Thursday, May 28, 2009

Hussian Chalyan and Lucy Orta

Hussian Chalyan

This is a coffee table. Hussien constructed this garment with the idea of taking your home with you. Orinally there was a setting with 3 chair and a table, and three models come in and everything in the room can be worn.


This is the airplane dress. Its made from fiberglass and is controlled by remote control. Parts of the dress actually shift in shape.


This dress looks at the idea of migration



This model orignally walked out wearing allot of unshaped tulle. A man with a hedge trimmer and shaped the tulle into the above shape.



This dress is made up from over 200 lasers.



Lucy Orta

This is a modular fashion statements in which all the designs are connected.



This is in response to the Iraq war.


Another Modular designs



Orta constructed this when thinking about refregees and homeless people. Its a functional fashion statement.


inflatable clothing.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Jackie Kennedy essay

My question:

How did Jackie Kennedy influence fashion during her time in the white house? What was her impact as a fashion icon and is that impact still relevant today?


1. Dissect your question to figure out what it is asking you and what you need to adress?

Look at Jackie Kennedy
The fashion she wore
The time
How she influenced fashion/trends/society

2. Scope: explore the scope of your response

Jackie Kennedy, who was she, what she did
Fashion at the time
Social and cultural reasons she might have been so influential
The fashion - did she make it/ promote it

3. frame your response

in my essay i will cover...
A short introduction to who Jackie kennedy was
The time - life in the 1960's
The designer - Oleg Cassini
The typical Jackie Kennedy look
How her look influenced later fashion

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Our tribe.

For this lesson we were given a totem, colour, national food, jewels, animal and a trading item. From these things we needed to make a tribe that linked these items together, make a story of creation, religion, values, type of clothing and why we wore that clothing.

My groups items....
Totem : A bear made from patterned bee fabric (Bee bear)
Colour : Red
Food : Pine nuts
Jewels : Safety pins
Animal : wiki flower snake
Trading item : wishing stones.

We named our tribe : THE FLONADS.

The flonads and are a peaceful and small tribe. We work around nature making every effect to conserve and maintain the environment. This is why we are nomads continually moving around to avoid making an impact on the environment.
We live in a swamp in the tree tops, can cannot step foot on the ground because of the deadly wiki snake.

The weather is very humid however we do have a short monsoon season.

We are vegetarians and our main nutrition comes from pine nuts and honey. We are careful to make no waste and thus make use of everything.
We worship the bee bear, she is out God.
Since the bee bear is decorated in bees they are very significant. We have an elder who is guided by the bee bear and makes decisions based on the bees behaviour.

Since red (our national colour) is of limited supply we mainly only wear it for religious occasions. However the religious and tribe leaders always wear some red.The red dye is made from crushed berries.
Red is significant because it is the colour of blood. By holding red as a sacred colour we are recognised that blood is precious, and limited. Blood is not to be spilled.

We have two leaders a religious and tribe. The tribe leader is the boss of the tribe and makes final decisions on if we should move on, stay etc. However the religious leader offers guidance and advice on the same issues.
As people get older they become more important. But women are always more important than men.
We do not believe in exclusive sexual relationships or marriage but free love.

Safety pins (our jewel) are precious and are the skeletons of the wiki worm (the wiki snakes favourite meal). We wear these jewels to honor the snakes and recognise its power.

The wishing stones (our trading item) are sap from the trees that are cured.

For clothing we wear pants made from shredded snake skin. Two separate pieces are wound around the legs and hips and ties together. this enables us to climb trees more effectively.
We also wear a poncho on top that is made from leaves and coated in tree sap to protect us from the weather.

Because we a peaceful people we are not very vein and our main reason for wearing clothes is practicality and enforcing our values.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Subcultures : USA, UK and Europe


Subcultures
  • A subculture is usually in relation to music and arts
  • They come and go, usually inhabited by youth, gives young people a place to belong
  • Make a statements on currunt realities
  • Death of a subculture is when it becomes mainstream

Goths

  • Come from punk
  • Punk was prominate subsulture during it creation
  • Peter Murphy and Suzi Sue very influential musicians to the subculture
  • Bela Lugosis dead- Bauhus
  • Same morals and ideals as Punk (rejecting mainstream)
  • Dark and morbid attitude
  • Mainly wear black, everything is black, associated with death and evil, small amounts of red worn, associated with blood,
  • Fashion adapted from punk
  • Marlyn Manson look- weird makeup and morid look

EMO

  • Minority of youth who felt they didn't belong
  • Stands for emotional rock, a music genre mixed between rock and indie
  • Fashion: skinney leg (in black) and band T-shirts, strips, skulld, hearts and bows are popular motifs
  • Popular for the boys to wear make-up, styled hair and very tight clothes - the tighter the better (many boys wear girl clothing to achieve a tighter look)
  • Emo is very myspace oriented
  • linked to suicide and a dark appathetic veiw of life
  • sexual experiemental is popualr and encouraged espeacially bisexuality

Scene

  • new subculture mix between Emo and pop culture
  • Music: Hardcore, punk, emo and metal
  • alturnative look
  • Asethetics very important
  • Popular band I killed the prom queen
  • Kiki Kanibal influentail scene kid
  • Tatoos, body modifications
  • organised crews - like gangsters
  • really tight skinney legs
  • teased hair lots of colours, artificial colours
  • colour motifs and symbols
  • dark thoughts - goths
  • vein look, leppord print, tacky accessories
  • different from emo because its all about the look not the emotions

Ravers

  • A rave or rave party = danceparty
  • Fast-paced electronic music and light shows
  • Music electronica, trance, happy hardcore and techno
  • subculturethat grew out of the acid housemovement
  • Large used of amphetamines
  • bright clothing
  • outrageous fashions
  • ultraviolet and fluroscent clothing
  • raver candy: bulky, bright, plastic beads

Cybergoth

  • Primarily in the Uk
  • mix between raver and goth
  • wear mainly black witrh hints of neon colours or chrome.
  • Clothing made of reflective materials and PVC, and huge platform boots.
  • Hair extensions in bright colors and multiple piercings
  • Goggles, gas masks and shiny PVC doctors' masks
  • 1970 David bowie very influential to the look
  • Sciencefiction inspired
  • androgyny is common
  • artificial look
  • hair extensions made of fluorescent tubing and electrical wiring.
  • tight black pants, tight black vests or shirts cut from ripped, solid or fishnet fabrics, simular to goths
  • listens to trance
  • Popular bank VNV Nation from the UK

Harajuku

  • Name used by Western media to describe teenagers dressed in a fashion style who are in the area of Harajuku
  • 4 main subcultures in which the look is combined to create harajuku
  • One style Kawaii a popular phrase that meant something was cute or pretty.
  • A form of resistance in that the style and culture associated with it were not seen as attractive by an older generation.
  • This idea of Kawaii was a distinct youth culture separate from the traditional one in existence.
  • Neon and metallic colors.
  • Lolita inpsired from Victorian era
  • princess fashions and goths fashions
  • Harajuku is more of a fashion than a statement.
  • Punk side =dark colors, plaid, chains, and zippers.
  • Punk style is also one of the more gender-neutral fashions in Harajuku.
  • Cosplay =costume-based style.
  • Cosplay followersdress as a fictional or iconic character from a band, movie, or manga
  • Ura Hara mainly for boys interested in hip hip, graffiti
  • Ura hara is more hidden

Harajuku

Kawaii Fashion

Cosplay

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Hippies and punks

For this week we need to look at what we think punks and hippies are.

To me a hippie is...
- someone who does a lot of drugs
- protests a lot
- belives in the ideal of peace and love
- practises 'free love'
- existed in the 1960's
- lives in stange camps
- listens to the beatles
- attended Woodstock
- Optimistic attitude.
- loves bright colours
- wears a lot of tie dye



A punk to me is.......
- likes mo-hawks
- belives in anarchy
- likes safety pines
- wears lots of red and black
- girls like hot pink
- like skull and cross bones
- listens to the sex pistols.
- existed in the 1980's
- Hates pop culture
- Hates their parents
- hates.. pretty much everything
- pessimistic attitude.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Fashion and uniform

Dear blog,
Today in class we talked about fashion in uniform. We identified the difference between unofficial and official uniforms. It was interesting to see how there is like an unspoken uniform for different subcultures.
We also looked at different 'uniforms' and discussed if their purpose was to make them belong or hold status. I found that there was a bit of both in all uniforms.


Unofficial and official uniforms that shoe belonging and status.

Image left to right
1.
http://www.police.tas.gov.au/Our_People/remembrance/national_police_memorial_canberra
2. http://jewsribsinbearjaw.wordpress.com/2009/03/04/is-judaism-really-rank-satanism/

Impacts of wars and utility clothing.

Effects of War
* WWI 1914- 1918
* WWII 1940 - 1945
* Art -murky and dark colours
* Women's clothing became loose and bulky
* Jean Cocteau (famous poet) worked with Picasso to write a controversial ballet
* Movies
- Gone with the wind
- Casablanca
- Fantasia

Utility clothing
* cost of living rose 969% in WWII
* focused on practicality and restraints
* Running out of supplies
* Government control production
* Government avoiding rationing
* Prince control ACT began 1939
* 185 style restrictions introduced eg. no double yokes, no sashes.
* 1941 civilian clothing introduced.
* use of coupons to buy necessities
* Women encourage to mend clothing rather than buy
* Communist countries
- Russia 19th Century - 1991
- China 1945 - now
- Vietnam 1890 - 1969


civilian clothing logo http://www.mylearning.org/jpage.asp?jpageid=1080&journeyid=263


Men's fashion, Beau Brummell and the modern suit

Men's fashion
*1800-1850
- straight pants
- top hats
- cravats
- fitted waist coat
- ankle boots

http://www.fashion-era.com/fashion_plates_old/0013_mens_1800_1900.htm

*1850-1900
- coats above knee
- bright waist coat
- coats called jackets because they matched the pants, begging of the modern suit
- leather gloves
- lace up shoes

http://www.fashion-era.com/fashion_plates_old/0013_mens_1800_1900.htm

* 1900 - 1950
- pop art in 1950
- leather, Swede and denim popular
- jeans came in at ankle

http://www.elanguages.org/view_pagecontent.php?resourceid=36328;id=r36328#r36328

* 1960
- long hair and more facial hair
- bright colors
- double-breasted jackets
- turtlenecks
- polka dotted ties
- paisley flouncy shirts
- fluorescent colours
- bell-bottomed velvet pants

http://www.elanguages.org/view_pagecontent.php?resourceid=36328;id=r36328#r36328
* 1970
- bright coloured or patterned shirt
- jeans that flared out at the knee

http://www.esquire.com/style/style-evolution-0908
*1980
- bright waist coats
- narrow ties

http://www.talentonline.com.au/covers-bands-sydney/80s-Flashback/index.html

Beau Brummell

* 1778-1840
* attended Oxford University
* joined royal regnent
* born poor
* befriended prince Regent
* Influenced Royalty
* Not a designer but a very influential style icon
* Shunned for being too rude
* went insane
* died in a asylum
* Daytime dress
- waist coat, frock coat
- chamois vest
* Evening dress
- Black or blue suit with matching buttons
- white vest
- tight pants

*The coat
- refined
- tailored
- no frills
- black


Beau Brummell himself
http://www.josephhaworth.com/site_map.htm

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Fashion and Escapism

1930's - 1940's Hollywood impact
* More women wore make-up
* fashion was more glamorous
* new influential style icons.
* globalisation - everybody looked up to Hollywood





Images left to right
1. Old photo of Hollywood sign
Source:http://www.gamecyte.com/the-replay-value-of-history
2. Bette Davis, influential Hollywood icon
Style: http://www.zimbio.com/1940s+Hair/notes/1/Best+1940s+Hair+Pictures
3. Audrey Hepburn, influential Hollywood icon
Source: http://students.ou.edu/V/Traci.M.Vickers-1/


1980's designer heros
* Economy boom
* YUPPIEs
* Women - power suits, dressed for success, big hair, shoulder pads.
* Doc Martins
* Trainers
* Pumps
* fish net hosiery
* Colour Coordination
* Fashion to make a statement






1. women in 'power suits'
Source:http://www.customizedgirl.com/blog/?p=26
2. Madonna, influential style icon
Source: http://www.eightiesonline.com/80s-music/madonna-top-1980s-fashion-icon
3. Men's fashion
Source: http://my.opera.com/TogaOga/blog/styles-of-the-past

The Ballet Russes
* (French for the Russian ballet)
* A ballet company
* 1909 to 1929
* preformed in numerous countries but never in Russia
* Amazing extravagant costumes
* designer Leon Baskt did not make literal costumes.
* Very influential on Europeans



Sunday, March 22, 2009

Fashion and Gender

Paul Poiret
* 1879-1944
* French fashion designer
* best known for freeing women from corsets
* invented restricting hobble skirts
* favoured straight lines in dress making
* established own house in 1903
* Made name with Kimono coat
* flamboyant window displays
* big parties
* tried to bring in pants for women
* 1911 own perfume company named after daughter Rosine
* Opened fashion school named after youngest daughter Martine
* left to serve in WWI
* 1919 house near bankruptcy
* 1929 house closed.






Images left to right.
1. Dress by Poiret
Source: http://www.victoriana.com/GazetteduBonTon/designerdresses.html
2. Hobble skirt
Source: http://vintage.blox.ua/2009/03/Uzkaya-yubka-Hobble-Skirt.html
3. Dresses by Poiret
Source:http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/artworld/2007/05/21/070521craw
_artworld_thurman

4. Fashion Illustration by Poiret
Source : http://modamilanesa.wordpress.com/2008/02/
5. Poiret design for women's pants
Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200709/paul-poiret

Cubism

* Early 20th century art movement
* Mainly in sculptures and paintings
* Started by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque





Images left to right.
1. Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Paris, 1907. Oil on canvas
Source: http://dbeveridge.web.wesleyan.edu/wescourses/2001f/chem160/01/Photo_Gallery_Humanities/picasso/pages/Les_Demoiselles_d
2.Georges Braque, Guitar & Clarinet, 1918, Oil on canvas,
Source: http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/1330-1265
3. Pablo Picasso, The Three Musicians
Source: http://www.uoregon.edu/~jvansise/picasso/jvansisepicasso.htm
4. Georges Braque, Le Viaduc à L’Estaque (The Viaduct at L'Estaque), 1908
Source: http://www.centrepompidou.fr/education/ressources/ENS-cubisme_en/cubisme_en.html

Coco Chanel

* born Gabrielle Bonheur 'coco' Chanel
* 1883-1971
* very influential fashion designer
* simplistic menswear inspired women's suit
* loved black, created little black dress
* wore black casually
* always simplified things
* Used jersey a lot stopped the stigma of it being a 'poor fabric'
* Very influential in the 'flapper look'
* Introduced fragrance no. 5 in 1921
* Shut business in WW2, believed it was no time for fashion
* had affair with Nazi spy
* returned to France 1954
* due to her affair with the Nazi spy her designs did not do very well in France but were extremely popular in America.




Images left to right
1. Chanel suit
Source:http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chnl/ho_C.I.54.16.1a,b.htm
2. Chanel suit
Source:http://sewingoesdiva.wordpress.com/2008/01/03/designer-spotlight/
3. Coco Chanel herself
Source:http://frillr.com/?q=node/5996
4. Chanel in her LBD
Source:http://vintagevienna.blogspot.com/2008/03/lbd.html

Madeleine Vionnet

* 1876 - 1975
* French fashion designer
* known as 'Queen of the bias cut' (introduced and popularised bias cut to the world)
* born to a poor family
* sent to a nunnery at young age, but her family allowed her to leave after a hunger strike. After which she pursued her fashion career,
* Used a lot of draping and gathering
* best known for popularising Grecian style dress.
* did not like fashion or the idea of fashion. she rebelled against the idea of fashion and created her own idea of beauty instead of following trends.




Images Left to Right
1. Dancer Irene Castle poses in a Vionnet dress
Source:http://artdecoblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/irene-castle-1922.html
2. Vionnet gown
Source:http://laurawheeler.perso.infonie.fr/vionnet.html
3. Vionnet evening gowns
Source:http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/psop/ho_C.I.46.4.24ab,25ab.htm


Elsa Schiaparelli

* 1890-1973
* Italian fashion designer
* dominated fashion world between WW1 and WW2
* highly influenced by surrealism and collaborated numerously with Salvador Dali
* began to make own clothes at young age
* Opened the house of schiaparelli that closed in 1954
* collaborated with artist Jean Cocteau to make jacket and Salvador Dali to make Lobster dress and Tear dress
* Best known for Shoe hat




Images left to right
1. Shoe hat by Elsa Schiaparelli
Source:http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2009/feb/10/fashion?picture=343060604
2.Tear dress by Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dali
Source:http://arttattler.com/designsurrealthings.html
3. Lobster dress by Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dali
Source:http://www.jennyhaniver.com/2009_03_01_archive.html

Surrealism
* Art movement in early 1920's
* takes images from the unconscious




Images left to right

1.Salvador Dalí White Aphrodisiac Telephone, 1936, Plastic, painted plaster and mixed media.
Source: http://arttattler.com/designsurrealthings.html
2.René Magritte La reproduction interdite, 1937.
Source: http://arttattler.com/designsurrealthings.html
3. Meret Oppenheim, Table with Bird's Legs, 1939.
Source: http://arttattler.com/designsurrealthings.html