Blog 1 – Cultural Sustainability reflection

I really enjoyed the lecture on Cultural Sustainability and found it the most interesting lecture I listened to. The lecture was broken down into four key aspects that make up Cultural Sustainability; Culture, Globalisation, Cultural Diversity and Misrepresentation of Culture. I learnt that Diversity in modern cultures has been caused due to Globalisation, which has allowed the merging of different styles, different ideas and beliefs. I learnt through the example of Marie Antoinette and fashion of the French monarchy from c.1770 and onwards, that the way people dress is intentional to display a certain message (this concept was also discussed in the lecture on Power). When Marie Antoinette became Queen, her people thought she didn’t dress appropriately for a Queen. From these remarks from her people she started dressing much more lavishly, elaborately, that had an ethereal look to her appearance. Her look definitely led the way of court dressing. However, when the French Revolution happened and Napoleon came into power, Fashion changed because Napoleon wanted to demonstrate a new message, to show that there was a change in politics. The Empire Silhouette came into fashion which was derived from antiquity, directly influenced by the politics and democracy of the ancient Greeks. I think it is extremely interesting to see where the ideas behind a certain way of dressing stems from and is definitely something I want to consider in my work.

The term Zeitgeist, meaning ‘the spirit of the time’ helped me understand how designers use what Is going on in a certain period of time to influence their collections. For example, Yves Saint Laurent took inspiration from the Paris Riots and from what was culturally happening to women at the time, such a ‘bra burning’. Yves Saint Laurent was the first designer to bare breasts on the catwalk and the first to make suits for women. Suits were seen as provocative, but again, he took inspiration from what was happening at the time, where women wanted to dress differently from their predecessors and were seeking for equal rights. Trousers were once associated with working class women in factories, but he elevated it to the higher classes by showing it at a couture collection. This makes me, when thinking about my work, want to look at influences from a Mexico and ancient Mexico and modernise it, to make my costume desirable and functional for modern day. 

This brings me onto the next topic of Misrepresentation of Culture. The action to mislead and idealise a culture can become misrepresentation and, in some cases, cultural appropriation. Discussed was an example of a film called ‘The Curse of The Golden Flower’ where traditional Chinese costume was appropriated, the necklines on dresses were showing too much skin and so deemed by some as inappropriate. I want to make sure, when designing my costume, that I am mindful of how I am representing Mexican culture, especially as I am not from that culture. I need to have informed research and reasoning behind my designs.