Deon-Tae Brown

Blog 4: Peer Reflection

When choosing a blog to peer review, I wanted to insure I chose a blog that I felt I could understand and could even possibly relate with so I could give the most authentic and best review. I decided to use Deepra Gagneja’s  blog 1: ( https://1920betterlivessmc.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2020/05/02/blog-post-1-lecture-reflection-4/ ) which zooms into the themes of diversity and social responsibility and speaks about culture. The first thing I’d have to say I was really impressed with was that she was able to take a personal issue within her life and link it to, 2 different themes which allowed her to then express a general as well as a personal cultural aspect in the blog too. Stemming from a lecture that revolved around Britain, the blog indicates she was able to break it down to the point where she was able to make a personal connection with it which show great understanding and analysis of what the better lives unit is about.

Secondly, she began to make a clear argument between how her culture and possibly how other cultures are being reflected in Britain which then tied the lecture and herself together. She goes on to say how she feels about how her culture is presented in the western world and if there is an effort to present more diversity within cultures which link to what she discussed earlier surrounding where she’s from there are not just one type of colour , there is a variation and that’s not exposed which causes ignorant views when diversity is then brought to the light. She then goes on to talk about how white people have somewhat of a superior role in this country which makes them in charge of how the community is presented , which I totally agree with, however I do also feel like we as an ethnic community as a whole , we do tend to feel like we have the lower hand compared to white, however we don’t ensure we are always presenting a more positive and ambitious image to stop an ignorant perception that you could say western people have of us. I feel like we contribute to what is presented the word just as much a what the western community showcase.

Summing up this blog. I think the person has gone up and beyond and has really made some amazing connections and discussed such a relevant topic and I think many people can relate to what she’s presented. I think tis a strong piece, I also feel she’s captured a lot of the theme within it and she definitely showed how we can increase the quality of life – in her concluding paragraph she speak on how she feels that brand should start exposing the word to different skin tone , body size and etc which shows she know the answers to the problems. Great work in my opinion

Nowthat the project has finished, reflecting back on it… I can say that it was a project that allowed us to express our style and how we interpreted words and adjectives that would be used when describing and referring to characters. Zooming out, we were assigned to take the story of Hensel and Gretel, pick a character and design a costume for them, I instantly connected with the task as I really enjoy designing and creating. I felt this task would show the different roots everyone would take whether it is a more Avant Garde approach or more simplistic yet expressive approach, bold colours, more neutral colours etc.

To begin we were given 2 headings to incorporate into our design, one being style and another being continent , I decided to picked African and theatre which would add a different narrative and context when it comes to designing as the original story isn’t based around those 2 headings. Upon the choice we were fortunate to visit the British museum and that national theatre, where we received more visual inspirations and idea’s. I was able to grasp design ideas which helped with my result.

Lastly, we was then set a task which would be the last piece of work to then design a costume for our character, which in my case was Gretel. I really wanted to incorporate my own style and approach and wanted it to stand out from the other, so I ensured that I mixed elements from the time period as well as giving it a modern coating. With my overall end product, I was proud of it .. I felt like it was very fashion yet you can tell there is a storyline within it. Components like the braids in her hair tapped into the cultural aspect , the dramatic clothing tapped into the theatre aspect, the pink and blue on the garment insinuated a innocence within the character and the gritty, army colour and print indicated the quality of life

I think this unit definitely taught us to connect with ourselves more and show how different we are from each other ,and  how the simplest words have such a different interpretation when its approached by different peoples mindset and way of thinking. As fashion student I believe it’s important to ensure you have something unique and different to offer the industry.

Upon entering the lecture revolving around the theme diversity, which was the lecture I enjoyed the most as well as found the most interesting, I did known what the term diversity meant and the factors surrounding it, e.g a variation of race, cultures, sexual orientation and etc but surprisingly to a word I thought I knew fairly well, I ended up being further educated on it and how it plays a bigger party than what we think in fashion and in general .

To begin with they made us more aware and cautious of the image we showcase in our own specific fashion/ creative practises and if we are drawing a stereotypical image rather than trying to push a new narrative in terms of what we see and what we ‘embrace’ – whether that’s slender, tall white models still or changing it up and showing recognition to ethnic background, short people & etc. However, moving along in the session, it was discussed how diversity can create a lot of ignorant results… racism being one where we saw a poster situation regarding a white child giving a black child fairy soap to wash the darkness off which being a very dated poster, the racism was at its peak compared to now where it has to be a lot more discreet, which shows racism is very much alive and it restricts us from embracing difference and but most of all humans in general.

Discussion of plus size models began to come to forefront & how they’re now being embraced on catwalks and magazine and it clarified that although fashion is something that can normalize the most craziest clothing piece to the most simplest, it’s fashion that tends to show a lack of diversity the most. It made me think that it’s quite bizarre how they are trying to hide body shapes that we see as we are on our way to our destination and they are putting a negative field around people that have more meat on them. I think diversity is such an important factor when we associate it with better lives because we live in a space where none of us are the same , we are all different whether its style, weight, height, colour, background … etc and to make a field that is so wide have such a narrow aesthetical visual presentation is really wrong and quite ignorant. I think the media is in charge of the way we as humans, feel about ourselves and showing them only one type of person can make me it in certain n field cause a break down in confidence and self-love

Attending this lecture I originally felt like I was able to predict what would be spoken and what they’d inform us on but in fact when talking in relation to fashion and identity, culture obtains so much and has such a heavy impact &influence  on how we dress, present ourselves and our overall aesthetic. I learnt that our own personal fashion style can be affected by our upbringing culture, It plays a big part on what you are exposed to, what is deemed wrong and right and what is seen as appropriate. All those factors whether you like it or not then play with how you later present yourself and from then, time will then alter thing or keep things the same. I have learnt how culture can also be a barrier to expressing yourself as again, it does sometimes put almost a wall up due to what is seen as appropriate especially when you are young which cause a heavy influence.

In Addition, feminine and masculine energies within fashion can appeal to people which may be inconvenient for certain sexes and their cultures which again cause a blockade in expressing yourself. Fashion being an art form through fabrics and materials, it easily changes as you evolve as a person sometimes for the worst and sometimes for the better. Culture isn’t the only thing that ca have an impact on your fashion, but I’ve learnt it’s a key component especially if your culture comes with expectations, restriction and rules.

On another note , culture in terms of fashion has had its fair share of controversial opinions due to a lot of people class many of designers work as cultural appropriation and stealing culture which again, cause an uproar due to people feeling of entitlement. Sometimes as buyers we don’t necessarily question designer’s work and similarities to someone culture because its expensive and luxurious but in retrospect, it something that goes on in front of our eyes every day and being in that lecture , brought that aspect to light in my eyes

In terms of better lives, there is only so much you can say about how culture within fashion can improve lives as culture is not the first thought when you think of fashion. Culture is a deep embedded piece which isn’t always open to change so I’d say that, ensure you do what you, yourself feels like is right and is authentic to you and don’t allow something that is supposed to cover a large majority of people necessarily brain wash you into not embracing how you feel, whether that’s through fashion or in general.