FASHION DESIGN / COSTUME DESIGN

Which one is real?

It exists therefore it is real…?

I believe both fashion and costume are real. In my opinion they go hand in hand, therefore if one is real the other must me. Costume design is and exagerated and accentuated version of fashion design; stereotypes become obvious, trends exagerated, elements are recognised as belonging to a certain gender, sexuality, race, social class, job… As they do in normal fashion. But in costumes, as I said before everything is exagerated, symbols become symbols of symbols.

Fashion classifies us into groups. It speaks about who we are. The choices of garments become symbols which tell the others around us what kind of person we might be, what group of people we belong to. There is a place for misinterpretation as these choices we make from the influence of what we see everyday, what is in the media, etc…

Now these symbols don’t only speak about our gender, sexuality and the kind of person we are but of our roles, i.e first lady. In that set of mind we could talk about uniforms because, for example, what is the difference between the outfit of a first lady and the uniform of an air hostess? Since they are both wearing something we are expecting and which corresponds to their role. If they weren’t they would be defying norms and roles, take a look at Michelle Obama. Now if we didn’t dress according to our roles and these symbols in fashion didn’t exist, ‘defying norms and roles’, would not exist.

They are, to a certain extent, subconscious choices as we might be subconsciously playing a role. Now with costumes it is not subconscious and I believe there is no space for misinterpretation. They are deliberate choices because you are conscious because you are conscious you are playing a role; you are representing a certain type of person. Now both of them are real. Costume design is no less real than fashion as fashion exists and costumes originate from fashion. Fashion is real as it speaks about people and depicts them, their culture, lifestyles, social status, etc… And not only who they believe to be, how they want to be perceived.

Then again, how real is the person we think we are if it is influenced by all these things? So even if fashion comes from these things which are real, does this mean it is real? Is its purplse real? I will follow this discussion in the essay version of this question which I will post on my blog once I have finished it.

 

TOPSHOP

Topshop (originally Top Shop) is a British multinational fashion retailer of clothing, shoes, make-up and accessories. It has around 500 shops worldwide – of which some 300 are in the UK – plus online operations in a number of its markets. Its current CEO is Ian Grabiner; and is part of the Arcadia Group, which is controlled by Sir Philip Green.^[5] 

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TRAIT

TRAID is a charity working to stop clothes from being thrown away. We turn clothes waste into funds and resources to reduce the environmental and social impacts of our clothes. It is a circular and sustainable approach to the problems of clothes waste tackling disposal, production and consumption.

 

 

Topshop seems to be the one shop you have to go to when you are in London. The location makes this obvious seeing how it is opposit to the exit of Oxford Circus tube station. The entrance of Topshop welcoming all those coming out of the tube. How more iconic could this spot be? Oxford Circus one of the most known names and places of London to tourists and Topshop, probably the most popular english brand to tourists (young adults) and to the english public.  Topshop in Oxford Circus is a perfect representation of the image you have of London as a non-londoner.

When it comes to the shop, this one in particular, there couldn’t be a better represantation of what the brand is about, the type of clientèle they want to and do attract. Especially in this location. The shop itself is an ad for the brand. They get some of the best dressed and coolest young Londoners in their shop, attracting with walking and living ads of what Topshop is. Topshop is London is Topshop, the comercial and..

The average customer at Topshop Oxford Circus is young (I would say from 18-25), both men and women, knows why he/she came to Topshop and obviously often shops here. They are loyal Topshop customers. It really seems like their styles depends on Topshop. The customer is both influenced and influencer, as the shop is. They are both built around each other, its a continuous cycle. Topshop picks trends from streetstyle which are then bought from their shops. Oxford Circus specifically shows how Topshop is a trendsetter but mostly a place where to find those trends. I say this because this specific store doesn’t only hold the Topshop brand but other very trendy brands such as: Lola’s cupcakes, Bubble tea,  WAH nail salon, Skinny Dip, Kurt Geiger, sections for brands such as Lazy Oaf, Illustrated People, popular vintage brands… It’s a whole experience, all in one. I think it would classify as a ‘cool’ shop since you don’t only get to shop there but also purchase food, frozen yoghurts, drinks… All of which are of renown cool brands. Icons within an icon: iconic. It seems to me that it is a cool experience for a certain type of Londoners and the ultimate shopping experience for tourists.

The shop says a lot about the location as the location says as much about the shop and the brand.

Same applies to Trait in Camden. Obviously it is logic that the type of shop and business you will find depends on and suits the area where it is located. Its style, its economics, the people and their social status, what they can afford, their lifestyle will decide what type of business will be placed there. And this clearly applies to Camden. Like Oxford Circuis would attract comercial brands Camden wouldn’t, not as much at least. Traid is the type of shop you expect to find in Camden and for which you come to Camden (when it comes to shopping). It goes along with Camden’s second hand/eccentric/vintage vibe

Different shops, different environment but they do share customers. Customers who shop a lot at Traid will still visit Topshop, vice versa with Topshop.

FLUID EXPLORATION & CATALYST

EVALUATION

 

Fluid exploration and Catalyst you have been kind to me. I have really enjoyed both projects, very very much. Fluid exploration was truly an eye opener and a changing experience. What I mean by that is that it was all about trying new ways of starting a project, new ways of researching and getting ideas. It really worked for me and I was really happy about that because I had been looking to find myself in this place since the end of first year. It freed my mind from the very beginning in my research and it freed my flow of ideas. I found it much easier than I had in past projects to come up with ideas for a final piece and actually start creating and making rather than keeping these ideas and my head and getting stuck in this creative process and in my research. And these final pieces resembled me, my style, my character, personality.

The whole process was quicker and easier than it ever had been which obviously opened doors for the next project; Catalyst. This new found freedom of mind really helped to stop getting stuck and blocked by the fear of the creative process. I had found my story and I was immediately inspired. I knew which way I wanted to go with it. I obviously hadn’t made any final decisions about the final outcome but I was confident about which perspective to work with and it was a good way to start. I found the researching very interesting and inspiring as always and my illustrations for my new story came flowing and it was a lot of fun to make them, a lot of work, but very enjoyable. So again the whole process went quite smoothly and I was truly enjoying creating work that resembled me and spoke to me and about me.

Unfortunately I was stopped midway course when my house was burgled and  I lost my laptop, hard drive and a lot of work and research with it. I cannot insist enough on how much work was lost and how much of a restraint it put on the development and finishing of these two projects. For example with ‘Fluid Exploration’, I lost a whole sketchbook of research and initial sketches, as well as digital work. A couple of things would have been different in my hand in had I not lost time making up for these losses: the figurines would have been painted, I would have bought boxes and placed the stickers on them, made some sort of paper gift bag with all the elements inside as you can see from the sketch below.

The bigger struggle was with Catalyst where the same thing happened. I lost a considerable amount of research on books; covers, bindings,etc… and artists related to this which was showing how I was considering every aspect of my book; what kind of cover I wanted, which colours and why, the binding, the type of paper,etc…

https://es.pinterest.com/elliotfloyd/book-design_/

A lot of time was lost again. My first drawings included writing and as the brief said ‘exceptions’ only i had started another set of drawings with no writing at all, but I lost those so I had to finish and use my first drawings… Because of all of this my final book looks more like a tryout of what the book would look like rather than the actual final book. Which I was disappointed about because I liked the work I had done and I was looking forward to seeing it and making it look like and actual publication. I also didn’t have time to take good photos of all of my work, even by taking photos with my phone they were worse than they should have been since my iPhone was also stolen and its replacement is of very bad quality.

Anyway I think I have made my point. What happened was a real shame and it really affected my projects, but nevertheless I don’t think the work I handed in was too bad. It could have been better but it also could have been a lot worse. No matter what happened I still really enjoyed the briefs and projects and I am happy with my work.

 

FINAL BOOK

(MORE LIKE A DRAFT)

 

Here are the photos of my final book, which are also in my PDF hand in but of much worse quality I believe so I have posted them on here so you could have a better look. There are not great photos as you can tell, I wish they were but I’m afraid I couldn’t do better given the circumstances. But something is better than nothing! Hope you enjoy, at least a little bit.

 

FINAL PRODUCTS:

 

POST CARDS, ENVELOPES & STICKERS

Since the quality of the photos (however bad they may be from the beginning) must have been reduced due to reducing the size of my PDFs I am posting them on here so you get the chance of seeing my final pieces a little bit better. These are the final pieces for the project ‘FLUID EXPLORATION’

 

 

ZINE

 

 

FINAL ILLUSTRATIONS

 

Here are the final illustrations that made up my book for the Catalyst project. I have included these in my PDFs but these are of much better quality, so…

Enjoy!

 

 

FIND THE FINAL BOOK IN MY NEXT POST!

 

CHARACTERS IN PROGRESS;

FROM ORIGINAL DRAWING TO FINAL EDITING

 

Just a couple of photos of my ‘Fluid Exploration’ characters in progress. From my original handmade drawings (found on the left), to the final editing and ‘cleaning up’ of the illustrations (found below) ready to be used for the final pieces: postcards, zine…

ORIGINS TO PRESENT

 

 

As I lost quite a bit of work when my home was burgled, of which a lot was research, I am just quickly adding some links and images of the research that I had done, such as below, of the origins of the Swastika and was it was used for and turned into. The origin vs. the present perception of it, which is something I found very interesting for someone such as hitler to pick as a symbol of hatred and general inhumanity. Please click on the link below to find some very interesting information about this subject.

 

http://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/symbol-swastika-and-its-12000-year-old-history-001312

 

 

FINAL ILLUSTRATIONS FOR FLUID EXPLORATION PROJECT

Check out all of the final illustrations that I made for my ‘Fluid Exploration’ project which I later used to make my final pieces. Just giv’em a click to see them big and bold!

 

 

 

GO TO MY BLOG POST “GEEKS AND FREAKS: GRAND FINALE” TO SEE WHAT WAS MADE WITH THESE ILLUSTRATIONS.

 

 

 

STRANGE ADDICTIONS

For the purpose of my fluid exploration project I got into a TLC program called “My strange addiction” to research and understand better addictions; how people live them and how it affects their life. But also to find some very peculiar people to get inspired from in the formation of my characters. This show, as strange as it can be, gave me a really good insight into people with strange addictions.

http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/my-strange-addiction/

ADDICTION

Addiction is a condition that results when a person ingests a substance (e.g., alcohol, cocaine, nicotine) or engages in an activity (e.g., gambling, sex, shopping) that can be pleasurable but the continued use/act of which becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life responsibilities, such as work, relationships, or health. Users may not be aware that their behavior is out of control and causing problems for themselves and others.

An addiction is a physical or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, Such as a drug or alcohol. In physical addiction, the body adapts to the substance being used and gradually requires increased amounts to reproduce the effects originally produced by smaller doses.

However, most addictive behavior is not related to either physical tolerance or exposure to cues. People compulsively use drugs, gamble, or shop nearly always in reaction to being emotionally stressed, whether or not they have a physical addiction. Since these psychologically based addictions are not based on drug or brain effects, they can account for why people frequently switch addictive actions from one drug to a completely different kind of drug, or even to a non-drug behavior.

When referring to any kind of addiction, it is important to recognize that its cause is not simply a search for pleasure and that addiction has nothing to do with one’s morality or strength of character. Experts debate whether addiction is a “disease” or a true mental illness, whether drug dependence and addiction mean the same thing, and many other aspects of addiction.

 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/addiction