In a culture that was so heavily centered around who you were and how you dressed, there inevitably came rules. Experimentation and always painting on your face was key, because who can really be respected as a true New Romantic without a crazy hair cut? Famously on the door of clubs such as the Blitz, doormen assessed your style and you were only allowed to enter if you were deemed to be dressed well enough. John Galliano said Central St Martins design school was dead on a Thursday and Friday as students made their outfits for the weekend, simply so they could get in.
This article from The Guardian details the cub rules of the 80's:
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/jun/22/club-catwalk-london-fashion-1980s
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
Stay Alive in 85
When visiting the 'Club to Catwalk' exhibition at the V&A in London I was not only in ore of the clothes but of the people that went with them. I became fascinated with Scarlett Cannon and Boy George and their daring attitude to not just fashion but life. However the exhibition didn't let us forget what came with an endless amount of sex, drugs and fashion; many people lost their life to AIDs and HIV. Catherine Hamnett's T-Shirt which simply says 'Staying Alive in 85', screen printed on a red cotton, references the many people who lost their life to this disease.
The simple, bold text on the red gives a strong message to the viewer that this was a real problem that plagued the club scene.
The simple, bold text on the red gives a strong message to the viewer that this was a real problem that plagued the club scene.
Sex, Drugs and Fashion
The 80s was all about experimentation both in fashion and personal life; exploring drugs and sexuality as well as exaggerating the human form was the norm. In an era where style was everything and the person you presented in the clubs on a weekend was what gained you status; here is an interview from some of the Blitz Kids detailing what it was really like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkeM_-wVgWU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkeM_-wVgWU
Is woman's sexuality power?
This cone bra corset was made for Madonna, by John Paul
Gaultier, as a stage costume for her 1990 ‘Blonde Ambition’ world tour. This was the first time the designer had used the idea for the
cone bra, which he has used in many designs since. Gaultier had the idea as a
child, saying on the ‘Graham Norton show’ that he made some out of newspaper
and attached them to his teddy as a child.
See Graham Norton interview below:
Gaultier in an interview with the
Daily Mail also stated that his “favourite collaboration was Madonna.” Due to her
daring, risk taking attitude to fashion, which I think was an extension of the
80’s attitude to dressing.
Read Daily Mail interview here:
I love this cone bra, when created it was a new and exciting
piece of design which has stood the test of time. Although it was not made in
the 80’s I think the influence is obvious. The daring risk to fashion that was
what the 80’s New Romantic style was all about, is the most obvious link in
this daring design. The exaggeration of the form is also an 80’s influence;
linking back to Margret Thatcher’s suit, which exaggerated the shoulders,
Gaultier has decided to take a new approach exaggerating the breast and
bringing in the waist. Due to the cone bra Gaultier rocketed to the status he has
still kept now. His daring style and love of exaggerating and accentuating the body
links back to the 80’s where as a young designer he was influenced by the
daring London nightlife and style at the time. The idea of exaggerating the
body links back to another iconic image of Margret thatcher in the blue suit,
where she shows the 80’s idea of power dressing. This is where the shoulders
were exaggerated on the body in order to show power.
This is perhaps Thatcher’s most famous suit, it is made from
a Royal Blue tweed showing her conservative colours. The suit exaggerates her
shoulders showing power, but then hangs down not enhancing any of the otherwise
known as ‘attractive areas’ showing she doesn’t need sexuality to be powerful.
It also has a satin collar and gold buttons. Margret Thatcher became known for her power dressing suits
and pearls. She admitted that she wanted to show an example of how she thought
a woman in power should dress. Throughout the 80’s she wore an array of suits,
but she is perhaps most known for her royal blue, conservative coloured, suits.
She was an icon for 80s power dressing; giving her status in the way she dressed. Before
the 80’s a woman’s shoulders had not before been exaggerated or enhanced it has
always been what would be considered the ‘most attractive’ arrears of a woman;
for example the waist, hips or bust. Thatcher became a symbol of not only power
dressing but the 80s influence of having fun with fashion in a daring, new and
unusual way.
Daily Mail article about how she became a style icon:
In my opinion this suit is the image of 80s power dressing.
As the first female Prime Minister she had to show power to be respected and I
think this suit shows that perfectly. This work links to the other 80s fashion movement of the New
Romantics, daring with their style they too wore clothes that exaggerated not
just their figures but their personas; as did Thatcher.
Linking back to Gaultier's cone bra and the idea that through exaggerating a female form we gain power. However
Gaultier exaggerates the bust and waist, where as Thatcher exaggerates her shoulders giving no sign of sexuality. Asking myself the question is a woman's sexuality power, I think depending on what is trying to be achieved it can be.
Tuesday, 13 May 2014
"It may be a style, but it's not a fad"
On the 28th October 2013 Boy
George opened his Twitter to a 45-minuet question and answer session, #AskBoyGeorge. I decided to ask the question
“What would you say was your favourite outfit you wore from the 1980s?” and to my disbelief
he replied, “the dreadlocked hair piece, I still have it at home J”
prompting me to consider the intertextuality of the dreadlock.
Perhaps the first thing that springs to
mind is Rastafari worship, with the image of Bob Marley signing ‘no woman no
cry’ in the front of my mind. However Rastafarians consider the dreadlock to be
spiritual not a fashion statement. This is supported in the Bible, “They shall not make baldness upon their
head” Leviticus 21:5.
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