Throughout this module I have explored a variety of tasks and themes within fashion which some I have found more interesting and easier to connect with than others. I found every task beneficial to my writing and I found a definite progress throughout this semester.

With the research part of this module 5&6 I have found it easier to look up online sources on my laptop than in books in the library using WebCat as online, I am more used to google system from being involved in it from the beginning of my education. From these tasks I have become more open to use the Library system and have been shown introductions to it well, I will now be able to have a varied bibliography in my future modules not only in research and communication but in every one this year. Through the Academic Integrity (task 3&4) this through me in the deep end and has shown me each way to find resources but also reference them properly. I have not had to reference many of my works before so using the Harvard referencing system (task 1&2) was new to me but I enjoyed learning it and found it easier than I anticipated and through practice will get better. Although I had to get the hang of making sure I included all the details within the reference it make it legitimate to be submitted. I mostly enjoyed writing about ethics (task 9&10) and the social problems within fashion and the world that surrounds this, but next time I would like to broaden my knowledge on the certain subject areas such as sexism and improve my vocabulary so I can explain things in a developed and intelligent way. I could do this by reading more books and read news stories about current stories and get up to date. Finding quotes (task 7&8) within the library and online  I found the most difficult in all the tasks, especially in a book when I had not used the system much as the task was one of the first set in the year. Once I found a book and a quote that either framed or conflicted my argument I found this to be much easier as I managed to choose topics I have interest in. I will need to practice finding appropriate books either from my own collection or from library and add them to a personal bibliography.

Within my writing I have very muddled paragraphs which is down to a lack of developed analysis and reflection in my writing. although my time management is good as we are given each task a week, I should have asked for more 1to1’s with my tutor so my paragraphs could be organised more professionally.

I have found this module interesting but challenging to my own personal battles through writing and how to research properly and more professionally. I have enjoyed contributing to the lectures and found them engaging.

Alexander Mcqueen was renowned for creating innovative, unique and incredible designs influenced and inspired by multiple themes. In this collection, Platio Atlantis, was based on themes of natural life and Darwins theory of Evolution. Moths, Snake skins and marine life such as Corals with colours including blues, golds, greens and browns. In this particular image I am going to analyse the context behind this image and the garment being worn by the model. In this show the lighting and colours for background were dark to contrast against the light metallics in the garments and bright lights to show off the shoes. The show was set in an indoor arena in Paris to a select number of people. it was labelled as one of his most influential shows yet, but it is to be his last. The collection based on nature merged with Darwins 19th century theories on evolution, ‘Plato’s Atlantis – a reference to the legendary island described by the Greek philosopher, which sank into the sea – prophesied a future world in which ice caps would melt, seas would rise, and humanity would need to evolve in order to survive.’ (http://www.vam.ac.uk/museumofsavagebeauty/rel/encyclopedia-of-collections-platos-atlantis/) This dress in particular, has the model looking ‘alien’ and un-human like with pale skin and hair styled upwards. The shoes which are platform, lengthen the leg and runs seamlessly into the floor giving an unnatural look to the body. The dress works with pattern illusion to juxtaposition the body to make the dress flattering but working with complicated and computer printed designs of animal skin and natural textures. From this image and design tells the sort of man Mcqueen was and how he had a love for nature, possibly to fill this void that depression has left, as this was his last collection it had a significant effect on designers and started to talk about mental health in the industry.

bibliography :

http://www.vam.ac.uk/museumofsavagebeauty/rel/encyclopedia-of-collections-platos-atlantis/

The ad I have chose to analyse is the controversial American Apparel campain. American Apparel was founded in 1989 by Charney in his college dorm room, from this he developed a franchise with over 250 stores in 2010. Since the beginning they used bold advertisements and challenged boundaries to get people aware of the brand and to buy into what they are selling. The company was originally whole sale selling plain organic white t-shirts marketed as Full American type of clothing alongside panties and underwear with the models predominantly barely dressed. The suggestive advertisements occurred more and became more socially shared and was grabbing attention. In 2005 the first fully topless advertisement was published.

The ad being analysed here is a woman laying on her back with the legs open spread appearing to not wearing any briefs and looking directly into the camera. The photograph is taken from a higher up angle, positioned over the model in a dominated way. The only thing she is wearing are nylon socks being the main thing in focus in the photograph. The bold white stripe and black logo covering her gentitalia. It also shows the bottom of the buttock directly underneath the logo and in direct eyeline. The hands are clasping the product (socks) pulling them into herself and the hands strategically placed covering her breasts. The model, no older than 25, pulling a forlorn and emotionless expression imitates a forceful or overpowered feel in the image. Like the viewer is watching over her. The background of the image is empty and almost stage like, a set of a film or just an empty space, not owned or lived in. The bed the model is laying on is tidy with the sheets pulled neatly, not looking like it has been used. The whole image gives an emotion of overpowerment and the woman being ‘open’ to the play of what she may not want to occur. The atmosphere of the photo is gloomy and dull but possibly enjoyable for the male audience, a situation that is more rewarding for them. Whereas, the company at this time was only selling woman clothing and more so than ever, underwear, so this marketing strategy can be argued unsuitable for its main target market which are young adults 16-25. Ethically, the problems of sexism in fashion and especially in everyday situations are targeted as selling strategies, creating a desire to be attractive and sexy. American apparel take this idea of make a woman sexy and develops it to a non powerful, submissive servant whereas woman should be empowered and body confident in appropriate ways for the age of the customer. The particular models they use in their adverts have a young, slim and emotionless nature in the photographs with a young school child feel with the long socks. This can be a massive factor into normalising pedophillia, a massive problem that has recently become more socially shared. ‘Though not attacking the model themselves, the sexually attractive model in the advertisement was the symbol of the latent, or blatant, sexism of capitalism. The perception models as ‘dumb’ or mute objects has been a common theme in scholarly work on visual culture.’  (Entwistle, J. and Wissinger, E. eds., 2013.) This explains in todays world that sexism is more obvious and problematic, a ethical issue that is being talked about and realised by professors and writers of fashion, but needs to be changed as selling strategies to stop linked problems such as sexual abuse and pedophillia. By taking these problems at the roots, the stems should die, therefore being irrelevent in todays world.

Bibliography

https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/company-profile/AEO

http://newsactivist.com/en/articles/gendered-world-views-winter-2017-section-8/american-apparel-and-sexism

http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/28779/1/a-brief-history-of-american-apparel

Book:

Entwistle, J. and Wissinger, E. eds., 2013. Fashioning models: image, text and industry. A&C Black.

After reading both articles I had been given to choose from, I decided to write and reflect about Barnard, M., 2002. Fashion as communication. Psychology Press. From Chapter 1, I would summarise this as being a brief overview on meaning behind the speech used to describe ‘Fashion’, ‘Style’ and ‘Clothing’. and the context in which it is being used in. The word fashion (originally derives from the latin word factio) meaning making or doing, over time, has changed it to something completely different. For example to say ‘ You are wearing something fashionable’ or I am fashioning a box pleat’, one is decided as a verb and one an adjective, a development of speech has changed this word throughout time. Continuing from the word fashion, Barnard.M talks about meaning behind adornments and clothing. ‘While all Clothing is an Adornment (Adornments meaning  to decorate) not all adornments are Fashionable and while all clothing is an adornment, not all clothing (Clothing meaning oneself to dress) is fashionable.’ A continuation of this describes not all fashion is a type of dress it can be a changing colour or shape of the body, for example tattooing , originating back to 3500 BC found on woman mummies. A social standing was also explored within this text, quoted by Simmel 1971 written in 1905. That two social tendencies are essential to the establishment of fashion, one a need for union, a desire to be part of a larger whole and to be sociable. And another need for isolation, desire to be apart and individual from the larger whole. The development of fashion has come from a group or gang of people who have rebelled against what the current social and so-called ‘appropriate’ thing to wear in that era of time. For example, in the 1970’s the punk stereotype was rejected from society as the music ‘ Punk rock’ wasn’t accepted. In the book Agins, T., 2000. The end of fashion: How marketing changed the clothing industry forever. New York: Quill. The idea of fashion being developmental and changing lives with everyone whether they know it or not is compromised within this text explaining ‘good taste had fallen by the wayside as millions of Americans sank into sloppiness, wedded to their fanny packs, t-shirts, jeans and clunky athletic shoes. ‘Have we become the nation of slobs’ blared the cover headline of Newsweek February 20th 1995. The accompanying article provided a mountain of evidence that people were no longer dressing to impress’ (Agins, T .2000). Going back to development of fashion, the two social tendencies that divide us apart disagrees with Agins that the american nation now don’t have a care for fashion at all. That it is for practical reasons only for comfort, this is where the revolutionary sportswear brands made clothing more for everyday use. More than ever, any social class can access fashion and create it themselves, the development of street fashion from the younger generations and teenagers is now apparent and stylish. Fashion is no longer a subject that determines whether you are being a ‘rebel’ or being ‘sociable’ , everyone has the right to dress how they want and more accepting than ever.

Bibliography

Agins, T., 2000. The end of fashion: How marketing changed the clothing industry forever. New York: Quill.

Barnard, M., 2002. Fashion as communication. Psychology Press.

http://www.huckmagazine.com/art-and-culture/brief-history-british-tattoo/

Robinson, C. and Bletter, R.H., 1975. Skyscraper style: art deco, New York. New York: Oxford University Press.

In my latest project I have been looking at Art Deco Architecture. This book, written in 1975, has pictures and drawings from buildings in New York. I wanted to carry on with this theme of architecture and find out about how contemporary buildings bring this in to today’s world. Written by C Robinson and RH Bletter, and photography of the Chrysler Building on the front page was designed by William Van Alen in 1928-1930.

Lynch, P. (2017). Snøhetta to Transform 550 Madison, Philip Johnson’s Iconic Postmodern New York Skyscraper. [online] ArchDaily. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/882618/snohetta-to-transform-550-madison-philip-johnsons-iconic-postmodern-new-york-skyscraper [Accessed 1 Nov. 2017].

To carry on with my theme of looking at Architecture I found an article that was published today about a designer who is revamping and transforming a well-known skyscraper. It is said in the article it will ‘bring energy to the street’ and entice new people in. The AT&T building was finished in 1984 the estimated cost of this new building is set for around $300,000 and is going to be completed by 2019.

“The design sensitively transforms a sculpturally monumental building and celebrates the experience of the building where it meets the street.”

Stamp, E. (2017). The World’s Most Beautiful Art Deco Buildings | Architectural Digest. [online] Architectural Digest. Available at: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/worlds-most-beautiful-art-deco-buildings [Accessed 1 Nov. 2017].

In the architecture world, art deco is one of the most stylish and beautiful styles to be inspired and work from. It has been around for over 100 years and still holds its original elegance. This article on ArchDaily, has listed for viewing and reading pleasure a list of the top beautiful art deco buildings in the world. This brings in the enjoyment factor for people who are not so much into the design aspect but into visiting places around the world and fuelling tourism.

Sarah Rapheal Small Objects In Dialogue – Plate 5,6 of small object in transit a series of 6 etching

Paper 22 x 22 cm ; plate 15 x 15

1999-2000 Page 40

A survey of work from 1994-2001 Published August 2003

Through this process I chose a developed artist who developed her work through passion and education. When I went to the library I had an open mind and chose to look through 20th-21st century artists and the cover of this book caught my eye. I looked at her quirky drawing and prints through the book ‘Sarah Rapheal- a survey of work from 1994-2001’ and was immediately drawn to the bright oranges, navy blues and beige. There was an index page where all the artwork was listed with titles, date of production, how it was created and size. It made it easier for me to identify which image I was inspired by with all the relevant information to hand. There is a series of drawings that I picked out from the book which was part of the collection ‘Strip!’. This fuelled the start of research further into 20th-21st century.

To look for a similar artist who had same passion, I went onto V and A museum website to look at their current collections. I wanted a modern/contemporary approach that was preferably from the 20th/21st century to relate to the book by S.Rapheal. This is why I went with this particular exhibition. The website was helpful but I couldn’t filter my research as much as I would have liked by searching more techniques rather that a broad ‘Fashion’ or ‘quilting’. From that I looked at multiple museums like the national portrait gallery, Museum Moderne Kunst, and finally the fashion and textile museum. I was hoping for an easy and helpful website and it did just that where I could see past exhibitions and ones coming in the future. On the 31st January -18th May an exhibit where scarfs were made with artwork from Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, Henry Moore and Picasso printed onto them. I chose to look at museum websites as they are reliable sources

The scarfs created by Wesley Simpson a textile artist, he produced most of his worked in 1940’s on silk. I expanded my knowledge by learning about his works. I searched his name into Google and found that the MET New York archive held information and showcases his work. I discovered he does his own variety of prints as well as using famous artists work like Picasso and Salvador Dali to be shown in exhibitions around the world.

From this experience I have widened my knowledge of using museum websites and reliable data. I found finding an image I liked as there was a wide range of books and a broad subject to make you choose from. Next time I would like to experience going to London to go to an exhibition and research the artist in person. I really enjoy looking at new artists as I like to reference them in the future and explore deeper into their works.

Bibliography :

http://www.ftmlondon.org

https://www.vam.ac.uk

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG10599162/Preview-Artist-Textiles-Picasso-to-Warhol-exhibition.html

www.clivejames.com/gallery/painting/sarah-rapheal/andrew-motion

Books:

Sarah Rapheal, A survey of work from 1994-2001 Published August 2003