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After many years memories of the war have not passed, but faded. This breathing room allowed societal structures to begin healing and employment rises, causing an increase in disposable income, especially amongst the youth who thrived in a new age and was too young to remember the war. This is where fragmentation truly began - the Bubble Up effect of fashion spread throughout modern society as people of different backgrounds began to emerge through unique styles that are often accessible for those who shared similar upbringing. This decentralised fashion as fashion icons moved from movie stars to music bands who influenced fashion greatly throughout the 70s and 80s. Punk, grunge, and goth cultures still permeates through today. This phenomenon highlights the importance of icons throughout history and how significant they are to shape modern culture.

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Once again fashion moves forward with the situation of the decade. It reflects the public's values and beliefs and worries about the socio-economic situation. This is demonstrated by the rapidly changing styles after the second world war as yet again the world enters shock and endures through difficulties that requires fashion to adapt. We can also see that now fashion is being utilised as a tool; as it can create symbolism in which patriotic propaganda upholds a certain imagery that reflects nationalistic views.

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My favourite part of this lecture was learning about Vivienne Westwood. I adore how she immortalised the Punk movement by understanding the important of fashion and a unified look within a movement. Her shop ‘SEX’ promoted the punk DIY culture, the incorporation of bondage and fetish-wear, the use of fabrics like flannels and leather as well as using household items as decoration like safety pins. She also promoted a more andogynous style, emploring people to find their own style rather than work within the boundaries society has put on us. This free thought and belief truly helped to immortalise punk aesthetics and politics in history.

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Individual identities began being increasingly represented in fashion due to the prominence of subcultures in the late 20th century. Subcultures allowed people to refine their self-expression through groups that most closely represented themselves. There were more varied channels of self-expression in fashion than ever before and this progression was reflected in designers’ shifting to drawing inspiration from subcultures. While this was certainly a step forward, many such communities faced issues with gate keeping; you no longer had to fit a wider beauty standard, but you still hard to be accepted by groups to fit in elsewhere. I imagine this was largely due to the political nature of groups like punks, goths and grunge, even down to their music tastes. You could not be accepted if your style, politics and preferences didn’t all align. The more rapid emergence of subcultures showed a definite progression towards the individuality in fashion that we experience today. We now have a greater ability to combine specific elements of defined cultures and blur their boundaries to curate our own identities without requiring labels.

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After watching the lecture, the word that stuck in my mind the most was disruption and I believe that this has a lot to do with the beginning of the valorization of youth, with brands and designers being inspired by the intensity, willingness to change, and open-mindedness to receive the unexpected from young people that made a lot of things change between the 60s and 70s.

The popularisation of the mini skirt followed by the popularisation of the Yves Saint Laurent new look proposing that women wear heavy coats and trousers is just one example of how fashion was becoming increasingly diverse and giving women more options to dress and express themselves without so much moralism and restrictions. And with the 1970s being the decade of polyester and other synthetic fabrics, fashion became increasingly fun, colorful, and much more experimental than in previous decades. Along with this came the political and social context with various movements fighting against capitalism and the problems we came up with as a result, such as the punks, and these problems and pains were reflected in the way they dressed too. Around the world, in different contexts, many resistance movements arose against the colonialist or dictatorial world in which many countries lived. On the African continent, countries like Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Congo, and Gambia were finally freeing themselves from British and Belgian colonialism and beginning to search for a national identity.

day. Moving further around the globe, in the 1960s and 1970s, Brazil, ruled by the military, set up the cruelest repressive system the country has ever experienced. The military government that was only established with the help of the United States to, them, deal with the communist attack, which never existed and was just a way of causing panic among the population to establish a dictatorial regime. These were the so-called "Years of Lead", which were fought back with great resistance and art.

In response, many movements in Brazilian popular music began to emerge, with Gal Costa in the Tropicalia movement, Rita Lee in rock and roll and Elis Regina in Mpb bringing revolutionary lyrics, rhythms, and styles that inspire Brazilian fashion to this

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Lecture 4: Recovery to Rigidity, Provocation- Venus 

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Lecture 4: Recovery to Rigidity, Provocation- Venus 

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Part of this lecture that I found the most interesting was the topic of ‘Zoot Suits’ because it touched on a trend amongst young people. Theo idea that young people had started experimenting with fashion and building their own cultures is very ahead of their time as this is something young people only stared to really express now (21st century). Another thing is them finding a way of life through music. It’s as if they all knew their identities before anyone els and were confident enough to show of their individuality.

Theo suits have their own features that can speak to the younger people expressing themselves, it had panels in the shoulder, the waist was tampered and the trousers were quite “baggy” and they accessorised the suits. It just seems they had a real understanding of fashion in their own culture. All these things they do to experiment with fashion has been carried on and even adapted over time to fit the century. It’s also interesting how the zoot suit was carried by men and women so you can see the inclusive culture the young people had.

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It seems that fashion changed at an incredibly rapid pace within this time period in comparison to the first half of the 20th century. Fashion suddenly became very daring and experimental, even influencing men’s fashion. While women were given more flexibility in fashion up until this point, clothing has always remained appropriate and sensible. The psychedelic styles of Courreges and Quant were so loud and ill-befitting of what would have been acceptable just a decade prior.
Similarly, while miniskirts were gradually introduced and became accepted slowly, the fetishwear-inspired punk fashion were a far cry from anything seen before. It seems incredibly ahead of its time considering the sophisticate styles of the 50s. I am curious as to how fashion was able to change so drastically within such a short time period. Perhaps this was due to the popularisation of the television in homes since half of all households in the US owned a TV by 1955. This would also explain the increased awareness of subcultures’ and musicians’ clothing over what movie stars and elite society were wearing.

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The 60s was revolutionary for modern fashion some of these symbols are still relevant in todays fashion world, from shapes and lines of garments to materials used. Mary Quant was an icon in creating this as her ethical way of taking inspiration from youth culture created a revolutionary new way of shopping. This was also accessible to people as the prices weren’t as high as most designer brands of the time. This was a major cultural shift among the community especially in London being the epicentre. She also was a main part of the design of the miniskirt, which shaped 60s fashion, making it normal to wear shorter hemlines and still be respected as a woman in society. This translated to other cultures aswell, with India and Japan also taking influence from it. There was some backlash from other cultures and religions, showing this trend was not immediately accepted by all. Trends aren’t always accepted by everyone immediately and take time to come into full force, questioning how trends become majorly influential so quickly as fashion is so widespread with many different subcultures.

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Although the 80s and 90s were a big cultural shift in terms of music and style, one theme that remained was goth and grunge styles both being anti consumerism with most clothes being homemade or bought from charity shops. Most of these clothes were decorated, personalised and adorned, birthing subcultures and tribes people associated with like trad goths in the 80s and grunge in the 90s. Inspiration from the 80s created 90s trends and fashion, this is how trends have worked throughout time. Ultimately, this is the height of irony from large fashion houses and Haute Cotoure taking inspiration from youth culture and appropriating these designs into being expensive and exclusive. This defeats the whole object of these subcultures and what they stand for, an example being Anna Sui’s 93 collection. The inaccessible nature of high fashion agitated young people, as they were the ones who had created the trends. This is relevant to todays world with Marc Jacobs still being inspired by grunge with his A/W16 collection, appropriating it so much to the extent he was fired due to public backlash. Opposingly, Vivienne Westwood was an icon of the time, defining and expressing grunge fashion. The question arises whether this is ethical for designers to take inspiration from this youth culture as it is what is trending but the lack of credit to their origins can be disrespectful.

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when discussing our 5th lecture one thing that really stuck out to me was the impact of the creation of the 1960's 'mini skirt' and the effect is had on women's sexual freedom.

This is just another example of how fashion affects and can change the environment around it, for the first time women could be seen wearing these raised hemlines without having the fear of their reputations being negatively effected or being seen as less than by other members of society. This also wasn't just a western phenomenon, the miniskirt was being implemented around the world in different shapes and forms for example; Women in India could be seen pairing tunics with raised hemlines alongside their churidar. The miniskirt was and still is a very important piece of fashion history, playing a very important role of giving women the freedom to control their bodies and remaining a very popular garment in todays society.

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When the lecture introduced fashion trends of different ages it made me wonder what was happening in the Chinese fashion industry at that time.  How did Chinese culture and Western culture affect each other in that age?

When it's introducing punk culture, it reminds me of a similar Chinese fashion trend around the 2000s called 'sha ma te'
The year 2000 Is when the Internet became common in China and the young generation created many ways to find identifications. The 'sha ma te' look is one of them, the core of it is a dramatically unnatural hairstyle. They used a lot of hair spray to make it look aggressive and also dyed it into loud colours.

One thing in the lectures that related to eastern culture is the dress designed by Oscar de la Renta, I think he might referenced Tang Zhuang —— traditional wear from the Tang dynasty.
The top of the dress has a buttoned opening straight down the front just like the Tang jacket, It even has a stand-up collar which is also a typical thing in TangZhuang. the decorative button is also something iconic in Chinese traditional wear.
I want to know how much of my guess is true and were there any more mix-culture garments like this appeared during that time?

Although Chinese culture has always been very different from Western culture from a very ancient age, there were still decades that it became a semi-colonial country. Certainly, there was a lot of cultural exchange happened during that time but few of them were mentioned in the lectures.
now that we are getting to know fashion history in mainly Western culture context, I want to get to know more about what happened in my own culture back in those times, so they could connected and make me see fashion in a more globolized way.

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A new style requires a combination of many aspects, especially in the post-war years of 1960 when the younger generation became more and more important in terms of the meaning of fashion, which has become a symbolism, a status symbol as well as an emotional expression. Each decade has seen changes and has been a time of change, it could be the emergence of a particular art, the experimentation with new materials, or perhaps a historical event. It could even be the use of fashion to resist the status quo and express cultural capital. It's a very interesting point of view, that the minds of designers as well as consumers will collide with each other to create a new history.
What intrigues me is what fashion will become after the people who are experiencing the modern age. Retro? Innovative? Or hybridisation?

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In lecture 6  I've learned that the New Romantics era x grunge era influenced and led up to the breakdown of traditional male female gender roles in society, and that fashion took to turn a more gender fluid expression of individuality and that ambiguous sexuality was made so bold and futuristic that it made the traditional male/female role-play seem very outdated. I liked seeing the change in timeline and how fashion and culture was morphed by multiple different subcultures around the world, influenced by this era of normalizing bold and contrasting looks to the homogenous beauty norms started in the 1980s. I particularly found the talk about cyber punk being so influential in terms of its contribution to fashion in the past up until modern day. It was insightful to see that it was just an idea in the beginning about film and futuristic art, but then took to connect with the New Romantics and grunge era from earlier that then ultimately impacted mainstream fashion to a large extent and how it is still on going and prevalent to this day. It was just thought provoking to me as it may be a reflection and reminder of how as a society, we are on a constant streak of rebelling societal constructs through fashion as a whole.

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In lecture 6 I was particularly intrigued when the lecturer began discussing goths , it was stated that the sub-culture ‘still flourishes today around the globe’ this made me think about how certain ideas stick , remaining relevant and how some fade from public consciousness like the New Romantics . How genres that derive from the same source inspiration ; Punks , can have such different trajectories and life spans . It makes me wonder What sub Cultures relevant now will still be prevalent in the future , what fashion becomes timeless and how does this happen?

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Fashion has the power to change , shape and sculpt new ideas for what we should be and aspire to . Coming out of periods of unrest and turmoil , in this example the war , fashion seems to rebound through innovation and progressive ideology , perhaps a reflection of where the general public would like to move forward into . In this lecture when discussing the 1960’s , formality and rigidity get left behind and favour what women wanted to wear . Fashion used as escapism initially has some tangible impact whether intentional or not.

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What I enjoy most about fashion in the 60’s and 70’s is the extremity with which everything changed. The transition from Dior’s New Look into Mod miniskirts and geometric patterns was far more sudden than the trends previously. Even the issuing in of new fabrics such as polyesters, plastic and metals into fashion moved quickly. Makeup and hair changed just as quickly, the smooth curls of the 50’s swapped for bobs and the natural makeup of 50’s opted out for geometric lines and curves to alter the features more severely. As young people became the target demographic, the surge of more creative extreme styles were ushered in as they rejected the trends of their parents and sought to find their own identities. Not only did the trends change quickly there was also an ushering in of intentionality within fashion. Where before people dressed to follow the trends of society as decided by couture Haus’, now young people had much more freedom to decide how they wanted to dress, to do their hair, to express their own identity. This is a trend that’s continued up until the present day, we now live in a time where we express ourselves in even more extreme ways, yet still face the same repercussions from older generations. I wonder if this is a trend that will continue with myself and my generation, if we’ll look at those younger with contempt and misunderstanding.

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Fashion and trends are easily influenced, and when birth control pills are invented, illustrative sexual freedom is promoted, "sex" becomes a fashion element, and sex education becomes common. As sexual freedom rises, people become less conservative and women wear shorter skirts. Not only will ideology and culture influence fashion trends, but the development of science and technology also provides new inspiration. When humans landed on the moon, spacesuits materials “acrylics” were used into fashion, and aviation and spacesuits became fashion inspirations. The difference in different sports and popular things affect the difference in fashion. Until now sports is valued by young people, a large part of fashion has become very sports, there have more loose versions and comfortable fabrics on the market, and even many fashion brands cooperate with different sports brands.

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From lecture (1-4), it can be seen that women are paying more and more attention. From the beginning, women are responsible for housework at home and become housewives to the outbreak of the war, the rise of female image, women began to engage in different kinds of work and become the protagonists on the poster, alleviating the life depression brought by the war, and women are also respected. Different practical living objects about women have also been developed, women's clothing has become more and more practical andmore practical in the daily life, women can integrate work clothes and fashion clothes. The elements used in clothing are becoming more and more diversified. Designers begin to use different clothing versions to highlight different body curves, and even different professional elements (such as the classic image of Carmen Miranda with an overhead fruit basket). At the same time, actors promote the spread of fashion, perhaps because they demonstrate different roles, which can add the "soul" of the role to the fashion, making the fashion is not only a piece of clothing, but a part of the role.

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1War can affect the living environment, the culture, and the people's minds. It changes the prevalent which is popular in people after every world war. War forced the social development, and people in order to survive had to adapt to the rapid development. In such an environment, people left a lot of spiritual trauma. Capitalism captures the elements of people's "spiritual trauma" and uses advertising to stimulate their desire to consume. All this may seem like a natural development, but in fact it is a capitalist “abacus”. War brings great spiritual trauma to people, and the broken limbs and various fragments produced during the war lead to the "split" visual impact. Although the war has accelerated the cultural change of people, it also has huge costs, innocent people are hurt by the war, and their families are destroyed.

Because of the impact of the war, women's clothes were greatly reformed, and fashion began to become not just fashion, but more practicality and comfort. Women began to have more different kinds of clothing to choose, wearing different kinds of fashionable dress on different occasions in their life. This development not only liberated the women’s wearing, at the same time eliminate the stereotype of color (black is the color of mourning), I think fashion should have so, fashion has no limitations, can be any clothing or color, fashion can change people for some prejudice in life, the longer the development, prejudice is less and less (Just like women should wear skirts instead ofwearing men's wear, men should not wear a skirt).

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Lecture 3:

The fallout of World War One was followed by deep-rooted trauma and devastation, the financial crash of 1929 and the fear of a Second World War breaking out caused global anxiety. The creative industry took major inspiration from the fear of war wounds, amputation and casualties. It disclosed itself in forms of mediums such as illustration and magazines with artist such as Cecil Beaton, while working for vogue, Expressing their foresight on the matter. Well-known brands such as ‘Poiret fashion House’ advertised there perfume in the bust, replacing missing limbs with flowers. Throughout the 1930s “woke” fashion was regressed, producing more of a Gender roll theme. Dresses returned to more traditional shapes with feminine silhouette and defined waste and hip lines. As the 1930s carried on the economic depression, and political instability only added to the fear and anxiety, the recession followed after the economic boom of the 1920s. With no wealthier system in place this depression was the worst we have seen. Surprisingly, new ascetics around the west arrived with themes of classism, visual language, war aftermath and Imagery of the female body classical or fragmental.

Madelene Vionnel (1876-1975) was a key designer who captured the classical fashion style with a Morden take. She used experimental techniques to start the design of her dresses. Instead of illustration of photography, she dropped the fabric onto small dolls of the human body, something she would call “Design philosophy”. Working with new fabrics and techniques she was seen as a pioneer of modern fashion, moving to roam to set up her own brand inspired more of a greek origin style of dress. The time period of a great depression and seeing how the creative industry responded to it is captivating, the financial crash and war fears pushed more of abstract side of art that hadn’t been seen before. Madelene was another sign of globalisation in the 1900s taking Greece as inspiration and reworking it for other countries, making me wonder ‘How much did the war affect fashion globalisation?’

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Lecture 2:

The development of fashion trends and their designs that completely transformed in the 1900s. Leading fashion designers such as Jenna Paquin (1869-1936) and her spouse, Isidore-Rene Jacob-Paquin (1862-1907) launched and operated a popular fashion business ‘House of Paquin’ known for innovating the fashion scene which revolutionised garments, particularly in woman-wear. Jenna was responsible for the designing and targeting high-class consumers using high quality designs which flowed more casually while also keeping-interesting shape, sometimes with over-exaggerated shoulders but still moving in a direction away from corsets, the breast line would also often have a “pout pigeon” look. Paquin helped launch the brand into international waters opening shops not just in Paris but London, Buenos Aires and Madrid. He indulged in public marking stunts sending models dressed in the ‘House of Paquin’ clothes out to operas and horse racing this also included a tour across America with another attempt to internationals the business. The brand would often work with fashion illustrators such as Leon Bakst and George Barbier, showing once again the constant pursuit to show their work through many mediums in-order to get the recognition they deserved. I find the work of Jenna and Isidore to be completely fascinating, pioneering woman-wear and international marketing at the time is incredibly advance. Working with Fashion illustrators and using international marketing ideas proves how dedicated they were to their craft, constantly expanding and reinventing fashion as we know it.

Lucile, Lady Duff-Gorden set up her luxury brand ’Lucile Ltd’ in 1903, selling mainly to wealthy clients such as royalty, theatre stars and arisocacy. Corresponding with the theme of international businesses that ‘House of Paquin’ set which ‘Lucile Ltd’ followed setting up overseas with retail stores in New York, Paris and Chicago becoming the leading international corset retailer in three countries. The most famous garments Lucile produced was tea gowns and evening wear, a more casual setting for the high-class fashion scene in the early 1900s. Hand-made silk and soft fabrics gave it the basis to be a high-end brand and drooping dresses which got rid of the corset made for more of a comfortable experience. The most intriguing thing I find about Lucile is her use of early fashion shows and her guerrilla marketing techniques such as her original “catwalk” shows, which she called “mannequin parade”. I find the fact she used woman from off the street as models extremely captivating, for a brand advertised for the rich this is a very socialist thing to do. Another technique used was the naming of clothing items examples such as; gowns of emotion, The sayings, captain whiskers and twilight memory. You can see this being reinvented in Morden-day with brands such as ‘Balenciaga’ naming their looks with human names such as Ella, Liu, Cathy etc.

Paul Poiret (1979-1944) set up his ‘Poiret fashion House’ in 1903, established for his dress making skills dismissing the corset and the petticoat for more of a free flowing practical dresses. It’s said he based his fashion shows of Luclie (Lady Duff Gordon) as she had already attracted tremendous publicity, using exuberant window displays and hosted a dynamic fancy dress party’s constructing of his own version of the phantasmagoric east. The work of Poiret shows the evolution of marketing in fashion and the continuous need to surpass and build up foundations set by previous fashion houses, although controversial his party’s set up a new medium to display his fashion. Considering how successful his business grew, even expanding it to a fragrance shop in 1911, his outlandish marketing schemes clearly worked and advertised his work to the wealthy perfectly.

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Technology has influenced fashion in significant ways. The technological advancements such as commercialisation of the printing process in the late 19th century has definitely allowed fashion trends to shift and congregate more easily due to the larger visual library available to artists and designers. This means that due to different arts and cultures being more widespread and accessible, designers are able to borrow elements that they have never used before. Because of improvements in technology a lot of the clothing we seen as “traditional” has actually been shaped by outside influences, but have become so old and classic that we see them now as traditional. With the development of cameras, photography and film have also become a medium to depict fashion instead of paintings. I think this really cemented the idea that fashion was not just simply clothes to wear but an art form in of itself.

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I found the contrast between wartime fashion and 1950s fashion to be very interesting. Christian Diors first launch of ‘New Look’ in 1947 had prominent shoulders small waist and pronounced hips. This style was new, highly decorative and extravagant compared to the practicality needed for the wartime style where materials were rationed and style wasn’t in the picture. The 20s flapper dresses also created a more androgynous shape. This made the new collection from Dior to be highly successful as fashion was being it is also a celebration of the wartime being over. The question arises as to whether it was the upper class and Dior who encouraged this new look or whether the public increased its popularity. It is similar to gowns of the 1890s which had a safer visual reference and were reminiscent of time before the war.

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I was fascinated by the introduction of makeup into society, with makeup being more overt in the 20s with bold lip colours thin eyebrows and mascara. All of these to enhance the features whilst still being dramatic and to stand out. It’s a form of adornment, cultivating an appearance that presents a part of who you are. This was a newly introduced way for women to  be able to express themselves through something that’s not clothes. Men were not impressed by this newfound freedom, one quote stating ‘These aren’t young girls, there are no more young girls’. It makes you wonder when did men decide too much makeup was a bad thing, was this from them having too much expression, or the idea that makeup makes a woman ‘false’. It shows men’s continuing inability to process change when it comes to women.

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I was intrigued by the way Paul Poiret was able to change fashion perception by bringing in other influences from other cultures clothes. Although this was a major success, there is an ethical issue with whether the ‘inspiration’ was exploiting the cultures of others. The inspiration vs exploitation debate arises with this topic as he was profiting off mostly oriental designs and clothes. On the other hand it does show appreciation, and nullifies how the western world has a high sense of self importance and supremacy. The influence of other cultures, Japanese clothes for example inspiring post Impressionist artists.

Although this influence helped Poiret evolve, he fell out of style as his designs didn’t change with the trends of the time. This is relevant to todays world and shows how cyclical fashion even though trends move faster now. This parallel shows how fashion may change there is always some element of continuity.

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Provocation I – The transition into celebrity advertising.

While designers were always able to gain notoriety from working with high profile clients, designs seemed to become increasingly associated with their wearers around the 1950’s. Celebrities and the introduction of cinema presented designs to an audience outside of the fashion-conscious, who would naturally associate styles with the celebrities who adopted them, given their lack of knowledge from where said styles originated. This was hugely beneficial for publicity’s sake, but I imagine it would have damaged the industry’s integrity considerably. Celebrity advertising encourages elitism, making it more and more difficult for new designers to make a name for themselves.

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Provocation I – The loss of unity in women’s fashion following World War 1.

Avant Garde designers like Schiaparelli finding success at a time when gender roles and Classicism were making their comeback can only make sense if women’s fashion had seen a loss of unity following World War 1. Feminine, masculine and avant garde trends appeared simultaneously throughout the 1930’s, giving women the freedom to truly play around with self expression for the first time. The new breadth of women’s fashion showed a desire for comfort and utility in their clothing to be an option, not a restriction. The 19th century had bound women to structured silhouettes and multiple appropriate outfits throughout the day. The war then necessitated their utility and forbid excess. The emergence of such varied styles all at once shows how women were excited to embrace their own choices in self expression, free from societal restrictions.

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Throughout time corsets were used as supposrt and to achieve a spesific silhouette of the body. Lucile (Lady duff-gordon) challenged this view when she was inspired and used the tea dress as a base for some of her designs. I think this was a powerful move to future designs as the slight risk hooked more women into trying out less restricted styles of dresses and imbrace the loose feeling.

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Provocation I – Similarities between ‘The Thousand and Second Night’ and the MET Gala.

I found Paul Pourer’s ‘Thousand and Second Night’ party to be reminiscent of an early MET Gala. The modern day event already draws inspiration from the elite socialite parties of old, but Poiret’s party in particular was an example of an explicitly fancy dress party hosted by an actual designer. The party itself would have acted as informal advertising among attendees and this has transformed into the formalised event we see today. The MET Gala is treated similarly to a fashion show with obvious competition among designers to grab headlines. This is why celebrities are used as models for publicity over a global livestream. Despite increased regiment and arguably decreased sincerity, this type of event remains a uniquely enjoyable form of advertising which engages with the wearer who acts as a representative for the label. The gala falls somewhere between a runway show and a party like Poiret’s.

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When Visiting the theater became a regular activity in 1927 it really inspired fashion to become art. This was the beginning of many adverts that would showcase the clothes. They would do close up for detail and would be an,enjoyable way of shopping in later years. 10 years later in the later 30s fashion became more of an art form.  Vionnet and schiaparelli are big focuses for this statement as you see how they use this very intercut way of design. Vionnet with her draping and classic style of dressing while schiaparelli with her more irregular styles showcasing almost the imperfect parts of fashion. Both these women had a huge impact even though both had very different styles.

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I enjoyed watching the shift of silhouettes through the 19th century. From the hard-cut silhouettes slowly softening on the human body as a canvas for art, and not just the regular dress alone. I especially enjoyed seeing how photography and film had an impact on fashion as a whole. In particular, the pioneering highlight of the serpentine dance by Loïe Fuller. I watched a whole body of serpentine dance films on Youtube after the lecture, it was mesmerizing, and I knew there was a bigger theme emerging as it fascinates me when dress makes the body take second place. It highlighted a new medium's ability to portray movement and light too. I find it interesting that these are an extension of early fashion photographers such as Edward Steichen, whom experimented and led the new “creating mood, and playing with angles” aside from what dress looked. Then finding that connection to lecture 3’s Gazette du Bonton’s Fashion illustration, I could really see that further extension, moving into an evocative representation of futurism and modernism in liberty of men and women as now there are no limits to what the body can wear and what purpose Dress in general serves.

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When I saw the lecture about fashion photography, I thought about the vogue episode, which Polly Mellon, the fashion editor, did, and she said it was the longest and most expensive trip in VOGUE's history. It's a story that's bound to be mentioned in every Diana Vreeland biography. A group of Europeans, carrying suitcases full of furs, headed to Japan on a fashion dream trip.
The story begins with a fur-clad woman (played by Veruschka) boarding a train and meeting giants, fox fairies and old warriors. Photographer Richard Avedon shot the series and British writer Mary Evans turned it into a story.
In the absurd extravagance of the '60s, with great enthusiasm and certain cultural stereotypes for just a few shots, veruschka recalls the team bringing in this two-meter-tall man, who breathed so heavily that he could smoke an entire cigarette in a single breath, to photograph the giant in the snow. It's all about fashion. Everyone's crazy. No one questioned the meaning of these things, at a time when the ecstasy of seeing beauty explained many of the puzzles of the fashion soul. It made me realize that fashion is like fireworks, useless but beautiful and passionate.

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The violence and conflict of WW2 affected fashion in many ways but fashion is adaptable to any circumstances, these circumstances bring innovation and change that may not have been foreseen . Due to their being less materials available and garment factories being rededicated to military production the way we produced fashion changed . Designers and consumers both shifted tastes , wants and ideas to both suit and mirror what has happening, fashion is a robust eco system that is ever changing and evolving with what goes on around it no matter how difficult they can be .

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Fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli and her work particularly drew my attention , specifically the quote stating that the more innovative and outrageous her clothes became the better they sold . This signifies the importance of authenticity in design , that fashion is an expression of one’s self . It reflects a personality , way of thinking and creativity whilst reflecting all these things under the context of the time period of the designer . Showing how we respond to life around us concentrated through the means of a garment , it is both personal and relatable hence why we become so attached to fashion and designers .

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The difference in definition of menswear and womenswear in the early 1900s intrigued me a lot , where womenswear is at one stage referred to as ‘gowns of emotion’ referring to the work of Lucile (Lady Duff-Gordon) also being used to project messages in the case of Jacques Doucets work . Whereas menswear was less progressive , there was little appetite from men for this which reaffirmed the box men were put into at the time , fashion reflects t he society it is a product of and here I believe to be a perfect example ; where men are expected to be strong and emotionless which is mirrored in the more bland and basic fashion choices of this time .

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The advent of photography had an impact on the fashion media, and the advent of magazines brought more exposure to the world.
The world wars made women's clothing more practical, and the military cloaks and coats created a new social need for women, Chanel designed clothes to liberate women and express themselves. Not to be objectified and subordinated.
The Second World War allowed women to be more active and have their own roles rather than just being someone who stayed at home. Femininity was also valued more.
Press week came along and became the first FASHION SHOW and modelling changed from being an actress or singer to a more defined career. Richard Avedon made his photographs more emotional and resonated with the audience, which gave a big boost to the fashion media.
Fashion is an ongoing "war", driven by national conditions, events and human endeavours. It is a shift from simple clothing to a form of exported expression. It has moved away from social hierarchies to a focus on individual psychology, and from simple clothing to keep you warm to a social phenomenon.

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The theme of practicality and movement after the world war became much more prominent as the traditional roles between males and females became more blurred. I think the forced development that people were subject to left an open space within fashion and allowed for a sense of fluidity, the world was moving at a fast pace so it was only a matter of time for fashion to also be influenced by this. We are still subject to a fast developing world, gender normative traditions are broken daily within the fashion industry. A great example of this is fashion designer Harris Reed former student at CSM Reeds designs may consist of traditional silhouettes but what set his work apart for me it the fact that he is able to create an environment where the models in in his work aren’t simply dressed based on their gender but as I mentioned before the lines in-between are blurred. I’m always fascinated by the comparison of outstanding statements made in previous years like the “new woman” in the 1920s and the progressive changes within the media today , I do wonder how vast that comparison will be In the next 60 or so years to come.

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It was from 1868 to 1912. It doesn't. Period. Japan itself was heavily influenced by foreign cultures. There's a lot more communication and transactions and trade going on, but this time the government actually encourage people to start to adopt Western clothing and even habits. The military and government officials are even required by law to wear western clothing when going to official functions. I don't want to just touch on the fact that other common now tends to be meant for traditional Japanese clothing. In fact, originally come on just meant clothing in Japanese. So the Commons we know today came into being around about the 8th century, 12th century. Returning to Paris again for one final notes.

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How fashion is impacted so much through what is happening around it is very interesting and how it has to adapt to certain changes. With the FWW women had roles which brought them to direct contact of the war they would work in munition factories, as nurses and ambulance drivers. As more and more women began to work the clothes they wore before weren't as fitted for they were more restricted and less functional. So therefore changes began happening with ease of movement and practicality becoming more important. Not only in day to day clothes were changing but change in high couture was also happening with them taking characteristics of military uniforms such as coats and capes. How fashion is adapting to the changes in people's lives is quick and how it recognise change needs to be made so in this case women could work more comfortably rather than restrictively and how high fashion was adopting military uniforms and turning them more to a trend/style.

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In this lecture, what stepped out for me would be the fashion photography. It is one of the main fashion media that spread very quickly, and especially nowadays when the Internet is very well developed.

However, what I was putting my eyes on are the two types of photographing styles. One focuses on the figure itself, shooting straight forward and making the clothing to be the subject. While the other one is considering about the atmosphere, the whole content in frame, and the emotions, making it a kind of performance. They are actually two main styles of photographing in not just fashion area.

However, it reminded me with the two styles of Chinese paintings, the “Gongbi” (Chinese traditional realistic painting) which is detailly painted with layers and fine lines, and the “Xieyi” (freehand brush work), which is no drafting, painting in one go, and focused on presenting the artistic conception.

What I am thinking is, it seems like finding the matching painting style when illustrating for specific fashion workpiece is necessary. Rather than always making work in the style I preferred like doing fine art painting, trying the best to present the fashion workpiece itself may be another key point. And this is new for me.

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Rather than looking into particular designer or design mentioned in this lecture, I was interested in the change of what fashion means to people during the time. Since the FWW while fashion was a kind of a reflection to the society in women’s dress, all the way to the skeleton dress, when fashion designers were making their work more like an art piece rather than a functional clothing.

This change has reminded me with the Maslow’s hierarchy. During the war, while people were facing surviving problems, their first consideration of clothing was its function, flexibility for movements, which met their basic needs and safety needs. Then after war, when the conflicts of women’s social status occurred, women fashion was then developed to meet the physiological needs. Finally, when people were reaching their self-fulfillment needs, creativeness, artistic elements, and designers’ personalities were brought into fashion design.

This is interesting how connected they are between peoples’ needs and fashion while the development of the society. This has inspired me to look at how Chinese fashion was developed along the history of China, which is based on my own culture background. And I have experienced a little bit before so it will be nice if I could continue exploring and evolving.

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The lecture mentioned that fashions in different areas started to influence each others, because of the globalizations of garments industries, fashion brands and designers. In my perspective, fashion media, which is also been talked about in the lecture, will also be a factor, especially during the Internet generation.

Besides of fashion magazines, fashion films, and fashion photographs, there are a few medias that are popular among quite a lot of young people. The ACGN, origins from Japan which refers to anime, comics, games, and novels. In facts, they are not made for fashion imaging or illustrations, however they do the same jobs. The character designs included a lot of fashion designing in it, and the spread of these medias also affect how people dress.

For example, the popularity of the “JK style” dressing in China among a number of young women. This type of dressing is actually the Japanese school uniforms, and it get very popular because a number of Japanese anime that on heat have included main characters dressing like that.

I would like to look into how the ACGN from different cultures background are influencing the fashion in different places.

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What I found interesting was how Jeanne Paquin was able to build her brand name and deliver it globally around the world. Initially she opening in Paris in 1890 then expanding to London later to: Buenos Aires, New York, and Madrid and other locations. Where full couture house took designs from the Paris house and took them over to the other locations. Paquin was innovative in marketing and contributed in her success of opening her stores in other locations. She also often wore her own designs which people admired and in a way became a fashion icon. I find this interesting as Paquin was able to create her method of marketing to draw attention to her own brand and bring awareness to her designs through herself and through dressing up her own clients and sending them to spaces to promote her designs which is an technique still used today and often. Another thing I found interesting was Lucile and her development to fashion shows where she would dress her models known as mannequins she would serve tea and have the models there. She would also give out a programme with all the models and different dresses which I like the detail of and would've been nice if this detail was carried to todays fashion shows.

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Jacques Doucet and Jeanne Paquin lighted the luxury, and heavy feelings of female dresses, they started to find comfort and practicality in fashion.
But their work still has the typical silhouette from the last century. For example, tops were loose and blousy helping to emphasize a top-heavy shape. Sleeves were also dramatic and long, bell-shaped skirts were enhanced with frilly petticoats, and it felt like lace and other embellishments were still essential in female fashion.

Lady Duff-Gordon's work has a softer, more natural silhouette than the rigid S-shape that dominated the decade before, her skirts started to taper down to the bottom. Paul Poiret popularized the look that featured draped fabrics and a column-like silhouette. He and other designers at that time were creating fashion that no longer required a restrictive corset.

Despite the trend of smooth silhouette that already exists, It is said that a lot of his work was inspired by traditional clothing of other cultures, for example, the ancient Greek Chiton,  the Japanese kimono, and the Algerian Kaftan. I wonder what's the situation in other countries, Is their fashion aesthetic also influenced by the West just like how it did to it? Will their silhouette tend to have an S-shape just like how it was in the West? How was their womenswear affected by the great war?

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The return to rigidity lecture highlighted the step back that women’s fashion took just after the First World War in relation to masculine or immodest fashion. For example, Christian Dior’s work brought back the classic female silhouette with his lavish gowns, once again seeing that women’s bodies were caged and molded by fashion into the way that post war society expected women to dress and behave. Long gone was the normality of the more practical and androgynous women’s wartime fashion, and back in trend was the more classic and elegant style of the late 1900s that had women appear more elegantly and modestly. Whether women of the time preferred the more practical masculinity of wartime fashion did not matter…the 1940s and 1950s once again championed the traditional gentle female look that molded the body into something it was not. The work of Dior and Givenchy saw that the freedom that women had previously acquired to become comfortable with their inner masculinity and be seen as more equal to their male counterparts was now gone. Just like that the world of fashion moved one step backward on the road to the acceptance of immodesty and sexual freedom.

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The frenzied freedom lecture particularly stood out to me when the concept of women in the 1920s started to come into touch with a sense of traditional masculinity through fashion in the First World War. Fashion trends such as dresses that mimicked the look of military uniforms (e.g. the Schiaparelli military coat) allowed women to start presenting in a much more androgynous or masculine way than in the 19th century. The shock of seeing women start to dress in a more masculine way at the turn of the century made way for more scandalous fashion trends to occur, such as the shorter skirts and practical dresses of the 1920s wartime period that painted fashion at the time as more fun, sexy and cheeky. The shorter and slinkier dresses of the period would have been considered immodest to a lady of the mid-18th century. As they become more popular in the 1920s, we see that women’s fashion is slowly making its way along the path of history to the point where immodest or revealing fashion is more widely accepted and even celebrated.

The same can be said for the work of Madeleine Vionnet, who although she worked with the idea of classicism, proportion, and elegance, also used draping in her work to create the shape of her dresses that would accentuate the curves and folds of the female body, an idea that combined the ideals of classism fashion from the 1930s (a more elegant and modest look) and the more free and sensual aesthetic similar to the work of Pioret a few decades before. This highlights that sensual and immodest dress started to become more integrated into society around the first half of the 20th century and that the journey to sexual freedom through fashion was well underway.

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The idea of softening silhouettes that arose in the early 1900s really stood out to me when looking at the designer Paul Poiret. Poiret’s idea to disregard the corsets typically included in women’s fashion at the time seems particularly groundbreaking. This was because corsets in many ways were used as a device by which the female body could be restricted and caged in by the societal exceptions of what a good and proper woman should look and act like, and Poiret’s disregard of the corset in favor of using the drapery of fabric for clothing the female body completely contrasted the idea of restriction and instead enhanced the more modern idea of the accentuate of the female body and a more “immodest” look. By the early half of the 20th century, it was designers like Poiret working to promote the image of womenswear being more sultry, sexy, and free, that catapulted the start of the idea of sexual freedom through fashion into the new century.

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Something that’s always fascinated me about the 1950’s was the place of a woman. How a woman became not simply a mother, a keeper of the home, a wife or a worker but must be all at once. They must do all of this with poise, grace, elegance and they must never complain. They must always look beautiful, fitting the incredibly strict beauty standards of the time in relation to dress, make-up and fashion. And all these rules and confinements are made by men. The iron grip of control over every part of the civilian's life during the 50’s due to fear of, insurgence, fascism, communism, homosexuality, racial equality and all forms of deviancy lead to Christian Dior making an overdone dress. As I’ve said fashion can be a beacon of change, this is not always for the better. The ‘New Look’ is a beautiful metaphor for the culture of the 50’s, corsets, cone bras, shoulder pads, petticoats, headwraps, sunglasses, gloves and heaps of fabric entirely projecting a false character to the rest of the world, so as not to be seen as ‘deviant’. Women have felt the repercussions of what one man thought a woman should dress like ever since. It’s no shock the 60’s ushered in a complete deviation of these rules, with pop art style clothing and makeup, with minimal fabric and hair, the hippy’s entire shift into emphasises on long straight lines and personal autonomy. People wanted to be free to move and use their body as they wished.

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What interested me most about this lecture was the drastic change in fashion that occurred in such a short space of time. As always repeats in history, we must rebel against those that came before and due to the rapid conservatism after the First World War came much more experimental designers, my favourite of which being Elsa Schiaparelli. She was a key figure within and took major influence from the surrealist movement which occurred in the direct response to WW1. Fracturing the world and bodies into illogical shapes as a means of dealing and vocalising the fractured world they had lived in and must continue living in, with the memories of death and destruction they had not only seen but likely actively participated in. She responded to the strict rigidity beginning to develop in the 1930’s by infusing this grim artistry into her work. Her work such as the ‘Tear Dress’, ‘Skeleton Dress’ and ‘Silk Crepe Dress’ exemplify this artistry, her bitter rival Coco Chanel once referred to her as ‘that Italian artist who makes clothes’. Her work is a clear response to the culture of the time, a time of post-war strictness she understood people needed light and fun, they needed space to express themselves and see something whimsical. However, she wasn’t oblivious to the trauma of war, pandemic, financial crash and loss of freedom people were experiencing and responded with more grim designs. Schiaparelli is just one of many artists who have followed this trend, others being Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring responding to racism and homophobia of the 80’s with bright colours and strong expressionist works with deeper, darker meanings. Irish artists such as F.E McWilliams and Rita Duffy, who responded to the horrors of the Troubles with their severe, narrative artwork are a more personal example. Artists always find a way to express what words cannot, to speak out for those who cannot and to spread awareness for issues that others may be too scared to speak on. Now, as our world falls even more into fascist, totalitarian, far-right beliefs and control, we must use our voices and speak out for those who cannot in whatever way we can. This bitter cycle has always repeated, and we can always come out better, even if we have not in the past.

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What I found most interesting about the lecture was the introduction of fashion photography. Specifically, how even from its genesis it has always been viewed through the lens of art. Adolph de Meyer’s work is characterised by dramatic lighting, heavy shadows and dark imagery all of which works to create very evocative, emotive imagery. Even he, as Vogue’s first ever fashion photographer, understood that he wished to create a mood and a story to the pieces and people he photographed and wasn’t simply selling fabric or clothing. I adored being able to see that fashion has always, at its core, been an art form with an intention and a perspective. Where fashion can sometimes be seen as vapid and vain, all it truly is is self-expression, as any other art from is. It may not always be seen as a necessity, but it brings joy and comfort to people. No matter your artform, fashion can be applied to it and used to create and appreciate beauty in all its forms.

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in lecture 3 we discussed the beginnings/ the aftermath of the Great War and the impact it had on not only womens fashion but also their role in society. The idea of ‘fragmentation’ was something that was often used to depict the horrors of amputation that was unfortunately seen a lot during the war, this ideation was seen frequently throughout the 1920’s. These were visualised through many types of media, for example; fashion illustration, photography/fashion photography. Infamously the container of Schiaparelli’s ‘Shocking’ perfume also took heavy inspiration of the ideation, featuring a woman's torso. This made me wonder if ‘fragmentation’ in and of itself played a key role in changing women’s fashion? People were, in no doubt, feeling very lost and confused after the war and this manifested itself in the drastic changes we see happening socially. And as always, fashion will always become a by-product of its’ environment, this can be seen through the many changes it faced; what makeup was deemed socially acceptable, more practical clothing for women and the emergence of the ‘new woman’. I believe that the drastic changes seen between the pre and post-war woman was another aftereffect of fragmentation and an attempt to try to separate the two even further.

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One thing that really struck me throughout this lecture was just how important the influence of fashion outside of the west was to womens fashion and how we define it now. Throughout the 1800’s and early 1900’s we can see the silhouette of womens clothing stay relatively the same, this being the desirable ‘S- shape’ created by exaggerating the chest and hips, giving the wearer the illusion of an impossibly small waist. This started to change with the ever influential designer, Paul Poiret, infamous for liberating the female figure of the corset and began softening the silhouette as a whole. A lot of Poiret’s designs drew inspiration from the traditional clothing of countries outside of the west. These included, but weren’t limited to; the ancient greek Chiton,  the Japanese kimono and the Algerian Kaftan. These influences can clearly be seen throughout his designs from the draping/ layering of the fabrics to the hem lines. This brings to question, where would womenswear and fashion as a whole be if not for influences from outside of the west?

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Lecture 3: Frenzied Freedom, Provocation - Venus 

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Lecture 3: Frenzied Freedom, Provocation - Venus 

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One topic within lecture 3 that we didn’t discuss long enough in my opinion was La Sape/Sapeurs. I found this interesting because it’s focussing on a menswear trend that began in 1910 and has been practiced for so long it continued deeply into the 20th century and is even still done to this day. La Sape/ Sapeurs was a fashion trend on how men in Congo were starting to dress and they would wear suits with minor pops of colour and partner them with accessories like gloves, canes, monocles, glasses and pocket watches with chains. They really revolutionised fashion amongst men, in fact they were so proud of their identities and how they dressed they made clubs based on their shared interest in the way they dressed and play cuban and Spanish jazz music as a collective community expressing their love in the way they dress and express their individual personalities.

I find this interesting because menswear was pretty much ignored throughout the 1920s- 1930s or even qualities and characteristics of menswear was taken and put onto womenswear designs focusing completely on the idea of easing women clothing. I feel this took away from that individuality and personality of menswear that mens fashion had to begin with. It’s a sniper of what mens fashion had been up to during that time.

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Carmen Miranda was on the mid 40s the highest paid actress in Hollywood and she had a 'unique' style, and even though she was born in Portugal she was a Luso-Brazilian woman since she was Portuguese by birth and Brazilian by upbringing, she was the first woman to sign a contract with a radio station in Brazil but she represents more than that.

The image most closely associated with Carmen Miranda is her Bahian costume. The outfit adopted by the singer and actress in 1939 underwent variations throughout her career, but always featured large earrings (usually hoops) and a turban full of fruit and flowers, platform shoes and sandals and frilly clothes. The outfit was very successful around the world and came to be used as a costume at different festivals, such as Carnival.

The baiana costume worn by Carmen continues to be used today in cultural and religious contexts. It is the basis of the clothing of Candomblé, a religion brought during colonisation by slaves, and Umbanda, which is a mixture of elements of Catholicism (brought from Portugal), spiritism, Candomblé and other beliefs around the laws of nature and Afro-Brazilian influences. This clothing is part of the clothing and history of Brazil as a country seeking its identity after colonisation and the same thing that happened in Angola between the 1940s and 1950s when many young people began to appreciate Brazilian and US film stars, trying to see clothing as a form of emancipation from this colonising model, a search for identity beyond Portuguese colonialism.

In addition to the emancipation of Portugal, there is a very troubled and strong power relationship between Brazil and the United States, which despite dividing the continent into 35 countries and 18 independent territories, makes a point of calling itself America, and the replication of this around the world makes the erasure of developing countries in Central and South America even more intense. Carmen Miranda even wrote a song that was a show of nationalism on "Disseram que Voltei Americanizada" (Portuguese for They said I've come back Americanized) is a which is a samba song . It is a direct answer to accusations that Miranda put her Brazilian roots aside to become famous enough in Hollywood. She's an example of the cultural bricolage that being Brazilian is and how inspiring and beautiful it is, even if some call it 'exotic'.

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Both art and fashion are the main genuine and creative expressions of history. It is responding to its environment and the people who live in it. After traumatic events, the individual can react in many ways and when we talk about collective traumas, which affect a small or large group of people, it is clearer to see the reflection of the impact of the trauma. Looking at history linearly, we've had several wars, pandemics, and catastrophic climatic events that have interfered with the lives of thousands of people to some degree. We see this in the study of fashion history, as in the post-war period, there was a rise in conservative ideas, mainly linked to the role of women in society, and many blame modernity and innovation for the damage caused.

And when you look at history, you realize that this movement of rejection is cyclical. Every moment of innovation or disruption is followed by a return to the conservative, the safe. Romanesque (austere), Gothic (lighter, more florid), Renaissance (classical), Baroque (dramatic and far-fetched), Neoclassical (back to tradition)... Between one historical moment and another, there is always a social, economic, or political event of disruption. And this continues to this day, even if these changes are less spaced out in contemporary times than they used to be, the cycle repeats itself, not identically, as it includes new references, but still interspersing previous styles and trends.

This need for a return to conservative tendencies about the role of women in society after traumatic events can easily be seen in the silhouettes of the post-war dresses with more traditional silhouettes. But when we look at female trauma from the point of view of those who have lived through it, showing the sense of fragmentation, uncertainty, fear, and violence, it may be that the feeling invoked, despite the distance of time, is very familiar. After the collective trauma of colonization, which has an impact on my psychogeography, or the trauma of COVID-19, which was collective but also very personal for me. How does this change a person or a society? This is a very abstract subject for me and Elsa Schiaparelli's surreal and innovative way of playing and provoking in an outrageous, non-offensive way is a poetic and inspiring way of dealing with trauma artistically without being appealing and obvious.

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What I think about most after this lesson was what classifies a photograph, illustration, or any kind of media as a fashion product. Given that all the photographs contain different make-up, hairstyles, ways of dress, stylings, and clothes. Independently of the type of record and its time, when we portray things as changeable and susceptible to external influences as human beings and what they wear, the capture of it changes isn't that art itself?

That particular moment that anything related to the human being is being created will reflect the influences, the culture, the psychogeography, the influences of the model, in some cases, but also the artist behind the piece of art or fashion.

It's difficult to know which was the first representation of fashion, after all when talking about fashion photography for example it can be confused with portrait or theatre photography so it's hard to date the first one. However, I believe that when we're talking about fashion, something with blurrier barriers among other spheres of art, the relevance of classification diminishes. They all should be studied and can become a fashion project inspiration.

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I found very interesting the concept of modesty and where this idea of covering certain parts of the body came from. I find important the symbolism that clothing and fashion have inside religions around the world how this concept of ‘The Modest Look’ has been changing, and how different religions deal with these changes.

When talking about modest fashion, the first thing that comes to mind is religious fashion. Muslim women cover themselves with hijabs, the Kittel worn by Jewish prayer leaders and some Orthodox Jews on the High Holidays, or nuns with Nun-Habits. All over the world, societies and different religions have created their modest clothing based on what the religion stands for. I’m from Brazil and I’m part of a religion called Candomblé where many parts of the body are considered sacred but the most important part is the top of the head where there’s the ‘Ori’ which means head, the place that houses the Orixás, the sacred entities worshipped by the members. There are many different ways to do that, with special vests or just with a hat. The Ori is usually covered when going to a place with heavy energy or surrounded by death, such as hospitals, cemeteries, and even parties, depending on the medium's intuition.

Religion around the world has influenced the modern world, the act of covering their bodies is very much linked to the idea of conservatism or submission, as it has been for a long time. However, in some countries, religions, and cultures, modest fashion is a matter of choice, just as it can be empowering to wear a short skirt, it can be empowering to wear long trousers. Women must be increasingly dressing for themselves and focusing on their style and comfort rather than living to please the male gaze.

However, from my personal experience as a woman who until a few years ago was an atheist, modest fashion and wearing looser clothes ends up being very much linked to self-protection against sexual harassment in the street, public transport, uber, or literally any environment. Even though clothing is no excuse for harassment, some women prefer to cover up out of fear rather than to attract unwanted attention. It's very common for women to wear T-shirts or large coats in public places when they're going home from a party, for example, which ends up destroying the idea that modest fashion is a choice in all cases.

Overall, it may be said that t's important to respect each individual's choice to cover up or not, depending on how they feel most comfortable, happy and free, even if that choice is different from yours, the important thing is to use fashion to express yourself. The question that remains is where religion and the belief that dressing in a certain way is a divine wish begin, and where society's structural sexism and women's fear of exposing their bodies and suffering violence begin.

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Lecture 2: Softening Silhouettes, Provocation -Venus 

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Lecture 2: Softening Silhouettes, Provocation -Venus 

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One thing that really stood out to me was the fashion photography discussion. I found it really interesting that fashion photography was around; way before it was fully discovered (when cameras were invented). It’s interesting because I felt that the drawings of the designs and clothing was technically their version of fashion photography, until they discovered the real fashion photography and labelled those drawings as fashion illustrations, but because of technology advancing in the 1900s the camera really opened peoples eyes to different ways fashion can be portrayed and different ways it can be “painted”.

Another curiosity about fashion photography is that a man called Edward Steichen believed he was the first fashion photographer because he did a shoot in 1911 which was to promote fashion as fine art in his work, photographing dresses designed by the leading French Fashion designers. Even though he was established not to be the first fashion photographer his shoot is known to be the first modern fashion sheet and because of this people started to say they see no difference between regular photography and fashion photography. Due to these opinions people like Brandon Adolf, Vogues first staff fashion photographer in 1911; would take qualities from Steichen’s work showing that fashion photography wasn’t just designs being reproduced and wasn’t just showing the styles, colours and shapes, but they were very much photographed for their own artistic qualities instead.

It’s all very interesting because it really answered that question people had of “what is fashion photography?” And just showed everyone the fashion world and what it’s capable of being in the future.

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With the invention of the camera starts at the very earliest photographs around the 1850s, eighteen, 60s and initially this document fashion that was being made in the Parisian ateliers. It wasn't until much later that actually produced in action magazines and it was in 1881 that you get the invention of the half term printing process and 1886 it became a bit more economically viable to actually use that. This is a breakthrough and people were able finally to actually reduce photos and sell them to large audience through the medium of the printed page. But in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it wasn't so much cemented by the fashion photography. People didn't quite have that to be in mind and the boundaries are blurred between fashion photography.

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I pursued to investigate the changing gender roles for women writhing this time period. Here I found gender roles were becoming far more blurred with the economy starting to rely on dual incomes from both husband and wife. This showed women struggling with balancing a career as well as fulfilling traditional expectations as a wife or mother. Therefore women turned to look to comfort within their clothes and revert back to an ‘easier time’ with gender roles being more clear cut. This is seen in works created by Dior in their ‘New Look’ collection which presented a small waist, fuller bust, uneven hemlines and an abundance of stiff fabric. I believe we can see this change from the 1920s being more androgynous to extreme feminism due to returning limits created by World War Two after the extreme freedom previously felt by women. Therefore wanting to present women’s desperation to return to a simpler society they present this with their fashion choices replicating previous trends of clear cut feminine figures.

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Throughout this lecture I continued to look at the way women expressed their femininity and gender identity. Despite the war ending women still enjoyed the idea of keeping their independence. This was greatly expressed through their fashion trends such as the flapper. These women addressed this enjoyment of independence through presenting themselves as more androgynous such as; short hair styles, exposed skin and dropped waist lines to replicate a boys slender figure. By doing this the women participating in this trend were showing their perspectives of their feminine identities not being defined by men and reclaiming their independence continuing despite men returning from work and taking back their positions in the work place. This almost presents women as rebelling against the previous clear cut gender roles which limited their opinion of their own anatomy.

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Due to the First World War that began in 1914 women had to step in to men’s working role. This led to clothes becoming more practical for the active working women. This led me to research into the extent of practicality defining femininity. This can be seen with women wearing tailored trousers yet still defining their feminine silhouette with tight belts around the waist to almost replicate the corset which was commonly found in women’s fashion prior the war. This shows women still wanting to hold onto their feminine identities using their defining features like small waists and larger busts despite being in a male dominated environment. This shows despite women becoming more active during the First World War they still held onto their gender identity.

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At first, women's fashion is around the silhouettes, highlighting the S shape of the body, with the waist line of the skirt to highlight the curve of the body. The development of men's wear is to choose different degrees of suits through different occasions, not deliberately to highlight the curve of the body. The fashion of men and women is obviously completely different. Later, women's clothing no longer needs a strong sense of silhouettes, and the skirt became more and more loose, shape of the skirt like a straight tube . I guess that at the beginning, the fashion difference of men and women is due to the different bodies, women will have a more beautiful sense of lines, through the special thin waist line skirt will highlight this visual sense, but the price is that this kind of clothes are not comfortable enough, it is very troublesome to wear, and gradually eliminated.

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Accoding to the vidio, there's a part is talking about costume. In video, the definition of costume is to play a role or a piece of culture or history. However, all costumes are based on the imitation of known existence, which seems to conflict with the cultural history of clothing. Some of the costumes in films and television productions will hire special designers to design character costumes. Such as <Marie-Antoinette>(2002).This part of the costume is similar to the cultural traditional costume but not exactly the same. Is this defined as innovation or improvement on traditional cultural clothing?

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Through the course of this lecture what really stood out to me was Lucile (1863- 1935) and her approach on gown making, she referred to her pieces as “gowns of emotions” and also going as far to give them names like “Captains whiskers”. As individuals we go through our day to day choosing items that resonate best with our personalities,giving each person a sense of self I think Lucile’s approach to designing gowns was brought on how she might view herself. I know that the outfits I wear on a daily basis are fueled by my emotions wether those emotions are positive or negative. The emotion behind a piece of clothing is something that I have never thought to question and this pushes me to do a bit more research into modern designers today and what emotions might be behind the making of their item

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Costume was an interesting topic to read about, as I always thought of costume as clothing worn related to a specific event or time. Reading the different definitions of costumes really opened my eyes. When thinking about it we all wear our own version of a costume everyday, something we feel comfortable and shows our personality in. The way we dress ourselves everyday to present our identity is a costume.

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Historical Perspectives:

Theorists such as Thorstein Veblen and Simmel had views which interestingly contrasts with the Morden fashion industry. Thorstein takes note of the ever changing market and expectations to keep up with it. Simmel instead talks about the divide between fashion in the social classes and how it affects independent fashion. A hundred years later Rebecca Arnold, a well respected writer and lecturer in history of art, had her take on the matter. Expanding on fashion between classes and how social pressure to show off wealth through the means of a high-end brands. I was intrigued neither Thorstein or Simmel talked about working class fashion as it wasn’t as provident at that time. Rebecca brings up high end fashion a century later showing how much the fashion culture has changed over the 1900s. Global fashion is another topic which drew me in, Globalisation has effected every other aspect of our world including fashion with New fashion city are taking the lead with ethnic culture at the forefront.

Fashion Global Phenomenon:

Only over the last century have other cultures been able to expand on the western wardrobe of fashion. Eric Wolf talks on how ‘The West’ oppressed other cultures in order to conserve western ideology, Explaining why we didn’t have much Asian and African cultures in our society. The fashion community has leant a lot from other cultures and their history leading a fast constantly evolving fashion movement over the last hundred years. Riello and McNeil agree with this, talking on how most western history book are not a reliable source as it’s been manipulated and twisted to conserve western culture. ‘What is The Function of Dress/Fashion?’ links In perfectly with Globalisation as fashion evolves based on factors such as religion and location, with middle eastern muslim country’s having dresses such as hijab linking with The Quran.

Fashion History:

Linda Welter and Abby Lillethun in their 2018 book ‘Fashion History: A Global View’ illustrates the perception on non-western countries and their fashion, using dresses as one example. Asian Cultures used numerous techniques and tribal pattens unique to that region in-order to express themself on the human body. Parallel to Western society the majority of fashion was established through your political, economic and social status with royals being dressed in high-quality tailored garments with flamboyant colours and luxurious materials such as gold and silver. Low socioeconomic status groups were often left passing down generational clothing or self tailoring, usually by the woman of the house hold.

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I resonated the most with the quote “When we dress, we wear inscriptions upon our bodies. The often obscure relationship of art, personal psychology, and the social order” by Elizabeth Wilson. The lecture explains how fashion, in the way people dress, allows understanding of a range of critical topics that cannot be so accurately described through words or on paper. I found this very meaningful as every garment and every piece of clothing comes with history, reasoning, culture, assimilation, rebellion, and time. I can take this to reflect upon myself and others around me in the indirectly convoluted messages we try to communicate to ourselves, others, and the world in our everyday life.

“Fashion has historical and social significance for our understanding of some of the very most important values underpinning our culture.” Taking a look at the survival of the Tarkhan dress, which is such a fascinating case as it informs our understanding of fashion, history, culture, and techniques for preservation that ultimately underscores the enduring value of clothing in human societies. I got an indispensable insight on past cultural beliefs,  and what was deem valuable and aesthetic 5 thousand years ago. Evidently, its exceptional preservation conditions can help experts understand how so to preserve garments of different textiles, but I found the symbolic significance behind it much more meaningful and it enticed me to search for the full story of the burial, and why the dress had to be preserved. After consuming the history of it, and coming back to look at the same garment, it is just simply so much more than meets the eye. To say the least, it is definitely fascinating to visualize the changes, but also the similarities for time in fashion and fashion in time.

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The way that the technology of the time affects fashion is very interesting to me as this is something that is forever evolving, it “embodies” the spirit of its era.

With how fashion was limited in previous centuries by it’s time, trends within fashion could have been seen as fashionable for a longer time due it being less accessible for everyday people; being fashionable was more so being in an exclusive club and it was a luxury to be seen wearing clothes made by a reputable tailor or dressmaker. It distinguished one's class from the upper to the lower.

Whereas today, fashion is much more accessible and is mass-produced, with many more creatives in the field, so while people can dress themselves in any variety of clothes, trends can last only a matter of months or weeks due to the speed of technology and production. This can cause trends seen as fashionable to be oversaturated and change to something else very quickly, which can make it harder for fashion designers to create garments that really ‘stick out’ and stay fashionable.

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The aspect of the lecture I was interested in was the ironic idea of how fashion is supposed to differentiate individuals and show one’s own personality but it also encourages envy and mimicking the idolized status. According to the beginning of the lecture, I could define fashion as something that shows personality and what differentiates an individual from the rest. For instance, fashion can show someone’s characteristics, job, preferences etc. Then later in the lecture when the functions of fashion were introduced, status was mentioned as one. Status including someone’s gender, age, and social position can be revealed in fashion. As examples in the lecture, the veil that distinguishes men and women, and the crown that represents the royal authority were mentioned. These also support the idea of how fashion shows personal identity. However, when wearing worth design became to trend in order to differentiate the middle class in France, I realized that people would desire to be reflected as someone they idolize by wearing like them. The aristocratic women wanting to appear as a higher social class by dressing resemble to the queen was an example of the phenomenon. Fashion was supposed to reveal one’s individuality, but ironically it became a source to become the aspect they want to be appeared as. Furthermore, it has also reminded me of those in modern society who consume imitation of designer brand products. This portrays people who cannot afford those expensive fashion items but still want to be reflected as a wealthy image.

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What is Costume?

To me, costume has and continues to be a form of expression, I agree that costume is when a garment can provide a phycological sense of comfort or protection for some, I agree that costume can create a sense of escapism for the everyday character. Costume can be used to create conversation on less acknowledged topics in today's society, for example, Harry Styles’ British Vogue cover from December 2020, it gathered attention, opinions and conversations- not only as he was the first man to solo-cover the magazine, but to wear a Gucci dress while doing so, the dress created conversations about in-equality, gender roles and stereotypes.

Growing up in the North of Ireland; A heavily politicalised, government-less country, from what I’ve noticed that costume is often and casually worn to show off and flaunt statements with provocative meanings which reference the last 100-years of the country's continuous unsettlement around religion and political status.

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Number 1: My first initial thought on the subject of ‘what is fashion?’ Is that it has a deep history in which changes a lot throughout certain time periods and even to this day and this could link to many different subjects for example: culture, design, technology, urbanisation, status etc. I found the subject of France being the main influence of it all very interesting. France was the key influence of fashion during the 19th century in which developed the fashion industry throughout time and other countries also. France (Paris specifically) was the first country to establish and exhibit their products and their clothing whether this be in displays or exhibits. In 1852 Paris opened up the first department store in which I think changed the fashion industry and even the world as we know it today. it was a place in which women could go individually and not be criticised which in my opinion was a huge breakthrough not just for the fashion world but for feminism and a women’s future.

Number 2: I also found the subject of function of fashion a key factor due to there being many ways in which fashion can be utilised. I think that identity in fashion is what I think of when I hear ‘function of fashion’ due to the way I like to represent myself as a person and that’s what my function of clothing would be. Modesty and immodesty is also what I think of. Modesty could apply to one’s religion or society or even just one’s personal preference. Immodesty is when it can be revealing or maybe even exaggerating a certain feature within the body. Now a days people establish that with no respect for you and your body but I think it makes a fashion statement within an outfit and proportions and can either make an outfit or doesn’t.

Number 3: Fashion media in my opinion is a huge part of the industry. Certain styles can be changed through urbanisation or even untraditional clothing items. In 1785 the first fashion magazine was published which I think changed how other countries see fashion and how they can adapt in their own way or even be influenced by seeing this revolutionary journalism. Fashion did rely also on wealth and social status. Depending on how wealthy or poor you were had a huge influence on what you wore and also how your clothes were manufactured. Wealthy individuals for example royals or high class citizens would have their clothing made by tailors or designers that they would higher out but also it was mainly men who had very decorative pieces rather than women. I think this is a major but also minor change with what is todays fashion for example men that I see day to day like to dress down and not so brightly but it’s definitely not unheard of that they do like to dress elaborate but I mostly see women. However, people who were more on the less wealthy spectrum used to either buy already worn clothing or would make it themselves.

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An aspect of the lecture I engaged with initially would be with the the introduction of identity and the role in fashion it had more so as dress developed throughout history. As in earlier western fashion there was a more uniformed look for both genders at the time and the roles they played, deeming what was acceptable clothing and who was permitted to where it according to their gender or class. I feel that the fast motion from this time in the progression of fashion and the times of change has given rise to more individuality within styles and the fluidity of gender within fashion allowing the styles in that period of time to still have a place in todays market in some way because of the early elaborate designs and the influence that has inevitably had on modern design and ideas.

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Before the technology of the 19th century made ready to wear clothes accessible, clothes, specifically for the upper class, would be made by tailors and dressmakers. Thinking about this, alongside the idea that fashion and dress shows identity and taste. This made me question what the relationship between dressmaker and client would be. I’m curious to know what is the balance between the clients taste and the dressmakers taste. How much of the design would be up to the dressmaker, how much creative freedom would the dressmaker have?

After learning what exactly fashion and costume means and how they differ, I ask how much they overlap. Learning that costumes are worn to specific events, outside of a day-to-day identity, I thought that there would be influences on costume that would be specific to the people at these events, not only the influences the change fashion. So my question would be is costume and fashion changing in the same way, or does the specificity of costume mean it changes at its own pace outside of fashion, how intertwined are fashion and costume?

In the 18th and 19th century, many factors led to France becoming essentially the first fashion capital of the world. Rebecca Arnold said that new fashion cities are constantly emerging. Taking this into consideration, I still think that France, more specifically Paris, has maintained its image as the fashion capital of the world. So my question is if all these new cities are emerging as fashion capitals or cities, is the idea of Paris being a leader in fashion reinforced by its history, or is today’s ideology of fashion still relevant to what Paris is offering the industry.

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Lecture 1: What is Fashion? , Provocation - Venus 

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Lecture 1: What is Fashion? , Provocation - Venus 

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What I found interesting about the lecture was the description of what adornment is used for. It’s mentioned that people adorn their bodies to make themselves ‘aesthetically pleasing’. But what does it mean to look aesthetically pleasing?

To me aesthetically pleasing means something that satisfies the aesthetic needs when it comes to an object, a room etc.

I find it interesting that this term, aesthetically pleasing, is used to describe an outcome of somebodies body. I feel like now (21st century) we don’t really use the term to describe a person but rather what they’re wearing or what surrounds us, for example a colour pallet, or a pattern, or an item of clothing or even the environment (building, tiles, stain glass window etc.).

The other reason why I found this interesting is because it seems that ‘aesthetically pleasing’ seems to stand for the words ‘accessorise’ or ‘glamorise’ yourself. I feel one way that most people achieve this would be jewellery, most people use jewellery is most definitely a way people target their personal aesthetic and vibe, and it’s definitely a way for them to add a bit more glamour to something that doesn’t particularly speak for itself, such as earthy aesthetics, they carry a lot of green colours and warm tones but isn’t known to be extremely glamours. So way people would do that is by choosing some jewellery to pair with their personal aesthetic to make it  aesthetically pleasing to the people around them.

Adornment is extremely important in fashion and dress because it’s a great way of expressing yourself but also finding a way to advertise, it allows you to draw the eye and it also adds to that artistic mindset of understanding colour pallets. Understanding what contests in a bad or good way, looking at what colours compliment each other in a way that will draw in people. That also comes back to an idea that was pointed out in the lecture that adornment is extremely inspired on the environment of the person, so things that body painting, tattooing, piercings, makeup, hairstyles etc. are very influential and have a lot to contribute into what the persons personal aesthetic is and what they’re aesthetically pleasing; appearance is for the people in the environment surrounding is. It really talks about those finer details put into dress that we don’t see and that may or may not be a permanent adjustment to fit a certain aesthetic.

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I was specifically interested when it was stated that ‘Fashion embodies the spirit of an age’, Fashion is supposed to signify who we are, our culture and what is going on around us in a visual form however in today's world I see these ideas becoming increasingly diluted. The more mundane, copycat and conformist our clothing choices are becoming through options we are given by brands that sole pursuit is profit, does it not feel as if we are billboards rather than projections of personal style individuality?

I took particular interest in the definition of Fashion and then compared that to the definition of Costume, Costume being an outfit worn for specific events / occasions or to play a role but isn’t this in some way the essence of fashion itself? I feel there is much overlap, as stated in the lecture as well, how we use ‘fashion’ garments to dress in our daily lives feels at times like putting on a costume. I feel as though we use these clothes to associate with certain ideas, fit into a role or group like a costume has the ability to do.

When looking at the Tarkhan Dress, the oldest surviving woven garment, it made me think about the garments being produced and worn today, it made me question what our generations fashion legacy be and what it will reflect about the times we are living through away from fashion? This ties in with the globalization of fashion and how in the future we will see a universal garment being remembered rather than one of a singular idea. The more global we look, collaborate and pull inspiration from, we will see garments that reflect our period as a whole rather than a very Westernized view that might have been more typical in the past.

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Veblen and Simmel’s perspectives on fashion made me consider my own explanations for the origin of changing fashion. As Simmel says, we use fashion “to combine in uniform spheres”, suggesting fashion is used to show the world you are part of a certain social group or class. An explanation for fashion changing could be that as more people adopted the styles of the upper classes in order to elevate their own social status, the trends became less exclusive. Upper classes would have had to keep changing their fashion styles to remain elite as the lower classes rushed to catch up.

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What I found interesting about the lecture was the first fashion magazine, Cabinet Des Modes. As the fashion industry grew there also evolved a fashion magazine which also helped in the development and spread of fashion. What stood out to me was how popular this magazine and how it highlighted just how powerful France is in the fashion industry. It also received attention in other countries such as Germany and Britain that started to create their very own fashion magazine. When Harper's Bazaar launched in 1867 in America they boasted that their fashion was just as up to date as Paris so Paris is viewed very highly in the fashion industry and is recognised and credited for what they have brought into the fashion industry. It also highlights the influence of the fashion magazine in fashion media with how fast news travelled to other countries. Whilst now almost most countries have their own fashion magazines. This also can show just why the fashion industry in France is so big and why France has such a big impact in the fashion industry along with other leading cities.

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What I really liked about this lecture is I find it tried to expand the concept of 'fashion' that already exist in our minds . It was breaking the stereotypes in many different aspects.

Before it did any introduction of this very big topic of fashion, the first half part of the lecture keep emphasizing that fashion is something hard to defined, it is always changing and is a very inclusive, flexible concept.

The last half part gave many interesting examples to prove a core opinion : fashion is a global phenomena that born at a very early age of human culture.
I realized how common this misunderstanding is that think fashion as something appeared in the recent decades and only exist in middle classes, especially in the West.

It also pointed out that fashion Isn't only about clothing but also could be forms like body painting, tattooing, piercing,scarring, make up, hair styling, even perfume and scent. And the function of fashion is more than decorate , it could also be a protection,  like shoes and clothes provide us from difficult environment, cover certain body parts up to avoid  immodesty. It could also be using on communication, it shows up your identity, personality and status.

Among these examples the main purpose of the lecture is trying to make the definition of fashion wider and wider. I'm happy to see it redefinitioned the outdate opinions of fashion that already exist in my mind and allowed me to see fashion in a broader vision and different angles, before all the further study start.

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I thought it was great to address the globalisation of fashion, especially when trying to answer the question "when did fashion begin?". After all, there's already a tendency for the history of a colonised people to only have their story told when they come into contact with Europeans. Brazil, for example, wasn't discovered in 1500 by the Portuguese, the natives were already living there, with their clothes, culture and organizational system, so having a more global and less Eurocentric vision makes us future fashion professionals, after all, there's a lot to see and learn outside Europe too.

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Something very interesting was the comparison between the three thinkers on the concept of fashion. In the first case (E. Wilson,2003) “Fashion is dress which the key features rapid and continual changing of styles” What struck me was that the rapid consumption of fashion products was seen as a positive thing and today, 20 years after the quote, we can see the impact of this linear and rapid consumption on the world around us, on nature and people's lives.

Rebecca Arnold practically reinforces my impression when she talks about these two distinct worlds within the fashion world. The luxurious, accessible to the few, and the banal side of this art form have become so commercial that it has lost its essence. Finally, Susan B . Kaiser made me more hopeful about this market. Although we still have to negotiate things like gender equality, class, racism, and ancestry, fashion is a mechanism for crossing barriers and making people reflect and be marvelous at the same time.

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I found very interesting the concept of modesty and where this idea of covering certain parts of the body came from. I find important the symbolism that clothing and fashion have inside religions around the world how this concept of ‘The modest look’ has been changing, and how different religions deal with these changes.

I’m from Brazil and I’m part of a religion called Candomblé Many parts of the body are considered sacred but the most important part is the top of the head where there’s you’re ‘Ori’ which means head, the place that houses the Orixás, the sacred entities worshipped by the members. There are many different ways to do that, with special vests or just with a hat. The Ori is usually covered when going to a place with heavy energy or surrounded by death, such as hospitals, cemeteries, and even parties, depending on the medium's intuition.

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This lecture reminds me of an article I once read. It's really not hip to be a hipster: Negotiating trends and authenticity in the cultural field.

In my eyes, fashion is actually a way of life. "A person's taste is related to his social status." In one word, "Everybody's a snob." People will make judgments about a person's dress based on stereotypes of class. Under such a social reality, people tend to follow fashion in order to gain a higher sense of social identity from others, and regard fashion as a way of life whose purpose is to show, which is more obvious in today's prevalent social media. Under this transformation, cultural trends are constantly changing, new things emerge endlessly. Under this logic, being a hipster, constantly embracing new things, becomes the most direct route to social fame. As a result, people often want to demonstrate the ability to spot or create trends, thus showing independent style and "really good taste".

But when we go back to the source of fashion: is it fashionable to follow others? So I think it's important to keep your authenticity in exploring fashion: not to show it to others, but to really put it into your own life.

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I was interested by what fashion survives the passage of time shaping how we view fashion today as we didn’t see everything that was deemed fashionable and not fashionable at that time. It makes me question why certain things didn’t survive, whether it be from the garments decaying or from going out of fashion. On the other hand, an example of a timeless piece that has survived is the corset.  This previously has been an instrument used to confine women to certain mainstream beauty standards of the time, compared to now with it being used in fashion again, liberating women and paying homage to the suffering women experienced and it being a way of self expression. These can be adorned in decorative pieces too, breaking away from it being the norm and it now becoming more prominent on the alt/ goth scene. It brings to question whether there were other clothes that had a large impact on history that didn’t survive time and the type of people who wore or were inspired by them.

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What interested me most about this lecture, was the discussion of the idea that fashion and dress has always been a way or a mode by which people can make themselves seem to appear to belong to a particular social class or essentially make them selves fit into the wider public even if the dress they wore wasn’t how they personally desired to express themselves.

The discussion later on about how the first famous fashion designers came about during 19th century France due to the host of aristocratic women who wanted to be dressed in the same garments as the queen was also an interesting point about how fashion was used to make yourself appear like you belong to your social class, as it raises the point that many of these women had felt like they had to dress in the most relevant fashion of the era in order to maintain their reputation and social status, regardless if there personal style presences contradicted the last garments designed by these top designers. The idea of dressing to feel like you fit in to your social groups, class or the wider public is still a common way of thinking for many people and it is quite eye- opening to see where this idea of upmost care for your social reputation through your fashion choices as stemmed from.

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George Simmel said fashion represents nothing more of the many forms of life by the aid of which we combined in uniform sphere of activity. So I think fashion is a symbol of the trend of the times, represents a kind of people's definition and pursuit of beauty. It satisfies the need for imitation and dependence, and pulls everyone into the orbit of collective consensus. It is a product of human class division and the desire to harvest in the change of social change and power. Can be shown as the reality of the elements superimposed imagination of creativity can be shown as a face of the times attitude towards life.

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Fashion is often seen as a shallow subject or interest as one is to focus on the exterior and decorating it, but through the lecture I have learned that so much more thought goes into the creations. The lecture has stated that people creating fashion also answer personal and political questions surrounding the body(Iris van Harpen). As well as that “fashion practice and media depends on theory, history, culture“(Coralina Herrera) and that “it draws inspirations from, reflects, responds to and influences and shapes the complex world around it“.

After seeing this lecture I started looking at fashion at as not only a way to decorate the body but to incoorporate people into an artpiece, kind of like a semi-form of installation for the everyday and or certain occasions.

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“Fashion represents nothing more than one of the many forms of life by the aid of which we seek to combine in uniform spheres of activity the tendency towards social equalization with the desire for individual differentiation and change.”

“It's a social process of negotiation and navigation through the murky and yet hopeful waters of what is to come.”

To me, these two definitions about fashion from the lecture are interesting, they explain what fashion may be while widen what fashion is. What fashion means to me was used to be strongly linked with clothing, accessories, or makeup, which are trending and dominating the garment industry, but these seems more like “dress” after the lecture.

By looking at these definitions and having the idea that fashion is different from dress and not only dress, I immediately think about something that shares the same characteristics, which is people’s behavior or activities. Beside dressing, these are what people change a lot and can be marked out form the society from.

Especially on the Internet, these can be trending among different groups of people, for example visiting a specific series of shops, eating a specific food, taking selfie in certain poses and filters, and a lot more. You can also simply tell that what type of people are doing the matching things. All these are happening and changing rapidly just like fashion in dressing.

I wonder if this could be define as a kind of fashion.

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Something interesting I took from the lecture was the contradiction within defining ‘Fashion’. Simmel stated fashion to be a ‘tendency towards social equalisation with the desire for individual differentiation’ this oxymoron intrigued me. It brought me to the idea of fashion trends or fashion movements such as the punk, hipster or mod movements. How people feel the need to individualise themselves by ascribing to a ‘unique’ style and yet this style can be cleanly logged into a specific trend. Somewhere in all of us we feel the need to be the singular thinker, to whom no one else can understand, no one else can be as intelligent or individual. But we still crave the approval and validation of those around us and so fall into a group, a group which usually holds an exact political stance, ideology or theology. A unique style will almost always fall within the trends of the time, as we are still restricted by the fabrics, production and what is available to us as of right now. So how unique truly is it? And by extension how unique truly are we? Is it that we, as people, simply need to feel individual rather than truly be so?

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I connected a large portion of this lecture to some of the media lessons I’ve had in my film class last year. We studied Erving Goffman’s identity theory, in which individuals create different identities in various social situations such as at work, home, with friends or colleagues. His theory suggests that we are constantly managing our self-presentation in order to maintain relationships with others and our sense of self. I think that this ties into a fashion, as a large part of our identities is the way we physically present ourselves. I connected the idea of dress and costume to putting on a (not necessarily fake) mask, for different situations we find ourselves in, and this can be to assimilate or stand out. We select clothing styles and grooming practices that aligns with our preferences and how we'd like to be perceived. Even when wearing uniforms we are representing who we are working for or where we belong — and it could be said that wearing a particular style can also affiliate us with a group of people for example punk and hip-hop styles. Erving Goffman’s theory of identity can provide a framework to understanding how fashion is used as a tool of managing and constructing our identities.

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I have an idea in this lecture.During the 18th century Men began to wear a three-piece suit and deeper color, because their life and work scene changes, This costume at work more convenient and serious, but for many workers,this clothing does not belong to fashion, because they choose to wear this kind of clothing is for subsist, it is just a uniform for them,When they no longer wear it for subsist, it becomes a fashion.

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From the lecture, dress was primarily used to separate status throughout history. The opening of the department store made it easier to buy pieces that were the trend at the time, this made the status separation hard to distinguish. Which is why I think the upper class started to create more trends that soon evolved into the now known micro trends to show their wealth.

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The main aspect of the lecture that stood out to me was Eric wolf 1982 in the origins of dress where its explained that when viewing history the focus shouldn’t only be on the west but to incorporate the “mutual interrelationships and inter-independences in space and time”. I’d also add that one of the main reasons why the wests influences on the world may have bias’s in the recall of dress can be found within the context of colonialism and how todays media is centred around the western region, this not only skews the image of fashion but it also doesn’t often shed light to other changes and advances in fashion outside of western cultures. I had also come to the realisation that fashion had always existed from the point of human existence and isn’t a confined definition to just cloth, dress begins once the physical appearance is changed which then made me compare simple origins of dress to its complex and ever changing nature today.

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One thing I found particularly intriguing was just how vulnerable the fashion industry is to its’ surrounding environment and how that causes it to change. For example, how the creation of the woven looms coincided with the rise of womens literacy and the beginnings of the first department stores. The woven loom itself sped up the manufacturing process allowing garments to be made in certain sizes in larger quantities, hence the opening of department stores, this in turn allowed women to take education as a priority as they weren’t having to spend as much time on the production of clothing. This makes me question what can we, as a generation, do to ensure the fashion industry and its drastic affects on the world change for the better?

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During my high school years, fashion was always a very general concept: clothing. Most of my classmates had dreams of becoming fashion designers, and my high school was always heading in that direction, which made me resist the word fashion when all I wanted to do was draw - I didn't like making clothes. In the first class, I was very unfamiliar with the word fashion item and I would think: why can you use the word item to describe a piece of clothing? However, this lecture made me realise that fashion could be more than just clothes, it could be tattoos, piercings, hairstyles or even perfumes - like a personal symbolism and awareness. However, if I were to describe clothing alone, I was reminded of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and perhaps for someone who is sensitive to fashion, the first level of physiological need (just to be clothed and warm) and the fifth level of self-actualisation (to create very stylish clothes) could both be called fashion?

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Having ‘costume’ defined as an outfit for a specific event or used to project an identity not often projected made me ponder. This definition makes it easy to identify a costume as being a garment worn whilst on stage playing a character however it quickly made me question what identity was. I began to think that if I wanted to project myself differently in society by what I wore would that also be considered a ‘costume’? Yet if I do not wear the same outfit consistently what is my true identity and which outfit is my costume? Here I see this as a blurred line that a simple definition cannot explain and something I need to learn personally on what identity I project for myself.

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1. The mass production of affordable fashion limits its buyers to neutralised versions of trends, since it would not be as profitable to produce more extreme and less widely marketable designs. In this way, the average person has a far more limited access to unique and extravagant trends which are only attainable to those who can afford them.

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