Fashion review (V and A Exhibition) 

The exhibition is showing the work from the designer, Cristobal Balenciaga and how he has shaped modern fashion to what it is today. He his designs shown in the exhibition are work from a masterclass designer.

Alongside his work he has terrific garment designs form designers such as, Paco Rabanne and Oscar de le Renta. This is probably due to them being very out there and sharp. A lot of the designs from Balenciaga are very floral, a dress in particular stood out to me as it was darker and drained of any colour. This was extremely different to the others as they are normally packed with vibrant colours, but this one felt like it had more meaning behind it. The Garment looked like a thick plastic bag with almost a reverse dress shape as it is bigger around the shoulders and decreases in size as it goes down.

A huge part and focal point of the exhibition was the x-ray shoot looking at the “Taffeta Evening dress” as it shows the inside details and the making of the dress. This is defiantly something for the “fashion nerds” as it is the close-up details of a dress made by someone who changed modern fashion. I feel that the inside details shown on the dress show how hard and how much hard work has been put into it. I particular like the amount of layers shown in the garment.

Balenciaga once said, “a woman has no need to be perfect and or even beautiful to wear my dresses. The dress will do that for her” I feel this quote has a good reflection on his designs.

I am looking at a review from a newspaper called “Time out” they looked at the exhibition hosted by V and A Fashion. They go into lots of the depth over the description of the garments and what they could mean. The newspaper draws the audience in with a positive, capturing first paragraph as they talk about the first floor and described it as, ‘will have fashion nerds in their element” From what I saw this quote is very accurate when I consider the details shown in the making of some of the designs, the “fashion nerds” can really get the inside details.

The newspaper mentioned the nick Veasey’s x-ray photography, this stood out to the news like it did to me and they’re view, “deceptively simple work was actually incredibly intricate” they highlighted this in a paragraph just like I did which is more evidence that it was a focal part of the exhibition. They also talk about the second floor and how it talks about his legacy and the embroidery of his designs.

As a whole and judging from the review of the Time Out article it is defiantly worth going and as someone who hasn’t visited myself, I can confidently say I would like to visit myself as a up and coming designer. So, I would defiantly recommend people going along to this exhibition when it comes around the next year.

‘The criticism that fashion and clothing are deceptive has two aspects. The first is that fashion and clothing are in the business of dressing something up as something else, that they take the body and disguise it or present it as something it is not.’^[1]

This small extract from Fashion as Communication by Malcolm Bernard outlines a belief that fashion is a form deception, can act as a facade and hides the truth about the body and how it is seen by others.

I mainly disagree with this idea presented in Fashion as Communication as I believe fashion is consistently used as a form of self-expression and identity and without it, the world would be very bland and diversity amongst people and cultures would be limited. People choose how to dress as a method of portraying what kind of person they are and what they believe in (religiously and morally) through self-expression in the style, colour and shape of the clothes/garments they wear. I.e. wearing a dress/skirt to show femininity or tracksuits to show an interest in sport/fitness or even just a general appreciation for comfort and easy living (athleisure wear). “fashion provides one of the most ready means through which individuals can make expressive visual statements about their identities”^[2]. Fashion is trivial for self-expression amongst most, if not all in society; regardless of age, gender or societal class. Everyone wakes up in the morning and selects an item of clothing they own for a reason even if they may not realise it. Expression through clothing is simple and usually subconsciously noted as it is such a huge part of the modern culture with social media like Instagram being a social staple, especially for the younger generation and new genre of designers.

To counteract this view, I somewhat agree that fashion can be a form of deception and ‘dressing something up as something else’. For an example, businessmen/women wear suits to present themselves as very put together, smart, someone of a middle to upper social class, wealthy and successful whereas anyone can appear as if they possess these attributes by merely selecting clothes that support this stereotype. Behind the suit, they may be having financial struggles, poor living conditions, family problems etc. Clothing does escalate the issue of not judging a book by its cover as it acts as another means to do so. Effectively, a homeless man could deceive the rest of society by having a sharp appearance and by wearing a suit as people would be none the wiser to his life beyond his appearance.

It can also disguise the body which is both positive and negative. It can offer support for those not comfortable in their bodies or wanting to hide a deformity, scar etc. However, it can also act as a shield for those with mental disorders affecting their health like eating disorders or self-harm.

Alternatively, most things can be seen as a form of deception; make-up, media, photographs, advertisements etc. “Our mission in Vogue’s fashion pictures is to inspire and entertain while showing the clothes created by many highly talented designers. They are created with this intention in mind, not to represent reality”.^[3] So singling out fashion as something that takes the body and proceeds to ‘present it as something else’ seems far-fetched as photoshopped images appear everywhere and are of greater influence and risk on the perception of the body to people than fashion might be.

Bibliography

[1] Bernard M. [1996] 2^nd Edition, Fashion as Communication, USA, Routledge

[2] Bennett A. (2005), Culture and Everyday Life, London, SAGE Publications Ltd. [Page 84 via E-book]

[3] Milligan L. (2013), The Myths Behind The Image, available from: http://www.vogue.co.uk/article/vogue-school-film-image-making-alexandra-shulman [accessed 24^th November 2017]

The image for Duncan Quinn is to advertise suits but instead gives a poor message and reflection of their brand. A half-naked, strangled woman lying on top of the car whilst the man holds the rope presents the public with a more hostile, violent message and raises many ethical and moral concerns amongst people that may see it.

Firstly, it promotes violence, murder and abuse as the male is shown looking very powerful, in-control and accomplished whilst the woman lay there humiliated, barely clothed and presented dead. The image initially comes off rather sadistic and It may influence other gentlemen to assume this is appropriate behaviour due to it being publicly shown to support and represent a luxury and expensive brand. Suits are also mainly aimed at men so the poor message presented here is being directly marketed and presented to them. This idea of male domination over women and inequality is very old fashioned and is not well renowned or accepted in modern society so would cause quite an uproar if this was an element or image they wished to hold onto in further advertisements and presentation of their company/brand.

This image may also be very offensive to women. It depicts women as weak and controlled by men almost like slaves in both a sexual way and in society also. Although equality between sexes has come a long way since the times of The Suffragettes, there is still discrimination and inequality present; women are paid a lower wage in addition to the verbal abuse and disrespect received daily from men usually but other women also. The image is also very objectifying to women and is promoting inequality further by sexualising something that does not to be sexualised in order to promote the brand. “All history attests that man has subjected women to his will, used her as a means to promote his selfish gratification, to minister his sensual pleasures, to be instrumental in promoting his comfort” – Sarah Grimke^[1] This quote summarises the general message and feel of the image; a woman is being subjected in an advertisement to selfishly promote something towards men I.e. the suit. the advertisement also appealing to a sexual nature due to the woman being posed slightly provocatively and also barely clothed with no reasoning behind it/for it other than to appeal to men.

The idea that ‘sex sells’ is overused, outdated and unoriginal. It doesn’t really work as a ‘promotional’ feature in this advertisement especially as there is hardly a focus on the suit due to the distraction brought by the composition and sexual theme. People are unlikely to acknowledge the suit or respond to the brand positively due to this grotesque scene. It is very old fashioned and stuck in its way through the use of styling and composition in the image; it presents the brand as very sexist, violent and a believer in inequality which is not positive brand publicity.

Bibliography

[1] Lerner G, (1993), The Creation of Feminist Consciousness: From the Middle Ages to Eighteen-seventy, USA, Oxford University Press [page 162]

Throughout this module, I enjoyed most tasks set and found them all very useful as well as educational. They were academically challenging, interesting and taught very useful skills for research and writing. Although I did not enjoy them all, they provided me with new skills and knowledge relevant to the course which is also helpful for the future in studio practice as well as RCS.

The tasks have definitely improved my ability to research as well as shown me new ways to seek out sources and ensure they are reliable. The Online Resources task, as well as the Academic Integrity and Plagiarism task, really pushed me to seek sources and information elsewhere, through books and articles rather than relying on websites and other virtual sources. They have shown me not to rely on the internet to seek relevant information/inspiration for my work, even if it is easier and potentially faster. I have been incorporating this idea of varying my sources throughout my practical work and design project by looking for references in books, articles and also trying to find inspiration in sources like documentaries. Using greater sources also means my research is more in-depth rather than brief meaning plagiarism is unlikely due to my inspiration coming from a variety of places.

The visual research task I initially found challenging but very useful as it really pushed me to read beyond an image and really study something to interpret a meaning/inspiration. This skill would be very useful for the future as I would easily be able to unpack a collection by a designer that I like and easily find their inspiration/meaning behind it and perhaps use it to influence my own work and discover something new. This is also relevant to the Ethical Issues task as it really allowed me to deconstruct an image in order to pinpoint various meanings and messages as well as learn for the future in the industry what to be aware of when publicising my brand and advertising my work to the mass public. It gave me the ability to use a reflective eye as well as to debate and discuss with others what their thoughts and opinions were about a matter/ proposed image in the lecture which I found very interesting.

The Reflective Writing task I found the most challenging out all the tasks, however it was once again very thought provoking and pushed me to think and write academically as well as view both sides of an argument and varying opinions inbetween. I struggled most with the initial understanding of the text so it really deterred me from doing the task as I mentally was blocked and always tried to avoid the task. It took me a while to figure out a method that worked best for me but once I understood the writing and what they were discussing in the texts, I found it very easy to complete the task using skills I have learned or grown in previous tasks.

Overall, I have found this module very enlightening and useful in regards to my practical projects; the RCS tasks have pushed me to seek out various sources for references and inspiration as well as consider varying opinions between people by also considering ethics in regards to imagery as well as work.

Stella McCartney 2014 Collection Inspiration

The photograph I have chosen to analyse features a pair in the in the centre of the foreground. They are dressed in notably bold outfits-the boy wearing white suit with a contrasting dark details. He is wearing this with equally tremendous shoes dark chunky creepers. Meanwhile the girl is dressed in a suit blazer and calf high suede-looking boots.

The background of the photograph the location appears to be busy with multiple figures and cars being visible, this may connote that the pair are at some sort of event or celebration. The potential event setting may also be inferred from the subject’s body language they are supporting one and other and the boy swinging his leg into the air connotes a carefree and jubilant atmosphere.

The photograph is in black and white indicating it is from the past. This assumption is shown to be true by the caption informing us that the photograph is of a “teddy boy and girl, London, 1972” (Stella McCartney: D.I.Y, 2014).

Further research into the term “teddy boy” has taught me that it is a term used to refer to a style led by the youth of the 1950’s after the second world war. The name “teddy’s boy” is a reference the Edwardian era that their clothing at the beginning of the movement were derived from. It was “a nationwide teenage style and the first post-war teenage subculture” (Discover, 2017). The action of lower class youths wearing Edwardian suits that were originally associated with the upper class was an act of rebellion against the movement back to the pre-war strict class hierarchy.

The photograph has multiple aspects that can drawn upon to gain information and inspiration from, these include the fashion choices, subjects themselves and the history behind the image. I find the manner in which the youth of the 1950’s to 1970’s used fashion to create a strong communal image and defy against the social norms particularly riveting as I’m sure Stella McCartney did too.

Bibliography:

Stella McCartney: D.I.Y. (2014). W Magazine. [online] Available at: https://www.wmagazine.com/gallery/stella-mccartney-mood-board/all [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].

Discover. (2017). Teddy Boys. [online] Available at: https://brightonmuseums.org.uk/discover/2015/02/26/teddy-boys/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Collections.vam.ac.uk. (2017). Group of Teddy boys – Southend on Sea | Lear, Kevin | V&A Search the Collections. [online] Available at: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1242657/group-of-teddy-boys-southend-photograph-lear-kevin/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Brown, S. (2012). Fashion. New York, N.Y.: DK Publishing.

Summary

Over the past 10 weeks we have been given a range of tasks to help us obtain new skills and grow/work on skills that we may have already had, each task being posted weekly to the WSA digital blog. This task involves reflecting on my research and communication journey over the past weeks and seeing how much these tasks have built up my confidence in writing and essay writing skills.

Task 1 included gathering 3 images from varies sources such as a magazine or website but based on our current studio project or something we were interested in. I found it difficult at first to find an image and spent a few hours excessively searching through the library to find a book that I could relate to, this was due to my lack of knowledge on how to use the WSA library, something I have now improved on over the past few months I have been here. I focused my images on Alexander McQueen, one of my favourite designers who inspired me to start my journey into the fashion industry. Through doing this task I was able to get a deeper understanding of actually how easy it is to find museums and journal articles relating to what you are studying and really vary your knowledge and range of sources.

I found Task 2 particuly easy has I had previously used the Harvard referencing system in college to reference all my work so when this task came around, to reference a book, website and paper article, I relished the task and was able to complete it with ease giving me reassurance that I was confident with this skill.

I found task 3 both challenging but surprisingly quite interesting. The task was to research into an artist’s inspiration and create a mood board based on what we find. This bit I found really interesting, the artists I based this of was Iris Van Herpen a Swedish modernist fashion designer who I was very inspired by myself, however, when looking into what inspired her I wasn’t shocked with the outcome. Each of the artists/designers that I found I could see within her work, she had taken bits from each and combined to create her own outstanding pieces of work.

Task 4 for me was the hardest. I find reading complicated texts very tedious and quite boring especially when I’m not interested in the subject of the text. In this case many of the words within the text were very complicated to me and of which I did not understand, because of this I put of doing this task for a while. I did however complete this task with hast and learnt that I’m not as shy and nervous about writing as I thought I was boosting my confidence in writing better improved essays.

Task 5, the final task to talk about was by far my favourite. I was so interested in the ethics subject to the point I could have kept writing about it way beyond the boundaries of the 500-word limit. This is something I defiantly want to look into further in the future.

I have learnt so much over the past 6 weeks and gained a large skill set in which I can now take on into the future. I am so much more confident in writing and am now more prepared for essay writing next semester.

Ethical issues in fashion and textile advertising

Instead of talking about just one of the pictures I have decided to talk about them has a whole as they both share the same problems and ethical issues. Both of these images draw a close line between advertisement and soft pornography. I understand that advertisement is about pushing boundaries and capturing the audience’s attention, however, both of these images approach ethical issues that have been fought over for many years and continue being argued about to this very day.

Even though both of these images relate they do differ from each other for example Duncan Quinn touches on the idea of male dominance, the gentleman in this picture dressed smart to represent this idea of power and importance. He stands over her barely touching her with what looks likes a stick as if to say that she is not worth it but some how he is forcing her to do things she does not want to be doing. This closely relating to many films like ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ and ‘Fatal Attraction’.

On the other hand, the American Apparel advert seems to portray that she is willing to be used as sexual exploitation. Even so both of theses images put the viewer on edge, they are almost disturbing to see, erotic advertisement to sell clothes to the general buyer should not be the way to go especially when it comes to feminist theory.

Amanda Monteiro has written an article on collective evolution called “If men were exploited the same way women are in the fashion industry…”.

She goes into saying that if the roles were switched so the male became the subject instead of females would it be less upsetting. In my opinion I think it would be a lot less upsetting purely down to the fact that the advertisement industry in primarily run by males for example one photographer that stood out for me who has exploited women in many advertisements is Terry Richardson. I found a news article in the guardian stating that “A string of fashion magazines and brands have said they will no longer work with the photographer Terry Richardson, who has been the subject of allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior at photo-shoots for almost two decades”. The problem I have with this is why has it taken people so long to realize that what he and many others are doing is wrong and inappropriate with a professional environment like the fashion industry. I understand that things are finally changing but even so companies and advertisers are still finding way to push the bounderies for example the ethics within culture or child sex-ploitation. It needs to come to the point where they need to realize that the normal consumer does not want to see this and it is important in my eyes that things continue to change and develop with the advertisement industry.

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/oct/24/terry-richardson-photographer-dropped-fashion-brands-allegations

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2017/02/01/if-men-were-exploited-the-same-way-woman-are-by-the-advertising-industry-images/

Fashion Media and my views on the meaning of the word taste

I am going to be looking at Sandra miller’s opinionated extract on the growth of fashion magazines and the criticised taste behind it. The ‘fashion magazine’ first came around in 1672 by a man called Jean Donneau de Vise who published ‘Le Mercure Galant’. These magazines were said to be ‘self-styled barometers of taste’. (Miller, 2013) What soon followed was the idea of taste and the Philosophical aesthetics (critics) who sought to understand the feelings and emotions of a piece of artwork then whether a person liked it or not, therefor the theory of taste as a measure came along.

Thomas Reid a well known Scottish philosopher claims that ‘the beauty of objects resides in their ability to express certain emotions and mental traits rather than causing those emotions or traits in the beholder’. (“Essay VIII” of the Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man) He is also opinionated on whether asthetics qualities are primary or secondary qualities. I agree with both of these valid points. How can a critic judge a piece on taste when every single person on this earth has their own separate personal feelings, tastes or opinion’s. For example, how it is stated in Millers extract told by Hidalgo’s valet, Sancho, that two men were called to give their own opinions on a hogshead, one of them tasting leather and the other tasting metal, only to find an old key with a leather thong tied to it. (Hume 1965: 10-11) My opinion is that taste is subjective, as a critic you cannot make a judgment on a piece on behalf of the world if not being almost biased and pulling your own thoughts and opinions into it. Obviously taste is a measure of whether someone likes a piece of work or not but in this modern day I feel like it also comes down to what trends are floating around the industry at that moment and what everyone as a whole has decided what is tasteful at that moment in time.

Fashion magazines are all about trends and informing people what and what not to wear. ‘There an attempt to elevate fashion above its existing status’. ( Miller, 2013) If something does not follow the current trends then you could say that it has no taste, however, it has taste just within another season or pervious collection. Now days asthetitics are not just there to judge the beauty and grandeur of an object or even the feelings and emotions that the work gives of but whether it falls under the category of the latest trends and this defines if it has taste or not. Overall I believe that taste cannot be a measure of a piece of work purely due to that fact that opinions and feelings are subjective. An aesthetic cannot make an opinion on behalf of someone else even though to this day they still do.

Visual Research: Reading Images

The image that I have decided to choose is an art piece created by the artist Bart Hess. Hess’ creations are innovative and ahead of the time. He uses the body and a wide range of materials to create almost disturbing pieces of art work. There’s just something about his work that I get drawn to personally as a designer myself so I can see why Iris van herpen uses his mind blowing work as inspiration for her own fashion garments. Like Hess, Herpen also explores and experiments with unusual materials in order to create memorable artworks. The specific image I have decided to focus on is is collection of artworks called ‘Mutants’. He has covered the body in latex in which he then lit up with a fluorescent tube light giving the latex a reflective effect. I love how ‘out of this world’ these pieces look. By using simple materials and such a small concept Hess was able to create something truly magnificent. Not only that but you are also left to interpret his work however you see it. For example, his mutants piece I could interpret many different ways. Not only do I see this extra terrestrial life form recently landed from a different planet but I could also see a new hatched life and egg hatching possibly a human egg hatching. Its crazy where the mind can take you with his work. This is something he wants you to see, and endless possibility of ideas generated from his own artwork. The textures he uses makes you want to touch and feel to get involved with his work something else that herpen also likes to do. That is why his work is hard to translate or read because its left up to you to decide where to take it  in your imagination.

Jodidio, P.J. (2015) 100 Contemporary concrete buildings, Cologne: Taschen

Moore, R. M. (2016) The 10 best concrete buildings. The Guardian, 8 January, 13-14

Martin, H. M. (2016) 17 Striking Concrete Buildings Around the World. Available from: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/concrete-buildings-slideshow [Accessed 20 October 2016].

I decided to choose these sources as they currently relate to the theme I am looking at which is concrete buildings. The first image is the cover of a book based on modernist concrete buildings from this book I was able to gather visual inspiration to start my thought process about what shapes and textures I would use based off of these buildings. The second image of a news article and the third image a website I used to compare some of the most interesting and up to date buildings in the current world. It was interesting to see what buildings were rated first and how different the lists were, however, from these sources I was able to gather information about what is trending within architecture and use that within my own work.