Olivia McMahon

I decided to peer review Tasha Francis’ reflective blog post on her project outcomes and personal development as I liked that Tasha detailed how she had to alter her initial plan due to the outbreak of COVID-19, how this meant she had to be more experimental to complete the project, as well as what she had to say about the effects the themes have had on her. I also found the post visually interesting due to the inclusion of images.

Tasha was a part of the contempory portrait photography project. The onset of COVID-19 meant that she was unable to complete her work in-studio, but she carried on at home with what she had to hand. I love this innovative approach and feel that it alone really relates to the themes of the unit of making do and adapting to the environment. I also like that she kept her own personal style present in her work, and that she held the camera herself to take the self-portraits. This worked to create really organic and contempory images which seem to reference the poses and style of social media and Instagram posts, connecting the deeper themes of the unit with a youthful audience and style of image, which works really well.

I really like that Tasha has included a number of images throughout her blog post, of both her final outcomes and of research she had carried out. This makes the post far more interesting to look at and gives context to her words.

Tasha goes on to talk about the effects of materialism on the environment and that nature shall prevail. Her comments on working with what you have and that less is more, are poignant and very fitting with the context of the themes of sustainability and social responsibility. Tasha also says she has become more considerate of where she buys her clothes and that she wants to look at more ethical brands moving forwards. It would be interesting to see what sorts of ethical brands Tasha becomes interested in, whether that is ‘new’ garments produced in a ‘slow fashion’ style, or second hand shops and vintage stores.

Tasha’s final comments about many people not having the means to purchase from smaller, ethical brands but those who do, should, is insightful and shows she understands both the importance of embracing the themes, but also of the limitations some of the potential solutions have with regards to peoples differing financial circumstances.

Overall, I love Tasha’s approach to both her final project and to the themes of the unit. Her personal development is clear and it is obvious she takes pride in it.

References

Francis, T. (2020) Blog Post 3: Project Outcomes and Personal Development Reflection Task Available at: https://1920betterlivessmc.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2020/05/08/blog-post-3-project-outcomes-and-personal-development-reflection-task/ (Accessed: 9 May 2020)

I chose the Makeup Breakdown project as part of my Better Lives unit. I picked it because I felt it was very different to my course (costume for performance) and I wanted to experiment with a medium I’d never worked with before. Additionally, I wanted to be part of a project out with the performance program as I wanted to explore the wider college.

We were introduced to the basics of makeup application and the health and safety aspects of the job. We were also shown a range of hair and makeup looks, which focused on sustainable and diverse ideas and styles. Also introduced was the idea of the ‘fashion mistake’, taking something which would be considered as wrong and experimenting with it until it transcends and becomes the look. Workshop sessions had us working on each other and experimenting with creating smoky eye looks, dramatic full-face contour with bright colours, and ideas of colour theory to highlight certain features of the model.

Following the Easter break, we were unable to return to the studio due to COVID-19 and so continued our sessions online at home. Our first session back involved using non-makeup items to create two make-up looks, one which fitted the idea of the ‘fashion mistake’ and one which represented ‘imperfection’. For fashion mistake, I used black thread to create the outline of a cat eye and applied it to my eyes with gel. For the imperfection, I used tinfoil to create tiny freckles and stuck them to my face with moisturiser. This session was very interesting as it expanded upon the definition of what makeup is, to create innovative, experimental looks.

Following on from this, the next week we experimented for our final look. I decided I wanted to look at colour theory. Colour theory wasn’t something I’d every applied to makeup and I was interested in how it could translate. I found it interesting that while the concept of colour theory in makeup is universal, different colours are used for different people.  I decided to try to use makeup to highlight the green of my eyes. I used a pink eyeshadow for this first look and while I was happy with the direction the look was going in, I decided to make my final look more dramatic.

For the final project, I decided to use red eyeliner, which is normally considered to be a fashion mistake, to create a dramatic cat eye. This contrasted with the green strongly, creating a bold look.

Throughout the project we were constantly collaborating with each other, at first in class, and later online, sharing images, our final presentations, and feedback. It introduced me to not just a new medium but also put a new spin onto things such as colour theory, which I know I will be able to introduce into my practice.

As well as influencing my work, the unit has introduced many new ideas to me, unconnected to my practise. Moving forwards, I will be far more mindful of where I buy my clothing and how often I buy new clothes. Knowledge of the importance of ethical supply lines and sustainable fabrics and processes is also something I will take forwards with me.

It has been made very clear to me as I have progressed through the Better Lives unit how entwined the three central themes of social responsibility, diversity, and sustainability are. While I had a passing knowledge of each of these before the unit, Better Lives has deepened and expanded my knowledge of these overlapping themes, changing and redirecting my creative progress and encouraging me to make more conscious creative choices with these themes in mind. Without the serious consideration of these issues the continued growth and development of the fashion industry will not be able to continue. My goal for the unit was to gather as much knowledge as possible about these themes and find ways to implement them into my process and let them inform the creative choices I make.

Better Lives made me realise the links between sustainability, culture and power, which I had never considered before, only thinking sustainability related to nature, recycling and the production of renewable resources. Anna Fitzpatrick’s Culture lecture made note that through rise of consumerism and over consumption of fashion, traditional cultural practises and art forms relating to fashion and textiles are being lost and that these need to be protected as culturally important heritage skills. While I was aware that heritage skills were in decline, I had never considered that this was a direct result of fast fashion and the race to produce as many garments as possible. As a costume designer, moving forwards I would want to help in the protection of this vital cultural skills by working with artisans and making the protection of culture a priority. Additionally, zero-waste pattern cutting, water-way safe dyes, and sustainably sourced fabrics which I have learned about in lectures and through background reading are all things I would like to work with in the future and take forwards with me from the unit.

More generally, a sharp move away from consumerism is required to save the planet. The promoting of second-hand and charity shops needs to occur, alongside the shunning of fast fashion. Slow fashion needs to become the norm, as should mending clothing rather than throwing it away. Overall, we need to move away from the idea that clothing has a sell-by date and that it is culturally unacceptable to wear the same outfit twice. Ideas of disrupting the fast fashion cycle by mending clothing and keeping hold of it for as long as possible resonate with me, and I think this would be a way to bringing ideas of sustainability to people in a way that would be doable for most.

My project for Better Lives is Make-up Breakdown. We are exploring the themes of the unit by looking at ideas of the fashion mistake and imperfection. This has been an interesting introduction to diversity, and sustainability within makeup. We are working towards creating an innovative look that will encourage social change.

References

Fitzpatrick, A. (2020) ‘Culture’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 10 February.

I have very much enjoyed the Better Lives lecture series. At first, I was admittedly sceptical about the relevance of some wider ‘fashion’ subjects to my own degree area of costume for performance but I have found them all to be highly informative and they have introduced many new ideas to me from around the fashion world, how these ideas could be applied in a performance environment, and have also explored some of the issues I only had limited knowledge about in more detail. The lecture that stood out to me the most was Teleica Kirkland’s lecture on Representation.

As a performance student, issues of representation, diversity and inclusion were something I was aware of however the lecture highlighted to me many of the issues in greater detail, providing background to the issue, and clarified some terms such as cultural appropriation.

I was very interested in what Teleica had to say about the differences between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation and it made me think about how this could impact my design work, and how I can adjust my own research methods and general creative process to make sure I am conscious of the world and communities around me and that I always approach design work that has any potential to become appropriative with sensitivity. Her comments on monoculturalism and how it is spread easily through mass media was thought provoking. I would endeavour to ensure I do not contribute to the issue of monoculturalism through any media I create or collaborate on and after watching the lecture feel I am much better informed to make sure I do not do this, and that I also now have an awareness to tell the difference between appropriative and appreciative media when I see it.  

Moving forwards, I would ensure that any designs were extensively researched, reaching out to members of the cultural background or community in question during this process. As a costume student, world dress is something I am likely to end up designing at some point and so I feel with this new knowledge I have a much better idea of how I would go about tackling that kind of job and also would feel more confident in my approach.

I found the concept of not just shooting for equal representation but for equal understanding fascinating and very relevant to the performance sector. It reminded me of what John Dyer said about diversity in theatre; “diversity is inviting people to the party, but there is only real inclusion when you ask them to dance.”. I think that representation has a long way to go within performance across all areas for many different groups but that with the knowledge of cultural bias and the effects of colonialism and monoculturalism, underrepresentation can be challenged.

Overall, this lecture has really highlighted to me how awareness, knowledge and interaction with the world around me can help to beat ignorance within the design process, and the importance of representation within fashion.

References

Kirkland, T. (2020) ‘Representation’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 19 February.

Gardner, L. (2016) ‘Diversity in theatre: why is disability being left out?’ The Guardian, 16 February. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2016/feb/16/disability-theatre-diversity-arena-wolverhampton (Accessed: 19 March 2020)