Friday, April 11, 2008

My little review on the Subcultural Fashion Article in the Melbourne Newspaper, The Age today. (Go buy a copy to have a look) :-)

The Age featured a subcultural fashion article today, written as part of their series on Alternative fashion and subcultures, Melbourne Tribes by The Age Fashion editor Janice Breen Burns. Breen-Burns does a pretty good job of delving into subcultures, getting at what makes them work, while still treating them with respect..... not something that every journalist writing on subcultures has been known to do! In this the second series on Melbourne's fashion trubes, she looks at Deathrock, Mods and Reggae. Breen-Burns also does a great job of helping out the people she is interviewing by listing their clubs, bands and includes their URLs in the article, and links on the website version of the article, something that is very important to small scale subcultural events.

Deathrock.

Some great pics of the Deathrock crew, and the text about them was well written, didn't notice any major errors. The Deathrock pics were probably the most artistic (though I may be biased!), and the fashion is probably the most sophisticated and visual out of the three subcultures. Deathrock fashion is more DIY than a lot of Subculture fashion, parralleling the original punk scene DIY fash in the late 1970's....you made your own fashion because there was nothing to buy. In the interview, Lyle Blakemore makes a point about Deathrock being more about dressing up and having fun...which interestingly contrasts with a lot of the seriousness of traditional goth, and other subcultures. Some well deserved focus on the Blakemore's being the driving forces behind Deathrock in Melbourne, with their club 1334.

Mod fashion

The mod stuff is very visual, and brings with it the tradition of pop art, 60's photography style, and fashions experimentation with new colours and materials. The article discusses the 60's scene in Melbourne, which seems relatively lively with at least 5 club nights and a radio show, and a number of live bands. However, to an extent, the article doesn't differentiate between 60's, 70's and true British mid 1960's Mod fashion. A fair bit of the article discusses Tim Stoekle's experience with Dandyism, which I find interesting in that it actually transcends the mod era, dandyism being a broader concept that can be a part of many different era's of fashion.


Reggae Girls


The reggae girls are probably more into their music than their fashion, so the article delves into their music and subculture which interestingly discusses the influence of rasta philosophy on their group. While they are not necessarily rastas, as a subculture (?) the reggae girls are influenced by religion, which is very rare. While there are a few influences from Reggae branding (eg the Ethiopian flag, and its colours) the fashion they wear is pretty much mainstream streetwear, with camo colouring, with the Ethiopian colours tossed in....and one of the girls looked suspiciously goth (once again highlighting the borrowing nature of subcultural fashion). The interviewees are all girls, which was interesting in that it gave a gender based perspective on subcultures and subcultural fashion, which isn't too often addressed in discussion about subcultures.


Edward - Pic by Simon Schulter from the Age website


Rachael - Pic by Simon Schulter from the Age website



Clint - Pic by Simon Schulter from the Age website

Article printed in The Age, A2, Saturday April 12, 2008.

Article here
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/04/10/1207420589360.html

Multimedia here
http://www.theage.com.au/flash/fashiontribes2/

Black in Fashion

Black in Fashion exhibition, which is interestingly spread over the two National Gallery of Victoria's ..NGV International (the big one) and The Sir Harry Potter (in Fed Square), with the recently defined as elven, Adina.

Not suprsingly, its all black. Quite interesting, it details the place of black in the history of fashion. Suprisingly little goth fashion in it, considering, however there is a soundtrack that plays in the background that is largely gothy music.

But the Victorian stuff. There are a number of brilliant Victorian outfits, and there is a lot of the show dedicated to death and mourning, and the corresponding use of black in that.

Well worth a look. Free to get in.

Goth Photography - Bloody Marie

Some more goth photography. 18 year old Tog from Germany called Bloodymarie. Saw her stuff on Deviantart. I like!.







Website here: (though in German)

http://www.bloodymarie.redio.de/

Cosplay fashion




Cosplay is basically getting dressed up in outfits from Manga and Anime. The big event in Melbourne, Manifest, gets thousands of people apparently.
While some of the costumes are a bit naf, there is some quite amazing work done. Interestingly, its quite challenging, as the designs
are originally done for 2 dimensional artwork, and then have to be turned into a 3d piece, even if the original was unrealistic and impractical.

Carly from Lyris does quite a bit of this, she is one of the most talented designers I know... just a natural at it.

I have very limited knowledg eof Manga, but there is so many characters in Manga/anime that I have no idea. I'm a fan of obvious stuff like Akira and Ghost in the Shell....after that I'm lost.


Here is some video from a gaming convention (Blizzcon) ..... this stuff is all costume, not fashion, but it does share a certain fantastic edge that some alternative fashion has....methinks.

Serious Metal High heels......



Oooh....fuck! Sabbatons crossed with high heels.... brilliant concept. Not sure what sort of metal they are made out of.

from http://www.swordandstone.com

Steam fashion pics

Some of the most stylish steampunk pics I've seen.

Photographer Roy Cox Photography (who is not an alternative tog, but does some very nice stuff)

really got to get me some Victorian stuff.....



Nicked from steamfashion Livejournal Group
Model cavenessity






Circa Nocturna

Best things about the Circa Nocturna Fashion show...

Going to the after party and people asking me for me ID (when you're older...this is a good thing!)

Seeing new designers straight after the show, so happy that there designs have been on the catwalk

Getting amazing pictures back from the promo shoot

Looking around at a venue packed with amazing people

Sleeping in the day after its finished!

Having great people in the goth community volunteer to help out

Realising, that despite all the flack it cops, the goth and alternative community is a vastly creative one, that can do amazing things, and there's really no reason for the world to be the goddam awfully boring place that it is!

www.CircaNocturna.com

And of course, our sponsors the Alt Modelling Agency, DV8 and Lockworks...all our models.....and most importantly, all the amazing designers who put so much effort into the show. Huzzah!