Category: Gallery

Fashion Library-Danova

https://www.bloomsburyfashioncentral.com/products/berg-fashion-library/book/fashionable-childhood-children-in-advertising/heterosexual-innocence
This text analyzes examples of advertisements for children’s clothing and how they contribute to a culture that imposes heterosexuality and fetishizes gender differences from infancy. We are shown a variety of images of children in different magazines and the text breaks down how each emphasizes certain traits that are considered particularly feminine or masculine through the garments and the artistic choices made. Not only does this reinforce a rigid gender binary, the advertisements also rely heavily on implications of heterosexuality and association of childhood with innocence (and thus innocence as within the gender binary and heterosexuality). Boys are associated with the colour blue, they’re often shown as having more agency and acting more playful, while the girls are generally dressed in pink, appear more sweet and smiling, and are associated with dolls.

I found this article to be pretty interesting as it shows how often the type of clothing bought for children clearly involves implicit gendering and sexuality assumptions. Clothes for children are often not created with their use and practicality in mind, but rather with meanings relating to a specific type of sexuality- and these advertisements aim to push further the normalization of heterosexuality. This burden of a very specific gender and sexuality norm is the placed on children from the moment they start wearing garments and seeing advertisements. These expectations are now so deeply ingrained we have internalized them and they have become a normalized part of clothing in every stage of life- any alternative choices are often othered and seen as something unnatural.

Every image shown in the article has many elements that are subtly staged in ways suggest at problematic cultural assumptions about the gender binary- when girls and boys are posed together, the girl is often placed farther back, is wearing pink floral clothes, while the boy stands defensively forward- suggesting at their expected roles and future relationships. The images appear very natural, however due to them being in fashion magazines they are in fact very staged, making these ideals that much more insidious. Passiveness and activeness expectations are so often clearly displayed, “teaching sensitivity in girls and assertiveness in boys”, and furthering and commercializing dangerous Freudian theories of a radical gender gap and innate heterosexuality in children.

Cultural Garments – Sarah Xi

In the book Paris Fashion by Valerie Steele, the 8th chapter covers the geography and evolution of fashion in Paris. As Paris is widely known as an international capital of style for hundreds of years, the chapter I chose discusses notable sites of fashionable display, mainly in the theater and on the racetrack.

In theater, the success of plays became increasingly reliant on not just literary quality but the costumes the actresses wore on stage. Men in the audience would notice the actresses’ dresses, for it “accentuated their physical charms” and the actresses’ themselves would spend great money to get their stunning costumes. As such, it became widely believed that “superior costumes could even save a mediocre play”. However, watching performances wasn’t the only reason why people went to the theater, the audience itself was also said to be on display. Since attending the theater was considered to be a social ritual, there were many strict rules as to where certain people were allowed to sit and what dress code they were supposed to follow. From court dresses to workers’ blouses, this is what separates the spectator from whether they are in a private box or in the orchestra pit. The level of fashion expectations varies with each theater too, ranging from the Gaîté (where “the blouse prevails) and the Paris Opera (known to be “one of the temples of fashion”.
Many paintings also depict this phenomenon, oftentimes showing men or women looking at not the stage, but another private with their opera glasses.


Similar to the theater, there became an intense competition of elegance and luxury between people in horse racing on racing day. At racetracks like Longchamp and Chantilly, you would be able to find people dressed up to be judged by other fellow audience members, in addition to milliners and seamstresses looking proud to see their handiwork displayed.
Bois de Boulogne is another notable place (although not a race track but a fashionable park) where the presence of fashion is strong. Appropriate dress codes for a stroll at a fashionable promenade also became strict as clothing acceptable for a carriage ride may not be for when your on foot. As such, certain jewels for earrings were only permitted and street dresses that were short, sturdy and “without superfluous ornament” became acceptable for the morning or walks.

Overall, I enjoyed reading about past cultural fashion practices, especially on the equestrian sport. It was fascinating to learn about how highly thought of fashion was in daily life, like having strict different appropriate dress codes for whether you’re in a carriage or not and how different theaters had varied levels of expectation in fashion. In addition to that, there were other parts of the article I found interesting that weren’t really about horseback riding and theater. For instance, the emergence of wearing certain garments such as bloomers and trousers (for cycling), and how the popularity of them among women wasn’t fully accepted even though it was presented in France as an increasingly fashionable item.

Reference:
https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.cmu.idm.oclc.org/products/berg-fashion-library/book/paris-fashion-a-cultural-history/the-theater-of-fashion

Kimono – Caitlyn

I read the chapter “The Contemporary Kimono” in the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, written by Sheila Cliffe, a kimono researcher and author. The article details the history, construction, industry, development, and culture surrounding the kimono, a signature garment of Japan typically consisting of a floor-length robe wrapped around the body. Kimonos come in a range of styles, from casual to formal, with differences in methods of production and wear. Cliffe explains a variety of kimono types meant for certain occasions, from the shiro muku wedding gown to the iro muji for tea ceremonies. The author discusses the evolution of the kimono over time that came with social, technological, and cultural changes in Japan. For example, as women’s roles in society changed over time, so did the garments they wore. An example is the hakama, or trouser skirt, which indicated the more active lifestyle of a samurai wife. Before the early twentieth century, kimonos were ubiquitous across Japan. The 1950s marked a major shift in Japanese dress, as western clothing became very popular. Yet, the kimono continues to retain its special significance in Japanese social life, as it is the preferred dress for festivals, ceremonies, and other occasions. Additionally, the influences of kimono are present in fashion in art internationally, seen in motifs, methods, and structures. Cliffe concludes with a section on controversies about the kimono, dismantling myths about the influence of European thought on the birth of fashion systems, the evolution of the garment, and the misuse of the term kimono.

This article was quite fascinating to read, as I have always been curious about the history of the kimono. I was particularly interested in learning about the slow and subtle changes in the kimono over time, and how the fashion/dressing system of the kimono has transformed according to political, economic, social, and technological factors. The author’s discussion of misunderstandings and controversies related to the kimono was particularly thought-provoking, and I found this quote insightful: “Some have argued that the kimono takes no account of the size of the human figure, because it is not shaped, like Western dress. This is a misunderstanding, as the fitting takes place during the dressing process rather than during the cutting of the cloth, which means that it can actually be fitted perfectly to the body rather than the wearer choosing a generic size, which might or might not fit his or her body well” (Cliffe).

sneakers, basketball, and hip hop

Hip Hop fashion and culture has always evolved alongside basketball. One of the earliest roots of modern hip hop culture is basketball shoes, originating with the Chuck Taylor’s. The advancement of basketball players and the sport led to more engineered footwear like Adidas’ Superstars and Puma’s brightly-colored suede shoes. Naturally, the popularity of basketball caused its shoes to become immensely popular casual shoes, especially in New York. This led to these shoes being identified with hip hop.

Walt Frazier (New York Knicks) in Puma, Wilt Chamberlain (Los Angeles Lakers) in Converse, and Jim McMillian (Lakers) in Adidas, NBA Finals 1973.

Hip Hop was created around the 1970s by teenagers from largely African American, Caribbean, and Puerto Rican backgrounds. It was formed around rap music, breakdancing, and graffiti art. Hip Hop continued to grow along with basketball, as black players also provided models of African American success. As hip hop became more engrained in American culture, many other artists from the art and film worlds were attracted to its creative energy.

Boys in Puma, Pro-Keds, and Converse in the South Bronx, New York, 1977.

It is interesting how shoes popular even today are so deeply rooted in American culture and fashion, such as converse, adidas, puma, and nike. It is even more fascinating that these shoes’ origins are tied to basketball and its growth in American history.

src: https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.cmu.idm.oclc.org/products/berg-fashion-library/book/the-sports-shoe-a-history-from-field-to-fashion/sneakers-basketball-and-hip-hop

Queer Fashion: Part Leather

Franky Moore

Adam Geczy and Vicki Karaminas wrote the book “Queer style,” and I chose the “Kiss of the Whip” chapter because of it’s striking title and implications in the queer fashion scene. First, Geczy and Karaminas define the terms essential to their discussion: Bondage, Discipline, and Sadomasochism, and the context for these terms and queer culture within the dominant society. They then argue that queer culture co-opted aspects of the BDSM community to subvert traditional expectations around sex in order to emphasize queer culture’s differences from heteronormative society through interesting visual cues. Straight people can practice BDSM as well, but there is significant overlap between BDSM and the queer community through subverting expectations and re-enacting authority in cloth and accessory. The latter is as diverse as the human imagination, and is openly seen at Pride parades and in everyday street fashion as a calling card for queerness. This is see in the public display of leather harnesses, collars, latex and rubber wear, leashes, and chains, all of which highlight elements of control and emphasize the wearer’s difference from heteronormative society’s sexuality. The uniforms used in BDSM deconstruct power and authority through purposeful transgression of social norms; the authors devote a significant amount of time discussing fascism in relation to Gestapo uniform features, such as “padded shoulders” and “taut angularity” being incorporated into scenarios of consensual cruelty, and work-wear of the 1980s. Overall, BDSM is a part of queer fashion, and certainly not the be-all-end-all of queer fashion. It offers a way for queer people to scream their identities and strike down the power they must contend with in everyday life.

I started to skim this article and found myself engrossed in a similar way to looking at roadkill from the side of the road: it’s impossible to look away. I agree with the article’s primary assessment of BDSM and the queer scene: go to a gay bar or pride parade and you’ll see a variety of leather and latex from performers and viewers alike. The minutiae of this overlap is explicitly detailed, and I found the historical context for BDSM and the cultural history around queer people well-put. The deep dive into fascism and its need for control reflected and subverted in BDSM was fascinating, and profoundly unsettling. I would love to read an entire article on suiting and its fascist undertones, which was briefly mentioned in power-dressing, because of the prevalence of suiting in corporate America and cult around formal menswear. I think it’s important, too, to see how BDSM has been used as a rhetorical device for fascism to be explicitly criticized. I also found the connection between machines and leather with queer motorcycle riders interesting, as it started to reinforce masculine identity and quickly spun out of control to reinforce themes of power, control, and a character/design the wearer wished to obtain. I wish the authors used more accessible language, because it made some of their arguments harder to understand. I also wish they had not strived for shock in some portions of the chapter; this manifested in having a paragraph of carefully constructed nuance dashed away for a pithy one-liner.

I would highly recommend reading this article if you want to get a deep dive on leather and the queer fashion scene, or want to look more into the history of fascist clothing and its shadow in alternative cultures.

“Kiss of the Whip: Bondage, Discipline and Sadomasochism, or BDSM Style” https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.cmu.idm.oclc.org/products/berg-fashion-library/book/queer-style/kiss-of-the-whip-bondage-discipline-and-sadomasochism-or-bdsm-style

Cultural Aspect of a Garment Natalia Santiago

The article I chose to talk about is titled Dress and Dance in Puerto Rico, this article is found in the book Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion under the chapter titled “Part 4: The Caribbean”. This section addresses the history and different influences behind typical Puerto Rican garments used in traditional dances and festivals. The article starts by looking at the Taínos and Spanish colonialism in the 1400s explaining how the Taínos’ short frontal slips (naguas) and denotative jewelry were switched for typical European garments when enslaved. This figure then evolved into the romanticized vision of el jibaro or the typical field working-man of the 1800’s who wore long sleeved-shirts and wide-brimmed hats with long pants to protect them from the heavy fieldwork. The article then moves on to explain how the clashing of the Spanish, Taíno, and African cultures produced different celebrations and music genres now typical to Puerto Rico. Each of these had its own characteristic garments such as la Bomba which requires a beaded petticoat (enagua). More modern music such as Rap and Reggaeton have more distinct styles rather than garments which entail baggy pants with white sneaker shoes and flashy jewelry. In regards to the festivals, the article talks about some typical festivities that occur around the island which include masked figures that resemble bats in their clothing and are supposed to ward off evil spirits (vejigantes).

  • Bomba Dancers
  • Vejigantes from a Festival in Ponce
  • Reggeaton artist Bad Bunny

As the article was written in 2005 and it chooses to focus on more historical garments it was interesting to see the styles described in this article and compare them to the styles of today. Garments, such as those used for the Vejigantes in festivals and the traditional Bomba dances, are still being used today, as they are part of the traditions; however, styles such as those worn by reggeaton artist have evolved from the characteristic baggy pants and thick jewelry to more modern forms of street styles. This can mainly be seen in more modern and well-known reggeatoneros such as Bad Bunny and Lunay. It was very interesting to read this article and make the cultural connections of styles and dances from the past and seeing how they have influenced styles today. Seeing the evolution from style for functionality, such as the clothing work by jibaros, to style as a form of expression, such as the clothing worn by salseros and reggeatoneros was also really interesting.

Reference:

Vázquez López, Raúl J. “Dress and Dance in Puerto Rico.” Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion: Latin America and the Caribbean. Ed. Margot Blum Schevill. Oxford: Bloomsbury Academic, 2005. 270–276. Bloomsbury Fashion Central. Web. 05 Feb. 2021. <http://dx.doi.org.cmu.idm.oclc.org/10.2752/BEWDF/EDch2041>.

Japanese Street Fashion

I read the article “Street and Youth Fashion in Japan” by Christy Tidwell (linked below.) The article goes into depth about many of the fashion trends that began emerging in the Harajuku district of Tokyo, Japan around the 1980s. These styles focused on tradition-breaking and DIY fashion.

One of the things that interested me most was the “borrowing” of other cultural styles in Harajuku street culture. Many styles mentioned include the use of things such as American toy and military wear. More controversially, some Harajuku trends aim to appropriate cultures associated with specific ethnic groups, such as hip-hop or Cholo style. Because these styles were originally born out of a specific cultural setting and associated with the struggle of their respective ethnic groups, the adoption of these styles could be seen as inappropriate or at least shallow. The article also makes a point to recognize the natural impulse to label the fascination with Western products as a form of imperialism, but challenges that by noting that most Japanese youth wearing such items are not doing so to connect with the meaning that the items carry in the united states. For example, those wearing military items do not do so to express an appreciation for military endeavors. Many who experiment with Japanese streetwear styles do so to challenge Japanese traditions, so the use of Western and other foreign items could just be a tool address issues in Japan itself, not to attempt to distance oneself from their own culture.

https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.cmu.idm.oclc.org/products/berg-fashion-library/encyclopedia/berg-encyclopedia-of-world-dress-and-fashion-east-asia/street-and-youth-fashion-in-japan#b-9781847888556-bibl663001

Cultural Garments – Elena

OVERALLS: FUNCTIONAL, POLITICAL, FASHIONABLE
Image result for Norman Rockwell The Saturday Evening Post May 1943
Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post Cover May 1943
Image result for illustrations by Jean Pagès American Vogue December 1930
Jean Pagès Ski Suit Illustrations for American Vogue, December 1930
Image result for Stephen Burrows gold lamé jumpsuit
Stephen Burrows Gold Lamé Jumpsuit, Late 1970’s

This book chapter focuses on overalls, and the wide range of both practical uses and fashionable trends for which their design has been adapted and applied. From the Eastern European desexualized and gender-neutral socialist uniform, to the similarly practical and androgynus American wartime garment, to the eventual design of the skisuit, spacesuit, and the disco-chic jumpsuit. It mainly covers the versatility of the design, from both aesthetic perspectives as well as functional ones.

I’ve personally always been quite fascinated by the overall, as the pre-coordinated outfit has a seemingly limitless realm of possibility. Its was fascinating to read about the very specific cultural significance that different versions of this garment have had in the past, and how incredibly varied that history has been. One quote that stuck with me especially was that overalls can be seen”in utopia as an ideal outfit, and in dystopia as a cursed one.”. They contain both the strength to completely empower the wearer and simultaneously to completely strip them of their originality and personal style. So much of the culture of the garment comes from the culture of the specific design or even the greater context of the environment within which it is worn.

Cultural Garment_Sean Meng

Image result for clot aj13
Air Jordan 13 “Terracotta Army” by CLOT
Image result for hanfu
Hanfu

In the article, the author discusses traditional Chinese clothing evolution from the ancient period to the modern. While the garments’ formal appearance reflects certain social ideals and cultural identity, the drift of garment style inevitably forms and influences the aesthetic of the specific period. With historical and social movement stimulating this drift, modern clothing detached from the traditional form and techniques from ancient dynasties. Most apparently influenced by Western culture, formal robes and dresses were simplified to jackets and pants. However, with the Hanfu Movement, people started to seek reconnection with ancient culture using the garment as a medium. 

This attempt to bridge the present with the past is intriguing to me that while there’s a chance to revisit the past, it is still possible to celebrate the culture and history by letting it coexist with the modern. Over the recent years, an increasing number of Chinese designers such as Edison Chen strives to elevate the traditional Chinese clothing features using contemporary silhouettes and aesthetics. These designers emerged to bridge ancient and modern aesthetic, history and presence, and forgotten culture and habitual garments by endowing classic garment design new chances to be appreciated and recognized. 

With the appreciation of traditional values penetrating our modern lives, there could be a stronger bond between nation and cultural identity. And there could be a chance where standard garment form keeps inspiring modern aesthetics under a coexisting scenario.

https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.cmu.idm.oclc.org/products/berg-fashion-library/encyclopedia/berg-encyclopedia-of-world-dress-and-fashion-east-asia/overview-han-chinese

Wu, Juanjuan, and John E. Vollmer. “Overview: Han Chinese.” Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion: East Asia. Ed. John E. Vollmer. Oxford: Berg Publishers, 2010. 109–120. Bloomsbury Fashion Central. Web. 06 Feb. 2021. <http://dx.doi.org.cmu.idm.oclc.org/10.2752/BEWDF/EDch6019a>.

Velvet – Elise, Danova, Julie

Photos of Garment

Velvet Pants – Julie

Example Photos

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress

-Mules, Shoes, 15-16th century, Artist Unknown- Made from leather and velvet with embroidery

-Womans Hat, 1950, American artist-Made from straw and velvet

-Cocktail Suit, 1991-92, Gianni Versace -Velvet with gilt buttons

-Velvet dress, 1975-79, England house in business- Velvet

Berg Database

https://www.bloomsburyfashioncentral.com/products/berg-fashion-library/book/radical-decadence-excess-in-contemporary-feminist-textiles-and-craft/the-decaying-fabrics-of-life-and-death-rozanne-hawksleys-textile-art

“Radical Decadence, Excess in contemporary feminist textiles and craft” by Julia Skelly. This chapter discusses how British artist Roxanne Hawksley uses items representing decadence, death and mortality in her works. These works often feature items made of velvet as a fabric that is considered to be luxurious and littered throughout royal portraits. Skelly describes how the artist explicitly juxtaposes decadent luxury fabrics like velvet with objects representing death and decay, creating intersections of poilital, visual, and material culture.

Fabric Savvy – Tips!

Velvet can be used from pants to dresses to even jackets. It can be a difficult fabric to work with, especially when using microfiber velvet as that does not exactly press well and may be difficult to control. When working with velvet, it is important to note that holes do not come out! That means you should pre-test your pattern and even have a sample swatch to see how the fabric reacts.

When sewing, the fabric needs to be relaxed every couple of inches. This means you should lift the foot and both layers or pieces of velvet to be able to sew evenly on it. Lastly, it is suggested to use double sided tape/adhesive to hold the fabric together when sewing, remembering to not sew on the tape but next to it.

Bonus:

Before the introduction of synthetic fibres in the 20th century, velvet was made from silk, which was very expensive and only accessible to those with high levels of wealth. It originate in 750 AD in Bagdad, before it made its way to the Mediterranean and the rest of Europe.