Beauty and the Beast

Many of us  look at a beautiful face on an advertisement and wonder if the outward beauty is reflected through beautiful deeds and words too.

Beauty and the Beast- A portrayal of Beauty with goodness and Ugliness as beastly

Beauty and the beast- are they both two sides of a coin in a person or is there a clear demarcation where one can safely say that a beautiful face on an advertisement also forms a beautiful positive image of that person in the mind's eye?

Thornhill and Grammer (1999)  has suggested that facial attractiveness in women is a deceptive signal of youth. Maybe, the reflection of artificial perfection in the multimedia is a way of attracting the consumer through unconscious awakening of their basic need for portraying themself as youthful and wanted. Yet, it could create a bad body image for the consumer who covets the perfection for herself/himself. Also, when weighing the psychological factors of perception of humans according to Grogan ( pp.9 2008) , the outside appearance of body is seen as symbol of personal order or disorder. This symbolic acceptance is advertised with the help of misleading advertisements that are made to look perfect with the help of airbrushing softwares. The consumer buys into this misconception of positive characterisation and not the actual person hidden behind the perfect image portrayed with the help of cosmetics and design softwares.

Makeup makeover portraying ugly and beautiful side of the same face before and after makeup

 We grow envious everyday of the  perfect media created beauty portrayed in the magazines and multimedia. We want all the beauty in this world to be reflected in the media's justification of what is defined as acceptable.

Before and After of a Makeover Picture

The imperfect-side is portrayed as ugly and perfect side of a fashion model is portrayed as stunningly gorgeous. Media is stereotypes acceptable and unacceptable beauty,  but perhaps there  is a mid-ground where one must notice the beauty inside a blemish portrayed as the modern beast in the adverts, and where everyone has flaws and are not airbrushed to perfection. 

Men of 21st cenury and their body image

Perception of the attractiveness of the male body has changed over times for students and also male population in general. There was a time when big wigs and a thin body image wearing fabulously fashionable clothes were called dandy in the 18th century and were looked upon as the trendy male role models.

Dandy -lean male body image of the 18th and 19th century

Young Jason Mamoa with his boyish look

Older Jason Mamoa with a fierce muscled look for his character of Khal Drogo in 'Game of Thrones'.

In the 21st century, the likes of Jason mamoa and the A & F male models with their steroid muscles are seen to be the perfect alpha male. These role models have made men of today hit the gym with a vengeance and resort to artificial means of getting the image of a mucled model of today's times. According to Blouin and Goldfield (2006) steroid users reported that the most significant reason for using steroids was to improve looks and also reported that building muscles also helped elevate their need for  perfectionism  and lower self-esteem.  The results from Blouin and Goldfield( 2006) also suggest that male bodybuilders among the youth are at risk for body image disturbance and the associated psychological characteristics that have been commonly reported among eating disorder patients. Is there a cure for such perception of beauty is a topic much debated over in the media. Maybe if  the role models became lean themself that would change the perceptions, but would these muscled stars ever change their looks is very doubtful.

The Celebrity Fashion Professor

Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan and Mary Katrantzou- they all have a commonality of not just being the famous players of fashion but also was taught by the same professor from Central Saint martin (CSM), Louise Wilson.

Louisa Wilson : Source: Telegraph

Few professors impact our lives with their support, advice, their 'Rock star' persona, their guidance or kindness. Today we pay a tribute to a celebrity professor who shot to fame because most of her students are Fashion celebrities and are employed successfully in the fashion industry. 

She came into the media limelight for this phenomenal factor of producing talented super designers into the world of fashion. Her contribution to teaching got recognised by an OBE award ceremony organised by her ex-students and staff from CSM in 2008. They also presented her with a book with a page from each of her famous alumni, also considered a trophy in itself.

Nilson (2010) has commented that effective motivational techniques and effective teaching techniques greatly overlap. Also, more motivated students want to learn more, so they achieve more. How Louise Wilson has motivated successful Fashion students can only be addressed by interviewing her students. But, among all other reasons of networking, and the backing of a university, the prime reason for a star student to have succeeded to excel in a profession that they had chosen to study in university remains evidence to the motivation given by the professor to the student to excel and achieve more as stated by Nilson (2010).

Fashionable students on Television soaps!

The 21st century student stars portrayed in the TV series are very fashionable with designer garbs. The theme of gossip also seems to have made reality TV shows and teen TV series quite popular among the youth.

Gossip girl, the TV soap has inspired designer Anna Sui to come up with an entire collection after the characters in it. This popularity is because of the social interaction and bonding over the subject of fashion and gossip by the student groups. Every girl who goes to university would  indulge in elaborate critical arguments with friends on their favourite or the worst outfit worn by Blair or Jenny from 'gossip girl' and share the latest gossip about what has happened between the characters in the series.

The mixture of 'Gossip' and 'Fashion' has made the series popular with fan following trying to copy their favourite look and adopting the values showcased on the series of 'gossiping'. According to Thornborrow and Morris (2004) gossip is a strategy used by both men and women to build themselves a positive identity within their social group and with the viewing public. Thornborrow and Morris (2004) have also posited the central role of gossip talk in establishing social values and maintaining social relations. The TV series draws on this to make the viewer have interaction with the TV characters as a third party listening in on gossip shared by the actors and actresses in the series.

original characters of Gossip girl versus the inspired collection of Anna Sui. Source: glamlist.com

RGU has caught up on this new trend of fashionable students with its very own fashion photography session in the 'The bulletin' weekly in association with Fashion Society UNI-Fashion and the fashion management students posing with their styled creations and also catching the fashionistas from other streams caught on camera in campus..

Fabindia- The Ethical Retailer from India

 According to Keller (1998), brand is a set of mental associations held by the consumer which adds to the perceived value of a product or service resulting in brand image. Fabindia is an ethical Indian retail brand founded in 1960 by John Bissell, an American who had come to India on a Ford Foundation Grant to advise the government about how to create market for the hand-looms of rural India (Vogue 2012).

Fabindia started with exporting the Indian hand-looms to retailers worldwide. Fabindia was a supplier of handmade textiles, wholesaling the produce of local weavers to retailers worldwide and served as middlemen to the hand-loom weavers of India. The brand ventured into retailing its products in Indian market in 1975. Fabindia works on a Community Owned Company model (COC). From the day of its inception it has catered to social entrepreneurship and is a for-profit company working with cooperative units, and small business units (SBU) who are the shareholders of the brand. Fabindia offers its Retail stores in various International places including UAE, Dubai, Bahrain, Italy and Rome.

Sisterhood, sexuality and the space of the benign in makeover TV

The perfect relationship or the perfect body is only heard of in fairy-tales. To work around what you have, and that little bump here and there- that’s what makes for a beautiful relationship with your partner and yourself, starting with your 'body'. In ‘How to look good naked’, Gok wan does not mock or belittle the imperfections of the female body, instead he tries to make women confident of their body and forms a synthetic sisterhood as discussed in C’mon Girlfriend (Frith et al 2010). This synthetic friendship between a straight woman and homosexual man is critically analysed by Annus (2011) , who proposes that the gay experts on the show capitalize on traditional stereotypical traits of femininity assigned to women and gays in contemporary western societies. In the HLGN Gok wan is this traditional stereotype  best-friend because of his suspended sexuality .

This new trend of benign makeover TV shows relates to the everyday woman.  Unlike the shows ‘Queer eyes’ or ‘What not to wear’,  Gok wan tries to make the woman form a friendly camaraderie with her body. Gok wan’s show has changed the trend of woman aspiring for the perfect stereotype model body. In the paperback ‘Makeover TV: Selfhood, Citizenship, and Celebrity’, Weber (2010)  contends that the makeover television show is a complicated text from which we can learn much about cultural desires and fears as expressed through narratives of selfhood.

Weber (2010) also argues that although makeovers are directed at both male and female viewers, their gendered logic requires that feminized subjects submit to the controlling expertise wielded by authorities. Although Gow wan’s show is classified as benign, it still wields stereotypical yielding of woman participants to the authority on fashion, in this case the authority is Gok wan.

Visual identity and image of Manish Arora

Manish Arora Logo, Symbol and visual identity
www.manisharora.ws

Paco Rabanne has got a new Creative Director Manish Arora who hails from India and is an alumni of NIFT, the prestigious design school in India. The verbal Identity of Manish Arora gives the consumer the impression that the Country of Origin is India. His brand name has Indianised english  fonts, Kitsch style and psychedelic colours synonymous with the country's colourful lifestyle. This distinct style of the design brand has formed the visuall identity for the brand.

The brand has taken the personality of the designer with brand name linguistic characteristics (Keller 2008) of semantic devices such as Paronomasia (Keller 2008) which refers to pun and word plays clearly illustrated in Manish Arora’s label called Fish fry which has had collaborations with Reebok, MAC and Swatch.

Personification which is humanising an inanimate object as discussed by Keller (2008) is shown in the main brand name 'Manish Arora' which also has a strong visual identity with its logo, in which orthographic device of abbreviation (Keller 2008) 'MA' is used with bright pink and lime green colours that are very memorable hence adhering to memorability, likeability and adaptability of the brand (Keller 2008). Also, since the brand name is a person and the logo is distinct the brand name is protected.

The brand positioning achieves differentiation from the category as a whole rather than from specific competitors within the category referring to disruptive positioning approach as stated by Keller (2008). This approach is achieved because it defies its own category of fashion, borrow rules from another category- Architecture, Sculpture and Paintings; and create a new category of Revolutionary clothing. The target market of Manish Arora or Paco Rabanne is celebrities who have defied rules such as Lady Gaga, Katy perry and Rihanna.

Original Handmade knits worn by Bella Swan of 'Twilight'

Hand made knits are a rare thing to come by in the fast paced machine world. But, it still exists. Shown above  Sunny yellow knits from Cloudier designs knitted by an RGU student. The head band and the short bolero cap sleeve knit will suit any black out fit you have and took her nearly 2 weeks to finish.

I also came across this site called ruth cross and on its front page there was Bella Swan of twilight and below that was the heading ' WE ARE THE ORIGINAL MAKERS OF THE MITTENS BELLA WEARS IN TWILIGHT,'. Now that is clever marketing one would say. The mittens worn by the celebrity is showcased on the site , although it is hard to say if they are the original makers. The knits are very innovative and made from pure wool. According to Solomon (2002) as quoted by Schlecht  a central goal of advertising is the persuasion of customers, i.e., the active attempt to change or modify consumers’ attitude towards brands. In this respect, the credibility of an advertisement plays an important role in convincing the target
audience of the attractiveness of the company’s brand. The statement that Ruth cross is the original makers comes across as very attractive to consumers.

Up-cycling - What is that all about?

How about using those beer caps to make a trendy accessorised belt for your party dress? Or how about using the shopping bags from MnS, Fossil, NEXT and Hollister into a trendy bag to carry to university? I think the best way of upcycling would be to take your boyfriend's big T-shirt and make it fashionably yours!

 DORNOB., 2011. Available from: http://dornob.com/diy-dress-up-ideas-5-sexy-ways-to-upcycle-old-clothing/?ref=search [Accessed 21 february 2012]

Mixing design and innovation- that's what upcycling is all about. To a student upcycling would help to portray fashion with a worthy cause attached to it and also would be easy on the pockets.

Upcycling stands in contrast to recycling. According to Strobel the spokes person for Gabarage, a design store in Vienna, in an interview given to Goldsmith (2009), they upvalue products innovatively, instead of just reusing them. If more brands follow this trend of upcycling, then reducing waste through upcycling would have a better chance of becoming commercial rather than be just a passing trend for green fashion.

Often sustainable fashion, Eco, Green blur (Thomas 2008) , organic, recycling and up-cycling all gets thrown together into a messy mash.Words related to fashion, ecology, the environment, sustainability and ethics, are not fully understood or are used incorrectly(Thomas 2008). There is no point in going blind if one has no comprehension of the meaning behind up-cycling. The usage of its term should be restrictive and not loosely associated with all the green blur (Thomas 2008) as discussed in 'From Green Blur to Eco-fashion: Fashioning an Eco-lexicon' (Thomas(2008). Upcycling is catching on and is hopefully here to stay. Although hopefully the term wouldn't lose its value by over-usage in the wrong context as with all trends of the past season like metro-sexual man or going pink which was misunderstood by many as effeminate or a sign of homosexuality for the straight men who assumed it gave the wrong message. With understanding of the term and its usage it should become a trend to stay for the coming years as hoped by all the green fashion supporters.

References:
Thomas, S., 2008. From Green Blur to Ecofashion: Fashioning an Eco-lexicon. Fashion Theory, 12( 4), pp. 525 –  540 

Earley, R., 2009. Worn Again: Rethinking Recycled. [online] Arts and humanities research council. Available from: http://tedresearch.polimekanos.com/media/files/PROJECT_REPORT_2011.pdf [Accessed 21 february 2012]


Earley, R., 2006. Well Fashioned: Eco Style in the UK. [online]  Crafts Council touring exhibition. Available from:  http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/whats-on/view/well-fashioned-eco-style-in-the/detail  [Accessed 21 february 2012]

Goldsmith, B., 2009. Trash or treasure? Upcycling becomes growing green trend [online] Reuters.Available from: http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/10/01/us-trends-upcycling-life-greenbiz-idUSTRE5903MN20091001?feedType=RSS&feedName=everything&virtualBrandChannel=11563 [Accessed 21 february 2012]

Fashion Show by RGU Fashion Society- UNI-Fashion

On Saturday 11th February RGU fashion Society UNI-Fashion organised a Fashion show and music performance in Soul casino to give a platform to students, upcoming designers and artists from Aberdeen and the UK.

The singer Jenna Jay was dressed in a beautifully cut modern evening dress with a slit that reached her thighs and moved with grace on the stage while she sang. The models sashayed around in beautiful evening gowns, occasional wear, Indian wear, concept wear and knits.

The first round saw Cloudier designs owned by Klaudia Szygenda a polish student with hand made knits. Klaudia is a BSc fashion management 1st year student in RGU. Her colourful knits and crochet work was a sight to watch as the hardwork gone into the design was very evident in each exclusive piece of accessory.

88:91 was the student designer Kemi from Nigeria based in London, she showcased her Nigerian native inspired dresses that made the audeince awe at her creative mind.

Zaina was the Indian retailer from Aberdeen with colourful bling embroideries on Salwar kameez, sarees and men's kurtas in the 3rd round.

Indigo was in the 4th round, owned by Anju Mudwik a famous ex-cricketer from India who had played for Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy for 25 years and was coached by Andy marshall of Britain. He ventured into fashion 19 years back in Aberdeen with his boutique 'Indigo' showcasing designer wear from around the world with big names like Rohit bal, Zeddna and spanish designers with garments made from pure silk, chiffon and soft materials that made a woman look ethereal.

Kemunto was in the 5th round, owned by Lydia, and specialising in bridal wear and gorgeous evening gowns that was fit for beauty pageants.

The singer Jenna jay sang her 2 singles as she was promoting her new singles and this was her last show before moving to London to pursue big dreams. The show was a platform for student designers and upcoming artists to showcase their talents and it rightly served its purpose.

The clash of the 19th and 21st century!

100 odd years and fashion has changed from voluminous to minimum. In the Black & White picture shown above, the girl students of Syracuse University are lined up in Leg-O-mutton sleeves that make them look like they have shoulders of a giant with a waist which is nipped in to give the pervect 'V'. Times have changed and so has University fashion. Now one can spot students in jumpers or jackets that are simplified and not out of proportion.

The modern student picture  shown above has been taken from RGU website. In contrast to the heavy uniforms of 19th century, the 21st century students  wear colorful attires with an easy going disposition. The picture shows a slung back bag over simple red jackets for the guys and simple clothing for women with no complicated bodices or notion of the perfect figure.

I admire the beauty and grace of the 19th century students showed with their poised look and attire, yet for me the laid back look of the 21st century seem much more comfortable and practical than the cumbersome attire of the past which was really a chore to wear and carry.

If you as a reader were to enact the student born in the 19th century, would you really enjoy wearing all that volume over you and attended university? I'm sure we would faint even before we reach our classes with the weight of things, let alone be able to sit in our lean chairs!

Can you imagine the effort exercised while trying to enter a lecture hall and settling in between the table and chairs with those trailing skirts, and taking notes in those big sleeves fashionistas?

A fashionable student!

Fashion is said to be born on the streets by the bold fashion leaders who have their distinct style; yet, I beg to differ as I feel fashion is born in the school or universities where youth get influenced seeing each other and try their best to ape or come out with their own distinct style. So this blog is dedicated to all those fashionistas who love to take time with what they wear before they catch their bus to university or hop into their messy car to catch the morning lectures.

If you are a student I have a question for you- What is your 'morning before lecture' fashion item or clothing that makes you feel like a trendy chica or dude?