Assignments by Brittany Davy

1980s HipHop Research

400955441 — 2022-03-11 15:57:51 UTC

Compare the mainstream to the subculture.

Compared HipHop to prominent political figures at the time because of the influence they had over the mainstream. Thatcher was incredibly popular during her time as prime minister as was Reagan in the US with Reagan democrats.

Old wealth vs new wealth:

. Hugo Young, “Thatcher was born to be a politician”

. Went to a grammar school and then Oxford University

. Pearls represent tradition are said to be symbolic of wisdom gained fro, experience

Compare this with HipHop:

. Big flashy gold chains and rings to show off their new success.

. Gold is obviously a symbol a wealth and status

. Hiphop was started by youth who grew up in poverty so each big piece of jewellery was used to represent a milestone

Tradition vs Innovation

. Ronald and Nancy Reagan who famously know for excess and extravagance

. Nancy spent around $25,000 on her inaugural wardrobe

. Thatchers Asprey bag, which is a traditional British brand was sold in 2011 for £25,000

. Both Nancy and Margaret could be seen in traditional power suits

Compared to hiphop

. Creative expression was a key value in this community

. Used their situation to make fashion trends that eventually trickled up into the mainstream

. E.g. trainers and tracksuits that originally started off as sportswear became popular due to hiphop stars wearing them,

. baggy clothing from thrift stores, leftovers in shops and hand me downs

Individualism vs community:

. Thatcher wore blue as a signal to conservatism, Ronald Reagan wore red to signal to republicanism

. Both of these ideologies value individualism

. This contrast greatly to hiphop of which community is a big value.

. Use of Kente cloths and colours such a red, yellow and green were often worn to show that they wear apart of one community.

Bibliography

Blömer, M., 2017. Thatcher's fashion as a symbol of her style of leadership, Munich, GRIN Verlag.

Dimarco, S., 2021. Discover How Margaret Thatcher Mastered the Art of Power Dressing. [online] Veranda. Available at: [Accessed 7 March 2022].

Creative, V., 2019. How the Reagan White House shaped ‘80s style. [online] Vox. Available at: [Accessed 6 March 2022].

Big Daddy Kane

400955441 — 2022-03-11 16:01:58 UTC

Notable style: high fade haircut, natural hair, big gold jewellery

Ronald and Nancy Reagan

400955441 — 2022-03-11 16:02:16 UTC

Notable style: republican red, expensive clothing, power suits, subtle jewellery

Margaret Thatcher

400955441 — 2022-03-11 16:02:33 UTC

Notable style: traditional pearls, the power suit, conservative blue, asprey bag

Run DMC

400955441 — 2022-03-11 16:02:45 UTC

Notable style: sportswear, trainers, gold chains, baggier clothing

Why did the subculture feel this way?

400955441 — 2022-03-11 16:08:53 UTC

. The fashion and music represented the effects of the economic issues and the political discourse that streamed from this at the time.

. Causes of the recession were the 1973 oil crisis, increased competition in the metal industry from new industrial countries, and the 1974 stock market crash.

. As Reagan and Thatcher came into power, the white middle class moved away into away from struggling areas.
. This shifted demographics and segregated people once again

. Optimism from the civil rights movement faded as poverty, violence and crime increased and education and recreational programmes shut down.

. African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Caribbean immigrants felt left behind and took to playgrounds to express their anger about their living situation and the fashion was shared and grew from this.

. Hiphop in both a musical and fashion context transformed anger and violence into creative expression

400955441 — 2022-03-13 04:34:50 UTC

400955441 — 2022-03-14 13:58:03 UTC

400955441 — 2022-03-14 14:14:23 UTC

400955441 — 2022-03-14 14:19:05 UTC

This article was a great introduction into the gold chain and how it has evolved throughout time. I will use this as a resource for my timeline as it goes into details about the symbolism of the gold chain during the Middle Ages (wealth and status) and the Renaissance Era (religious).

400955441 — 2022-03-14 14:21:01 UTC

This article provided me with an in-depth understanding of Renaissance jewellery and the religious and mythological context behind it.

400955441 — 2022-03-14 14:24:38 UTC

This was a brief look at notable Renaissance goldsmiths such as Lorenzo Ghiberti, Sandro Botticelli and Luca Della Robbia.

400955441 — 2022-03-14 14:37:05 UTC

400955441 — 2022-03-14 14:37:58 UTC

400955441 — 2022-03-14 15:17:25 UTC

D.Louise is a jeweller that sells waterproof jewellery using a PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) coating process. This has many implications for the gold chain to become more sustainable in the future. The company explains on there page that waterproof jewellery that’s affordable will make the products last longer meaning less waste in landfill sites.

400955441 — 2022-03-14 15:29:14 UTC

Monica Vinader uses 100% recycled jewellery which mitigates the pollution that occurs when gold is mined. The brand explains that it is carbon neutral. This page will be useful when taking about materials used for gold chains to achieve a circular system.

400955441 — 2022-03-14 15:47:08 UTC

This article explains how augmented reality can increase customer engagement and reduce returns/waste. On the field trip I saw an example of this in Selfridges at the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Mirror which used augmented reality to allow customers to preview makeup. This could be applied to the gold chain which could be virtually altered and added to before a made-to-order purchase is made.

400955441 — 2022-03-14 15:53:10 UTC

This article explains the circularity requires jewellers to consider the production and the end-of-life process of any item that they make. A circular system will have items re-enter the cycle without ending up as waste in the landfill as well as recycling any water used in the process. In my essay I will link this to recycled and waterproof gold as well as brands encouraging consumers to repair their gold chains.

400955441 — 2022-03-14 15:55:34 UTC

This article gave me a quick idea of how 3D printing gold will work in the future. In my essay I will add the idea that recycled gold should be poured into the mould as opposed to mined gold to further mitigate air pollution and make the gold chain life cycle carbon neutral,

400955441 — 2022-03-14 15:57:30 UTC

Kerstin Laibach explains the issue of gold-plating, more specifically, the fact that the process is not long lasting and is therefore almost a waste of resources.

400955441 — 2022-03-14 16:02:00 UTC

This article looks at the rise in gender neutral in response to the increasing demand for it due to society’s changing views about the gender binary.

400955441 — 2022-03-14 16:03:55 UTC

In this article, Osman Ahmed explores the relationship between jewellery and religion and finds that jewellers like Mads Kornerup are inspired by symbols from a multitude of faiths including Buddhism. This reflects the globalised world we currently live in.

400955441 — 2022-03-14 16:06:15 UTC

This article explains that in the 1930s, the gold chain was brought into the mainstream by Coco Chanel. Costume jewellery became immensely popular, with the mixing of both luxury and affordable necklaces. Before this, it was seen as something for the lower class who couldn’t afford luxury pieces.

400955441 — 2022-03-14 16:08:04 UTC

Notable quote: Chanel “championed unabashed opulence”, with her new designs.
In 1954, Chanel worked closely with goldsmith Robert Goossens to further explore the potential of costume jewellery with gold chains being merged with fake pearls, something that is still emulated in the modern day.

400955441 — 2022-03-14 16:11:47 UTC

Good quote: “[Our customers] appreciated the sort of bending of gender a little bit and experimenting and pushing the boundaries when it comes to aesthetic control”- Bernard James, 2022.

400955441 — 2022-03-14 16:17:42 UTC

On the field trip to Selfridges I came across a brand that uses 90% of recycled gold to preserve the planets resources. I then researched the brand online for more information

400955441 — 2022-03-14 16:19:14 UTC

This is a survey conducted by Deloitte about post-pandemic buying behaviour.

400955441 — 2022-03-14 16:21:49 UTC

This article explains that recycled jewellery reduced the carbon emissions released by 99%.

400955441 — 2022-03-14 16:26:09 UTC

This book is from the FRA library and explains that heavy gold jewellery including chains to display their newfound wealth and status out of poverty where hiphop first derived. Run DMC is noted as a front runner in this trend so I will mention them in my timeline.