JP Fashion Promotion

USW Fashion Promotion student (year 1)

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The Breakfast Club: Archetypes and Subcultures - Image Analysis

The Breakfast Club (1985) is based in a small-town high school; five students from different cliques/subcultures come together for a Saturday morning detention. Each character from the image above represents an archetype. To begin this image analysis, what is an archetype? An archetype is a "typical example of a certain person or thing." The difference between an archetype and a stereotype is that an archetype is a symbol that represents a ubiquitous pattern in human behaviour.

In contrast, a stereotype is a character with specified character traits. Essentially stereotypes stem from archetypes. Reinforcing the underlying themes of archetypes and subcultures, the movie begins with a letter written by Brian describing each character's archetypes "you see us as you want to see us.... you see us as a brain, an athlete, a basketcase, a princess, and a criminal".

Focusing on Claire and Allison (the female leads), the contrast between these characters couldn't be any more indiscreet. The positioning and clothing of the characters in the movie poster have a significant role in the perception of the archetype; Claire (princess), John (criminal), Brian (brain), Allison (basketcase), Andrew (athlete). The way each character holds themselves reflects a narrative towards the subculture they each represent. Body language plays a prominent role in identity within a subculture. As seen in the above image, Claire is lying across the floor, resting her head on her hand. As she is labelled a princess by others, she embodies this role. The representation of her pink top symbolises femininity, prettiness, sensitivity and delicateness. These are common perceived traits from a "princess". However, Claire's burgundy skirt represents passion, ambition, and aggression. Burgundy often evokes emotions of warmth and comfort to hostility and perhaps anger. The contrast of the pink and burgundy are indicative of her personality; that being immature and naive (also characteristics of being a "princess"), but she often tries to behave 'cool' and mature. Although Claire bonded with the other members in detention, it is established that she wouldn't acknowledge them in school due to her social positioning and popularity.

Labelled as a basket case, Allison is the result of neglect from her family. Dressed head-to-toe in black, she is perceived as a mystery and an outcast. As seen in the movie poster, Allison is, what seems to be, positioned in a small ball. Holding her hands close to her chest, Allison embodies the basketcase, standoff-ish, outcast behaviour. With Allison's hair covering her face, the contrast is significant compared to Claire, who is poised across the floor with her hair swept back so that all of her face is revealed. However, Allison has a significant transformation from the beginning and end of The Breakfast Club. At the end of the movie, Claire gives Allison a make-over, and she is shown dressed entirely in white. Contrasting from black, white symbolises purity and innocence. An interesting factor in Allison's transformation is her bond with Andrew.

Similarly to Claire, Andrew is popular in school. Known as a jock, he feels pressure to meet everyone's expectations. Allison and Andrew 'hit it off' during detention, but Allison must change her appearance to prove her attractiveness; this represents Allison and Andrew's archetypes. Andrew will only be seen with someone attractive as he is afraid of public and social rejection from the other athletes. In contrast, Allison seeks attention from whomever she can receive it.

Claire and Allison are complete opposites at the beginning of the film. However, towards the end, a friendship is built. Although Allison under-goes a transition from basket case to beauty, will Claire continue to acknowledge Allison once detention is over? The question is remains, will anything change between these students? Will these five teenagers remain friends throughout high school? In hindsight, they will not remain friends. The nature of subcultures is to stay with like-minded individuals. High school, especially in the 1980s, is known for students forming cliques; evidently, it is probable that Claire and Allison will not remain friends.

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The Punk Subculture and Style

Political, loud, and aggressive, the punk movement caused uproar and controversy worldwide during the mid-1970s. The subculture closed the door to family values and opened the door to anarchy, becoming a platform for teenage angst and rebellion. Punk changed society, and although it caused chaos, it encouraged a new form of thinking to be accepted by a new generation of teenagers. The ethos behind the punk subculture is a belief system of anti-establishment values and freedom for the individual expressed through fashion, literature, dance, and centred around the genre of Punk Rock music. The ideology behind the punk movement was individuality. Ironically, the growing popularity of the Sex Pistols across the UK and the USA formed a uniform of crude t-shirts, leather jackets, leather boots (often Dr Martens), brightly dyed hair, tattoos, and piercings which became distinctive indicators and the norm of a punk. Johnny Rotten (the lead vocalist of the Sex Pistols) found this frustrating, as this was the opposite of the meaning behind punk.

“[F]ashion enables us to achieve social identity, a sense of belonging to a social world. Our desire to be part of the group will influence the way we dress, but we prefer groups whose characteristics we share or aspire to.” (Mair, 2018)

This quote by Mair supports my analysis of the punk movement. By becoming a punk, a strong social identity has been formed. An attitude and belief system must go hand in hand with this (the visual expression and verbal expression are coherent). Some may find themselves dressing like a punk as they aspire to be a part of the subculture. However, if their beliefs and vocal opinions do not match the others, then the question must be asked if they are punk? Does the ethos of individuality overrule the collective thought of anarchy from within the subculture? In retrospect, the collective behaviours and beliefs of a subculture are similar therefore if someone visually expresses themselves as punk then their belief system and ethos will be similar.

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Styling and Creative Direction - Reflective Journal

To begin this week's Styling and Creative Direction workshop, we were put into randomised groups. Lexi, Erin, and I were a team.

The day was split into two sections (morning and afternoon).

Morning session:

The task for the first half of the day was to create as many looks using the two clothing racks provided by the university. This challenge was fun because we were able to play around with colour, texture, and shape within each outfit. In total, we put together 13 different looks.

Afternoon session:

During the afternoon session, in our groups, we had to allocate which outfit we wanted to photograph. The requirements of the task were to photograph the outfit in three different settings:

1. On a grid/Flatlay X3

2. On a mannequin X1

3. On a body X3

This process was very fun because we had as much creative freedom as we wanted (as long as we stayed in our allocated time slots). Personally, I found it difficult to prepare the outfit on the grid. There was a lot of pinning and adjusting to get the structure and shape that we wanted. However, it was extremely rewarding once we had the pictures that we needed. The easiest part of the afternoon's session was photographing the outfit on a mannequin. There was minimal pinning needed and the mannequin was relatively easy to dress. The best part of the experience (for me) was photographing Lexi in the outfit. There were lots of laughs as we positioned Lexi into different poses.

Once the photography process was finished there was about half an hour left of the session. I chose my favourite pictures and used PREQUEL, which is my favourite app to use at the moment for photo editing. During the editing process, I wanted to run with the 'punk' theme so I used saturation, warmth, temperature, and hue to brighten the picture. Once I was happy with these adjustments I used some of the premade filters on the app to add blurs, light distortions and sparkles.

Overall, I am happy with the outcome of this task. However, in the future, I will take into account the positioning of the photos before taking them as I didn't have an idea in my head of what I wanted the outcome to be.

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Understanding Hot Pink

Perceived as feminine, pretty, sensitive and delicate, pink provokes attraction and repulsion from men and women. The majority of men dislike wearing pink as they feel emasculated due to connotations associated with the feminine colour; however, they are attracted to women who wear pink. Whereas some women dislike wearing pink as it is related to the naivety of being a woman and the discrimination that comes hand in hand with it; however, other women take pleasure in wearing pink as it feels powerful to wear. During the 1970s, the punk era brought about this rebranding of hot pink as it was seen as bold and vibrant. Punk closed the door to family values and opened the door to anarchy, becoming a platform for teenage angst and rebellion. Although hot pink was seen as bold and rebellious within the punk community, it was still seen as feminine and delicate within the mainstream community.

In western civilisation, pink is associated with young girls, whereas blue is associated with boys. The argument of colour grouping gender is currently political as it segregates children from playing with the “right and wrong” toys. Often toys for young girls are packaged in hot pink as we are trained by society to “think pink” (Funny Face, 1957). This can have a negative effect on the children who wish to play with the other genders toys, which can lead to bullying and isolation from the other children. The Barbie doll is a prime example of pink packaging being used as an advertisement towards young girls as it has had a strong influence on femininity. Although pink isn’t only targeted towards young girls but also women as the packaging on hygiene products are often pink. Different colours affect and influence the way we feel and think. Therefore, the colour of the packaging depends on the demographic of the target audience/consumer. A persons response to colour is involuntary as it’s directed by psychology.

“For example, brighter colours tend to reduce the seriousness of packaging, black adds sophistication to any packaging, grey or brown make the packaging conservative or masculine, pink adds a feminine touch, while red draws attention.” (Bizongo)

Pink is seen as feminine as it is seen as calming, tender, non-threatening, and empathetic, which are words associated with women. History has proven that the stereotypical gender norms are that men are strong, emotionless, and provide for the family; whereas, women tend to the home, take care of the family (by cooking and cleaning), and are empathetic and understand emotions due to mothering children. Due to this, the psychological association with pink and the stereotype of women go alongside each other.

“According to color psychology, pink is a positive color that represents compassion and love. Color pink is a sign of hope, and it evokes comforting feelings.” (Vanbraam, 2021)

To summarise, hot pink is a bold and influential colour in the psychology of colour. Different shades and hues affect the emotion of the person viewing the colour. Companies and brands play to this and target their desired demographic such as the colour pink towards young girls and women as it is perceived as feminine. Men and young boys tend to stay away from wearing pink as it’s not masculine, and young girls are often seen wearing pink, but it varies depending on the woman's opinion of herself.

Reference list

Bizongo. “A Comprehensive Guide to Choosing Packaging Colours | Bizongo Hive.” Www.bizongo.com, www.bizongo.com/blog/packaging-color-psychology

Funny Face. “Think Pink!” Www.youtube.com, 25 Apr. 1957, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbxXA70gvrA&ab_channel=douloveher

Vanbraam, Hailey. “What Color Is Hot Pink? Meaning & Psychology of Hot Pink.” Color Psychology, 26 May 2021, www.colorpsychology.org/hot-pink/

Bibliography

CNN, Marianna Cerini. “Refined, Rebellious and Not Just for Girls: A Cultural History of Pink.” CNN, 1 Nov. 2018, https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/history-of-color-pink/index.html

The Museum at FIT. “Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color | Exhibition Video.” Www.youtube.com, 12 Sept. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRQQs5gDTG8&ab_channel=TheMuseumatFIT

Wikipedia Contributors. “Pink.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Mar. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink

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1980s Hip Hop: An Analysis of the Influence Hip Hop had on Fashion

A part of fashion history that I would like to learn more about is the 1980's Hip Hop community. In particular, the trends that became the uniform of Hip Hop. I want to further study this time period as it has influenced the way I dress and what music I listen to. By analysing the connection between music and fashion, I will have a greater understanding of myself and the difference/influence it has had on fashion today.

Focusing on the bucket hat, originally used for its functionality amongst fishermen. There were two accounts of wearing a bucket hat for fashion rather than function in the 1960s; the first account being in Breakfast at Tiffany’s when Holly Golightly wore a sophisticated fur bucket hat, and the second account being a statement piece for Gilligan on Gilligan’s Island. However, the original purpose of Gilligan’s bucket hat was for functionality but progressively became a fashion statement.

As the popularity of the bucket hat grew, more and more hip hop artists were seen wearing the garment creating a correlation between the music and fashion trend. Along with bucket hats, baggy clothes (t-shirts and jeans), chunky rings, layered chains, and shell shoes (Adidas Original Superstar Trainers) were a stereotypical ‘uniform’ of the hip hop subculture. As more and more people began wearing bucket hats and baggy clothing, it began to appear in many other subcultures and influenced fashion today. Kanye West is currently one of the most well-known hip hop/streetwear fashion designers. Known for designing the Yeezy sneaker and often designing runway looks with baggy clothes but with a minimalistic twist and a neutral colour pallet. Nowadays, hip hop and streetwear are very similar and go hand in hand with each other. Celebrities such as Kanye West, Kylie Jenner, Rihanna, Billie Eilish, Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams, and ScHoolboy Q have all been spotted wearing bucket hats. By celebrities wearing different styles of bucket hats encourages consumers to want to buy this item as they’ve been influenced by public figures. This in itself is free marketing of the product as fans of the celebrity/influencer admire them and want to be ‘like’ them.

Due to hip hop's influence on fashion today, I find it interesting to see the correlation between the fashion industry and the music industry. Developed from functionality to a fashion statement, the bucket hat has been seen through fashion for 50 years. It would be interesting to study the different subcultures that have adopted the bucket hat from the popularity of 1980s hip hop and how they are used in high-end fashion. Perhaps also looking at the evolution of hip hop fashion through the decades, looking at particular brands and their influence (Kangol, Adidas etc.), and the impact of sneaker culture.

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The Influence of the 1760’s Gown - Research and Reflective Writing

During the Industrial Revolution, the gown was a prevalent item of clothing. Typically worn by ladies of the upper class, the 18th-century gown had a very particular shape. The petticoat was worn over a hoop to create a wider hip, making a ‘fan-shape'. The stomacher on the gown's bodice was often decorated with silks, showing a higher social class position. Modern influences from the 1760s gown can be seen in the Moschino Autumn 2020 collection (Marie Antoinette). Using the shape of the 18th-century gown but modernising the look by raising the hem, using fabrics such as denim and leather, and accessorising with thigh-high lace-up heeled boots.

As history has shown us, class and social hierarchy were defined by a persons clothing. Ladies who wore colourful, silk embroidered gowns had the money to have dresses made for them. Whereas a woman of the lower class would wear a simple, plain dress.

As seen on the mood board, ‘Influence of the Gown - 1760’ uses images from the Moschino Maria Antoinette collection and original 1760s gowns, this allows the viewer to compare the historic gown to the modern interpretation. The background is a screenshot of fabric from the mid to late 18th century to tie the theme together. The bright colours of the gowns indicate influences from the late baroque period. The final detailing of the mood board consisted of the title and effects. By using the cut-out lettering as the title is a homage to the drastic changes in the letterpress during the 18t-century. Using a spotlight effect was intentional to imitate a catwalk.

To begin, I was nervous about this project as I didn’t know much about the late 18th-century. However, once I started researching the topic, I found it very interesting how the different fabrics, colours, and designs showed the difference between social classes. This furthered my understanding of how the past has impacted the present. Although, having said that, it is much harder now to recognise social status and cliques due to the accessibility of clothing (fast fashion).

Personally, researching the topic before creating a mood board/collage works better for me as I’m able to understand the theme on a deeper level. I find that if I don’t research the topic beforehand then the final result isn’t as ‘on topic’ whereas if I did research beforehand then the majority of the topic will be tied together. So rather than just being visually pleasing, there is a story behind the project.

If I could change anything, I would include more examples of the 1760s gown with modern interpretations as I only compared the Moschino Marie Antoinette 2020 collection. By including other examples this would’ve further conveyed my past and present underlying theme.

Overall, I enjoyed this weeks lecture and personal research on the topic of the 1760s gown. It reinforced the idea of using the past as inspiration and incorporating and elevating those ideas to a modern standard. Moving forward I feel as though I could do a collage series on historical garments and the influences they have on modern fashion and how we interpret them now.

Bibliography

Majer, Michele. “1760-1769 | Fashion History Timeline.” Fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu, 30 June 2021, https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1760-1769/

Museum, Victoria and Albert. “Gown | Unknown | V&a Explore the Collections.” Victoria and Albert Museum: Explore the Collections, 16 2006, collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O127162/gown-unknown/

VOGUE Runway. “Moschino Fall 2020 Ready-To-Wear Fashion Show.” Vogue, 20 Feb. 2020, www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/fall-2020-ready-to-wear/moschino/slideshow/collection#1

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Image Analysis - Breakfast at Tiffany's

A woman is looking into a display window of the well-known jewellery store, Tiffany & Co. The very rarely empty streets of New York City indicates that it is the early hours of the morning. She holds a coffee and a croissant in her hands, which further supports the theory that it is the morning. This opening scene will become one of the most known scenes in fashion and film history.

In 1961, Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote and directed by Blake Edwards premiered in the theatres. Audrey Hepburn (Holly Golightly) was an actress known for her roles in the film and fashion industry. In the above image, you can see Audrey is dressed in a black sleeveless evening gown. The gown has a fitted bodice with back detailing that accentuates her shoulders and a thigh slit running alongside her leg. Accompanied with the beautiful gown, the designer Givenchy provided a pearl choker and opera gloves that tie the look together. This dress became the most iconic little black dress looks of the 20th century and “has also been variously described as the most famous LBD of all time” (Fox, 2018).

In the image, the background and foreground are blurred so that Audrey is the focus point. From our (the viewers) perspective, we can see that she is looking into a display window. The foreground reveals a chandelier on the left-hand side of the display window, and a reflection of the chandelier can be seen on the right-hand side, next to Holly Golightly (A.Hepburn). The reflection of this beautiful, expensive chandelier could symbolise the aspirations for stability. Holly aspires to achieve her goal but is uncertain that this is attainable for the future.

Holly Golightly, although dressed impressively, hasn’t got a stable income. She had an unusual upbringing and lost her family from a young age. Due to this insecurity of losing loved ones and not having a stable childhood, Holly isolates herself from potential situations that may get her emotionally hurt. As she is materialistic, she finds comfort and safety in being at Tiffany's. The comfort of being in a safe crowd reaffirms that she has aspirations to belong to that environment.

“The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of… Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there.” (Breakfast at Tiffanys, 1961)

The description of the “mean reds” shows vulnerability in Audrey's character. Holly wants to leave the situation that she is in but punishes herself for putting herself in that situation. Her low self-esteem due to her past is displayed throughout the film. However, in this image, the scenery indicates innocence and loneliness.

To summarise, this image conveys the safety that Holly Golightly seeks out in life. Although she has little money, she finds comfort in materialistic belongings as she believes that people of higher class and stature don’t deal with the everyday struggles of life. Her isolation alone on the streets of New York City indicate innocence and vulnerability within her character. However, although Holly feels like she doesn't belong, she is independent, elegant, and self-sufficient. This is expressed in the image.

Reference list

Breakfast at Tiffanys. (1961). Paramount Pictures.

Fox, C. (2018). Little black dress. London: Conran Octopus, New York, N.Y.: Hachette Book.

Bibliography

Clever & Chic. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s Style Analysis: The Reinvention of Oneself with Fashion.” Www.youtube.com, 20 Nov. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFI6xJGx8-A&ab_channel=Clever%26Chic. Accessed 15 Nov.

2021.Mohan, Harsha. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s: Holly Golightly and That Iconic Opening Scene.” THE NAVRANG JOURNAL, 28 June 2019, navrangashoka.wordpress.com/2019/06/28/breakfast-at-tiffanys-opening-scene/. Accessed 15 Nov. 2021.

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The Miniskirt

Mary Quant, a British fashion designer, is known for inventing the miniskirt. Although Quant was credited for the popularity of the miniskirt, the rising hemline of skirts was a gradual development that began in the 1950s as teenagers rebelled against their parents and wanted to stand out. It wasn’t until the late 1960s that the miniskirt was actually ‘mini’ as we know it.

In the mid-60s, André Courrèges, a Parisian designer, gained global fame for featuring short skirts in his spring couture collection. Although the miniskirt was popular in Paris, other major fashion cities such as London also had representation of the miniskirt with models such as Twiggy, who put her twist and influence on the piece.

The miniskirt was revolutionary for fashion as we know it today. It broke the boundaries in fashion and allowed women to express themselves with no limitations. The miniskirt is a reflection of changing times and how societies attitudes towards clothing altered and developed.

https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-miniskirt-myth

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What does fashion mean to me?

Fashion is a form of expression, whether that is trying to fit in or stand out. Fashion allows us to pursue the idea of an ideal-self. Although fashion is personal to each individual, it also allows us to understand others, how they fit into society, and how they fit into the cliques in their natural environment. Some cliques may reject a person based on their sense of style, behaviour, or language (i.e. slang). Therefore fashion naturally segregates people into groups of others likeminded.

Fashion to me means the way you dress and behave defines your place in society.

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Hello!

My name is Jazz. I currently study Fashion Promotion at the University of South Wales. This blog will document my progress through self-reflections, academic posts and will also be a creative outlet for my ideas regarding the topics discussed in my lectures. Along with posting on this blog, I will maintain my Instagram account, which shows images that I have created/edited on photoshop, images that inspire me, or images that are relevant to the topic.

From a young age, my ambition was to work at a fashion magazine, reflecting on my career goal after university to become the creative director of a fashion magazine.

In my spare time, I like to go out for day trips, shop, socialise with my friends, read, write songs, and go for walks with my family.