Victoria Doherty

About Victoria Doherty

Posts by Victoria Doherty:

,

Blog Post 4 – Peer Review

⋅
Reflections on one or more of the Better Lives lectures and how they have influenced your thinking

Having read through so many of my peer’s blog posts, I really enjoyed viewing people’s different opinions and perspectives overall and how they experienced the Better Lives unit. Narrowing it down to one blog post the one that stood out for me was Chloe Penhallurik’s first blog post on ‘Reflections on one or more of the better lives lectures and how they have influenced your thinking’.

Throughout Chloe’s blog post she reflects on the lecture Fashion and Nature by Kate Fletcher. She states that up until this unit she had never thought about sustainability before in her life. This shows that Chloe was engaged and dedicated to learning the true meaning of sustainability. She also describes how she felt upset on realising the true cost of the Fashion Industry’s input when it comes to sustainability and how it is not practised enough. I can completely resonate with her on this as I feel very strongly that the industry still has such a long way to go when it comes to being more sustainable. I also agree with her thoughts on how she describes how past generations didn’t take good enough care of our planet. Only now are we starting to see the younger generation really care about protecting our planet as we all have become more aware of the devastation that in the past has been reaped on it.

Chloe also reflects on Jekaterina Rogaten’s lecture on ‘Fashion and Well-being’ which she states made her realise that she never really considered well-being before this. She mentions that she never thought of the connection between fashion and wellbeing and that she is guilty of partaking in that ‘Happy’ feel purchasing that overall amounts up to $4.2 trillion. As I also reflected upon Jekaterina’s lecture in my first blog post, I agree that most people are guilty of this ‘happy’ buying as I myself am but I have come to realise that the ‘good’ feeling and raised mood that it gives me hasn’t a long term effect and most times the end result does not leave me as satisfied as I’d hope. I refuse to do it now. Do we really need all these ‘purchases’ for that short term, superficial boost of feeling ‘happy’? Particularly now in the realisation of how bad it is for our planet also?

Chloe ends her blog post by mentioning how she may end up with better satisfaction by going to charity shops or car boot sales. This is something I have done over the years as I reconsider if I really need the things that I purchase. Knowing that I am also helping the planet by not buying in to fast fashion or spur of the moment purchasing provides me with a more long term deeper feeling of satisfaction as I realise that I am helping the environment and that I am good enough as I am and don’t need to constantly acquire new things to make me feel validated or more interesting.

Overall, I thought Chloe’s blog post was a good read and I would agree with her on many of the thoughts that she has expressed. She has shown that she has understood and gained a better knowledge from the Better Lives Unit and in particular sustainability. I believe Chloe could even add to her knowledge if she researched further into the connection between the Fashion Sector and well-being.

Liked Liked
No Comments

,

Blog Post 3-Group Project outcome-Fashion Activism

⋅

Now that I have completed the Better Lives project, I can reflect on the many elements that I have learnt throughout this unit.  Initially I found the unit quite overwhelming and confusing but as soon as I started my Fashion Activism project it had become clearer and things started coming together.  I came out the other side of this project with a deeper understanding and knowledge of the three main themes throughout of sustainability, diversity and social responsibility.  

For our project, we explored how we can creatively communicate about the brands that our group was assigned in a way that would inform, inspire and motivate audiences.  In our first lecture, we were spilt into groups which were assigned a brand and our goal was that we had to deliver a moving image content that was suitable for social media.  This moving image needed to be in alignment with the brand that we were given which was ‘Lazy Oaf-Time To Change’ collaboration.

It was extremely beneficial that my group came from all different backgrounds of study.  I was the only PR student in my group. This allowed us all to bring different elements and approaches to the task along with learning new aspects from our peers which had a nice impact on our final outcome.  As a group we all really liked the brand concept and aesthetics and how it was in collaboration with a mental health charity which all of us could resonate with.  The brand Lazy Oaf relates to the three better lives themes. 

Originally, we had plans to film our moving image in a unique place in London using diverse models and a projector which would project words that the models would use for describing their own mental health journeys but due to the impact of the pandemic this idea was no longer possible.  We therefore aired our ideas by coming together through video calls and WhatsApp and we decided to identify and express our own mental health journeys and how the pandemic has affected all of us in both different and similar ways and how we are finding ways to cope with its impact on how we lead our lives.  We designed our video in a square format that would be suitable for an Instagram advertisement.  Our communications with one and other were very consistent and everyone remained motivated and enthusiastic despite the difficult circumstances we have currently been facing. 

Overall, it is evident to me that the Better Lives themes have influenced and informed my way of thinking and will continue to do so in the future.  I believe that the final outcome of this project that my group and I have produced will demonstrate  that we were immensely influenced by the Better Lives themes.  We were very proud of it and won awards in our final lecture of Fashion Activism.

Here is a link to view the final outcome of our moving image project.

https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/a4de2caa-d871-4abb-8f33-7e777761a8f7

Liked Liked
2 Comments

  1. Finn Wong: https://1920betterlivessmc.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2020/05/09/blog-post-4-peer-review-11/

  2. Asa Zaman: In this blog I’m going to review and discuss my peer’s blog post and explore to what extent they have…

,

Blog Post 2-Creative Practice

⋅

Diversity, Social Responsibility and Sustainability are the main themes presented to us throughout the Better Lives unit. Since being introduced to the many topics surrounding these three key themes within the industry relating to ongoing problems that many people face, I have become more informed, aware and conscious of how crucial and essential it is for us as students to be informed and know about these themes as we are the future of the fashion industry, able to direct change. 

One of the main themes that I keep reflecting on through my lectures within Fashion Activism is sustainability. Having thought that the industry was making progress moving forward through sustainable and ethical approaches, I have realised that realistically there is still a long way to go in gaining a more sustainable environment. As the fashion industry produces 10% of global carbon dioxide emission every year, amongst the problems is Fast Fashion. As trends are forever changing, the industry must adapt to a more sustainable approach ensuring a greener industry which will benefit the environment. It is evident that the current practises within the industry place severe burdens on our planet.  Therefore in my future work career, I will aim to be more aware of the approach of brands I work with and hope that they use more ethical methods in gaining a sustainable brand, whilst implementing my own ideas of new approaches that can help to influence them in taking a more sustainable approach to the environment.

Having touched upon well-being in my previous post I believe that the industry still has much room for improvement in this area but it is positive to see that within some approaches and brands there is improvement and change when it comes to diversity and acceptance. I hope to inspire my future workplaces wherever that may be, to ensure more positivity and diversity continues to evolve within the fashion industry. 

In my current study of Public Relations and Communication, the unit of Better Lives continues to feed my brain with the knowledge I require around the three main themes.  I have learnt that social responsibility is promoted by increased efforts in the areas of diversity and sustainability and this inspires and motivates me in my attempts to influence and better the fashion industry within future working projects I may undertake.  As I become more aware and am gaining an understanding of how the practices within the industry put severe pressure on our planet, I am changing my own behaviours in regard to sustainability by recycling more and buying less plastic products and fast fashion clothes. The more I learn the more I realise that sustainability is a mindset, it is about appreciating what I already have. When it comes to clothes, the most sustainable thing I can do is to just keep the clothes I already have, love them, wear them, mend them and revamp them.   

Liked Liked
No Comments

,

Blog Post 1-Lecture Reflection

⋅

During the first two weeks of the Better Lives unit, I was able to stream and attend lectures from which I gained a broader knowledge of information regarding topics within the themes of Diversity, Sustainability and Social Responsibility. After streaming most of the lectures online, the major thing that stood out for me was that fashion has an extensive impact throughout each sector and stage of the fashion world and industry. I enjoyed all of the lectures and following them I felt that I had learnt something new as there were some aspects and topics I was not aware of or had considered previously.

The lecture that left the biggest impression on me was the lecture by Jekaterina Rogaten on Well-Being. She touched upon that we are all talking about well being and how everyone has their own unique definition on what well being means to them. I could resonate with this a lot as I think everyone has their own personal experience within well being whether it is positive or negative and that everyone’s journey is very different

When Jekaterina discussed Positive Psychology she asked us do we need other people or things to make us feel happy or if we felt that only ourselves can make us happy. For me, I have experienced both of these feelings at different times of my life. It was highlighted that within fashion you are constantly working collaboratively in a tough environment so that you need to have a good supportive network to contribute to your well being. Working within the Fashion Industry before I started University, I can say that this is an area that could definitely be improved on immensely in order that a working environment can positively contribute to an individuals’s well being leading to a more constructive working life.

Throughout the lecture, I was introduced to various theories of well being. The Hedonic (subjective) and Eudaimoinc (psychological). The Hedonic theory proposes that our positive emotions need to continuously override our negative emotions and although it is normal to have both positive and negative emotions, we continue to consume more things than what we actually need to fulfil our happiness. With the industry exploiting and profiting from this, we are led to believe that the more we consume the happier we will be. This appears to be an extremely poor and unsustainable approach to the planet. Brands need to be more sustainable towards this approach.

The connection made between an individuals’s relationship with fashion and Maslow’s original Hierarchy of Needs (1954) was particularly interesting and something I can relate to. Further to this concern for the well being of all of those involved in each step of the fashion industry can only serve to promote the themes of Diversity, Sustainability and Social Responsibility which are the aims of Better Lives.

This particular lecture has improved my knowledge for the better in regard to fashion industry and on how to be more aware sustainably and mentally. I will think and consider more before I consume products knowing that the ‘happiness’ effect is extremely harmful to the environment and that there are many other ways of fulfilling my happiness without consuming products that are unsustainable for the environment. It has also helped me understand that having supportive people to work with collaboratively contributes to my wellbeing.

Liked Liked
No Comments