Receiving and completing the tasks that have been set throughout the RCS module has allowed me to learn a lot about myself, my work ethic, and my understanding of different issues and subject matters within the fashion and textiles industry. Throughout the past few weeks I have been provided with a new set of challenges to overcome in order to successfully complete the tasks.

I found this module to be very interesting, the lectures to be engaging and the tasks to be well explained, presented and easily accessible when needed. I found some tasks to be easier than others but all to be pretty substantial and at an even skill level.  Going into this module I feel I already had a lot of experience with referencing because I learnt to Harvard reference and reference a range of different sources during my art and design diploma, despite this it was refreshing to have the importance of referencing explained to me going into this course, I also found the lecture on plagiarism to be a very useful reminder before starting our tasks, encouraging us to become more confident in our work and not to rely purely on the sources we find in relation to our tasks.

All of the tasks forced us to develop a collection of information from various different sources, living in the modern age I find it very difficult to steer away from looking purely at online sources, I am aware of the importance of looking at books, news articles and objects to back up your opinions and facts, however this is something I feel I haven’t achieved well throughout this module, therefore looking at both primary and secondary sources is something I would like to make a conscious effort to improve on next term.

Looking back I feel as though I struggled more with the long written tasks, even though I am fairly confident in my writing skills I feel it is important for me to fully understand what I am focusing my attention on to succeed to an extent I am happy with. I learnt that it was important for me to discuss the tasks and gather second opinions on my ideas before moving forward with a task. The ‘Ethics’ task was one of my favourite tasks because even though it was a longer task I felt as though I understood the brief to the best of my knowledge and was able to see many pathways and opportunities within a limited theme.

This module has been useful in helping me to focus on direction and format within my work, both written and practical, it has allowed me to think more about where I gather initial my sources from in each project or task that will benefit my studies in the near future. I was grateful that there was plenty of explanation and direction given to us to ensure we fully understood the tasks set but still containing plenty of balance which allowed me to be independent and original enough in my work.

The first chapter from ‘Taste, Fashion and the French a Magazine’ by Sanda Miller addresses how “taste provides a rational universal basis which postulated an inborn faculty of taste deeming a beautiful object to a not so beautiful object” (Milller). It goes on to discuss philosophical aesthetics and how they have guided us in understanding our personal concepts of taste and the development of fashion magazines originating from the French Revolution.

Firstly Miller introduces how the first fashion magazine was produced in the 17^th century by Jean du Vise who published ‘Le Mercure Galant’ consisting of articles, illustrations and addresses of ‘merchandes de mondes’ and therefore was considered to be the first form of publicity in the sector. Although short lived this first publication allowed people to gain an understanding of the emergence of fashion in media and advertisement. During the 18^th century fashion magazines gained a higher status of the Enlightenment during the revolution due to their more intellectual profile.

The chapter goes onto discuss philosophical aesthetics and how they sought to understand how our experiences within beauty sets out to provide us with our own personal opinion, suggestively providing us with a reason as to why we acquire our own taste/aesthetic. This emerged as an enquiry into the concept of taste in order to deal with the shift in interest from aesthetic contemplation to subjective appreciation (the art work and our psychological response towards it). The subject of ‘taste’ began with British empiricist philosophers such as Anthony Ashley Cooper who sought to provide an answer as to why we seemingly have an emotional response to particular aesthetic experiences. David Hume investigated ways to come up with a more accurate definition as to why we seek a standard of taste proposing that ‘only a qualified observer is in a position to provide a proper verdict of the true standard of taste and beauty’(Hume) leaving a range of ongoing disagreements.

The concept in this chapter of fashion and taste being linked creates lots of room for discussion behind why we find things visually appealing and how trends are created due to a common denominator in our likes and dislikes. Furthermore the existence of personal opinion leads to the idea of ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ (Kant) suggesting that everything is art, and everything is beautiful depending on who is making the judgement leaving this down the ‘the delicacy of the imagination’. The linking of fashion and taste has been used throughout history to elevate fashion above its current state.

In summary the emergence of taste in the fashion industry has led to wide success and has been greatly accepted in order to maintain a functioning status within the fabrication of the media. The concept of philosophical aesthetics brings a new light into how we engage in criticism and how this is applied in fashion.  I feel that in turn this was very beneficial and will continue to be revolutionary to fashion magazines. I appreciate the depth of the history and the discussions and points made about each statement and feel I have learnt a lot about the importance of taste in order to help the growth of the fashion magazine industry.

Task 9/10: Ethical Issues in Fashion and Textiles Advertising

The advertisement for American Apparel is thought provoking and uncomfortable for some to observe but is however accepted and justified as a way to normalise the ethical issues and controversy surrounding it. The model is seen posing suggestively on a bed, the image in black and white with the company’s iconic label dignifying the models appearance, a simplistic yet powerful image that links strongly to stereotypical marketing and the objectification of women in modern day advertising. Living within a society, a world where sex sells, sexualising women is a common occurrence. This has resulted in women feeling victimised and viewed as a method in which to increase sales when directed at a certain audience, examples of this can be found in almost every magazine you will pick up in any store in any city in the world.

An article based on the journal ‘Sex Roles’ (a social and behavioural journal with a feminine perspective) discusses how women have been seen as sex objects and fallen victim to print advertisements. Focusing their attention on the contents of 58 different U.S magazines, statistics show that on average one in two advertisements that featured women showed them as sex objects and 10% portrayed women as victims, more likely appearing in men’s, women’s and fashion magazines than in the news or business focused material. The implication of viewing advertisements depicting this behaviour is discussed in more detail suggesting that women are portrayed in this way in order to make men feel more dominant and powerful – “At the very least, [such imagery in] advertising helps to create a climate in which certain attitudes and values flourish, such as the attitude that women are valuable only as objects of men’s desire, that real men are always sexually aggressive, that violence is erotic, and that women who are the victims of sexual assault ‘asked for it’” (Kilbourne 1999, pp. 290–91)[1].

This can be viewed as potentially disturbing for the future and how women will ultimately remain to be depicted due to how the media portrays them. Advertisement is such a common use of media that people no longer give any conscious attention towards what is being presented to them through the eyes of the advertisers. We accept what we feel is normal and what is common leading to stereotypes and trends being created that should not be encouraged or fuelled, despite this, we give into temptations and what we find appealing leading to these kind of ethical issues.

For instance, the women in the American Apparel advertisement is positioned in a way that will confidently grab someone’s attention but in no way does is make clear to said viewer what the brand is selling/ advertising, but in the advertisement industry this is not always seen as a priority, the initial attention has been received and in most instances this is all that is needed in order to make a lasting impression. The model presented in this same advertisement shares the same appearance of a stereotypical prostitute, this type of observation could reflect badly on the brands image and reputation but is overlooked due to the normalisation of these issues in today’s culture.

I feel that this shows the extent of how often women are objectified in the advertisement industry and how the social messages and suggestive actions are likely to be left unquestioned as people are so often exposed to this kind of media worldwide. Despite this, brands that inflict this kind of imagery into the media should be fully aware of the impact they are making and therefore should take full responsibility for the consequences made apparent by presenting their products in this way.

Bibliography:

[1] Stankiewicz, J. and Rosselli, F. (2017). Women as Sex Objects and Victims in Print Advertisements.

A denim story – inspiration from bellbottoms to Boyfriends

Current, E. Elliot, M. (2014) a denim story. New York Rizzoli

I chose this book because I have an interest in vintage clothing and how different styles developed throughout past eras and how people adapted and created different trends as a reflection of their fashion sense and own dispositions. This book tells a creative story about denim especially that of vintage Levi’s and takes the viewer on a journey of an intense love affair with denim, its historic value and how it has inspired decades of people in the design and styling industry.

“Every pair of jeans has a story and tells a story”. I feel as though everyone can relate to this quote from the book as I feel as though everyone has their favourite pair of jeans that they have a somewhat personal connection too, this book shows the aesthetic value of worn, loved and cherished denim jeans, the kind that has been worn over and over and shows a journey within them.

History Of Jeans

Mahe,Y. (2015) History of Jeans, 01/11/2017

I chose to look at this web article because I felt it held a strong link to the book I chose to reference. This website gives the viewer an introduction to jeans in high fashion moving onto the origin of blue jeans in particular giving strong links to ‘a denim story’ by talking about Levi Strauss’ impact on the fashion industry and the original 501 design. The article also goes onto to state how denim fell into the mainstream and the change in the fabrication systems throughout the passing decades and the results of this.

Sayonara, Levi Strauss: How Japan stole the title of world’s best denim jeans from California

Scott, D. (2017) Stuff, 01/11/2017

I chose to reference this newspaper article from ‘Stuff news’ in relation to the previous book and web article I looked at because much like those I feel as though this article shares the same element of going through a journey and taking the reader through a series of events related to the denim and jean industry. The article talks about Kojima; the home of the Betty Smith Jeans Museum. Where inside, an array of different jeans are hanging up as exhibits including a replica of the prototype for Levi’s 501 range. Again this article continues by discussing the origin story of Levi Strauss by allowing the viewer to follow them their journey around the museum using descriptive narrative skills and imagery of the museums main exhibits.

This task has not only allowed me to practise my referencing techniques but has also shown me how to easily find links within different sources in relation to the same theme and concept. I chose these sources due to my interest in using denim as a material to work with when designing and also because of my interest in vintage fashion and how old clothes and trends can be post modernised and adapted into high end and high street trends.