Joccoaa Theato

My final piece for my Better Lives classes called “makeup breakdown” is a video montage of my face being painted. Throughout our classes we were tasked with different objectives. The ones that stood out to me were our contouring class and the classes we had over blackboard during the corona virus lockdown. In those classes we were prompted to use unconventional materials for our looks and I immediately knew I wanted to use watercolours. I first heard of watercolours being used as makeup in a book I’d read when I was about 13 and I’d always wondered whether it could be done in real life. It is one of the few materials I have at my disposal. Being in quarantine at my boyfriend’s house I don’t have access to very many of my supplies but the one thing I do have is my paints which I have been using a lot to pass the time. 

I wanted to create a montage video of the look being created as an alternative to a makeup tutorial that gives step by step instructions to create a look. I wanted to create a video that looked fun for other people to do to entertain themselves in quarantine.

This piece was meant to embrace the idea of imperfection, letting the “make up” paint me instead of me being in control of where it goes, creating “imperfect” lines. I found that that meant the paint would naturally follow the contours of my face. Once dried, the lines on my face began to move when I talked, showing the natural highs and lows of my face. I found this really interesting as the watercolours had created a natural contour of my face by falling down it. 

The corona virus pandemic shifted our classes towards more practical approach for those without accessibility to makeup and tools. I found that I preferred these lessons as it pushed us to think outside the box and use materials that wouldn’t conventionally be used as makeup. It seems that everyone in our class recycled materials to create their looks with items like foil, hair bands and tape. I found it most interesting that the shift in class objective during the corona classes caused our outcomes to suit the Better Lives themes even closer than before. We were all creating more diverse looks, more sustainably with alternative materials.

I think that my makeup breakdown class taught me the very basics of makeup (cleaning procedures, skin care, colour theory) as well as the immense freedom that can be unleashed with the vast possibility of creations. 

Zhaoyi’s 2^nd blog post themes/ working on diversifying costume and designing for diverse actors: https://1920betterlivessmc.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2020/05/01/blog-2-reflection-on-how-better-lives-themes-might-change-how-i-work-in-the-future/

Zhaoyi’s blog reflecting on how the Better Lives theme of diversity will affect her work is extremely clear with strong examples given on exactly what she could do. She clearly specifies the type of actors that may need her to design for them and why they need her help. She also specifies what makes them diverse and why they should be celebrated. It is warming to see minority groups being uplifted and praised.

Zhaoyi mentions how her work in costume design effects other elements around her, like the media, and considers how she might change her designs depending on how other platforms, not just her own, will view them. She shows that she can step out of her own head and view her own work from another person’s view. An impressive and important trait to have in design occupations. She explains how character designs shape media stereotypes and reveals the importance and delicacy of her design choices. She also makes the connection between the stereotypes made from character designs and the real people with similar traits. She determines that the stereotypes made in film and tv can directly affect those who are living in our real world. She decides to challenge those stereotypes and attempts to change the negative assumptions e.g. for those with scars or burns. She gives them the positive attention they deserve and glorifies the beauty that is the markings on their bodies.  

Zhaoyi concludes her work clearly with a small sentence stating her work will be of more value after considering the better lives themes. This shows me that Zhaoyi has understood the theme of diversity and how it is important in her line of work. Despite having a clear focus on one of the themes (diversity), it would have been nice to see a mention of the other two themes. To include “social responsibility” she could shift her approach to her writing to say she feels it her responsibility to create those designs for those types of actors. The lack of mention for “sustainability” concerns me as an environmental activist as I believe that the needs of the planet should be considered by everyone. 

Even though Zhaoyi lacks the expression of all of the themes, I have enjoyed reading her work due to her thorough explanations into her line of work and how she will create in the future. Her in depth account made me feel like I got to know her more and understand her thought processes when designing. It has taught me the importance of my work and how it affects other and has reminded me to consider who my work affects not only immediately but indirectly too. 

My fashion background began with up cycling old garments into new at the age of nine. My favourite pieces include two dresses made from T-shirts and a bomber jacket made from scrap denim. I present my pieces on my Instagram-> @joccoaatheato.

Now since uni started I haven’t had much time for my own projects, but the Better Lives unit has reminded me of the importance of up cycling and protecting the world from fast fashion as much as I can. The Better Lives unit inspired me to use my free time in quarantine to make new things out of old and to reach out more on my Instagram as it’s my social responsibility to teach as many people as possible the negative impact that fast fashion has on the planet. 

On top of this, the reminder of the importance of sustainable fashion and my social responsibility has led me to draw most of my designs for class as recycled garments. Up-cycled garments are now at the forefront of my mind whenever designing. Be it for class or for my own projects. I personally like to gather inspiration from rubbish materials. Using their textures and colours to influence my designs.  

I’ve also been looking into selling my own recycled garments online. This will provide me with some income from a job that is beneficial to the planet. My plan is to continue pushing forward with this project of mine with more force than before to do my part for the planet. It is my belief that as more up-cycling retailers begin popping up, the public eye will shift towards a more environmentally friendly fashion sense. 

Even if half of consumers move to up-cycled fashion, the strain on our climate will be significantly lightened. 

Sustainable living to the best of one’s ability is extremely important to me as the planet’s climate and pollution rate are one of my biggest concerns. It is up to us as Better Lives students to not only impact the people on this earth positively, but the earth itself too. I truly hope that everyone else in this unit has realised the importance of their social responsibility to improve our planet as a group despite our differences. 

Laura Salisbury got me thinking the most in her lecture, Inclusion. She taught me that I don’t have to aim big to do big, instead, I should try to help something smaller and make a big difference to those people I’m helping.

I learned that sometimes it’s more economical, sustainable and fulfilling to help a smaller community of people that need improvements in their world of fashion.

She also taught me how to think when designing, to better my product for those people, and to make it the best it can be. In doing so, she showed me how to, hypothetically, rule a section of the fashion market with my own designs.

Laura reminded us to step back from a design after completing it and see where it can improve. Just like proofreading an essay, we should look at our past designs, see where they fall flat and keep working on them. Like most art, fashion can always be improved. Our job as designers is to make our work the best that we can, to ensure that no one else can compete and our customers are satisfied to the fullest.

This idea was supported by the example of magnetic buttons on handicap clothing.  Two issues were highlighted with this product, the first being that magnetic buttons close automatically which is, indeed easy to get dressed with, however, it limits the way you can wear the shirt. Most people wear their shirts in many different ways; all buttons up, only some done up, shirt open, etc. This taught me to make all my designs versatile. Not just to make my design a better product, but to widen my buying audience. Versatility means more people are likely to enjoy my product.

The second issue was that the clothing was marketed as handicap clothing, therefore, putting people with disabilities into a box to then be put into the rest of “normal” society with clothes that work for their needs. Laura made the statement that the marketing of the clothes as handicap defeats the idea of inclusivity, but that made me think; as a potential business owner, how do I market a product like that to a community of people without specifically naming them as my audience?

The best way I can think to fix that issue is to make it the norm to wear easily worn clothes, but that would take time, as most things do.

Laura has shown us that we can improve the fashion world by using versatility and inclusivity to bring the community together, making us all, as customers, one. In the future I will use this advice to bridge gaps between different diverse groups in society through the clothes that I design.