Uncomfortable

So in taking about armor, a few of my class mates and I thought it would be interesting to actually practice what we have been talking about!

I am playing on the idea of what is socially acceptable to be worn, that there are different places it is "ok" to wear some styles of clothing and others where it is seen as unacceptable, where people will look down on you or feel that you are "not normal".

Here was my plunge into the world of being judged by my clothing!

I dressed up in what one would call "town clothes" and wore it in the middle of the day around town!

(just for the record I would usually wear this with tights or tucked in to something or at least fake tan my legs a bit :) )




Just in the car park, no one else was there so we just mucked around. It seems to be an acceptable place for this outfit as it could be passed as an editorial photo-shoot for a magazine or something similar.





These did not gain as much reactions as these next shots, It was interesting the looks that I got being in the middle of the day wearing this clothing! it was incredible the mean dirty looks I got from people, the way I was judged because of what I was wearing.






Why I am on a play ground, is because I thought it would be fun to do normal everyday activities wearing clothing that is typically judged to be worn in a different place/setting. What I loved the most was this little girl, she didn't look at me with judgement, she didn't find anything odd about what i was wearing, she just wanted someone to play with. Maybe this is something everyone should think about? When did we become so judgmental? What happened to our childhood carefree attitude, not caring about our clothes, presentation or our friends?


This man was awesome, he came up and asked if we were doing an assignment! He was genuinely stoked about what we were doing! He thought it was a great thing to be testing out! So that was a bit of a confidence booster for us, seeing as we were all feeling rather self conscious about what we were doing!

Next we thought we would go to the local arcade. I felt very out of place!



It was pretty uncomfortable for me, driving a race car in high heels... not very easy! Do not believe the movies when you see those girls that are pro drivers and they are wearing heels! Still got the same kinds of strange looks! People that could not hold in their feelings! There were looks of confusion, of disgust about how someone could wear something like that, and also according to my photographer I got lots of looks from the men who saw me. That was probably one of the things that I felt most self conscious about, because I know that I was dressed in away that would attract the "male gaze". It's not that it is a bad thing to attract, but I felt as though it was as though they were not seeing me but this persona I had put on, and they were looking at me making up their own ideas about me.

Next I walked in the middle of the Street, It was interesting that I got avoided by people walking around.



There was quite a few double takes from people when I was walking along, and the same looks as in the arcade, looks as though I shouldn't be there, that I have been misplaced.

At McDonallds





This was probably the place where my friends noticed the most talk as they were sitting near to a few groups of teenage or tween girls who were not making nice comments about me!






The park, there wasn't much reaction at the park, the adults with their children didn't seem to have a reaction and the children just carried on as usual with the excitement of a park.

Next We went to New World:

Collaboration

My group and I had to present the work we had done to our class, and because we are researching Vivienne Westwood, we can't just present it in our work books, we made a visual collaboration of the four collections we looked at.

Her is our Presentation:






We took elements form each collection, the Tartan form The 18987 Harris Tweed (one of the triangles of the bikini), The Hand Drawn Material from Fall 2008, The Identity controversy from fall 2010, hence the male mannequin in a bikini with a mustache drawn on the face of a woman. And also the runners number from the Spring 2010 collection. It was also Fall2008 and Spring 2010 focused on Global Warming, and being eco friendly, so we used paper to make our garment as it is a resource that is able to be recycled and used again.

Vivienne Westwood Group Work

So the previous post was my contribution to my groups Vivienne Westwood exploration. I picked a Collection, and the other three picked one also. I will post the others work on here as well :)

Fall RTW 2010:





Syle.com talks about the “granny-like” and “librarian-like”ness of the start of the collection, which progresses into a sexy, messy, party look, and overall praises what it says to be “one of Westwood's stronger collections in a while”. The models wear dark lip liner and drawn on facial hair, which makes them look quite masculine, and juxtaposes with the feminine aspects of the collection; this challenges the viewer to bring up different ideas on genders and sexualities. There is a lot of burnt orange, dark greys and purples, taupes, deep blues, accents of black as well as some pastel pinks and purples in the mix, alongside some highly printed and patterned fabrics. The designer has added weight to the silhouette by emphasising shoulders, having billowing sleeves, using flowing baggy pants or drop crotches or making the garments big and oversized (jackets and coats) and full, heavy skirts. The outfits are fairly balanced so, if the pants are baggy, the designer has cinched in at the waist before having a wide shouldered jacket, so that the female figure can still be seen. These help to contrast the masculinity and femininity in each outfit, and in turn, the whole collection. The collection mainly looks as though it is well constructed and tailored, however there are some parts that look as though they are a bit flung together. This looks quite odd in some garments, however it is likely it may have been Westwood’s objective to slightly shock the viewer, as she has done in past collections.

Spring RTW 2010:

1987 Harris Tweed Collection:






The Harris Tweed collection of A/W 1987 celebrated Westwood's love affair with traditional English clothing and also her growing obsession with royalty. It was named after the woolen fabric hand woven in the Western Isles of Scotland. The crown is worn by Sarah Stockbridge, Westwood's muse.

Westwood said: 'It's comic, but terribly chic. I like to keep it on when I am having dinner. It's so English.'

Silhouette: Most of the shapes in this collection are very inspired by royalty.

Fabric: There is a wide range of fabric used in this collection. Lots of denim and tartan. This all adds to the idea of playing with royalty as royal people would not have been seen to wear denim. Usually Harris Tweed, the HandWoven fabric from the Western Isles of Scotland.

Construction: Construction appears to be pretty standard, no methods used that deserve special note.

Vivienne Westwood

Dame Vivienne Westwood proves that you really can do what you want in fashion.

Some say she is the Queen of punk, others, Britian's most influential designer.
Basically she is a legend in the fashion world! She really is the mother of Punk and New Wave fashion. She was the one who pioneered their entrance into mainstream fashion.

You may not think you have heard of her... but some where some how you are bound to have seen one of her designs. Such as this gown from Sex and the City Movie, when Carrie Bradshaw was gifted a Vivienne Westwood gown for her wedding:





Even though this dress is being used for a formal ocassion the signature Vivienne Westwood style is still present.
I want to look at her fall 2008 collection which I feel is an absolutely amazing representation of Westwood's style and personality.

Vivienne Westwood- Fall 2008 RTW (Ready To Wear) - Paris
(if you click on it, a larger image comes up)













Vivienne is such a passionate person, she shows that with her inspiration fot this collection.
Vivienne has always been about making statements about political / social issues.
She has focused on the controversial issue of Global Warming, taking a trip down the Amazon River she was inspired and tis collection was born from that.
She (Vivienne Westwood) imagined Eco Warriors from the depths of the Amazon. An idea that provokes thoughts among the viewers of this (collection) as its not about saving where they are living right now, but it reminds the viewer that there are other people being impacted because of the choices you are making. A very powerful thing for a designer to do!

She also stepped up again and used a fantastic resource of a class or 7 and 8 year olds at Portland School in Nottingham, England. She briefed them on the situation with global warming, and then got them to imagine a society of Eco warriors living deep in the jungle. She then got them to illustrate the fabric being used for this collection. How awesome is that? using these children who are not limited in their imaginations to hand paint the fabric!!

This collection is the uniform for these imagined ECO-WARRIORS, it also includes garments for when the warriors venture into the city, such these gowns:

In the choice of material colours Vivienne has used quite nature relating colours, browns, greens and blues, as well as some purples showing the natural beauty that appears in nature from things such as flowers and blossoms. The Amazon is a rather exotic and colourful place and the Children from Portland School have captured that fantastically with their beautiful hand painted works, the use of bright bold colours is a great reflection of the rainforest.

She has used a varied range of materials, from FAKE fur, to taffeta all embellished with jungle elements such as flowers and leaves.

Vivienne Westwood is not one to read the latest magazines and keep up to date on all the latest fashion trends, she is not a slave to fashion at all! She just brings out things that she is passionate and excited about! Not caring about how other people will react, she just wants to make a reaction, give people something to talk, think and get excited about, something outside their normal day to day thoughts.
This makes her such a fantastic designer, this has given her the ability to step outside of the fashion box and create new things, open doors for other people in the world of fashion!