The Immaculate Collection

Fashion Editor Nicole Clinton charts the changing looks of Madonna during her first decade of stardom, as seen in the music videos of her 1990 greatest hits album ‘The Immaculate Collection’.*

When Madonna first burst onto the scene in 1983, music executives believed that her sexualised image would predominantly appeal to men. However, it was the ladies who popularised the pop star as she became the poster girl for women’s liberation and empowerment during the eighties era. A new style icon, Madonna had girls adding bangles and bows to all sorts of combinations. The music videos that accompany the playlist of her 1990 Greatest Hits collection perfectly display the changing image of Madonna and allow us to observe the origins of her status as the queen of reinvention.

In the queen of pop’s first proper music video, Lucky Star, the songstress’ image is slowly unwrapped for us, along to the electronic eighties intro, as she gradually lowers her huge sunglasses. The messy, peroxide hair appropriately complimented the “mix ‘em, gather ‘em”/anything goes style that took over the mid eighties and later influenced acts such as Ke$ha, The Pussycat Dolls and Little Mix. She dons a black, tutu-esque skirt, a black, netted top and heaps of accessories in the video. This same miscellaneous style is apparent in the Borderline video, which sees her flaunting lime green shoes and luminous yellow socks to play pool in a smoke-filled room. This video also features a stylised black and white photo-shoot that epitomised eighties anti-establishment, underground culture and has the pop-star spraying graffiti on a car while posing in a leather jacket and a beret with a signature oversize bow sown on.

Next we come to the legendary Like a Virgin, whose lyrics, video and subsequent performances established Madonna’s image as a controversial artist. The video oozed sensuality in a way that confused and shocked the world. It saw her turning symbols that had previously been regarded as safe and honourable into dangerous concepts, a tendency that she would repeatedly exude in future videos. For example, she rolls around the floor in a wedding dress and accessorises a tight, blue lycra pants with a pair of Rosary beads. In this way, it was the costume that was associated with the song that made it so infamous. The notion that Madonna, a beacon of promiscuity, was wearing a symbol of decency and virtue like a wedding dress offended people simply by messing with tradition. This fusing of contrasting symbols could be seen to reflect the changing attitudes to sexuality that occurred during the 1980’s all over the world.

The Material Girl video takes inspiration from the Hollywood star system and sees Madge channel the original blonde bombshell, Marilyn Monroe. In one of her most glamorous music videos, she appears decked out in a pink satin dress, long gloves and diamonds, a costume identical to the one worn by Monroe during her performance of ‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend’ in her film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The extravagant outfit and accessories embody the message that the song expresses and reflects the capitalist culture of 1980’s America.

La Isla Bonita’s video reflects the Latin vibes of the track by being set in an old fashioned Spanish village. The popstar spends the first half of the video in a light plain slip and close-cut dark hair, praying and peeking out the window. The presence of rosary beads broaches the idea of Catholicism again, presumably a prevalent piece of the Italian-American’s youth, and also suggests that the subdued look could represent the oppressing nature that the church may have represented for her and many others. However, she escapes this repression in the second half of the video as she changes into a red and black, traditional Spanish dress. The exuberant, ruffled creation releases an alternate persona and sees her mood and behaviour radically change as she dances down the stairs and out into the street to join the other inhabitants of the village in their musical celebration. The red tone embodies the new sensual expression of the character as she answers the musical call that one of her neighbours’ classical guitar makes to her. Therefore, this video portrays the power of dress to convey or transform a mood or state of mind and especially, the narrative power of costume to allow the viewer to understand the message that the imagery is sending.

Twenty years before Lady Gaga even stepped on the music scene, Madonna was the original pop-star to play on religion to controversial effect (even the stage name she chose displays this). While she may have verged on it in Like a Virgin, that was only foreplay compared to the Like a Prayer video. The styling is simple, a black calf-length fitted dress and a new dark, curly hair-do, with the intention of emphasising the notorious use of religious symbolism that occurs. However, the Vogue video does not hold back in the fashion stakes. Unsurprisingly, the video for a song that has the same name as THE fashion magazine launched a trend or two. The slick, black and white video marked the beginning of the oversized suit’s nineties reign and seeped stylised visuals.

It is interesting to note that the time of Madonna’s introduction into the world of music aligns with the birth of MTV and one could question whether she would have left such a mark on the music industry if she hadn’t used music videos to inflate her fame and notoriety. In less than ten years of music videos, Madonna managed to use clothes, symbols and imagery to create various images for herself. From Lucky Star’s random combinations to Like a Virgin’s tradition-busting to Vogue’s unapologetic vanity, she was constantly evolving. And if you look at the videos closely, you can see the world changing with her.

*This article was originally published during my time as fashion editor of The UCC Express.

 

 

 

Editorial Sartorial

Fashion Editor, Nicole Clinton, explores the appeal of the fashion magazine.*

The fashion magazine’s origins can be traced back to the late 1600’s and 1700’s when the French aristocracy began to record what they were wearing and sketches were put together in books that were reproduced and sold. Today, it is almost impossible to enter even the smallest newsagent or corner shop without finding at least four different fashion print publications. And while they are a pleasing form of entertainment, in reality, they are so much more than that. If fashion is an art, then the fashion magazine is the gallery and if fashion is a science, then the magazine is the laboratory in which experiments are carried out.

The purpose of the fashion magazine is obviously mainly rooted in fashion but it also known to employ other elements of pop-culture to increase its appeal. It showcases the latest trends by acting as a souvenir book of the season’s catwalk collections. The photoshoots that are arranged somewhere between the middle and end of the publication bring together the most visionary photographers, the most ravishing models and the most extraordinary styling to produce a sartorial feast for the eyes. The outcome of these spreads can range from outrageously controversial to awe- inspiring glamour to stimulating originality. Although the average reader may never be able to afford the designer items on show, they get a glimpse of a vision that may in turn induce some chic ideas of their own. The main fashion features of each issue provide the dictators of taste that compile them with an opportunity to preach their beliefs to the masses. However, a certain level of insecurity regarding the power of fashion alone could be suggested by the editors need to regularly use a music or movie star to cover their magazine, especially in the American editions. In fact, Vogue has been criticized by fashion industry insiders for supporting celebrity culture over fashion integrity. But perhaps, in a slightly paradoxical way, Vogue is increasing fashion awareness and interest by utilizing pop culture to entice the public into buying their fashion magazine.

 

Perhaps my favourite part of the fashion magazine is the advertisements. Seeping in glamour, these stylised ads are often like otherworldly pieces of art as they portray beautiful, exotic people doing beautiful, exotic things in beautiful, exotic locations. In an enchanting way, the two dimensional photograph exudes a three dimensional quality, as if the ad is a still from the most alluring movie imaginable and we are seduced into dreaming about how the characters’ story will unfold. All in the vicinity of one magazine, the Chanel model perches on a swing, suspended high over the ocean, the Gucci model bends her body backwards over a glass table, clutching her head in despair with a backdrop of a turquoise sea and sky and the Tommy Hilfiger model stretches over a Miami balcony, awaiting her mysterious lover. These commercial spectacles work off a philosophy of curiosity and attraction by being masterpieces of suggestion. They convince you that their product will permit you to enter the world of the ad without actually saying it at all.

With the digital age in full swing, the future of the print publication is obviously in danger. While it has greatly enhanced our lives, the internet is slowly leading to the devaluation of everything, including the fashion magazine. The rise of the blog is swiftly upon us and while a certain proportion of bloggers’ thoughts are actually worth hearing, I’m of the opinion that the internet is currently over-saturated with fashion blogs. The increase in popularity of the fashion blog could perhaps be attributed to the current generation’s obsession with a desire to relate to or to identify with everything. But my question is why opt for a reflection of reality when you could marvel at the otherworldly and unobtainable instead? People today have become fixated with reality rather than the magic of not knowing how and therefore, the glorious possibilities that the imagination can create out of curiosity are obliterated. The aesthetic quality of the fashion magazine, in its artistic spreads and its seductive advertisements, offers an escape from this tedious reality in the same way that a trip to the cinema to see a beautiful star enter an wonderful world does. Perhaps it is an outcome of the recession or maybe it is just proof that society’s valuation of things is going into decline that the attitude of ‘why pay for something when it’s being given away for free?’ is, rather worryingly, becoming the norm. Of course, you can look up pictures of clothes or fashion articles anywhere on the internet, but nothing beats holding a glossy in your hands and watching a vision unfold page by page…..

*This article was originally published in the UCC Express during my time as fashion editor.

Style Icon or Style Con?

Nicole Clinton explores the style icon phenomenon.

It seems that the term ‘style icon’ has become such a ubiquitous anthem in modern fashion media that its actual meaning has been diluted and the honour of the title has been diminished for those who are truly deserving of it. I fear that if we do not start to ration our use of the phrase, it will be condemned to a grim fate in ‘fad’ territory. As it stands, it is just one hashtag away from becoming another sickening staple of the social media generation’s fleeting, trifling lexis. The question is: how do we salvage authentic style icons from the doldrums of cliché?

It could be claimed that the difference between the cliché style icons and the genuine ones is the connection between fashion and purpose. It unnerves me when I cannot pinpoint a style icon’s actual profession. Perhaps this is due to the nightmarish celebrity culture that surrounds us where the media nauseatingly worships people who are famous for absolutely nothing.

Even though I am a fashion enthusiast, I shudder to think that someone could be famous for their style alone. I consider those who are granted contracts or press attention as a result of being nothing but ‘style icons’ a close relation of the venomous reality star family. Their style is false, artificial, if it does not compliment their work. A style icon is organic if their look is part of a larger persona that feeds into their work, whether that is film, music, modelling, designing or magazine publishing. Otherwise it is just an aesthetic without any substance- a nice piece of wallpaper- empty, flat and uninspiring. Those that have a distinct career loan their look an injection of dynamism as the type of work that they do nourishes it as we affiliate their fashion with their purpose. With music stars such as David Bowie, Madonna and Lana Del Rey, fashion is a crucial part of the almost circulatory system of stylisation that feeds into and stems out of the themes and accompanying visuals of their music.

On the other hand, many ‘style icons’ acquire the title as a result of a character that they played before subsequently morphing their own persona into the fictional image. In this case, we are faced with a ‘chicken or the egg’ saga as we must ask is it Sarah Jessica Parker and Blake Lively who are the style icons, or is it Carrie Bradshaw and Serena Van Der Woodsen? Basically, did the actress influence the character’s look? Or is she now just clinging on to the image that was created for her by the production’s wardrobe department?

We need to pause to reflect on how one garners the status of style icon and the legitimacy or purity of the appointment.  Do we really admire their style, as in; is it a personal selection of a taste that we like? Or is it a snowballing, ‘Emperor’s new clothes’ phenomenon (pun not intended)? Do we decide for ourselves or are we brainwashed into idolising them because ‘authorised’ fashion people are selling tickets for a bandwagon that we fancy a place on?

If I were to stop a host of average females and ask them who their style icon is, I can guarantee that the names Alexa Chung and Olivia Palermo would pop up on multiple occasions. However, it is only after interrogating them on why they chose these women that I could separate those who passionately live for fashion from those who nonchalantly dress for life.

The second group, the casual dressers, would probably fail to produce an answer more original than “She dresses well” or “she always looks stylish/cool/ am-aaazing”. They would simply be relying on the groupthink default response to the question, naming people who they think they should be following rather than those that really influence them or admitting that they do not know the answer to the question at all.

While it is not likely that the first group would mention Chung or Palermo due to the ‘style icon cliché’ status that they carry these days, if they did, they would demonstrate the ability to articulate their reason based on habits, styling skills, wardrobe staples etc. Unfortunately, those with actual good taste, like Alexa and Olivia, often become so synonymous with the title that the chic amongst us rebel against praising them because the very act is a bore that makes us feel like unimaginative drones.

In fact, the truly fashion conscious would probably cite an album, a film, a cultural/social movement or a decade as their style muse because for them, their look is too significant a part of their personality to be based on just one human being, is it not?

The Golden Age of Vintage

Nicole Clinton explores the present’s preoccupation with the past’s fashion.*

These days it seems almost impossible to walk into a clothes shop and pick out a trend that the modern world has never seen before. Between the designers who showcase looks that are heavily influenced by styles from previous decades and the recent popularisation of the ordinary person’s acquiring of genuine ‘vintage’ attire, it appears that fashion’s past has meandered into its present. But why is the current generation so infatuated with vintage?

Perhaps, if we were to penetrate and speculate about the psychological level of our preoccupation with vintage, we might uncover that it stems from a sense of dissatisfaction with the present. We live in an information age that indoctrinates that technological advancement is the only worthwhile objective for humanity. The high rates of connectivity that infiltrate our lives mean that we are constantly bombarded with reality, which can be either dreadfully bleak or tragically boring. Thus, it is no doubt that the values that modern society exude fail to satisfy the romantic amongst us. Vintage style allows us to act on our nostalgic feelings and performs as a sort of time-machine that rescues us from the banality of our ground-hog days. We are drawn to vintage or retro as they are a means by which we can live out a fantasy. It is like reading a book or watching a film that is set in the past: we are captivated by the alternative culture because in an age that we claim to know and have everything, it gives us a glimpse of a world that we do not know and can never have. The unattainable nature of the past makes it even more attractive to us because we have the privilege of selective memory or representation. We do not have to deal with the negative side of a given age because vintage fashion offers us aesthetics only. It is akin to gazing at a beautiful artwork without considering the potentially sinister message that it symbolises. Therefore, there could be noble aspirations behind the twenty-first century’s vintage phenomenon as it provides a cathartic escape from our current, too-familiar world. It is the mildest form of fancy-dress and makes us feel like we do not belong here but rather to an era that we glorify or idealise as superior to our own.

Or, maybe the most obvious reason for our vintage obsession is simply that everything else has already been done. The industry is built on an illusion that each ‘season’ brings us something unique from the other. However, these days, designers generally give us a revised version of a look from prior seasons, years or even decades. For example, the 1970s trend made the transition from Spring/Summer 2015 to Autumn/Winter 2015 and is obviously constructed around the style that was originally exhibited 40 years ago. This indicates that the popular belief (perhaps so clichéd now that it is used for comedic effect) that a trend can be “so last season” is in fact a myth. But we should not criticise fashion for the delusion that it founds itself on because anything that revolves around aesthetics has to involve illusion, otherwise it would not be art and it would not incite passion in anyone. The intriguing paradox surrounding the vintage fixation is that the utilisation of the style of previous eras is one of the only new trends that have infiltrated the post-millennium fashion portfolio. And it is the lack of distinction between trends that inspires this vintage borrowing as we yearn to return to a world when fashion still possessed the possibility of generating something fresh and exciting because all the options had not yet been exhausted. Nevertheless, this does not mean we should lose faith in the creativity of the industry as designers are not just rehashing the old looks, they are revitalising them and making good fashion available to generations that were not fortunate enough to experience it firsthand.

However, while this seems like a plausible, rational excuse, sometimes the most obvious answer is not the real one. As I mentioned above, designers rely on the past for inspiration all the time, giving us the perfect opportunity to seamlessly blend a legitimately vintage piece into our look. For example, in addition to the strong 1970s nuances provided by Chloe amongst others, the A/W 2015 catwalks saw Alexander Wang and Julian McDonald channel Victorian gothic darkness and JW Anderson’s collection was infused with 1980s New Wave vibes. Maybe this is a result of the lack of new territory available to today’s designers like I suggested earlier. Perhaps they return to vintage styles because they have nowhere else to go. On the other hand, perchance it is the manifestation of a disappointment with reality similar to that of the public. Let us not forget that those who produce fashion are acutely creative artists just like painters, writers, filmmakers and scientists. It is often a sign of the cultured person that they do not see value in their own age. Their sense of disillusionment stimulates them to reflect on the past or envision the future. But it is out of this melancholy that something marvellous, ingenious, is born. Great artists are constantly dissatisfied, otherwise they would not seek excellence in their work and we would have an unlimited supply of mediocre paintings, songs, films, fashion collections, etc., instead of a select trove of acclaimed masterpieces . But this discontentment is characteristic of artists throughout history so therefore its relativity insinuates that the fashion industry will never cease its recycling of previous decades’ style. Designers’ fascination with the past indicates that they search for brilliance that they do not recognise as inhabiting the modern world and will, like the public, continue to use vintage as a means of escape. After all, an age is only christened ‘golden’ in retrospect. Maybe our era will go down in fashion history as ‘the Golden Age of Vintage’.

*This article was originally published, in edited form, in the October 2015 issue of Motley Magazine.

Styles’ Statement Shirt Style

A gender-neutral style icon is a rare find. But despite his beginning as a preppy, teen idol, the recent fashion manifestations of One Direction’s Harry Styles prove that he is capable of offering audacious style inspiration to both men and women. Most notably, his penchant for statement shirts provide us with a visual guide as to how to pull off bold, alternative prints with a reckless, cool flair.

Four Press Junket

SNL Appearance

With the beginning of the promotional appearances for the band’s last album, Four, came the first instances of Harry’s new, more distinct style and the ‘shirt mania’ that characterised it. For the main press junket, he donned a coffee coloured shirt with a black, gothic, floral pattern .The Gucci creation, which looked like a pale shade of burgundy in some lights, was loaned a splash of careless panache by having the neck buttoned down to the mid-chest and the sleeves rolled up. Styles turned to this colour scheme again for the group’s Saturday Night Live appearance; opting for a Saint Laurent shirt of rust, cream and brown paisley print. On both occasions, the shirt is made the statement piece of the outfit by being paired with black, skinny jeans. With these two looks, Harry demonstrates how old-fashioned prints and dim, earth tones can be exceedingly modern and striking when they are styled in an effortless way and are made the focal point of the ensemble.

Jimmy Kimmel Live

However, Styles also illustrates a refreshed take on the more traditional monochrome shades and patterns. He arrived at the filming of Jimmy Kimmel Live in a black and white, speckled, short sleeved, Saint Laurent shirt. And he performed on the X-Factor in late 2014 in a loose, black long-sleeves-rolled-up number with a white pinstripe. For members of both sexes who possess a more reserved taste, these style exhibitions exemplify how chic prints can revitalise a minimalist colour scheme and can allow you to seem funky and subtle simultaneously.

The Today Show

As we reach the most courageous examples of his statement shirts, we uncover the main proof of why Harry Styles deserves his fashion credentials. His ability to pull off ridiculously crazy prints while still managing to maintain a sense of collected coolness is quite an accomplishment. An interview on America’s The Today Show gave us a design that it is difficult to describe in words (but I will try nevertheless). The bold, unique creation combined clashing check and abstract floral, geometric, square patterns in shades of lemon, brown, white and a variety of other colours. The recording of Band Aid 30 saw Styles channel a less complicated, yet equally distinctive print in the form of a crisp white shirt covered in different coloured motorbikes. Finally, Harry marked the boyband’s X-Factor final performance with Ronnie Wood in December 2014 by donning a black shirt imprinted with pale pink flamingos. By wearing these three Marc Jacobs, short sleeved spectacles buttoned down half-way and with the same signature black skinny jeans as those mentioned above, Styles exemplifies how to extract the full potential of the statement shirt. He verifies that extraordinary patterns need not appear fussy or excessive when they are used as the main feature of an outfit.

Band Aid 30

The X Factor Final 2014

Therefore, guys and girls alike can look to Harry Styles for instruction and inspiration when deciding to tackle a patterned shirt or blouse. I suppose with a surname like that, it would be a dreadful shame if he didn’t exude any ‘style’ skills!

*This article was originally published in The UCC Express in March 2015.

Styling Exile

By Fashion Editor, Nicole Clinton*.

“When I’m at war with myself, I just ride”.

The hauntingly poetic ending to Lana Del Rey’s epic, 10 minute music video for Ride intends to justify the singer’s (or perhaps the character’s) obsession with the dedication of her life to the freedom of the open road. She continues, elucidating that it is about “being in touch with your darkest fantasies” and “creating a life for yourself to experience them”. However, when one studies the stunningly stylised feel of the video and the role of clothing in the production of awe-inspiring cinematic visuals, these lines could simultaneously be applied to validate the avid use of fashion in the music video. Both Del Rey and the character she portrays in the music video have crafted a vision of an image for themselves and utilise fashion to visually exude it.

The fashion exhibited in the music video is saturated with style without being overtly glamorous. It is a product of that alluring and curious artistic paradox- the perfectly imperfect. It is ravishingly flawed, just like the girl about whom Del Rey sings. The fashion reveals its dysfunctional essence through its lack of clear direction or focus.

For example, the character’s informal look is California casual; depending on oversize, off-the-shoulder t-shirts, denim cut-off shorts and mini-sundresses. But her dresses when she sings onstage resemble an outdated, 1980s pageant queen. This eerily unnatural transition reflects the ‘damaged soul’ quality that Del Rey is fascinated with representing in her work.

Despair and mental unrest are idealised and romanticised perhaps because despite their negatives, at least they produce strong feelings and overcome the dulling numbness that mundane life exudes. She channels the notion that there is something quite attractive about being “f***ing crazy” because of the freedom and the pardon from society that accompanies it. The glamorisation of instability and “indecisiveness as wavering as the ocean” heavily relies on fashion to exhibit the appeal of these characteristics.

The cool attitude that the girl’s style radiates loans excessive charm to her nomadic way of life. The most significant examples of this arrive in the opening scene when Del Rey’s bleached denim jacket, ornamented with studs and fringes, emanates a tarnished bohemian spirit; and again in a later scene when her eighties, shoulder-padded, fringed, black leather jacket and denim frayed shorts attach a sense of reckless anticipation to her wait for her biker drivers at a gas station.

The video also employs fashion to aesthetically insert the very ‘American’ theories that are delicately woven through the song. There is something perplexingly glamorous about one of these classically ‘American’ ideas: the open road. Perhaps it stems from the almost legendary notion that the open road offers a physical and psychological escape from the soul-destroying routine of everyday life. Or maybe it spirals out of that other mythological concept of the American Dream, that the open road possesses endless possibilities and if you travel far enough, you’ll find what you’re looking for.

The choices of materials or textures in the character’s wardrobe contain close associations to the most well-known periods of American history. The prominence of denim and fringes in Del Rey’s costumes in the video are reminiscent of the popular image of the Wild West. She enters more controversial territory by donning a traditional Native American headdress, bringing up the US government’s horrendous mistreatment of the countries original nomads. Her tendency to align her style preferences with two warring adversaries from her nation’s history visually exemplifies the conflict that lies at both the root of her own identity and of a country that preaches freedom but often asserts an abuse of control.

A more explicit display of American symbolism adorns Del Rey’s body when she wears the nation’s flag as a cape-like garment. The girl’s colour palette generally revolves around the red, white and blue of the star spangled banner reminding the viewer of where her beliefs originated. The distinctive fashion triumphs in making the desolate, monotonous locations of a mid- west town appear captivating and beautifully eerie.

The character’s failure to settle physically, mentally or romantically grants her outsider status, an image that is cemented in the video through her clothes and perhaps more importantly through the attitude with which she carries them. Fashion is the force that asserts her marginalisation from society as her style does not seem to fit into any one particular box, reflecting her reluctance to limit herself to only one life or lover.

She wears the feminine dresses with a child-like yet disenchanted innocence but she bears the leather and denim with reckless liberty. Her indifference to modern trends and subtle changeability would make her an outcast from the cutting edge fashion crowd and her dangerous sensuality would expel her from the old- fashioned traditionalists. She meanders between lovers in an attempt to feed her thirst for passion, acceptance and a feeling of belonging. Her fashion preoccupation alters depending on which one of the men she is accompanying, going from carefree to pretty to tough- as if each man is a style patron enabling her addiction to tasting different roles.

It is not until the end of the video that Del Rey finds her ‘people’ and thus a sense of belonging. This epiphany where she accepts her clan as those who are ‘wild’ and believe in ‘the freedom of the open road’ is represented by a tribal-esque outfit of a white, fringed crop-top and shorts.

Therefore, fashion plays a revitalising and symbolic role in Lana Del Rey’s Ride video. It showcases the image she wishes to embody in the eyes of the viewer as a romantic wanderer who ultimately accepts that predictable life is not her destiny. The clothes energise and glamorise the barren location and the character’s nonchalant state of mind. In fact, the whole 10minute experience is like fashion hypnosis if you equate the tyre on which Del Rey swings at the beginning and end of the video as a pendulum dreamily entrancing us into her surreal state of existence. But I’m warning you, if you go under, you won’t want to come back out…you’ll want to ‘just ride’.

*This article was originally published in The UCC Express in November 2015, during my time as fashion editor.

Sharp Dressed Men

Nicole Clinton examines some of the most stylish members of the male species to have graced our screens over the last few years*

ZZ –Top once sang “every girl’s crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man” and although it is hard to admit that a couple of eighties rock stars with extremely long beards have any clue about fashion, they were right. While “sharp dressed” male movie characters do have the extra bonus of displaying the good-looks, charisma and general other-worldliness of the movie star that portrays them, the right style only serves to enhance their personas and appeal. And even though the majority of the noughties biggest films had Hollywood’s actors donning spandex/ mechanical armour (Iron Man, Spiderman) or crazy period costumes (Johnny Depp, I’m talking about you), there were still some examples of male characters who epitomised modern style.

In recent screen outings, the character situation that produces the most fashionable consequences is the double-life leading character that is the billionaire-playboy (who may occasionally dabble in philanthropy) by day and crime fighter (or crime-causer) by night. No recent character embodies slick style more than Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight trilogy. Although Michael Keaton’s suits were very in vogue during the late 1980’s/early 1990’s when he starred as Wayne in Tim Burton’s Batman movies, Bale definitely wins the glamour battle. While being Christian Bale (with particularly good hair in the second and third instalments) might win it for him all on its own, his sartorial supremacy can surely be attributed to his Giorgio Armani Made to Measure tailoring. He models a series of dashing looks including a grey pinstripe number and a glen plaid suit, all complete with custom ‘Giorgio Armani for Bruce Wayne’ labelling.  His Armani designs create a desirable and sophisticated poise that could only be associated with the overindulgence of Wayne’s public persona and allow for an efficient disguise of his night-time masked- vigilante habits.

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight Trilogy

But Bale is no stranger to elegant suits. He appeared decked out in designer flair back in 2000 when he starred as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. Although Bateman’s smart suits display excessive wealth and act as a distraction for the character’s nocturnal pursuits, his after-dark persona is at the opposite end of the spectrum to Wayne’s. Cerruti agreed to design the suits for Bale’s serial killer Bateman but refused to allow him to wear the label while engaging in any of his sinister murders.

Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho

A sense of panache is not limited to the billionaire though. Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Facebook CFO, Eduardo Saverin, in 2010’s The Social Network was the perfect demonstration of how the suit can be worn casually. His smart shirts and dashing peacoats perfectly compliment his clean-cut, black suits. His appreciation for glamour is commented on extensively in the movie and highlights his best friend Mark Zuckerberg’s laid-back aura and zoned out attitude. Eduardo’s reputation for excellent dressing culminates in my favourite scene when his enemy, Sean Parker, makes a dig at his penchant for style, to which Saverin replies (in a true ‘f*** you, you jealous, unfashionable people’ manner) “Sorry! My Prada’s at the cleaners! Along with my hoodie and my ‘f*** you’ flip-flops!”. Eduardo therefore not only demonstrates how men can dress up on a daily basis but also tells us that you don’t have to apologise to the non-believer for being clothes-conscious.

Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network

Ryan Gosling’s character, Jacob Palmer, in 2011’s Crazy, Stupid, Love is another guy whose suits and general get-up ooze flair. In fact, he is so smooth that he looks like he is a permanent part of the glossy furniture of the exclusive bar that he haunts night after night. But he is not greedy with his sophisticated taste. He recognises the cry for help that Steve Carrell’s runners and suit combination screams and decides to impose some of the style that he seeps on him. If that’s not charity, I don’t know what is.

Ryan Gosling as Jacob Palmer in Crazy Stupid Love.

As the modern world drowns in a sea of hoodies and tracksuit pants, it sometimes becomes difficult to remember that glamour also exists for the male population. Therefore, I would like to thank Christian, Andrew and Ryan (plus the other actors who have portrayed stylish characters who I didn’t have space to mention) for highlighting the appeal that men’s style can exemplify through their chic movie characters.

*This article was originally published in The UCC Express in October 2013 during my time as fashion editor.

Image Anatomy (Vol.2)

Because a fashion photo is more than a pretty picture…

Dissected by Nicole Clinton.

The print advertisement for leading Italian Design House, Giorgio Armani’s women’s fragrance Acqua di Gioia simply portrays a beautiful model, Emily Didonato, starring at the viewer from a bed of tropical greenery. The image captures a scene that occurs after the culmination of the television commercial, which sees the model running through an exotic island location in the lashing rain. The image is only really properly brought to three-dimensional life if the viewer is familiar with the motion picture advertisement that is sublimely enhanced by an epic, romantic score. However, the image-maker’s ability to instil the cinematic aura of the moving commercial in the fixed visual flawlessly embodies what a good fashion photograph encapsulates in that it feels like a still from a film. It conveys a glimpse of a narrative of a dream that the designer aspires for their product to induce in the minds of the public.

The colour scheme employed in the photograph takes its inspiration from the ‘Acqua’ or water of the perfume’s title as various shades of blue dictate the image. The luscious foliage upon which Didonato rests is a petrol-blue colour, darker than what one would usually expect to witness in a jungle setting. The greenery is loaned bright tinges by the way that the light illuminates it in certain areas. These hints of illumination are also observed on the model’s skin through cosmetic high-lighting of her nose, neck and arm. Her make-up look features mainly metallic tones, perhaps an homage to the elements to which water belongs. Her metallic pink lips and gold shimmered eye-shadow subtly add a glow to her matt skin. Didonato’s eyes additionally adhere to the water tone colour palette. Her piercing eyes contain three shades of blue, with the lightest tone possessing a shiny radiance. The idea of moisture is not just injected into the visual through colour association, but also through the physical appearance of water droplets on the model’s skin and in her damp, tousled hair. While, this primarily asserts the prominence of water, it also establishes a sense of sensuality in the visual.

The framing of the photograph is skilfully constructed with the model being framed by the rich greenery. The dark foliage fills in the left hand side of the image and cushions this whole side of the models face and figure, hence allowing for her bright skin to shine in contrast. A thin row of leaves lines the opposite side. The space between this and the right hand side of the model’s body presents a dull turquoise sky, shrouded in mist and fog. Perspective is created through the faded image of similar plant-life behind the model. This adds density to the picture and the damp climate further suggests the theme of water. The significant status of moisture and vegetation in the aesthetic illustration of the advertisement, distinguishes the prominent role of nature. Nature’s reputation as a mother figure or for being feminine in general, aids the promotion of the product as a womanly product, despite the cool, harsh tones of the colour scheme.

The perfume bottle and accompanying caption also contain many interesting allusions. The shape of the bottle is curved and is tinted in aqua tones, hinting at the liquidity and continuity of water. It displays the name of the fragrance, Acqua di Gioia, and the name of the designer, Giorgio Armani, thus demonstrating a play on words as many of the same letters are employed to construct both terms. The title of the perfume could be seen to use the poetic technique of assonance with the euphonious repetition of vowel sounds forming a fluid effect, again summoning the notion of water. The caption attached to the product “The Essence of Joy” highlights a slight paradox as the general colour scheme and expression of the model does not appear to imply happiness.

In fact, the overall atmosphere of the image is quite eerie as there is a sense of lifelessness in the model’s gaze and an alternative idea of exoticism is presented as an undercurrent of peaceful melancholy reigns in the visual. The image’s triumph is the way it balances this cold aura with the glamorous treatment of the natural setting, the illuminating glow of the model and the focus on water as a refreshing element. Perhaps, the vision is drawing on water’s dual ability to give life and to take it away…

It’s in the Jeans

Fashion Editor, Nicole Clinton, charts the evolution of the world’s most popular pants and compares their changes to the historical periods that they lived through.*

It is almost impossible to envision a wardrobe, in fact a world, without jeans, yet it is also quite shocking that they were first invented in 1873!While the denim pants are a ubiquitous symbol of modern dress, their creation by a Bavarian-born Jew, Levi Strauss, came way back in the late-nineteenth century. The opportunistic Strauss produced and sold his first pair of jeans to a Californian miner for six dollars in gold dust after the man complained of the difficulty he experienced in finding a pair of stiff, rugged pants that could withstand the rigours of digging. Fast forward over 140years and jeans have become both a style statement and a fashion essential in the eyes of the Western world, but not without going through a series of physical and social transformations over the decades.

In the 1930s, jeans were mainly seen on the big-screen as the cowboys of Hollywood western movies made the pants a symbol of the all-American hero. The style of jeans found during this time were loose fitting, hard-wearing work pants as they were still mostly worn by miners and manual labourers. In 1936, Levi Strauss added his signature red flag to the back pocket of the jeans, making it the first item of clothing to display an outside label. It was also during this decade that Vogue featured a model in denim on the cover for the first time, planting the idea that jeans could be worn as a fashion statement. The 1940s brought the introduction of rival denim companies Wrangler and Lee as they launched their bid to compete with Levi for a share of the jeans market. This new competition highlighted the rising status of jeans as a hugely profitable product that would grow within the American capitalist, consumer society that was taking shape at this time.

The 1950s saw denim become favoured by young people as ‘teenagers’ emerged as a new demographic of the western population. The material became synonymous with the ‘teenage rebel’ in popular culture and stars like James Dean and Marlon Brando promoted the sensitive, denim-clad, bad-boy look. Due to their wild image that endorsed ‘bad behaviour’, jeans were even banned in some US public schools. Light washes, cuffed jeans and black denim were the trends among men. However jeans had yet to become popular in women’s fashion as the image of the perfect, feminine housewife was highly encouraged in females of all ages.

James Dean- Rebel Without a Cause

Many college students wore jeans in the 1960s while the item’s rebellious image began to transform into one representing the peace, love and rock ‘n’ roll ideals that preoccupied the era’s youth. Embroidery and psychedelic patterns decorated the free-flowing, bell-bottom style that reigned supreme during the sixties and the beginning of the seventies. As the hippie age of the 1970s was ushered in, personalising your jeans became all the rage and denim saw itself being ornamented with bright colours, stone wash, rhinestones and patches. This burst of creativity and anti-establishment ideology was a backlash against the mechanical, conservative society that America had pushed throughout the 1950s and early 1960s.  Bell bottoms and hip huggers were worn with huge platform heels before being made redundant when the punk movement inspired by British punk bands the Ramones and the Sex Pistols traded flares for skin-tight jeans.

The Hippie Movement

It is not until the commencement of the 1980s that jeans finally become high fashion clothing when famous non-denim designers started making their own styles of the newly coveted pants, placing their own labels on them and truly launching designer denim. Sales of jeans increased as Gordon Gecko told the world that “greed is good” and the yuppie class was born out of the materialistic society that America had become. A 15-year-old Brooke Shields cooed “Nothing comes between me and my Calvin’s,” as Calvin Klein jeans fronted the designer denim movement and elevated the latest trend of jeans to essential status in the minds of the public. Stonewash, acid wash and ripped jeans were some of the most popular looks, along with skinny leg cuts that were tapered at the ankle and high-waists. Jeans even invaded the haute-couture fashion-houses in the Eighties as Karl Lagerfeld used denim for his first couture collection for Chanel. Their appeal even affected the ultimate fashion diva Anna Wintour as she put Guess jeans on her first cover when she took over American Vogue during this decade.

Brooke Shields for Calvin Klein

The 1990s grunge era was the hangover that the over-indulgent materialism of the eighties had induced. While the American yuppies where drowning in bills, embarrassment and lament contemplating the decadence the previous decade had brought them, their sons and daughters dealt with the depression and the recession by idolising Kurt Cobain’s music and style. The baggy jeans complimented the gritty, careless style that grunge promoted but they were also brought to the forefront with the emergence of the hip-hop movement. The new Calvin Klein Jeans campaign brought both grunge and hip-hop together with new face Kate Moss becoming a poster girl for the grunge look and we all know how much of a hip-hop legend that her co-star Marky Mark, a.k.a Mark Wahlberg was (Hint: I’m being sarcastic). The high-waisted, baggy leg cut was advertised by a topless Moss as she had Marky Mark claiming that “Not even that could come between me and my Calvin’s”. Carpenter jeans and head-to-toe denim (yes, like Bewitched!) also became popular.

Kate Moss and Mark ‘Marky Mark’ Wahlberg for Calvin Klein Jeans

Seeing as civilisation survived the millennium (computers and electronic devices did not self-destruct!), pop starlets like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera decided we should celebrate by dropping the waists of our jeans to a dangerous level and popularised the ultra low rise jean. Denim became a major fashion staple once again and suitable to wear out on a Friday night. While in the early Noughties flare to boot-cut styles prospered, skinny and straight cut took over in the late-2000s. As the jeans’ market was booming again, a group of new premium denim companies like 7 for All Mankind, Hudson and Citizen emerged to commandeer a share of the lucrative market also.

Britney Spears in low rise jeans

The changing purpose, styles and image of jeans interestingly reflects the changing beliefs and movements in society in both their motherland, America, and throughout the rest of the Western world.  They meandered their way through history to go from a work-man’s necessity during the Thirties to an expression of rebellion through the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies, before transforming into a material girl’s display of wealth in the greedy Eighties and then surfaced from the hung-over Nineties to become a sexy staple in the Noughties.

*This article was originally published in The UCC Express in February 2014 during my time as fashion editor.

Image Anatomy Vol. 1

Because a fashion photo is more than a pretty picture…
Dissected by Fashion Editor, Nicole Clinton.*

The cover of British Vogue’s May 2003 issue presents supermodel Kate Moss channelling music icon David Bowie with his signature lightning bolt face-paint digitally printed over her face. This cover is an example of the magazine’s regular utilisation of Kate’s ‘British-ness’ for displays of patriotism. The Nick Knight photograph demonstrates how a picture does not have to exhibit clothes to be saturated with style.

The visual displays a morphing of two iconic faces in British pop-culture whose influence inhabits the past and present simultaneously. Kate Moss could be described as perhaps THE British fashion icon of the last 25years while David Bowie is one of the most definitive and significant British music stars of the 20th Century. Although Bowie does not physically appear on the cover, his presence is boldly plastered across the image in the form of his trademark make-up. The cover image perfectly personifies a sublime amalgamation of music and fashion, an intent that can be located in the accompanying captions ‘Fashion’, ‘Music’ and ‘Art’. So if Kate represents fashion and Bowie represents music, then the art is where both subjects collide. Stage personas rely on fashion to produce an influential and unique ‘image’ to convey a creative vision that audible music fails to do alone.

The colour scheme of the image illustrates a striking clash of the black and white photographic picture of Kate’s stunning visage and the vibrant red, blue and orange tones of the face-paint.

The way in which Kate’s hair is scraped back in a rather masculine style adds a spice of androgyny to the cover photo, a point that reminds the viewer of both Bowie and Moss’ reputations for meandering into the territory of the opposite sex. Bowie’s bisexual exploits and his penchant for decorating his feminine features with extravagant make-up permitted his musical persona to cross gender boundaries, while Kate’s ultra-slim frame embodied the grunge era’s rejection of traditional femininity and promotion of androgynous dressing.

The captions further emphasise the issue’s objective in exhibiting an intersection between music and style. The description of the Moss feature, ‘Kate Moss in Vintage Bowie’, exudes this but also the inclusion of the term ‘vintage’ evokes the post-Millennium obsession with the fashion of the second half of the 20th century. Perhaps this fascination with ‘vintage’ symbolises a sense of sentimentality about a lost world where fashion trends seemed more definitive, a lamentation about these distinctive styles that characterised the era during which they emerged. Both Kate and Bowie’s personas were born in that now mythical world, where grunge and punk reigned respectively. The rather paradoxical fact is that the only memorable trend of Noughties fashion remains this preoccupation with vintage. Unfortunately, the other trends that have surfaced over the last decade were (and still are) easily and unnoticeably interchanged with the next bland instalment of staleness. Once the early Millennium’s one-sleeved tops and low-rise jeans were over, it becomes near impossible to pinpoint a trend that defines the Noughties and its citizens, hence the acquired fixation with the past’s style. If we are to stay with the theme of how fashion, music and art are interconnected, I suppose one could comment that the artistic side of both fashion and music is managing to generate originality when almost everything has already been done…

*This article was originally published in The UCC Express in September 2014 during my time as fashion editor.