Juliette Eleuterio

When I chose Makeup Breakdown as my Better Lives class, I definitely expected my final project to be much different than what it actually was. This turn of events was not only due to this quarantine situation but also because of what I learnt during my classes.

One of the themes we worked with was the one of imperfection. This theme really struck me as, growing up, I had convinced myself that all the celebrities I looked up to were perfect, flawless, unlike I, who had many flaws. And then I discovered the power of makeup and photo angles.

The truth is perfection is so subjective and so idyllic that I doubt it even exists. What we consider to be imperfections, however, are very human. As our final project was to create a look around the theme of imperfection, I knew I wanted to do something that would resonate with my younger self, who struggled with her imperfections.

I decided to go down memory lane and watch some old beauty guru YouTube videos, as that is how I learnt to do makeup. Whilst doing this, I found this old trend of the ‘No Makeup Makeup Look’ which I remember just finding absurd. I remember thinking if you do not want to look like you are wearing makeup then just do not wear any. I therefore decided to create a look, without any makeup, that centers around that idea of the ‘no makeup makeup look.’

This project has not only opened my eyes to the creativity that can arise from a lack of resources (in my case, no makeup available to create a makeup look), but also how personal such a broad issue could be. I think anyone and everyone can resonate with the issue of feeling imperfect compared to society’s beauty standards, no matter what age, gender, ethnicity… Realizing this project felt like a responsibility to me. I felt like I owed this to my younger self, who struggled with feeling insecure but now has realized that there is no reason to feel that way. I can honestly say I am proud of the how much my self-esteem has improved, and this was really reflected in my work. I hope that anyone who saw my work can also learn something from it as I did.

The theme of social responsibility was the one I was the most apprehensive about going into the Better Lives lecture. In my opinion, I think people think social responsibility is an obligation, and should be punished if not practiced. Everyone is their own free being and no one should be obliged to do something they do not wish to in the name of ‘social responsibility.’ The immediate examples that come to mind are certain vegans forcing their lifestyle and shaming those who do not embrace it or people who those who spread indignity on celebrities who do not publicly donate millions to a relevant cause. This use of ‘social responsibility’ had always seemed to me selfish, forceful and very un-democratic-like. 

However, after Claire Swift’s Intro to Social Responsibility changed my perspective somewhat on this subject. She talked about an initiative she took with her BA Womenswear second year students of 2010. This initiative called HMP Send consisted of visiting prisons and working alongside incarcerated women to create upcycled clothing. After further investigation, Swift realized there were certain inequalities and needs not being fulfilled for women in jail. She therefore decided to dedicate her time to this program.

I personally thought this was a very seamless and relevant way to expose social responsibility to her students. I believe it is important to expose young students, indeed those who are going to have to dictate the future, to social issues such as this one. Having this exposure opens up their minds not only to one more of the many problems our world faces today, but also to the possibilities of how to improve the lives of those who face prison injustice. Those students now have the choice to utilize their resources and gear their work towards improving this problem (or another of their choice); a choice they would not have been aware of having if they were not aware of the problem in the first place.

Although I have realized that social responsibility can be performed in many different ways, I still believe it is up to the up to the person in question to choose whether they partake in x activity. There should not be pressure from the general public. Furthermore, exposing a group of people, such as students, to certain social problems in a very closely connected manner does seem like an efficient and seamless way to introduce social responsibility to them, rather than just telling them what they should do. Having a personal experience with an issues creates a connection and certainly helps people to be more empathetic.

Throughout all the lectures I attended, the one that struck me the most was the one on emerging technologies in fashion held by Nick Almond. As Nick pointed out, technology is often defined as “the realisation of knowledge into action.” As it has been said many times during this segment of Better Lives, the fashion industry has a huge impact on global warming. In fact, the destruction of our planet is one of the main problems Better Lives is trying to combat. What will revolutionise the fashion world within the coming decades is how emerging technologies can make this industry eco-friendlier.

What could potentially completely change the fashion industry is the concept of blockchain. Blockchain is a growing list of records that are linked using cryptography. Each block represents one transaction, one timestamp, and is linked to the previous and next block. This means that anyone could pick up an item of clothing from a shop and know where the dye came from, who made it, with what materials it was made, etc. (Euromoney, 2020)

Also, since each blockchain is, by design, unable to have its data edited, there would be a one hundred per cent truthful and accurate record of each item’s provenance. If or when blockchain gets put into use for clothing, people will, hopefully, be making more empathetic choices on what to purchase, avoiding pieces made through unethical working conditions or pieces that have emitted a high-carbon emission. 

Though, the meat industry is becoming more and more transparent yet most of the global population are still big meat eaters. It is therefore hard to predict whether the blockchain concept will indeed help decrease the current high rates of consumerism, or merely just be a tool for people to glance at but not be concerned with.

On the other hand, though, perhaps the government could install laws where pieces made in certain unethical and/or polluting ways are prohibited from being sold on a large scale such as Primark or Topshop do. This would certainly be a radical change, since large companies would need to adapt in a small amount of time, but radical change is what is needed in times of crisis.

In conclusion, the future of fashion is very uncertain in this period of climate crisis. However, emerging technologies, such as blockchain – which is currently being developed to become more user-friendly – gives us hope for a better and cleaner future.

Euromoney.com. 2020. Blockchain Explained: What Is Blockchain? | Euromoney Learning. [online] Available at: <https://www.euromoney.com/learning/blockchain-explained/what-is-blockchain> [Accessed 14 March 2020].