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.

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.

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.

Acceptable in the Eighties

Fashion Editor, Nicole Clinton explains why the fashion trends of the 1980s were anything but ‘bad taste’.*

In my estimation, everyone has that era that they would have loved to have experienced but were not born early enough to have done so. For me it is the 1980s.  It may have been nicknamed the decade of ‘bad taste’, but I’m going to argue why in terms of fashion, this is an unfair judgement. Unlike today when there is no strict unusual style and one season’s look blends into the next, the eighties produced a series of strikingly different trends that transformed from New Romanticism in the early years of the decade to the latter half’s Power Dressing.

New Romanticism- Perhaps the most creative trend of the eighties, New Romantic fashion rose from the ashes of the seventies punk era and was derived from the images of musical acts such as Adam Ant, Spandau Ballet and Visage. Frilly shirts, waistcoats, velvet suits and short pants were staple pieces of New Romanticism, with brocade designs making everything even more ornate. However, this trend was mainly followed by the ladies and the more experimental males as the average guy found the style of Ant, Visage front-man Steve Strange and Boy George, with the dramatic eye-make-up and pink blusher, a little bit too colourful for them to emulate. The men chose to duplicate the hairstyles of the movement instead donning quiffs and mullets. Maybe it is because I’m a massive Pirates of the Caribbean fan that I find the idea of everybody dressing like elaborate pirates and men with eyeliner magical, but the flamboyance of New Romanticism held a sort of creativity and originality that we don’t find in everyday fashion today. Clothes were like costumes and musical acts’ stage personas were like otherworldly characters from a fantasy story. Adam Ant exuded this quality in particular, with music videos for his songs like ‘Prince Charming’ and ‘Stand and Deliver’ taking inspiration from popular fairy-tales and romanticised representations of the eighteenth century.
Power-dressing- As materialism became America’s new religion, Wall Street’s Gordon Gecko preached “greed is good” to the masses via the big screen and the new creed induced a new style of dress to reflect it. The rise of the Yuppie class and a ‘keeping up with the Jones’’ attitude had everyone donning a suit to either express their power and wealth or at least give the impression that they had it. The power- suit soared in popularity with men using it to create a sharp image and women having the opportunity for the first time to wear a feminine styled suit. Tailored blazers, smart cigarette legged pants, elegant blouses and tight pencil skirts came in a vast array of colours and were even a look opted for by ladies on a night out. Television shows such as Miami Vice inspired men to try lighter coloured suits and to dress dashingly on a nightly basis. Trench coats and Crombies were the outerwear of choice so that everyone could look like a New York lawyer/stockbroker from the television. While the concept that was behind materialism is not exactly the most moral way to live your life, it did stimulate a style of dress that improved the image of the majority of people and caused everybody to take pride in their appearance. In fact, power-dressing’s goal was actually more admirable in the people who were using it as a guise for having no power at all. Instead of being depressed about what they didn’t have (like the grunge era reflected in the nineties), they used clothes to appear important and sharp and therefore attained that state of mind regardless.

These were just two of the trends that occupied the 1980s; there were many more that inhabited the time in between that were just as interesting. But next time you dismiss the 1980s as a decade of embarrassing fashion, just think, do you own anything peplum, a frilly blouse, leggings, bangles, a blazer, skinny jeans or coloured stilettos? Considering the recent resurgence in popularity of these items I’m guessing the answer is yes. So ha! You’re wearing eighties regalia!

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

What is Fashion?

Fashion Editor, Nicole Clinton, explores her specialised subject.*
The Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of the word ‘fashion’- “a popular trend; producing and marketing styles of clothing etc.”- only barely verges on the true meaning and potential of fashion. While it often finds itself unjustly dismissed as a subject of frivolity, this is a grave misconception. Fashion’s function is in fact so complex that it is rooted in paradox as it operates on the basis of the amalgamation of opposites. Its effects can mirror the cathartic power of any good piece of art, ranging from awe to tragedy to comedy. It performs as a reputable tool for the sociological study of any given era, race or gender and also acts as both a physical manifestation and stimulus of psychological feelings.

Fashion is a soldier of great valour, honoured with the task of executing its duties in opposing territories. It possesses the ability to serve contradictory purposes through its paradoxical functions. For example, fashion is a means through which one may stand out from the crowd by exemplifying a unique sense of style. But it is also method of fitting in if one chooses to dress similarly to others. For individuals who yearn for acceptance and approval, fashion can offer a sense of belonging. For those who do not wish to be seen, fashion can be camouflage from the eyes of the world. However for others, who view style as creative expression, fashion can be a means of transmitting their skill, embodying their personality and attracting coveted attention. Fashion is reality because of its primary role to clothe you. But it is also fantasy due to its capacity to act as an artistic medium for exhibitions of the imagination, just like paint or words. Fashion’s ambidexterity stems either from an elusive, fleeting nature that makes it incapable of deciding where its allegiances lie; from a tyrannical soul that intends to make us slaves to its limitless power; or from a heroic sense of duty to serve divergent realms.

Fashion is an industry of necessity and of luxury. Consumers require clothes for civilised existence and the fashion business meets this need. But it is the industry’s wonderful exploitation of humanity’s tendency to fantasise about and aspire for a life better than its own that makes fashion a business of luxury. Fashion is a trade based on the buying and vending of dreams through its creation and marketing of glamorous goods. The industry is not necessarily embedded in a cynical materialism as the consumer’s interaction with it does not solely revolve around the acquiring of objects.  It is instead related to a more innocent idealism as the industry is simply responding to the consumer’s vision of a certain lifestyle or self-image that they long to saturate themselves with in the hope that it may enhance their mundane life. There are a multitude of positive things that improve our lives which we cannot purchase but rather have to wait for fortune to award us with. But while we wait, fashion offers us the opportunity to mould the life and image that we visualise for ourselves. However, fashion is not just its own industry but also feeds into every other, from the more obviously stylish movie and music businesses, to ordinary clerical work, to the rough armed forces. In the world of professions, it is utilised as a visual representation of status or role. Whether a given business insists on uniform or a more lenient dress code, their choice is based on what they want to communicate about their company through the influential medium of fashion.

Fashion is invested with a host of intellectual properties for which it rarely receives credit. It is an art due to its eminence as an aesthetically dynamic, visual instrument. It is a science because of the specialist skill it takes to successfully experiment with its elements. Fashion carries social and psychological weight. It can be employed as a historical device for the exploration of society’s preoccupations during a particular era. Fashion trends act as a sign of the times and a visual depiction of a period in history. One may recognise the decade or century that an event occurred in by glimpsing the clothes that the people are wearing. Fashion is also a cultural and religious indicator as different corners of the globe and the beliefs of its citizens may be deciphered by observing their dress sense. It plays a vital role in patriotism and national identity arising from tradition and designated colour combinations. Fashion is the decisive marker of gender, whether it is an embodiment of masculinity, femininity or an ambiguous androgyny. Fashion harnesses psychological power in the way that it can personify or induce a certain state of mind through colour or style association.

Fashion is a philosophical phenomenon whose qualities can be utilised by everyone, everywhere, all the time. It is a universal force whose omnipotence should not be ignored as it lurks in even the most unsuspecting places. It is the art of everyday life that we are constantly creating or viewing. It is so much more than “a popular trend”. Fashion is a triumph.

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