MASSIVE Issue 8: The Fashion Issue

Cover by Annick Harvey

Editor’s letter

Kia ora koutou, Hope term has started off in style for you. However soggy your bell-bottom jeans from Autumn showers, style is better than practicality, right? What we wear may well define how we feel about ourselves, whether it’s lacy lingerie or bright colours, sartorial brilliance can influence our mood. This week, we're fashion, darling! We’re looking at the way we adorn ourselves, what makes us feel hot, or not, and sharing tips on what’s trending right now. As the colder weather seeps in and we need to layer, why not have some fun in the process? We have also chosen some cute as pics of us as teeny boppers and kids in one of our signature collages created by our lovely designer, Emily. Personally, I’d love to rock the Shania Twain look with all the confidence of ten-year-old Leila. Confidence is the goalwho cares what other people think. Wear your personality with pride this week and brighten up the dull days, watch everyone around you smile.

Leila xo

What to look forward to

WEEKLY NEWS

Students feel guilty for buying from Shein

Tegan Jaggard she/her

Some alternative students feel they have no other option but to turn to fast fashion, especially if they are plus size.

Many students feel guilty for turning to drop-shipping companies like Shein who use unethical labour practices.

Cameron McCausland-Taylor is a third-year creative writing student and shops from Shein fairly regularly, but not just for the prices.

“They actually offer trendy clothes for fat people in a range of different sizes, with their Shein Fit+ range going up to a size 34.”

However, she expressed guilt for buying from Shein.

“When I shop at Shein, I feel that pang of guilt, knowing its ethical and

environmental impacts. But there’s not many alternatives out there for someone my size. If I could look and feel cute at a reasonable price in a sustainable way, I would.”

McCausland-Taylor shops at other brands that don’t rely on dropshipping like ASOS, Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing, but they are still fast fashion.

“These, and Shein, are some of the only places I can afford that have my size in cute clothes. I don’t want to wear old lady clothes because they’re some of the only places that have my size available.”

Though she would really like to, McCausland-Taylor doesn’t feel like shopping sustainably is an option. Second hand shopping, a sustainable alternative to buying new, also presents an issue for some plus-sized people, as there is often a limited range of clothing available in larger sizes.

“It’s incredibly hard to find a sustainable and affordable range for plus size people, with most ranges not going further than a size 16 and if they do, the prices for the bigger sizes are astronomical.”

However, McCausland-Taylor still has some sustainable brand she liked to buy from when she can afford it.

“Friday Flamingo, Hine Collection, and Ruby & Rain are some sustainable NZ brands that stock my size, and they are absolutely beautiful. I own quite a few pieces from Hine but because of the pricing, I have to wait till they’re on sale most of the time.”

Lizzie Jollands studied fashion design for a little over a year. Jollands also considered herself alternative and wears majority alternative clothing. Jollands said, “Alternative clothing is very expensive, especially when you use sites that are local and who use ethically sourced materials and designs. Shein has a reputation for stealing ideas from small and independent artists that create amazing designs.”

Jollands went on to cite the TikTok famous ‘strawberry dress’ that retails at $490 USD from the designer Lirika Matoshi but a knock off can be bought on Shein for less than $30.

Jollands said garments from these sustainable brands last “pretty much a lifetime due to the techniques and material that they use. Shein leaves you with a garment that is made horribly and doesn’t even fit”. Even though Shein doesn’t use the most ethical business practices, it is sometimes one of the only options for alternative and plus size students.

Cameron McCausland-Taylor styling a feather boa.

Photo / Supplied

Lizzie Jollands in her alternative fashion style. Photo / Supplied

Consent education cast aside for another year

Sammy Carter (she/her)

The Ministry of Education put consent education off for another year at least, but activists say it cannot wait. After many campaigns for compulsory consent and sexual harm education in Aotearoa schools, the Ministry of Education expects it to be “considered” in the 2024 curriculum refresh.

Genna Hawkins-Boulton, co-founder of Let’s Talk Consent, said, “I understand there is a lengthy and bureaucratic process to refresh the national curriculum. But I don’t believe consent education can wait.”

Run by three young women, Let’s Talk Consent is an organisation promoting consent culture among youth. Currently the New Zealand curriculum does not refer to consent education explicitly but does include relationships and sexuality education.

Hawkins-Boulton said there was a “detrimental” disconnect between youth and policy makers.

According to Help Auckland, 16‒24-year-olds were four times more likely to be sexually assaulted than any other age group.

Hawkins-Boulton said, “The voices of young people are being suppressed, despite their demographic dominating the statistics of sexual harm victims and their stories consistently making news headlines.”

“I would hope the Ministry will prioritise its focus on ensuring consent is a comprehensive and holistic component of health education.”

She said findings suggest there is a lack of focus on te ao Māori teaching methods around consent and hopes this will be considered in the refresh

too.

While she believes consent education should be compulsory, Hawkins-Boulton said schools are self-governing entities and have the power to ensure consent education themselves.

“I’ve spoken to a couple of schools who made consent education compulsory in Health education because they couldn’t wait for the Ministry’s decision.”

Hawkins-Boulton met with MPs and party leaders from Labour, National, Green and Act last year to discuss compulsory consent education and wider implementation of consent culture outside of the health curriculum.

She said while the general consensus was positive, “there needs to be a greater push from our communities to ensure each party is held accountable when supporting consent education”.

“It was interesting to see what each party’s perspective was on making consent a compulsory component in the national curriculum.”

In March, the organisation started the #IStandForConsent campaign, advocating for compulsory consent education across all schools in Aotearoa.

“We’ve received support from a range of different age groups which was awesome to see, the value of teaching consent can be understood across generations.”

Ministry of Education acting general manager of the New Zealand Curriculum Julia Novak said the New Zealand curriculum content is being developed and released in phases. She said the health and physical education learning area was on track to be refreshed in 2024.

“Relationships and sexuality education is included in this learning area, and we expect consent and sexual harm education to be considered during this refresh,” Novak said.

However, she did not answer Massive’s question of when in 2024 the curriculum would be refreshed. Starting this year, Massey University provided first year students with a compulsory consent education night before the start of O-Week.

Many students felt the Don’t Guess the Yes event taught them more than they learnt in high school.

Massey representatives said the university will continue to hold consent education events before O-Week.

Let’s Talk Consent is an organisation promoting consent culture among youth. Photo / Let’s Talk Consent

A letter to hairdressers: Stop telling me not to box dye my hair

OPINION

Sammy Carter (she/her)

You’ll be glad to know I’ve transformed from a natural brunette goddess, to a red-tinted babe. But my hairdresser is not on board.

I’d had the same brown hair for 20 years before my best friend and I went to The Warehouse and bought two boxes of $7.50 Revlon dye, shade 31, dark auburn.

The middle-aged woman on the box looked like Mrs Incredible, with her dark auburn hair over one eye and swooshed to the side.

We set up shop in my bestie’s living room with an old towel, a chair from the side of the road and Gilmore Girls playing.

I made sure to constantly question her intelligence by asking if she was getting all my roots.

After half an hour of my scalp stinging, I washed the dye out and was left with a cute red tint. It was just enough of a change to make life feel exciting, but not enough that I looked like Ronald McDonald.

Not a lot of people noticed I had dyed my hair, but you know who did? My hairdresser.

I don’t go to the hairdresser very much because it’s so expensive. I go when I need a pick-me-up.

I’m used to hairdressers complimenting my luscious, thick hair and asking if the colour is all natural. This time, I was not welcomed with compliments but with huffs and puffs about my “forever ruined hair”.

“Why would you do that to your hair? Do you know it’s the same dye used on our clothes,” the hairdresser said, gesturing to his black T-shirt.

I’m quite a blunt person so I frankly said, “I don’t care”. Because hair grows back. I told him that the colour was already fading, and it looked pretty similar to my natural hair.

He shook his head and gave me a good old lecture - just when I was trying to have a break from uni. He said if I ever try to dye my hair again it will look terrible as my ruined

hair will take colour differently to my new roots. Don’t bore me with logistics. I just wanna have fun! He then went on to charge me $65 for a dry cut. Not even wash and blow out, just a dry trim.

According to Stats NZ, in 1951 a women’s haircut cost 3 shillings or roughly $8 today. Price sampling from 2018 shows women’s haircuts are on average $63, and that’s without a dye job.

As the cost of living increased by over 8% last year, it’s hard for students to find cheap ways to have fun. It’s no wonder students turn to vintage and thrift shopping to explore their style. Sorry not sorry to all the hairdressers out there, but I stand by my $7.50 box dye adventure.

$7.50 box dye from The Warehouse. Photo / Sammy Carter

Study finds student are 20% smarter than ChatGPT

I’m happy to announce students have gone up against a robot and come out on top.

A massive crowd-sourced study with more than 25,000 questions from 186 institutions’ accounting assessments has found that students outperform ChatGPT.

Across all assessments, students scored an average of 76.7%, while ChatGPT scored 47.4% based on fully correct answers.

However, after giving ChatGPT some credit for partially correct answers, it would have scraped through many courses with an average of 56.5% overall.

The study’s co-authors included University of Auckland accounting and finance academics Ruth Dimes and David Hay.

Ruth Dimes, director of the University of Auckland Business School’s Business Masters programme, entered recent exam questions into ChatGPT and recorded how it performed compared to the students’ grades.

“I was surprised that ChatGPT didn’t perform as well as I thought it might have,” she said.

The study also found that the artificial intelligence tool sometimes made up facts, made nonsensical errors such as adding two numbers in a subtraction problem, and often provided descriptive explanations for its answers, even if they were incorrect.

Dimes said she’s interested in seeing how newer versions of ChatGPT

and other AI tools would perform if a similar study were undertaken at another point in time.

“ChatGPT has already changed how we teach and learn. Many teaching staff run our assessments through the tool so we’re aware of what it might come up with.”

David Hay, UoA Professor of Auditing, found the bot was able to perform slightly better in auditing courses compared to financial accounting courses, but still not as well as the students.

The study, led by Professor David Wood of Brigham Young University in Utah, included a total of 25,817 questions (25,181 gradable by ChatGPT) that appeared across 869 different class assessments.

It also included 2,268 questions from textbook test banks covering topics such as accounting information systems (AIS), auditing, financial accounting, managerial accounting, and tax.

The study revealed differences in ChatGPT’s performance based on the topic area of the assessment. Specifically, the chatbot performed better on accounting information system (AIS) and auditing assessments compared to tax, financial, and managerial assessments.

The study, The ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence Chatbot: How Well Does It Answer Accounting Assessment Questions?, was published by the American Accounting Association.

University of Auckland professors are co-authors in a new study. Photo / Student Life Newspaper

Who are chaplains and what do we do…??

Chaplains offer humanity and connection for students and staff. Often it’s just a coffee, something to eat and a chat. We know life can get pretty messed up and stressy; lonely even. So we offer a place where you can land with that, talk things through or just have a laugh.

Historically, you’ll usually find chaplaincy in difficult places, like in hospitals, the military, schools, university...places where people need some support and encouragement. While you don’t need to be having a hard time, we won’t mind if you are.

Chaplains are people of faith, spiritual people, but you don’t have to be ‘religious’ to spend some time with us. We think life makes way more sense when you have some faith, but that’s not all we talk or care about, most of us are Uni graduates and have a life. We’re people who care and like to connect with others.

On each campus we have regular ‘chapel’ time. That’s a time to gather, read scripture, pray and discuss things. We’re independent from any church, but as individuals, usually involved with them.

So please drop in, meet some other students, have a hot drink, chat about the weather…flatting…art…study… music… the meaning of life...

An easy way to look us up is by searching ‘chaplains at Massey’ or a similar word search; we’re on the three campuses.

-Albany: at the lower level of the Business School.

-Manawatu: at The Centre/Te Waiora on Colombo Rd.

-Wellington: usually at the Well-Being Space, between the Pyramid and Tussock.

The world we live in is diverse and each of us is spiritually, emotionally and physically unique. The chaplaincy is here to listen and come alongside and encourage students at this stage of life, as well as offering spiritual support.

‘Imago Dei’ Or ‘Image of God’. We are all created in the image of God, no matter what our faith, gender, race, income, sexual orientation or role on this earth is, all of us reflect an image or imprint of God.

Albany Facebook: Spiritual Wellbeing Auckland Palmerston North Facebook: Spiritual Wellbeing Manawatu Wellington Instagram: masseychaplaincywellington

That Ever-Growing Bundle of Clothes

By Elizabeth Chan (she/her)

I have a confession to make, I have amassed an everincreasing bundle of clothes. Just like a black hole, it keeps growing and growing… except that it doesn’t grow by sucking in planets and stars, rather it swallows my wallet and time. It just sits there, threatening my existence, urging me to clear it out again before it grows. It continues to grow the longer I leave it there. In fact, the bundle has grown so huge it has been divided into four massive bags when I moved out. No matter how much I’ve tried clearing out that bundle, somehow it doesn’t get much smaller. How did I get stuck in this mess? Perhaps it started with my desire to stay on top of the latest fashion trends.

The Blowout Sales from Popular-Retailers-That-ShouldNot-Be-Named

I swear I’m not a shopaholic. But even as I write that, you probably wouldn’t believe me, especially after describing my black hole of clothes. It’s just that the autumn and winter sales by my nearby retailers (that-should-not-be-named) were extremely convincing.

Even though I have stayed in Aotearoa for five years, coming from a tropical country (a.k.a. a country that doesn’t have four seasons), it was hard not to be tricked by the autumn and winter sales that advertised clothes that were magically discounted by 30% that only happened “at that moment”.

To me, those discounts were worth it because they not only sold clothes that would actually keep me warm at a cheaper price, but I could look and feel stylish at the same time, too. Plus, most of the retailers advertising those discounts were considered expensive in my home country. Shopping malls were the unofficial catwalk, and university a place to showcase your aesthetic. Nabbing those discounts was essential to look and feel good. Or so I thought.

As time passed, I noticed that the shops I frequent sold the same sort of clothes in every sale. Puffers for autumn and winter, bodycon maxi dresses and skirts for summer, all while alternating different types of jeans to maximise their profits for each denim item they sold. Carpenter jeans for 2022 and reviving the boot cut for 2023. Fashion trends always repeat.

So, is there a point into buying into discounts just to stay on top of trends that will change and then be revived the very next moment? My endless mountain of clothes screams no, but sometimes, it’s not that easy to say no to trends, is it?

Keep a Capsule Wardrobe

I honestly wish I thought of this sooner, but keeping a capsule wardrobe will be extremely useful in not falling for those sales that claim to happen only “once a year”. In case you don’t know, a capsule wardrobe consists of a smaller number of items that are considered ‘staples’ in clothing. For example, a collared button-down shirt is a staple that can be worn any time of the year as a shirt, a sort of jacket in the spring or summer, or as a layer over some thermals in the colder months.

In my opinion, keeping a capsule wardrobe prevents ‘overbuying’ because staples are timeless, meaning they can be mixed and matched all year round. Tons of capsule wardrobe ideas can be found on Pinterest. However, most of the creators of these capsule wardrobes hail from the U.S. or Europe, so a lot of the items can be quite expensive in Aotearoa (and basically Oceania and Southeast Asia, in general). In fact, some of them don’t ship to or can’t even be found in New Zealand at all, which is why I suggest seeking similar items in brands that can be found locally. And if you can’t, perhaps consider thrifting.

Just Say No

Another solution to over-buying when it comes to shopping is simple. Just say no to fashion trends. It’s easier said than done for some, after all, it’s easy to feel like a bum when strolling in a mall or on-campus next to groups of people our age donned with items all from the latest trends.

But honestly, wouldn’t rejecting the latest fashion trends and going with your style automatically make you a trendsetter?

The Bratz Revival & Nostalgia Dressing

Written and Illustrated by Tui Lou Christie (she/they)

The year is 2006. You’re at a sleepover with your best friends. Mum’s made saveloys and fairy bread. You’ve got some fake sticker earrings on, you’re putting butterfly clips in everyone’s hair, and Bratz: Rock Angelz is playing on VHS on the family TV. Life is good.

It is doubtless that fashion dolls have impact on personal style. The recent promotion for the upcoming Greta Gerwig film Barbie (which I will be attending on its opening screening, dressed for the occasion obviously) has spawned a new variation of hyperfeminine dressing: Barbiecore. All things pink, all things frilly, skirts short and heels high. However, Barbara Roberts isn’t the only fashion doll icon that young people are taking inspiration from.

A smaller player in the fashion doll game, but one who has none the less impacted the younger generation online, is Bratz. Created by Mattel rival MGA, Bratz are teen model magazine moguls with a passion for fashion that hit stores in 2001. Bratz went through its fair share of controversies, like most fashion dolls have to (can we please let girls enjoy stuff?), but still managed to sell incredibly well, grossing $2 billion in sales in their first five years and accounting for 40% of doll sales by 2006.

Bratz dolls came back on the market with special 20-year anniversary dolls in 2021, one year post-COVID. The pandemic gave rise to a new wave of nostalgia-driven entertainment as a form of escapism, taking us back to a pre-COVID time where we lived with a bit less fear and sickness. Rewatching the straight-to-DVD Barbie films makes things seem a bit more possible. Watching a 3-hour deep dive video essay on iCarly or Winx Club makes me forget about the price of eggs in this cost-of-living crisis. The same goes for fashion; baby tees and chunky platform sneakers give me a hit of nostalgia that makes stepping out into a rapidly declining environment slightly more bearable.

Y2K fashion is back in a big way thanks to the 20-year fashion cycle we have been gently trapped in for most of the modern period, a cultural rule that lives on due to the influence of nostalgia. The Y2K and Bratz resurgence in fashion and popular culture is indicative of this. With Bratz, we aren’t just trying to grasp pre-COVID times, but preadult times, when things were simpler. You brought your Cloe doll, and your bestie brought her Yasmin doll. It’s a

time when university hadn’t crossed your mind because you were going to be an actress singer popstar with twenty dogs, and not an English major. A time when you were picking which boy from your class to have a crush on that week, and not going through a heartbreak. When you spent your free time wondering if you’re a Sasha or a Jade, and not which flat you’re going to spend your student allowance renting for the next 12 months.

When I was a child, the coolest thing I could think of wasn’t eggs being on sale; it was a super fashionable teen girl with pretty makeup and cool clothes.

Illustration by Eden Laing

Get in loser, we're cutting to the montage

By Molly Richards (she/her)

As an early ‘00s baby, I grew up on ‘90s-style teen flicks. From Clueless, to Mean Girls to The Princess Diaries. The fashion makeover montage, despite its often-problematic nature, will be forever iconic. Sure, the message of beauty above all and its representation of identity isn’t exactly ideal by today’s standards. The montage was largely the best scene, if not the most satisfying. I have always been excited to watch characters try on hundreds of some of the most outrageous 2000s outfits and still envy their wardrobe. This week I’ve had a stroll down memory lane and landed on a couple of the most iconic fashion montages from my childhood. It’s no surprise to me that I still see these onscreen fashionistas influencing fashion today.

I can only assume that now because us ‘00s babies have gotten our mitts onto some adult money that our Bratz and Barbie roots have burst into fruition. Make no mistake. I am obsessed.

Hannah Montana’s wardrobe had me mad at my parents for not moulding me into a child pop superstar at 10 years old. Her wardrobe in this show has burnt itself into my brain. I long for the day I have a wall that rotates into a secret wardrobe the size of my flat’s entire first floor.

As If! I couldn’t forget Cher Horowitz’s wardrobe in Clueless Now that was something else. If you know or know anyone that could install that into my flat that would be awesome. Motorized clothes racks? So, fetch. That’s just the wardrobe; the outfits will be forever immortalized. Seriously, you can buy that matching yellow check skirt-top combo today and still be at the top of style.

Moving on, let’s talk The Devil Wears Prada. There is something about the bitchy stereotypical fashion magazine that just tickles my brain. In the film there was upwards of 40 different outfits onscreen and if that isn’t impressive enough, the budget for wardrobe stood at one million dollars. There is no denying that Andy’s character changed drastically after she put on those Chanel boots and honestly, I can’t blame her.

Speaking of Anne Hathaway, I present what I believe to be one of the most iconic montage scenes to have graced my screen. Replicated still if you scroll through TikTok. It must be the one from The Princess Diaries. It’s no secret that Anne Hathaway is a beautiful woman. So, convincing us that she wasn’t in the film seems a bit ridiculous now, however

that makeover sequence was so fun. Not to mention the major turning point of the story. To simply take this and this and give you a princess is movie magic at its finest.

That’s what I have noticed in these films. The makeover and fashion show happens right before shit hits the fan for most characters. Or it signifies the rise and inevitable fall of their character— and boy do glittery boots make a great accessory to character development.

Speaking of shit hitting the metaphorical fan or (in this next film) hitting a very literal bus. We have Mean Girls. If you haven’t seen this cinematic masterpiece yet, what the Hell have you been doing? I’ve literally mentioned it in at least two other silly little features this year alone. Seriously, do you even go here? Cady Heron enters the film as a “homeschooled jungle freak” with little to no social skills, her finger wasn’t on the pulse of fashion to be sure. Things change on a Wednesday because we must wear pink. Throw in some miniskirts and apply some sticky lip-gloss in a bedazzled hand mirror, et voilà, you’ve got a mean girl. Sure, Cady’s character development wasn’t for the best (what can you expect from a satire so aptly titled?), but there’s no dispute that the fashion was iconic.

Again, not every transformation is for the best and this next one is no exception. They really did Allison dirty with that look in The Breakfast Club. Honestly, this must be one of the worst fashion transformations I’ve witnessed on screen. Allison in my opinion was perfectly strange and individual before she swapped out the shag haircut for that horrific headband. I really don’t know what they were thinking.

Finally, an honourable mention to every film that has included that one stair scene. You know the one I’m talking about. It’s where the main character™ gets dolled up and descends elegantly downstairs, often whilst the love interest stands stunned. You’ve seen it from Rose in Titanic, Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Hermione in Harry Potter, and Loki in Avengers to name a few. That grand entrance is something out of a fairy tale. I’m still waiting for my moment... To be truthful it nearly happened one time. However, I stumbled on my skirt and nearly tumbled down the stairs. Not ideal and certainly not elegant.

Illustration by Eden Laing

Sexcapades

Bad Things Come in Threes

It began on a particularly horny hump day. Me, my ex, and a work training trip. I’m sure you can see where we are heading but jump onboard because I’m taking you down knobstacle course lane.

My ex and I had a complicated relo. And by that I mean our colleagues thought we hated each other but in reality we secretly hooked up in the bathrooms at least once a week. What else is a horny girl meant to do on a Wednesday arvo when all the work is done?

So, it’s post training, we are absolutely cooked from the free booze and high on the fact we just made our 57-year-old boss do tequila shots. After causing chaos we toddled off with two of our colleagues to carry on the party in my ex’s motel room.

We’re sitting on the bed, with a drink from whatever was in the room’s mini fridge and him and I are close. The kind of close that makes you gag because it’s your ex but simultaneously pull the bed sheets over your legs so no one sees him slip his hands under your skirt.

After sneaky foreplay, our two colleagues finally fall asleep. One on the end of my ex’s bed and the other on the couch. Naturally, my ex’s hand finds its way up my skirt again and before long we are (quietly) shagging in the spoon position.

It all feels very hot and risky and had potential to be a top contender for our best sex yet, until he stops mid thrust and rolls over to go to sleep.

Shocked, confused and wondering what the f just happened, I can’t do anything because two of our colleagues are asleep beside us, so I morph my face into a look of disgust, pull down my skirt, and stomp back to my own motel room.

The next morning, he and our colleagues are giggling away because turns out one of them wasn’t asleep and heard the whole thing. It soon spread around work, our bosses got involved seeing the end of our workplace hookups, everyone knew I went back to my ex and to top it all off, I didn’t even get a final big-o.

Solicited Advice

From Pocket

Solicited advice is a weekly column where Massive’s own four-legged Agony Aunty, Pocket, shares her wisdom and experience with you all. She speaks only truths.

Pocket, I’m feeling stumped for Autumn fashion inspiration. Any advice on what’s hot right now?

Latching onto trends or the latest fashion is overrated and won’t serve you nearly as well as classic staples and a defined sense of personal style. Take this from someone who always wears all black! Figuring out what works for me and sticking to it has massively reduced my consumption. One closet staple for humans that I cannot recommend highly enough is cat hair to elevate any look instantly. Get some all over your clothes for a simple, timeless look. If you aren’t around Massey Wellington campus to obtain samples of my fine hair when I choose to rub myself on your leg, you can try and befriend your local mangy stray (just keep in mind the quality will be, of course, far inferior).

Do you have a question you’re dying to have answered?

Massive Magazine on Instagram or editor@massivemagazine.org.nz and look out for next week’s issue - no question is too difficult for Pocket.

Aquarius Pisces Aries

Stop. Booking. Tattoo. Appointments. You don’t have the money.

Keep. Booking. Tattoo. Appointments. Ignore that I told Aquarius to stop, you need more.

Your birthday has been and gone Aries, time to stop spending and start saving.

Everyone may love you, Taurus, but I know the truth. Stop that God complex before it gets out of hand.

Time to take that stick out of your ass and start partying, school can wait.

Stop partying until 4AM and then calling sick into work the next day. You got bills to pay!

Are you okay, Leo? Your friends are getting worried.

This week is going to be good for you, Virgo. Just go with the flow and everything will turn out fine.

Scorpio Sagittarius

Start looking for another job, Scorpio, you are over worked and underpaid, you deserve better babes.

For the love of God, stop procrastinating!!! Everything will be so much better if you do that assignment early and not the day before. There is no such thing as doing best under pressure.

Take a deep breath, ground yourself. You don’t need to be making huge life decisions on a whim. Take a moment to think about it.

Capricorn

Your friends aren’t avoiding you, they’re just busy, reach out first maybe? They still love you I promise xx

Māori: The OGs of Slow Fashion

By Cameron McCausland-Taylor

The fast fashion vs slow fashion debate has been a hot topic for a while now. Fast fashion typically means cheaper, unethically made, mass-produced options, with the trend cycle meaning a lot of these clothes end up in landfills. To contrast, we have slow fashion, with individual pieces created by hand, resulting in a higher price and higher quality. In Aotearoa, Māori are the true OGs of the slow fashion industry. Tbh, you could say we invented it.

Migrating to Aotearoa from Hawaiki, Awhina Tamarapa and Patricia Wallace share how Māori came equipped with skills in cord-making, knotting, netting and weaving (Te Ara, 2013). With them, they also bought the aute plant, which they used to make their clothes out of in their previous tropical climate. However, they had to adapt their clothing to the chilly climate of Aotearoa, with aute not suitable in our soil. They looked elsewhere for resources from the plants, birds, and mammals, using the likes of harakeke, whanake, moa, kākāpō, and kurī skin. Looking back in Māori history, two key components that are essential to traditional Māori fashion are the whatu kākahu and pounamu, specifically the iconic hei tiki.

Whatu kākahu means Māori cloaks, used in Māori culture for both functionality and prestige. As told by Tamarapa (2011) in the pukapuka Whatu Kākahu: Māori Cloaks, kākahu were worn about or over the shoulders, wrapping the wearer’s entire tinana. These ataahua pieces clothed Māori as everyday wear, a custom which has since faded. However, they are still used as markers of cultural pride, prestige and whakapapa, as well as Māori believing these kākahu are a form of protection.

Kākahu were commonly divided into two types; the practical, protective rain cloaks, and the prestigious and intricately woven kākahu worn by ariki, tohunga and rangatira. The rain cloaks were made to be bristly and durable, made by tying pieces of material to a whenu (warp thread) base. A range of different types of rain kākahu were made out of material such as harakeke, pātītī and neinei, crafted in such a way that the wearer would be guarded from the wind and that rain would glide off the materials. The more prestigious kākahu include the likes of kāhu kurī (cloaks made of dogskin), the kaitaka (a silky cloak polished off with a tāniko/patterned border), the korowai (covered in falling hukahuka threads) and the kahu huruhuru (a cloak made of an abundance of feathers).

Nowadays, we are thankfully seeing a huge resurgence in Māori weaving. While individuals did pass on their skills to others for decades leading up to the 1980s, Toi Te Rita

Maihi (2011) said these individuals typically worked in isolation. It was in 1982 when the exceptional Ngoingoi Pewhairangi formed the Aotearoa Moana Nui a Kia Weavers, which led to the establishment of Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aoteroa (the national Māori weavers’ collective). The kaupapa has continued to blossom, with a huge number of avenues available to explore the art of Māori weaving across the motu.

Next in Māori fashion, we have the hei tiki pounamu, explored in great detail by Dougal Austin in his 2019 pukapuka Te Hei Tiki: An enduring treasure in a cultural continuum. While pounamu and taonga come in a range of forms, Austin quotes the hei tiki being the “most highly esteemed and culturally iconic”, due to its long history and cultural endurance. Hei tiki are also revered for their emotional ties, eliciting the memory and spiritual aura of tīpuna of the past. These complex forms of taonga are believed to be the most challenging to create by hand both in ancient and modern times, with Austin talking of the extensive labour carvers put into shaping the pounamu into the necessary shapes. From there, it took a further 250 hours, sometimes even MORE, to construct the hei tiki into its final form, with the intention to create sturdy pieces that could be passed down for generations. Talk about slow fashion, āe? Traditionally, it was Māori tāne who often wore hei tiki, seen through observing the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. However, by the end of the nineteenth century, it was the wāhine who were the common wearers. Austin shares how this was a possible response to the declining Māori population, with the usage of hei tiki often associated with the goddess of childbirth and fertility, Hine-te-iwaiwa.

Just like Pākeha loved to colonise land, they also loved (and still love) to colonise hei tiki. From the 1890s to the present, the colonial lens of hei tiki persisted through cultural appropriation, such as imitation hei tiki being made in the thousands for non-Māori adornment from the end of the nineteenth century onwards. These non-Māori, mass-produced pieces of kaka were seen as colonial fashion accessories or ‘Māori good luck charms’. This is an example of fast fashion at its finest; lower quality, mass-produced items, this time tainted with the sour taste of colonization and appropriation. It takes absolutely no account for the high artistic talents needed for this mahi and serves to cheapen the art form of hei tiki, playing no part in ensuring that hei tiki is reinforced and maintained for future generations. Not all hope is lost, however. Austin’s pukapuka sheds a light on the hei tiki artists who have put

the mahi in to making sure the hei tiki art form lives on and is cultivated properly, including the likes of Charles Wilson, Fayne Robinson, Rangi Kipa, and Areta Wilkinson, to name a few.

While we focus on slow fashion in the modern world from a sustainable perspective, Māori weavers and carvers handmade each piece with an intention to convey specific meanings, narratives and whakapapa, depending on who and what the piece was for. These artists can often look at a piece and determine things such as their time period and tribal locality, showing just how incredibly valuable whatu kākahu and the hei tiki pounamu are as art forms to Māori culture. They provide a glimpse into the past and act as evidence of the skill, talent and efforts of our tīpuna. As Maihi said, “these garments can assist us in a clearer understanding of the past, which may provide pathways to the future”. That’s something fast fashion can never touch.

Glossary:

Aute – paper mulberry

Harakeke – flax

Whanake – cabbage tree leaves

Kurī - dog

Whatu kākahu - Māori cloaks

Pounamu – greenstone & greenstone pendants

Pukapuka - book

Tinana – body

Ataahua – beautiful

Whakapapa - ancestry

Ariki - Māori chief or high priest

Tohunga – chosen expert

Rangatira – highly ranked chief

Pātītī - tussock grass

Neinei – grass tree

Motu – country

Taonga - treasure

Tīpuna - ancestors

Āe - yes/yeah

Tāne - men

Wāhine - women

Mahi – work

Illustration by Annick Harvey

Practicaloodie

By Aiden Wilson (they/them)

When it comes to clothing, I prefer comfort over style. As much as I do enjoy a decent outfit, when it comes to going on campus to study, I will ALWAYS prefer grey sweats and a hoodie over jeans, flannel, and coat.

Typically, I’d describe my dress style as Bender from The Breakfast Club meets Billy Butcher from The Boys, unless I’m spending the day studying in the library, especially during winter. Nothing like bundling up in a decent hoodie and warm pants, drinking coffee, listening to the rain while typing away at something.

This comfort clothing is also what I lounge around in at home. Hell, it’s what I’m wearing right now! However, a few months ago something happened… Something I never thought would happen… My partner convinced me to get an Oodie, and it might be the single most comfortable piece of clothing I’ve ever owned.

Described by the company as a “wearable blanket”, the Oodie is essentially an incredibly large hoodie with a front pocket akin to a kangaroo’s pouch. The product’s descriptors, and the fact that an “outdoor Oodie” is sold, imply that these are not items designed to be worn outside of the home. They are intended as pyjamas or a blanket. Having seen a few fellow students wearing them round on the colder days (no shame, live how you wanna live), it got me wondering how practical wearing an Oodie while out and about would be.

So I decided to put the practicality of the Oodie, the practicaloodie if you will, to the test! The rules for my experiment are as follows:

Once I arrive on campus, I must wear the Oodie as I go about my day. I will go to each place I would usually in a typical day: student shop, library, common area etc. The Oodie does NOT need to be worn on the bus to campus but must be worn on the bus back. I will spend a minimum of five minutes in each location I visit. I MUST utilise the Oodie’s pocket throughout my day.

While in each location I will be noting: How it feels to move around the location wearing the Oodie. The temperature of the location, if it is too warm for the Oodie/just the right temp, etc.

On a quick personal note, this is not an ad for the Oodie, buy shit ‘cause you want it, don’t let me influence you.

Thoughts prior to the experiment: I believe that the library is going to be too hot, and I’ll be at risk of heatstroke while wearing my Oodie on the third floor. I also think I’m going to need to do the smart thing and take it off if I go to

the bathroom. Overall I believe it’s not going to be LESS practical than a usual hoodie, but it’s size and warmth may have some drawbacks.

THE EXPERIMENT

A normal day consists of three major stops for me, those being hitting up the MUSA shop for a Cookie-Time, heading across to the Greenroom in the humanities block for a coffee, followed by study in the library, finishing up with a trip on the bus.

Stop #1 – The MUSA Shop

As I theorised, this was the hardest part of my day. With the MUSA shops layout being condensed and cosy, moving about in what is essentially a giant blanket is not the easiest thing. Going down the alley to get my cookie required bunching up the edges of my Oodie, trying to make myself as small as I could to not knock random objects to the floor. Today was about testing practicality, not being a public nuisance after all.

To avoid adding extra struggle, I had dropped my backpack off at the greenroom before attending the first leg of my journey. What I gained in manoeuvrability, I lost in carrying capacity… or so I thought. The large front pocket came in clutch, allowing me to hold my phone, wallet, and eventually the cookie upon my departure. Aside from the initial worry about being too wide to get down the aisle, the trip was ultimately not too hard.

In terms of temperature, the MUSA shop is always really comfortable, never too hot and never too cold. Concourse in the Oodie was still pretty cold, but the wooly interior of my outfit kept me toasty. Stepping into the MUSA shop, I did not notice much difference initially. However, as I stayed I started to get warmer. I believe I left at the correct moment, or else I risked becoming a slightly sweaty lad in there.

MUSA SHOP OVERALL RATING: 7/10

Oodie is not too hard to manoeuvre as long as you focus. Pocket was good for carrying my wallet and any goodies I purchased. Temperature started getting a little warm but was fine for a relatively fast trip.

Stop #2 – The Greenroom

Getting to this spot and collapsing onto the sofa is always the best part of my day. Oodie only made that better. What was intended to be a short stay before heading to the library ended up lasting at least half an hour. I found myself snuggled up, sipping my coffee, watching Glee and having

a great time (Aiden does NOT endorse the watching of Glee, Will Schuster is an awful teacher and should be fired).

SGP’s temperature is always on the lower side of warm, so an article of clothing made specifically for warmth and comfort was PERFECT here.

However, a major downside of this room was the fear I had of spilling my coffee down my front. There’s a reason why tables and coasters are a good idea, and the lack of them at this moment filled me with dread.

It was at this point I realised I needed to pee, so the Oodie had to come off so I could attend the lavatory. As humans, we do not appreciate what we have till it’s gone, and the time I spent out of my Oodie cocoon was frightfully chilly.

GREENROOM OVERALL RATING: 8.5/10

The Oodie was perfect to wear while lounging on the couch. The cold temperature of the building was completely negated by the warmth of the Oodie. However, eating and drinking in an environment with limited table space and no coasters made me nervous of spilling coffee and staining the Oodie. Taking off Oodie to go to the loo was the worst but putting it back on was like seeing an old friend once again.

Stop #3 – The Library

Have you ever worked in a kitchen? Over a grill with a wall mounted oven directly behind you, heating lamps to your left and the flame of the stove to your right? It’s not very pleasant. That’s what library Oodie was.

Anyone who attends Palmy campus can vouch that the library gets warm, sometimes uncomfortably so. The first floor was fine, second got a bit much, and by the third floor I was sweltering. Even heading back down to the second floor didn’t help. Temperature wise, the library is not it for warm clothing of any kind.

Movement was a piece of cake. The shelves were wide enough, and when they weren’t I adopted the tactics I had learnt when obtaining my cookie in the MUSA shop. But the heat, oh man the heat!

LIBRARY OVERALL RATING: 5/10

Too hot too hot too hot.

The Journey Home – Bus

Due to the time I left, the bus had no one else on it. I was nervous that other passengers would mean less seating space, as I believe an Oodie on the bus would take up a couple spots. I was right, as sitting down made my Oodie drape onto the seat beside me. Don’t be a dick! If you’re bussing and there’s more of you, just take it off.

The aircon of the bus made an environment that was again perfect for warm clothing. Bundling up for fifteen or so minutes was not a bad time at all and was a great break from the heat of the library.

BUS OVERALL RATING: 10/10 WITHOUT OTHER PASSENGERS, INCONCLUSIVE WITH OTHERS.

Riding by myself it was cosy as hell and I nearly missed my stop due to how snoozy I got. If there were others, I would not wear it though…

CLOSING THOUGHTS

From a purely practical standpoint, the Oodie is not the worst thing one can wear! The front pocket was awesome when I didn’t feel like dragging my bag around, but the wool interior became a detriment when going into warmer buildings.

It really all comes down to personal preference: wear what you wanna wear! If you feel like wearing an Oodie go for it. As long as you’re courteous and don’t knock everything off the shop shelves, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with going about your day in one.

FINAL RATING: 7.5/10

The praticaloodie of it was not too bad at all.

The Massive Team’s

Team’s Fashion

APPLY NOW & DOODLE YOUR WAY TO THE WORLD FINAL IN AMSTERDAM BY

DRAWING YOUR DOODLE WITHIN THE FRAME ABOVE

TAKING A CLEAR PHOTO INCLUDING THE FRAME