confused regarding the main aim of the masterclass. Going back to the brief, I realised the styling aim was to deconstruct sportswear, body shapes and silhouettes. Working with what we had as a team really inspired us to collaborate and to think out of the box.
A learning outcome from this masterclass demonstrates how it is essential to be organised with the given brief. When asked to go for it and not be too precious about what you create, something special can come from it.
Below is one of the masterclass outcomes. From this outcome, we tried to tell a fashion story through youth expression. Not taking sportswear literally, instead really harnessing the ‘sporty’ movement through specific body positions. A hat was added giving a juxtaposed idea of high fashion with sportswear.
Being heavily inspired by social responsibility and reading Solidarity Shawls: strategic dress by the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, I was inspired to dress in a tactic, through protesting the state of non – violent action. White shawls draped around the mother’s heads protested the state of their disappeared children. The white headwrap provided intense imagery and power (Aguilar, Busch, Brewster and Petticord, 2012)
Through styling, we decided to create our own white shawl, using metallic paper for a more contemporary feel. To create intense imagery and power, the clenched fist is suggestive of masculinity and empowerment. The model’s face is hidden, questioning is this a man or a woman? Strength can be shown in all. The arm’s shape and movement is something which I find fascinating. This imagery oozes strong empowerment, ‘can conquer all.’
Ultimately, our group achieved successful outcomes however, to improve our achievement, I would have liked to experiment with lighting. No lighting was used for this masterclass. It would have been interesting to vary the sporty mood depending on the lighting. The styling can be completely translated differently to onlookers if the lighting were harsher/softer. Below are the set of outcomes, for the first image, it would have been interesting to light up the arm area and see the outcome.
Reflecting forward, it would be interesting to do another masterclass the following week. Working in the same groups but with planning; mood board creation, clothes and props could have been made and brought in. It would be interesting to see the comparison of outcomes from the masterclass with little prep and the masterclass with a week’s worth of preparation and discover if either are more successful and why.
Reference:
Aguilar, G., Busch, O., Brewster, M. and Petticord, J., 2012. Just Fashion. New York: Selfpassage.
Can Conquer All (2020) Imagery created by Ella Jones and Niamh Cubbidge.
6th May 2020 @ 3:04 pm
Once, we had completed our course specific lectures and lessons, we were encouraged to read, analyse and peer review a blog post from the unit, that we thought displayed a distinct understanding and reflection of the better lives themes. After reading several blogs, I chose to peer review Ella Jones third blog post, which outlined the outcomes of her better lives styling project.
Within the blog, Ella starts by reviewing how well her group worked as a team, and also highlights her initial reservations of the task. Efficiently, she evaluated how by working within a smaller and more concise group, opposed to the larger group she was originally assigned, effectively allowed for a more refined and conceptual outcome. Conclusively, she examines the group’s styling outcome extensively, highlighting their strategies and influences. Firstly, she starts by explaining how the outcomes were created on the basis of wanting to take a more conceptual and non-literal approach to sportwear, and, how capturing “sporty movement” through the models’ posture helped to convey the brief. In addition to this, Ella goes on to illustrate what her own personal inspirations were for the masterclass and how she combined them into the group task. Clearly, Ella expressed how she was most captivated by the theme of social responsibility, and how she was inspired by the reading of “Solidarity Shawls: Strategic dress by the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo” which also mirrored the better lives themes. Moreover, Ella goes on to highlight how these influences encouraged a focus on portraying non-violent action. As well as this, she explains how as a group, they incorporated these influences by redefining the ‘white shawl’, by using reflective materials to obscure the face, to therefore, signify a sporty aesthetic and contemporary feel. Additionally, she illuminates how this shawl also exhibits a gender fluid narrative as the model’s identity is withdrawn, which therefore reflects diversity and social responsibility as the styling is representative of all identities. Lastly, she evaluates the project on how successful her group were in meeting the brief and in exploring social responsibility, as well as, what improvements they could collectively make to achieve an even more successful outcome.
To conclude, I think Ella’s reflection on her masterclass and better lives project clearly integrates the themes of better lives, most specifically social responsibility and diversity, due to her consideration of the themes when producing her project outcomes. Overall, I really enjoyed Ella’s blog and styling outcomes as her photographed ideas were inventive, powerful and inclusive of the better lives concept.
References:
Ella Jones Blog: https://1920betterlivessmc.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2020/05/06/can-conquer-all-styling-masterclass-deconstructing-sportswear/#respond