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FASHION IS THE ARMOUR TO SURVIVE THE REALITY OF EVERYDAY LIFE. TO DO AWAY WITH FASHION WOULD BE LIKE DOING AWAY WITH CIVLIZATION.
Bill Cunningham
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IRENE & TOM dynamic duo.
MOOD SWING shake it off.
20 THE LOFTS a peek into the loop’s newest addition.
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OUT THERE into the wild.
30 POWER TRIP under armour.
40 SUIT & TIE
in the words of Barney Stinson, “suit up”.
ISSUE 11
editors-in-chief SARAH ETTINGER LILY SULLIVAN
editors CHARLOTTE JONES AVIVA MANN GRANT PHILLIPS PRIYANKA REDDY
director of layout JACQUELINE PIFER
director of photography BONNER WILLIAMS
directors of blog LEAH NORDMAN STEFANI REY CARLA STEPPAN
director of social media PAULINA GALLAGHER
editorial photographer HANNAH BLUMER
contributors MARY BISHOP ALEXA GREENE JESSIE HYMAN LAUREN HUENNEKENS CHLOE KARMIN BRIAN MAXWELL AMANDA REITER CAMIL SANCHEZ-PALUMBO GRACE WANG ALLIE ZARAZURA
layout ALI DULMAN DEBORAH KOH MICHAEL TARAZI RAISSA XIE
social media KARALENA DAVIS WILL SUN
founders JACOB LENARD FELICIA PODBERESKY CHANTAL STRASBURGER
Armour is on the move, in more ways than one. This is reflected in Issue 11, which embraces the continued motion of the magazine’s aesthetic and ideaology. The world of fashion and art is moving forward at a resolute pace, with innovations and new technologies emerging everyday. One of these advances, 3-D printing (pg. 28), is reshaping the future of fashion, allowing designers to push the boundaries of spatial possibilities. We embraced this idea in our Power Trip editorial by incorporating architectural models created in the fashion studio, Performance Enhancing, at Sam Fox. Armour took a look into the new lofts, exploring the expansion of Wash U’s campus onto the loop. However, these exciting steps forward, also encourage us to look back and appreciate the foundation we have built upon. Identity Research (pg. 46) explores thrift store finds in St. Louis and the ways in which they can help create one’s unique identity out of the past. The Nick Cave exhibit at SLAM (pg. 6) is a prime example of finding identity in nostalgia. His work which explores the intersection of fashion, sculpture, and dance, uses found objects to inspire our collective memory. We also looked to the classics – there will never (no matter how fast we move forward) be anything that tops a well-cut, tailored suit. Our Suit & Tie editorial proves that sentiment to be true, exhibiting the power of the classic blazer. Lastly, we took movement in a very literal sense, which meant a lot of water and sore legs. The Armour team traveled to Castlewood State Park in hopes of catching the sunrise (we only overslept a little). At the park we trekked up quite a few hills to capture nature at its finest. Lastly, we tried our hand at in motion photography, allowing our models to dance on set in the Mood Swing editorial. Unfortunately, there is one movement that the team will be sad to see happen, as Lily and six other staff members travel abroad next semester. We are excited to hear all about their adventures when they return in the fall. So get moving, get reading, and enjoy! Cheers, Sarah & Lily
NICK CAVE CURRENTS 109 written by ALLIE ZARAZURA
Suits. Not just any suits. Soundsuits have arrived at the SLAM. Unlike any suit you may have seen before, these sculptural exercises in excess are equal parts kitsch and textile collage. Artist and Missouri native, Nick Cave, demonstrates how combinations of raffia, yarn and junk can work together to become these incredibly detailed pieces of both visual and auditory stimulation. The Soundsuits are meant to worn and performed, creating sound through movement as their name would suggest. The materials rub against each other and each creates a different grouping of creaks, rustles, scrapes, crackles and swooshes. The physicality of the suits in addition to the sound they make embody a new type of wearable body armor, one that asks the viewer to refrain from trying to give them a set identity. Seeing the pieces in person provided an extraordinary experience. They were meticulously detailed, bright and lively. The intricate layers of the fabrics, sequins, beads, toys and wire mixed many different craft traditions that are no longer used and offered a sense of nostalgia. There were adults at the exhibition that remembered the toys or the crocheted potholders as something from their childhood homes. Each 6
piece had a different entry point for the viewer that made them connect to past memories making the Soundsuits a personal experience. There is a great sense of fantasy and whimsy in the sculptures as well a commentary on society’s consumption of goods. This tension is what draws the viewer in as they see the craft of the suits and also realize that the individual objects that make up the clothing would normally not classify higher than flea market trash. The pieces are being integrated across the SLAM across several galleries. The Soundsuits are just one part of all of Cave’s work being presented. Cave is also presenting a video piece and some of his Tondos, circular works of sculpture that reference childhood memories of looking at the night sky. The Tondos are flashy and have, similarly to the suits, strong ties to craft textile traditions. Beads, sequins and appliques in black, silver, gold and iridescent colors capture the wonder of a child learning about the great mythical expanse of the stars. I was able to recognize the craft of the fabric and the details used in dated eveningwear in the Tondos, supporting this idea of the change in times and the desire to look backwards. This link to his
childhood reflects the artist’s continued interest in nostalgia. Cave is a multifaceted artist who enjoys exploring the intersections of fashion, sculpture, and dance. He received his BFA from Kansas City Art Institute and MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He also trained as a professional dancer through the Alvin Ailey School. Currently he lives and works in Chicago where he is chair and professor of fashion design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. This complete and vast multi-sensory experience opened on Oct 31 and runs till March 8 2015. The exhibit has an in for every type of viewer and is inspiring in the craft and size of the works as well as for the visual kaleidoscope that they create together.
NICK CAVE courtesy of SLAM
HOW 20th CENTURY MUSIC CHANGED MAINSTREAM FASHION
written by AVIVA MANN
Music and fashion have worked to develop one another greatly over the last century. The two are linked as each music genre comes with its own fashion identity—country’s rugged look, heavy metal’s biker black, and singer-songwriter hippie bohemian. We wear concert t-shirts advertising an aspect of our own identity: our music taste. Today, consumers can find racks of these graphic band t-shirts with “Nirvana” or “Led Zeppelin” screen-printed across the chest in fast fashion stores such as Forever21 and Brandy Melville. Conversely, fashion has infiltrated into artist’s lyrical content—whether it’s Macklemore’s “thrift shop” and Kanye’s “Christian Dior Denim Flow” to Taylor Swift’s countless references to “plaid shirt days” and her “old faded blue jeans.” While analyzing this relationship between two industries however, I sought to take a more specific approach and investigate which key figures in music have been responsible for starting trends that are ubiquitous today. How have these individuals revolutionized mainstream culture through their unique image?
THE BEATLES - MEN’s HAIR
HIP HOP & THE SNEAKER
DAVID BOWIE & ANDROGYNY
Pre-British Invasion, men’s hair had always been clean cut, respectable, and military. Justin Bieber may be associated with the “bowl cut” today, but the trend originated with the four-man craze—the Beatles. Their genius extended beyond music, as their unified image transformed men’s hair at the time. Known as the “mop-top,” the Beatles’ straight, mid-length cut fell to the collar in the back and covered the ears, as bangs swept over the forehead in front. As the Beatles dominated the music scene, men all over the world copied this style, initially as a form of rebellion from their parents’ generation. By 1964, esteemed toy manufacturers such as Lowell Toy Manufacturing Corp. of New York began producing “Beatle Wigs” that mimicked the mop-top hairdo, and have since become valuable collectibles.
The sneaker is ubiquitous, obvious, and often times taken for granted. The sneaker’s history is rooted not just in athleticism, basketball specifically, but also in hip-hop. Starting their rap career in the early 1980’s, Run D.M.C. sought to dress for audiences in the same manner in which they dressed everyday. Lace-less Adidas sneakers with the tongue pushed out characterized this “street-style.” As Run D.M.C toured, demand for the “superstar shell-toe” Adidas shoe increased. With their 1986 hit track titled, “My Adidas,” the relationship between their sneakers and their hip-hop identity became one, culminating in a one million dollar advertising deal with Adidas years later. Today, top artists from Jay-Z to Rick Ross, and Eminem to Kanye reference the sneaker as an extension of their individual identity and a symbol of status and masculinity. These lyrical references today further illustrate that this relationship has blossomed beyond Adidas to include all street sneakers from Nikes to Converse: 2Pac’s “California Love” states, “In L.A. we wearing Chucks not Ballys.” Rapper Fashawn sings, “Where I’m from, life’s a gamble, grab the dice ‘fore I leave, pray to god, then I grab my Nikes.” For this rapstar, grabbing his wardrobe staple comes directly after praying to god.
Megastar of the 70s, and 80s, David Bowie popularized androgyny, or sexually ambiguous clothing and makeup. Known for his gender-bending clothing, Bowie pushed popular culture norms while sporting super-tight jumpsuits, body paint, gold lipstick, platform boots, and a flamboyant “Ziggy Stardust” fiery red mullet. Recognizing his fashion influence, Bowie’s androgyny has served as a muse for Kate Moss in Vogue in 2003 and 2012. Additionally, Bowie recently worked on a campaign with Louis Vuitton, and served as an inspiration for Keanan Duffty’s Target 2007 line.
Today, a quick Google search for top billboard artists results in musicians that represent genres all across the board. While this is phenomenal for music listeners, what does it mean for fashion’s future? There is no longer one predominantly popular sound, nor a singular popular look. With so many more influential artists than ever before, whom will we look to for inspiration? 7
rules of the suit Top 5 Interview Suit Tips
Leave the black suit at home Ask any suit salesmen, a black suit is for a funeral. Take the time to buy a high quality navy or grey suit. It shows that you wear a suit more than once a year and that you’re ready to move into the work force. Better yet, pick out a suit with a subtle pattern. It’s all in the shoulders A good tailor can adjust a suit in a number of places to fit you better. A couple inches in the sleeves, taking in the back or loosening the waist are all common activities for a tailor. The shoulders, however, cannot be adjusted easily without massive altering. Keep the shirt and tie combination basic, but not too basic It’s always recommended that you wear a basic color shirt, stick to whites and blues with either a very subtle pattern or none at all. The tie is your chance to spice it up a bit and really depends on the individual. I’d stick to the basic side of solids, stripes, geometric patterns, checks or dots. Leave the paisley and knitted ties at home.
written by BRIAN MAXWELL photography PAULINA GALLAGHER models DAN DRABINKSI, HASSAN MASON
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Match your shoes and belt properly A navy suit with black shoes and a black tie never works. Dark brown accessories will look much better and show that you’ve taken the time to buy a full set. With grey it can go either way. Lighter grey almost always looks better with brown accessories while darker grey can sometimes look better with black accessories. Ignore your jacket buttons, keep it open The biggest mistake made by amateur suit wearers is overusing your buttons. If you need proof of this, give your jacket a button and then try to do every day tasks and you’ll soon realize why it’s impractical. For most people, your suit will not fit you perfectly. Buttoning your suit only accentuates those flaws. If your suit is too big, it’ll look like you’re swimming in it while if your suit is too small, you’ll appear heavier than you actually are.
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STYLE PROFILE IRENE Year: Sophomore, 2017 (although she took a gap year after freshman year) Major: Art Hometown: Korea Interests: painting, drawing, illustration, video making, composing music, singing Guilty Pleasure: water snails TOM Year: Junior, 2016 Major: Physics Hometown: Korea Interests: architecture, different forms of art (recently multimedia), jiu jitsu Guilty Pleasure: being politically conservative
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inspirations, the couple referred to each other as having influenced their personal style. “I don’t want to dress worse than him,” Irene said, “he was very into fashion when we first met and knew all the brands and I didn’t. He was the one who kept influencing me to be interested in fashion.” Tom agreed that at first he gave Irene a lot of fashion guidance, but said that now “she has developed more interests on her own in fashion and art so I get back that inspiration from her.”
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written by LAUREN HUENNEKENS photography WILL SUN
Irene Hong and Tom Park just might be Wash U’s most fashionable couple. Irene and Tom met their freshman year. “We saw each other the first day,” Irene reflects, “and later I started to run into him and I thought it was a coincidence, but it was all calculated by him.” Irene claims Tom stalked her, but ultimately Tom says, “I was just conscious of it, I knew where she would be, so I would spend more time there than other places.” When asked if they remembered what the other person was wearing the first time they met, both immediately knew the answers. Irene recalls Tom’s outfit as being “very powerful. He was wearing shiny earrings, and his pants were very patterned [Tom later told us it was a spring paisley pattern]… they were short, and he was wearing gladiators and a white shirt, wearing glasses and drinking coffee. I felt that he was looking at me.” As for Irene, Tom remembers her “wearing a universe dress, a cosmic sort of dress” which is still one of her favorite pieces. Tom says it wasn’t just Irene’s unique fashion sense that drew him towards her, but actually her hair; “her hair was what most fascinated me, it was pretty long and it was half dyed in purple and pink… today I see a lot of people doing that, but back then only a few people did that.” When asked about their fashion
Irene describes her style as not particularly unique in itself, but that she is set apart because she wears what she likes to wear. “I see so many people worried and trying… but the difference is I just wear what I like.” Irene states that her style is very “random,” not based in any specific style, but dependent on her mood and the colors she is into that day. Her current favorite item in her wardrobe are her bunny heels from London, which she says garner lots of different reactions. She claims the attention and the way they remind her of fairytales add to her love of the shoes. Tom reflected on Irene’s style, stating that he liked how Irene “can be very weird and funky… she can be weird, but she makes that weirdness into something cool.” Irene’s wardrobe features a lot of universe or cosmic patterns, most of which are pretty scientific. Her interest in cosmic patterns goes beyond the aesthetic beauty and actually represents her in a philosophical way as well. Irene explained her belief that “the universe is in us, that we ourselves are the small units of the universe, that we should not separate ourselves from the Earth and the rest of the universe.” While she claims to not be much of a science person, her philosophical belief in the strength of the universe is highly important to her and therefore has come to influence her style, fashion, and art.
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Similarly, Tom is not afraid to wear unique clothing, actively searching for clothes that are new and different. “I intentionally find and prefer unique stuff, things that people don’t tend to wear,” Tom stated, “or sometimes I just automatically filter out things that are common.” Tom’s style also changes relatively often; “I wear preppy sometimes, sometimes I wear grungy, or just vintage.” Irene described Tom’s style as “a collage, he likes to wear lots of pattern pieces all together, every item is decorative and crazy, I like how he can wear everything together.” When reflecting on his style, Tom says a sweater he owns with a blue, watery pattern best reflects his personal style. “It’s a pattern of a warrior spirit from Korea” he explains, “it represents me in terms of my identity, I tend not to be very expressive and from afar it looks kind of funky and colorful, but inside I tend to be very serious about my goals.” Overall, Tom says surrealism has really come to define his personal style. This insanely fashionable couple definitely stands out on campus. As they have grown together as a couple, their fashion senses have merged and mixed together. If you’re lucky, you might catch them wearing their matching snapbacks and blue letterman jackets (although they try not to coordinate too often).
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MOOD SWING photography BONNER WILLIAMS models LEXY COPITHORNE CASSIE MITCHELL
editorial 2
pants designed by MARY BISHOP
STYLES & SPACES
THE
LOF TS written by ALEXA GREENE photography JESSIE HYMAN
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Amanda Bass: Junior, Fashion Design
Wallis Linker: Junior, Anthropology & Political Science
Lauren Huennekens: Junior, Psychology & Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies
The American Planning Association has deemed Delmar Boulevard, or better known to Wash U students as “The Loop,” among the 10 Greatest Streets in America. It is a cultural hub providing those who visit U City with restaurants, bars, and retail shops. In hopes of expanding the vivacity of the Loop however, Wash U built new housing on The Loop in the spring of 2014, giving students additional off-campus housing options, close to both entertainment and main campus. Students moved into these apartments for the first time this fall, and it seems as though this $80 million dollar project has been successful so far. To further investigate the way of life in The Lofts, the armour team took a trip to one particularly stylish apartment.
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THEIR PERSONAL CONNECTION TO THE ITEMS AROUND THE APARTMENT REMINDS THEM OF PAST EXPERIENCES.
Amanda Bass, Wallis Linker, and Lauren Huennekens are all current juniors currently inhabiting the brand new Lofts. The girls love being on the loop and “feel more like part of the St. Louis community,” rather than “only being a part of the Wash U community.” Seeing as most juniors live on campus, the girls were “pretty skeptical about living on the loop. [We were] concerned it would feel very isolated and just be a hassle overall, but [we’ve] been loving it!” They continued, “you don’t really think about the Wash U bubble when you’re on campus, because you go off for meals and on weekends, but, living on the loop, we see so many more non-Wash U people everyday. You see a lot more of life that you almost forget about while you’re on campus. While the walk can be a little annoying now that its cold and gets dark early, living on the loop has been pretty cool and a very different experience than the one I’ve had at Wash U thus far.” It might have taken them some time to get used to buying their own toilet paper, but of course, they all agreed that living so close to Mission Taco is a huge benefit. The interior and exterior design of the lofts is industrial and minimalist, characterized by an unfinished metal ceiling and white walls with a few vibrant accents, such as the one orange wall in the girls’ suite. Despite the lofts clean and spacious aesthetic, the girls have definitely settled into their apartment. They talked about of their favorite aspects of the apartment: Wallis has a collection of hats in her room, and states, “They remind me
of good memories with my dad, getting into college, etc.” Amanda loves her gallery wall, as it’s a mix of pictures of friends, family, and other assorted creative inspirations—a real life Pinterest inspiration board. When asked about her favorite item, Lauren boasted her cactus and succulents, “because they are somehow still alive, even though I barely remember to water them.” Other unique items that add character to the apartment are Amanda’s blanket knitted by her grandmother, the rusting iron ‘Women’ sign outside the bathroom, patterned seat cushions on the kitchen bar, and the tapestry Lauren’s sister bought in Ecuador. Their personal connection to the items around the apartment reminds them of past experiences. Most of their items are stumbled upon randomly, rather than sought after in an intentional shopping trip, although Wallis admits, “In general I go out looking for specific things. I’m not the most impulsive shopper, I do better when I have a purpose.” Among the purchased items are a few DIY projects. Amanda likes to hang sketches brought home from her studio classes and Lauren has hung homemade dream catchers and wood burned plaques in her room. And of course, the apartment would be nothing without Leonard, the mascot unicorn head hung on the wall.
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out there
photography LEAH NORDMAN models RADHIKA AGARWAL, DAVID GILMORE, JACK HERZOG, NILS KJOS, SARA MEINICKE
3-d printing Envision a future life where along with your English paper, you could print the winter jacket you have been eyeing, or that extra sock that recently went rogue. You’re no longer shipping your online shopping sprees – you’re printing them. Factories disappear as items trade in the omnipresent “Made in China” stickers for ones claiming your bedroom as their origin. Costs of transport vanish as programmed models for every accessory and dress are sent electronically and downloaded as a series of 0’s and 1’s. Visits to the fabric store consist of rows of ink cartridges labeled “leather,” “silk,” and “chiffon” while sewing machines become obsolete. Outlandish? Perhaps. However if the continued trajectory of 3-D printing’s involvement in fashion continues over the next few decades this fantasy could become a reality sooner than ever suspected.
written by CHARLOTTE JONES
permeable – they are replicable. The clothes coming down each season’s runways can be closely examined by anyone with an Internet connection, and in the future, could be reimagined by anyone with a printer. Some speculate that the 3-D printer is the 21st century Gutenberg printing press – the machine to cusp the next wave of manufacturing evolution. Today there is an unprecedented awareness of consumer societies’ addiction to unsustainable consumption. In addition to individuals’ excessive intake of new merchandise and their continuous disposal of the “outdated,” the fashion industry as a whole ranks third following big oil and paper in water consumption levels. As a result, designers and scientists are exploring 3-D printing as a platform through which to explore sustainable materials and manufacturing practices. One company, MakerBot, describes that many 3-D printers use a sustainably sourced and completely reusable plastic, PLA, (their own is made from corn). This versatility’s implications for fashion could not be clearer – perfect recyclability once the user has deemed an item passé. Imagine melting down your middle school duds into your college winter wardrobe, diminishing both your own financial burden and your global environmental impact.
The clothes coming down each season’s runways can be closely examined by anyone with an Internet connection, and in the future, could be reimagined by anyone with a printer.
“3-D Printing” or “additive manufacturing” has been a buzz phrase for the artistic and engineering community for some time. Yet as more companies and designers begin to tinker with its technology, 3-D printers’ potential exponentially increases. As seen in Dutch fashion designer, Iris Van Herpen’s 2011 S/S collection, 3-D printing is a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration. Teaming up with architect Daniel Widrig and product designer .MGX, Herpen fabricated an elaborate piece resembling water cascading from a model’s figure. Communal forums including SketchFab and ShapeWays have given rise to a collaborative environment that further engrains the 3-D printing community into fashion culture. Indeed any casual observer can look at detailed models for Dita Van Teese’s infamous gown designed by Francis Bitoni. This extreme flattening of the fashion industry’s hierarchy signals a shift in the social dynamic between lay person and haute couturier. The previously apotheosized “white tents” of Bryant Park are not only
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The average 3-D printer costs around $3,000 and that number does not even begin to delve into the most advanced machines capable of producing textile materials. There is a possibility that this large overhead capital will limit 3-D printing’s influence to elite, bespoke creation. Yet as is often the case with technology, innovation runs unbridled in search of profit and progress, and for the company that manages to extrapolate 3-D printing technology to the mass fashion industry, a computer model for a pot of gold awaits.
IRIS VAN HERPEN
If we define style as how we wear clothing and the resulting messages we communicate, brands simplify the process altogether. Instead of showing identity through accents of color or layered patterns, brand names do the work for us, offering distinct essences of their own. The girl crossing Mudd with a Lilly Pulitzer bag at her side expresses a whole persona in one look. The guy donning a Supreme shirt in the library becomes a ‘rebel.’ A Burberry scarf is upscale preppy. A Free People knit is hippie. With brands, the part represents the whole and the clothing may mask the person.
the ESSENCE of BRAND
DONALD DRAWBERTSON
written by CAMIL SANCHEZ–PALUMO
What does it feel like toting that Balenciaga through Whispers? Does the click-clack of Jimmy Choo’s send chills up your spine? Or is it Air Yeezy’s casually sported in the DUC? A striped wool Gucci suit for Business School interviews? An Herve Leger bodycon dress at formal? Tory’s stamp on your change purse? I honestly can’t go on much longer – I’ve never been able to buy brand name items. I don’t know the names and, in the spirit of full disclosure, I had to look up most of the ones mentioned. Odd scents at the thrift store mark my familiar shopping ambiance, not glass department store counters. I know ½ – price Sunday’s spent at retail shops with Mom, not scrolling the web for my closet’s new investment – and, truly, I’m fine with that. I’m not asking for a public pity party nor do I regret my childhood of hand–me–downs. Though childhood had its difficulties, I now appreciate the magic that happens when style meets self-expression, regardless of small budgets and low price points. With this evolved perspective of acceptance, my upbringing simply leads me to wonder, for every Hunter boot and Herschel backpack I’ve spotted in front of me in line, for every overheard discussion of Longchamp colors and Sperry styles, what exactly the “self” is saying when carting around a name.
So do we choose brands because of their ease? I would settle on this answer, but ease for whom? That David Yurman bracelet sure doesn’t sound easy for everyone. Brands seem to constantly bring us back to one symbolic and gripping element: status. Not only do they divide the hipsters from the girls–next–door from urban chic types; brands are the markers that divide needs from wants, the have’s from the have not’s. They tell the stories of who you are, histories of who you were, and create the images of who you hope to become. When the gal pals of my middle school flashed the first fuzzy pair of Uggs I’d seen, I knew it was an exclusive community, and seventh–grade me also knew I wasn’t a part of it. I guess that’s what bothers me so much about brands – they’re the ‘us’ and ‘them’ of clothing. They’re the flash glimpses that rub me the wrong way, the constant reminder of groups I’m expected to belong to and ones inaccessible to me. On what’s meant to be an open campus – our place of learning and discovery – brands are the disguised, seamlessly–stitched, polka–dotted barriers of our everyday. But of course I’ve had my own moments of that yearning. Walking past J. Crew each morning this summer as I made the trek from subway stop to the office, I ogled over the pristine Nike shoes in the display window. While I wasn’t the “J. Crew kind of girl,” the shoes’ light gray suede, textured white soles, yellow accents, and iconic checkmark symbol said something to the middle–schooler in me – the one eager to fit in, with boundless desires. So when handed my final paycheck at the end of the summer, after weeks of intern-y budgeting, I took the brand plunge – and came up a little shaken. Getting compliments now on the shoes feels great in some ways, but a nagging remains – a voice in my head that criticizes my pretending. With these sneakers at my feet and their spotless soft leather, who am I trying to be? What image is portrayed? And is it my own or am I, in turn, my own sort of brand? At the end of the day, I loosen each zigzag of shoelace before slipping them past my ankles and into my closet. There they shoulder dirtied canvas flats and crisscrossed Goodwill sandals. Light bounces off their neon streaks. The Nike tag emblazons the Achilles and, though silent, they are my closet’s giant.
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photography HANNAH BLUMER model KEI GOLDBERG
photography HANNAH BLUMER model KEI GOLDBERG
editorial 1
top designed by PRIYANKA REDDY
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Both looks are pieces from the fashion design class Performance Enhancing. This course was taught by Associate Professor Robin VerHage-Abrmas & Assistant Professor Chandler Ahrens.
BEAUTY
photos of original makeup by ROBYN BEECHE
IN THE STYLE OF: ROBYN BEECHE Before photoshop and digital editing existed, Australian photographer Robyn Beeche turned her lens on to the energetic gender-bending world of counter culture taking place in 1980s London. She sits at the edge of where fashion, surrealist art and photography intersect. Using only camera and makeup, she shot groundbreaking images utilizing the human face as her canvas. This issue, Armour has found inspiration in
Beeche’s surrealist aesthetic. Using only black and white pigments to contour and paint the face, the end result has an eerie, otherworldly beauty to it. Just like surrealist painters such as Salvador Dali and RenÊ Magritte were able to illustrate on a canvas, you can do on the skin. makeup CHLOE KARMIN written by AMANDA REITER photography GRACE WANG models ERICA CANUP, EMMA MAGIDSON
NORM CORE WHAT IT MEANS TO DRESS LIKE THE MASSES written by CARLA STEPPAN model LIZA BUTTS
In a world of increasing emphasis on individuality and consumerism, there exists a movement in fashion and culture that goes against these pillars of society. Normcore is a fashion trend that consciously negates the objective in fashion to differentiate oneself via one’s choice of clothing. The reaction stems from a need to counterbalance the oversaturation of fashion trends in the tumult of ever-changing fashion world. The label Normcore was coined by the New York-based trend forecasting group K-HOLE as part of their trend report, “Youth Mode: A Report on Freedom,” and further popularized by Fiona Duncan in her story “Normcore: Fashion for Those Who Realize They’re One in 7 Billion,” which was published in New York Magazine in February 2014. In its report, K-Hole stated, “In Normcore, one does not pretend to be above the indignity of belonging. To be truly Normcore, you need to understand that there’s no such thing as normal.” K-HOLE traces the origin of Normcore to the 2003 novel Pattern Recognition whose main character is “psychologically sensitive to corporate logos” The phrase “Normcore” itself is contradictory; a linguistic construction that blends “normal” with “hardcore” and the result has no direct meaning. Instead, the trend has been defined culturally as an attempt to remove all identifiers of class and identity by homogenizing one’s style with functionality. As a reaction against the need in fashion to be distinguishable, a continually resurgent interest in the banal is reborn with the Normcore trend. It involves a conscious choice to dress oneself in a way that isn’t differentiating in its depiction of
identity; it’s the ultimate emulation of the mundane. K-HOLE makes a valid point with its statement that there is no such thing as normal, but Normcore is for those who are in want of a nostalgic reality and feigned normalcy in an increasingly shifting culture-scape. Signifiers of the trend are its trademark unisex style, minimal adornment, and unassuming presence. Solid colors and muted color palates dominate Normcore fashion. More often than not, the silhouettes are deconstructed and the individual items are chosen for their comfort and functionality. The fabrics are durable and practical such as jean, cotton, wool, and include manmade fabrics such as fleece. Accessorizing is kept to a minimum and any accessory choices are purely utilitarian, such as backpacks and beanie caps. Staples of Normecore fashion include t-shirts, sweatshirts, oxford shirts, chinos, anything with a crew neckline, and tennis shoes with any outfit. Now, has the Normcore trend already been played out? K-HOLE claims that Normcore reached saturation point the moment it was conceived, but the evidence begs to differ. The trend has enjoyed a sustained presence and is just as prelevant as ever. The number of brands that cater to the Normcore population include labels such as Uniqlo, J. Crew, Zara, Cos, Gap, Woolrich, as well as high-fashion labels such as Celine, Chloe, The Row, and Chanel among others. Gap’s Fall 2014 “Dress Normal” campaign is a prime example that shows the Normcore obsession with dressing uniformly isn’t necessarily a bad thing and it isn’t going to stop anytime soon. 39
suit & tie
photography PAULINA GALLAGHER model JARED STEIN
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IDENTITY RESEARCH written by MARY BISHOP
Majoring in fashion design sometimes feels like majoring in unicorn breeding. The focus of my education is chasing after elusive conception of ‘cool’, dressing the unnaturally tall and skinny. And yet…everyone wears clothes. Clothing is a form of personal artistic expression that can’t be avoided. The act of avoidance is an artistic expression in itself.
I get why people hate shopping- it is expensive and tiresome. But I think people are going about it the wrong way, or at least are going to the wrong stores. St. Louis may not be a fashion mecca but it is a vintage mecca. 50 years of white flight means 50 years worth of abandoned clothes. I’m a material girl living in a material world. Some call it retail therapy, I call it identity research.
Shopping vintage takes a selective eye and sense of adventure. The clothing that you buy should belong on your body. Walking into a store, trying something on, and having to buy it because it already belongs to you. The whole point isn’t to stand out because of your clothes. You want your clothes to stand out because of you. The secret is to find things as perfectly imperfect as yourself.
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