-
Festival Fashion: Is It Just Another Wasteful Tradition?
The significance of festival culture + the environmental impact If there’s one thing us Brits love, it’s a good festival. A chance to hear our favourite bands play live, an excuse to stay up all night with friends, and the perfect opportunity to finally let our hair down. The festival culture that we love has existed for decades, and it’s easy to see why. Festivals bring us together. They create a strong sense of community and belonging, leaving fans with memories to cherish for a lifetime. In fact, people have been enjoying festivals for thousands of years! History Extra notes: “The first known music festival was the Pythian Games, a…
-
Red Carpet Activism: Progressive or Performative?
The 20th century saw the red carpet become a symbol of elegance and power that is now core to our celebrity culture. The timeless runway never fails to capture audiences with its competition for ‘best dressed.‘ But in recent years there has been a redefining of what makes a statement in fashion. In 2018 particularly, celebrities strove to walk the red carpet with a political agenda. Now more than ever, activism is in. Social media movements have made being outspoken become fashionable. So when social progression becomes the latest trend, it’s no wonder household names are joining the discussion. The red carpet is our best glorification of fame. It brings…
-
The Red Carpet: The Stage For Self-Expression
Like writing and drawing, how we dress is how we express who we are as people to the rest of the world. You can assess so much from a person just by the way they tuck their shirt, style their hair and cuff their trousers. It is the most accessible art form we have as human beings, whether we are conscious of this or not. We are constructing an expressive outfit to not only suit ourselves but to inform the world of our interests and tastes. We are uber-conscious of this when it comes time to annually fawn over our favourite celebrities taking their strut to the red carpets they…
-
Should Celebrities Use the Red Carpet To Raise Awareness of Important Issues?
Is there any more statement, eye-catching moments that are like a red carpet event? A red carpet outfit is a moment in history, everyone from all over the world looking at breath-taking garments, with the passion of the designer behind each and every outfit. Red carpet events have become so popular over the years, having extreme influence on the fashion world and are used at all major events such as; the Met Gala, Oscars, Grammys, and more. It’s seen as a formal occasion for designers to dress celebrities in their bold and wonderful creations for the entire world to gaze at. The best part about the red carpet is the…
-
Is the Red Carpet an Inclusive or Exclusive Event?
The red carpet has always determined the popularity of an event. It has people waiting on the edge of their seat for their favourite celebrities to parade the carpet in iconic looks, dressed by popular designers. Although the audience plays an integral role in how much attention these events receive, do we really have that much control over the fashion industry? Or are we just passively consuming the content? The rise of social media The main change in how audiences can view red carpet events comes down to the rise of social media networks. Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube give us access to live streams and red…
-
Self Expression and Belonging in the Digital Age
A look at how social media has facilitated new digital fashion communities Community and fashion have become closely linked. For many, fashion, and the clothes we wear are a way of outwardly expressing personalities and interests. From this, subcultures and self-made communities within the fashion industry formed and continue to flourish. What are fashion subcultures? Subcultures in fashion generally refer to groups, or communities, of people who dress a specific way, unique to the subculture. Subcultures can often be easily identified, as the clothes worn by people within the subgroup, often emulate a specific style. There are a multitude of subcultures within fashion. A few well-known examples of these within…
-
Modern Subcultures and Communities of Generation-Z
Fashion is an industry based around culture and communities. Designers become inspired by their surroundings and in turn their clothing is a representation of the cultures they immerse themselves in. But there are also communities which form based around fashion and common interests within a way of dressing, whether that be due to influences from external sources or their own desire to stand out. These are subcultures. Subcultures often form in opposition to mainstream culture, and as a form of self-expression. There have been a variety of subculture communities emerge over time. Some have even came to define the decades they emerged in, such as the 1960s and hippie fashion.…
-
The New Digital Fashion Communities on Social Media
Community is sharing or having certain attitudes and interests in common. In the fashion industry, the term ‘community’ can mean many things. As a narrative it is always changing. Community is found in the design and making of clothing and in the social aspect of fashion events. In the digital age the term has taken on a new meaning, as social media has facilitated new digital fashion communities. We are more connected now than ever, to each other and to our hobbies and interests. Before apps like Instagram, fashion communities could be found through blogging. Bloggers shared their opinions on fashion with a highly-engaged audience on a singular platform. However,…
-
Fashion and Technology: The Rise of on Demand Fashion
Is the advancement of technology positive or negative for the fashion industry? Technology is a prevailing element over the majority of aspects of modern living. The advancement of modern technology over the last few decades has made a significant impact to the lives of millions. It has affected every industry; the majority of the population use it daily and it has changed the way the world operates. The fashion industry has been no exception. It has revolutionised the way we shop and consume products and how we share our experience with others. Smartphones, 3D scanning and easily consumed platforms have all helped the development of the industry. The significance of…
-
How Is ‘Retail Therapy’ Causing a Need for More?
We have all been there, going shopping to feel good on a bad day. This could be defined as ‘retail therapy’, a mechanism to give us temporary fulfilment by purchasing on impulse, and of course, it makes us feel good! Consumerism encourages the idea that happiness can be bought. This is a very problematic concept. In turn, we drift from our ‘true needs’ and turn to ‘false needs’ for temporary fulfilment. Retail therapy is much more of a common outlet than you may think, many of us are guilty of it, even if we are not conscious. Take a look at your last online haul, what item did you really…
