After taking part in every task I have learn a lot over this semester: my skills, gaining knowledge across all areas and what I need to work on. I found task 7 and 8 particularly hard because writing about my opinions as well as what I have read and learnt was difficult to get into words whereas I really enjoyed looking at different photographs of different areas and referencing them. I learnt a lot from everything I have looked at and believe everything will help me in the future of my studies and impact my creative areas as well as my writing.

The advert I chose was one produced for Duncan Quinn who is a luxury British tailor designer. In this advert you can see Duncan himself praying over the top of a vulnerably dressed women in her underwear delicately placed over the front of a car. Duncan can be seen in one of his suits dressed smartly whereas the lady is down to very little making me believe that Duncan sees himself as the bigger character within the ad. He is using a prop that looks like a hand that makes me believe there is a sense of control over her from Duncan’s point of view.

This advert is trying to show off the British suits that Duncan produces but I believe it does completely different. It makes women look vulnerable and does not empower young ladies of society to understand that women and men are at equal society statuses. Underwear is seen as something that should be experienced in a loving and caring environment but in this sense she is being made to show herself off in a provocative nature for him but with his control assisting it. I do not like this advert and I believe it shouldn’t be allowed as an advert for something British as well as him showing his suits to the nation. Women are constantly used as objects through the industry making peoples approach and ideas of women different then what is correct. So many cases come out in the news about cases where women are being abused and controlled within a sexual nature and these adverts do not help the women who are experiencing the actual ain and heart break that it does. The female model in creating imagery that is not correct alongside a tailored item.

For this task I gained an understanding of the etymology of the word ‘Fashion’ by reading part of ‘The etymology and the definition of fashion and clothing’ from the book ‘fashion as communication’ After reading this chapter I understood that it was trying to explain the meaning behind the word ‘fashion’ coming from the latin ‘factio’. The introduction of the chapter allowed me to understand and gain a better knowledge of what I was about to learn and how fashion can be seen and taken in different ways. Associating words come into acknowledgement when thinking about this idea which this chapter agrees with, mentioning words like ‘style’ ‘adornment’ allowing the audience and reader to look into ‘fashion’ in a different way allowing different opinion and thoughts to be provoked.

Analysing through the chapter I came across a statement that I found interesting as well as something that made me question my approach towards fashion and how I see it. This section was ‘Fashion and Anti Fashion’ which explained how fashion makes changes and a huge impact on cultural statuses and social environments. This made me think about how people have and had a fixed way of styling themselves and the way they should be expected to be seen and adorned with the proper attire linking in with how they should be perceived. For example the Native Americans were always known for their tribal outfits and the way that paid their respects to culture through their clothing and ways of life. Anti Fashion is a term used when various styles of dress are worn to represent the fashion of the day. These styles may represent people’s attitudes and may come around due to people’s political outlooks which forces fashion to become a secondary priority to everything else in someone’s life. Many designers have taken on ‘Anti fashion’ as its guidelines and expressed it in different ways. During the early 20th Century Gabrielle Chanel produced a collection called a “poor girls” women’s style where rich women were able to look and by clothes that made them appear like the regular women whilst still being able to wear clothes allowing people to still see and understand the quality. Prince Charles has been described as anti fashion in the fact that he reflects different style through tradition.

Looking into anti fashion and the way people approach it made me think more about the way I appreciate my individual style and continued to read on coming across a phrase ‘a garment is not an item of fashion until someone uses it to indicate their actual or ideal place in a social structure’. This comment made me think about the way that people see fashion as a way of showing off a status and allowing everyone that see that person to understand their location in the social structure. I have seen this myself in my life allowing me to have a fist hand understanding of how fashion impacts the way we approach a person and how we see them but also ourselves in the social structure of today.

Bibliography
[1] Bardnard, M (2002) Fashion As Communication, London: Routledge

Sun Choi

http://showtime.arts.ac.uk/sunchoi

Sun Choi is a knitwear student who produced this fun and eclectic collection in 2013.

After looking into her collection in depth I have come to the understanding that she was inspired by children’s day dreams. She expressed ‘Children always imagine a fantasy like flying to the sky, swimming under the water like a fish and enjoying to hide at their own secret place.’ She aimed to ‘express their hope in fantasy’ through her collection with a fun and memorable backdrop as well as her bright statement outfits. Personally I really like her pieces and the way she has continued the fun nature through her final shots as well. The fun and heart-warming colours bring me back to the day dreaming as a child and making up fun and imaginative expressions of my thoughts. She captures all of these elements perfectly within her knits and allows you to remember things that reminded you of those feelings and emotions. I chose the image of the girl with the balloons due to the colour similarities to her designs as well as it continuing the idea of her inspiration and keeping a playful nature about the whole piece. I believe the image is entitling the young child to feel free and to channel her daydreams due to the fluffy clouds and distinctive colours being the main things the audience can bond with. The fluffy puffs in the sky make it feel like a dream due to them being faint and welcoming complimenting the fluffy areas and nature of Sun Choi’s collection. Balloons are typically children friendly due to them being linked within birthdays and celebrations for younger children. To conclude I believe Sun’s way of thinking towards her collection her research and influences behind it all complement and collaborate to form a successful collaboration.

Blum, D.E (1993) Couture Millinery book ” Ahead of Fashion: Hats of the 20th Century ” vintage, New York, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Photograph from My Fair Lady book written by Lerner, A.J, photograph taken in (1964) The Cut ,https://www.thecut.com/2013/11/50-most-remarkable-hats-of-all-time.html (accessed 31st October 2017)

Marie Claire Magazine cover (1939) Marie Claire Magazine, June edition

Hats and accessories throughout history have forever been changing which is inspiring towards the history of accessories and fashion. It is not only fashion that is changing with the trends but also the accessories that assist them. Audrey Hepburn has been an icon for fashion and modelling. Hepburn can be seen modelling a lavish hat that inspired, looking further into the way hats and accessories can be a way of showing of class and wealth during these time periods. ‘Marie Claire’ was a popular ladies magazine published throughout the 20th Century showing off sophistication and modernism through stylish accessories mainly on her love for hats. Hats are the main feature of her covers showing them off proudly in bold and statement colours casting a strong emphasis in change throughout each edition. This can still be seen in today’s work. Feathers are frequently used through hats in this era due to them being popular for events like weddings and celebrations. The extravagance that a feather allows channels through the beholder and allows confidence and security to be restored. From looking at these three different areas I have learnt that accessories where a huge popularity during history and different medias made this notion even more aware by pronouncing lavishness and beauty as their main attraction when looking at these accessories for the 20th centuries women’s event outfit.

Book ‘The Art Book’, page 121, published by Phaidon
‘Egg Beater no. 4’, Davis, Stuart, (1928), New York

Painting produced by Davis, ‘Egg Beater no. 1’, original painting, 1927, Whitney Museum of American Art

A search online showed that The Museum of Fine Art, Boston has a wide knowledge and archive of ‘The Egg Beater’ series produced by painter Davis

I am interested in artists that use bold colourful blocks to relate a story and meaning to its chosen audience. I came across Stuart Davis’ work in an art book and was interested straight away leading to me to look a little further online to see that he had actually produced a number of paintings for his series all produced in a similar way. This made me think that the way Davis produced his work was just alike the way that a fashion designer produces a collection all circulating around one source of inspiration, this case being an egg beater for Davis himself. I wanted to find out more about the meanings behind the set so went to a reliable website to help, I looked into Boston’s Museum of fine art which allowed me to gain a stronger knowledge behind his inspiration and reasoning behind what he did. I discovered that in 1927 Davis attached an electric fan, a rubber glove and an egg beater to a table which later resulted in four paintings being produced all in an abstract manner not resembling the objects at all allowing his audience to have to look a little deeper and further and come up with their own judgments. He became known as a modernist after this due to him enhancing people’s eyes and minds to the areas of the unknown and making people’s judgements and ideas always change. By doing this task I have been inspired to take this into my own work and make people look at my creations in a different way allowing a modernistic approach to my products. This task was interesting and made me look at a relating theme in different areas. Looking at Davis’ work in a book then online made me feel like I already had a sense of knowledge towards his work and the way he liked to produce his skill to his audience.