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MAGGIE O’CONNOR LAUREN AYERS Editor-in-Chief
Creative Director SHANNON MAIERS
Publisher
Marketing Director CARLY DINEEN-GRIFFIN
Accounts Director SABRINA ZAYEC
Print Design Editors KATIE BEUKEMA XINYI LIU
Print Fashion Editors ALANA VALKO OLIVIA VELARDE
Features Editor AMBER MITCHELL
Print Photography Editors BENJI BEAR RYAN MCLOUGHLIN
Digital Design Editor ALIYA FALK
Digital Fashion Editor BLAKE PITTMAN
Video Editor PAIGE WILSON
Digital Photography Editor MACKENZIE KING
Advertising Coordinator ELLEN TOAL
Distribution Coordinator CHRISTI SUZUKI
Finance Coordinator CONNIE ZHANG
Events Coordinator ALLISON POWELL
Outreach Coordinator KRISTIN SWAD
Social Media Coordinator SERENA PERGOLA
Design Team Claire Abdo, Carla Borkmann, Sara Groenke, Julia Margalit, Lizzy Marics, Manda Villarreal, Paige Wilson Fashion Team Kamryn Abraskin, Harry Champion, Alexa DeFord, Olivia Gregg, Agustina Garate Griot, Jennifer Gryka, Elizabeth Haley, Sophia Jaskoski, Amreen Kanwal ,Kelsey Knickerbocker, Rosalie Li, Catherine Marchenko, Juan Marquez, Susan Meaney, Paris Morris, Courtney O’Beirne, Adam Van Osdol, Jessica Peterkins, Alexandra Plosch, Jenny Ruan, Rachel Schwab, Meredith Sherbin, Molly Shulan, Spencer Solit, Manraj Toor, Sean Tran, Jana Wilson Features Team Kate Cammell, Sophia Cloherty, Bridgette Conniff, Phoebe Danaher, Matisen Douglas, Katherine Feinstein, Livvy Gordon, Hannah Harshe, Lauren Henson, Caleb Hogeterp, Ella Jermyn, Madelyn Kantor, Alexa Di Luca, Theresa Manfredini, Merin McDivitt, Alex Rakestraw, Sophie ReVeal, Jamie Schneider, Eric TerBush, Sean Tran Photography Team Eliz Akgun, Maya Ballester, Michael Barsky, Lucille Carpenter, Katie Corbett, Dana Dean, Julia Dean, Olivia Gardella, Cameron Hunt, Anurima Kumar, Derrick Lui, Juan Marquez, Evan Parness, Samantha Plouff, Francesca Romano, Robina Rranza, Jenny Ruan, Lingene Yang, Tina Yu Videography Team Hayley Danke, Lauren Day, Mariana Escobar, Warren Lee, Bethany Lehman, Rosalie Li, Cat Marchenko, Claire Plump
Digital Content Editor ELENA ODULAK
Sales Team Kate Burns, Julia Cozzette, Claire Dickerson, Audrey Doherty, Laila Elnaggar, Griffin Gonzales, Belinda Jiang, Ella Jomo, Colleen Jones, Mary Jo Kelly, Dorothy Qi, Anuksha Singh, Ravali Thimmapuram Events Team Alicia Nicholas, Courtney O’Beirne, Dorothy Qi, Molly Shulan, Sydney Someck, Sophie Williams Finance Team Sabrina Ajjour, Suzy Bailey, Jennie Peteka, Ella Radice Outreach Team Ellery Benson, Bridgette Conniff, Rachel Gordon, Drisha Gwalani, Clare Shafer, Anna Zidarescu Social Media Team Grace Badagliacca, Sophia Friedman, Julia Kaplan, Claire Manor, Marlee Neff, Summer O’Sullivan Digital Content Team Emily Benderoff, Mallory Demeter, Natalie Emmerman, Alison Mahoney, Stefanie Matza, Dominique Roitman
SPECIAL U-M Student Publications Face Stockholm Fly Behavior Fred’s Graduate Hotel Peggy Orenstein Today Clothing SAPAC
THANKS
IN THIS ISSUE
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Letter from the Editor and Theme Piece
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Mind, Body, and Soul
12
Rendez-Vous on Film
28 Bad Girls 30 Fast Fashion Needs to Slow Down: Greenwashing in the Fashion Industry 32
Spike It
40 SAPAC at UMich 42 The Blaine Game 44 Behind the Scenes 54 Reclaiming the Body: Tattoos as the Future of Fashion 58 Popadelic 70 The Story in the Stitches: A Mother’s Journey to Send Her Son Off with Style 72
The Liberating Power of a Good Night’s Sleep
74 Radiate, Refresh, Repeat 76 Right to Pleasure: Peggy Orenstein and Destigmatizing Female Sexuality 78
As She Coalesces
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Recently, I’ve realized that I begin at least half of my sentences with the word “sorry.” “Sorry, I was just wondering if…” “Sorry, can we…” “Sorry, I was just going to say that…” I don’t know when or how I became so apologetic. I think that somehow I’ve internalized that I shouldn’t use my voice, or rather, that I shouldn’t have one at all. Maybe I’ve harbored some irrational guilt or shame or something that’s convinced me that I have a reason to be sorry for who I am or what I have to say. No matter the reason, the word habitually slips itself into my throat, pouring out from my mouth before I can stop it. “Sorry.” I know that I’m not alone. So many of my friends struggle with finding their voices and giving themselves permission to live unapologetically. To speak unapologetically. To take care of their bodies unapologetically. To love themselves unapologetically. The fashion world is notorious for its rigid beauty standards, which often make this kind of self-love difficult to actualize. Campaigns and shows consistently exclude black bodies and brown bodies and thicker bodies. When you don’t see yourself represented in the fashion media that you look up to and consume regularly, it wears on your confidence. This fact, of course, is so widely preached that I feel like a living cliché even writing it. Regardless, I think it’s important to call attention to this problem, to remind us that the fashion industry at large needs to stop its exclusivity and start celebrating all types of beauty. Thankfully, change is slowly seeping into the industry. Chromat’s Fall 2018 show, for example, stunned New York Fashion Week with its gorgeously diverse cast of models. Things are gradually getting better, but there is still so much room for growth. There is also room for growth in how we, as students at the University of Michigan, love and care for ourselves. Our campus is vibrant and exciting, but incredibly demanding. So often, we push our personal needs to the side to focus on studying or working or going out with friends. At the start of the new year, my team and I recognized that we all felt the need for a change—for a shift towards prioritizing our own mental and physical health. We decided to create an issue that acted as a guidebook for practicing unapologetic self-love. Creating this issue has been illuminating. We discovered that self-care is sometimes as simple as giving yourself the permission to get a full night’s rest. (The Liberating Power of a Good Night’s Sleep, pg. 72). We explored the ways in which tattoos operate in our culture and allow us to take control over our bodies (Reclaiming the Body: Tattoos as the Future of Fashion, pg. 54). We learned that media can guide us in how we choose to dress, or whom we choose to be (The Blaine Game, pg. 42). In planning this issue, we wanted to produce a shoot that brought together a group of strong women to celebrate the power of female friendship. To achieve this, we packed ourselves into the vibrant Presidential Suite at the Graduate Hotel in Ann Arbor to shoot models Na’kia Channey, Kelsey Knickerbocker, Paris Parker, Sophia White, and Christine Lee. After several hours, a couple of disposable cameras, many Polaroids, and a whole lot of snacks, we had created SHEI’s first ever multimedia shoot (Rendez-Vous on Film, pg. 12). We hope that this issue empowers you, our readers and friends, to live selfishly, wholly, and unapologetically. Take the time to read these pages. Allow yourself to be inspired with new ways to show yourself love and gratitude. Be fearless, be bold, and don’t ever be sorry.
Maggie O’Connor Editor in Chief
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UNAPOLOGETIC In a culture in which coffee is the drug of the nine-to-five and stress becomes synonymous with success, we could all use a little time to slow down and focus on ourselves. For this issue, our teams set out to produce work that both reflected and paved the way for radical confidence. Drawing on our individual experiences and happenings in the industry, we found avenues for empowerment and personal growth —— avenues for a slower, more conscious lifestyle. This semester, we explore the concept of “wellness” and its impact on fashion, the power of tattoos to allow us to reclaim our bodies and propel ourselves forward, as well as the freeing nature of a good night’s sleep. Caleb Hogeterp considers the effects of greenwashing and presents brands, such as Everlane and Reformation, that are committed to a genuinely sustainable present and future. As we reflect, we get personal. Kate Cammell, in a narrative piece highlighting the dress that her aunt will wear at her son’s upcoming wedding, speaks to the ways that fashion can provide a space to honor our stories. Sean Tran looks back on his experience of finding expression through his individual style, inspired by men in television and film. We also consider our world, especially in relation to the current #MeToo movement and the increasing agency women are finding to speak up and speak out. Sophie ReVeal, in an interview with New York Times bestselling author Peggy Orenstein, overtly questions the stigma surrounding female mastrubation and sexual pleasure. Featuring SAPAC, we reflect directly on the University of Michigan’s available resources to assist survivors of sexual assault. It is up to us to challenge the structure of our society, to demand change, and to focus on what we need to flourish as individuals. As we can see in our world today, standing up with confidence for what we believe in is an instrumental way to reshape our reality, to empower ourselves and those around us.
Amber Mitchell Print Features Editor
Winter 2018
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, d n i M y, d o b l u o s &
The best way to celebrate a 125th anniversary, according to Vogue, is with a cold-pressed juice. Pressed Juicery (a California based industry leader in highly nutritious, coldpressed juice) offered signature “Blue and Pink Lemonades” for the 2017 occasion, allowing customers to appreciate the magazine’s industry success as they enjoyed the drinks’ superfruit and antioxidant benefits simultaneously. In true Vogue fashion, the outward appearance of the two juices are just as attractive as its vitamin-packed makeup, with vibrant fuschia and glowing aquamarine standing out against the other cold-pressed sips on the shelf. Vogue isn’t exactly a pioneer in its attraction to to cleaneating (in this case, drinking) and the skin-brightening elixirs of the world. In recent years, millennials have become fascinated with wellness, as the definitions of the term have shifted and continue to shift quite frequently. With the rise of social media, according to a June 2017 article in the New York Post, celebrities are perpetuating certain wellness trends and products that may not be necessarily effective, from detox tea that supposedly causes a flat stomach, to biotinrich gummy bears that are thought to cause hair growth. The tea, according to the New York Post, reportedly causes vomiting, while the biotin supplements, while cute, do not seem to produce any significant results. These different fads seem to reach their popularity through a game of wellness telephone, most without any scientific backup. University of Alberta health law and policy professor, Tim Caulfield, commented on this whirlwind of opinions and statistics from the vast wellness community. “Studies tell us that the general public is already confused about how to live a healthy lifestyle. Science-free advice only confuses things more,” he said in the 2017 article.
There’s no denying that wellness has taken the fashion industry by storm as well — calcium has become just as important as couture. Luxury fashion brands have hopped on the wellness bandwagon themselves; in addition to Vogue’s collaboration with Pressed Juicery, Stella McCartney maintains their 2005 partnership with Adidas in order to inspire women to incorporate her quintessential Stella McCartney modern femininity look into their workout routine. The two concepts — wellness and style — seem to mirror each other in today’s world. Like fashion, wellness has shifted away from measuring the intensity of one’s active lifestyle to how balanced a person feels about their lifestyle in general. Wellness, like style, has become a state of mind in this day and age. The wellness influence in luxury fashion is a result of millennials’ preference for indulging in experiences over acquiring more and more goods. Dr. Nigma Talib, a naturopathic doctor, stated in Business of Fashion that “What I find is that the new fashion is now health and wellness. People want experiences, they want to feel transformed — not to continue to collect more clutter or more things.” Talib alluded to what is known as “The Experience Economy,” a book by Joseph Pine that describes this generational shift towards experiences in consumerism. Pine told Business of Fashion that the concept is evolving even further, as “experiences that actually make us fitter and help us achieve our aspirations for health and wellness is where things are shifting.” Wellness remains a state of mind, the same way a certain ensemble affects one’s mood. In 2012, Vogue covered what is known as enclothed cognition, a phenomenon in which a person associates types of clothing with certain attributes.
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And while this article — despite its presence in the early beginnings of the wellness movement — explains why wearing a perfectly tailored, signature Stella McCartney yoga top can inspire someone to hit the gym, it also takes the psychology a step further. To explore how enclothed cognition affects women in other venues besides the gym, Vogue asked women in a variety of careers which style choices — and why — inspires them to produce their best work. Co-founder and creative director of Moda Operandi, Lauren Santo Domingo, reflected on the fashion choices she opted for when launching her successful company. “I quickly shuffled around my wardrobe and relied on Céline with sprinklings of Acne to get me through these intense meetings without letting my true eclectic fashion roots betray me,” Santo Domingo told Vogue. Students at Michigan feel similarly about their clothing choices in an academic environment. Rachel Brandes, a student studying social media in the School of Information, said that she usually gravitates towards pieces by Zara when venturing to the library or taking tests. “I wear a lot of Zara because I like that the pieces are comfortable and practical, but fashionable at the same time,” she stated. “It has a crisp and sleek look to it, which helps me keep my mind clear when I’m working.” These fashion choices showcase how unique pieces produce confidence, often leading to successful results. In other words, a phenomenal outfit can make a person feel just that — phenomenal. Clearly, style choices can create a balanced and powerful state of mind However, like fashion, wellness has faced some ambiguity about what is considered the “correct” way to live a healthy life. It seems as if there is one hot trend after the next in terms of wellness. First, the health-conscious world was
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entirely gluten-free, then it was filled with the dusty, earthy smell of matcha green tea, due to its jitter-free energizing capabilities. Now, words like turmeric and activated charcoal have become everyday vocabulary in the wellness community. With a multitude of fads and false labels, people critique wellness in similar ways that fashion critics comment on this season’s couture. Like fashion, wellness has no true definition or parameters, which causes debate over what’s truly “right.” But the lack of a definite meaning suggests that wellness, like luxury fashion, is (at its heart) subjective to people’s own tastes and lifestyles. Because the “Experience Economy” illustrates how fashion has become even more established by inhibition, it projects that feeling whole and balanced remains the most important aspect of style. Jason Wachob, the founder and chief executive of mindbodygreen agreed, telling Business of Fashion in December of 2016 that “The [wellness] market is monstrous and there is a shift in consumer habits.” As for traditional luxury companies, Wachob predicts “There is a big opportunity” in entering the wellness space. So, the question becomes whether fashion and wellness remain as mutually exclusive categories, or if they have merged to create a new era of balanced style. According to Wachob, the latter takes hold in today’s society that focuses on mind, body, and soul. As Wachob told Business of Fashion, “I think looking good is important, but feeling good in a lot of ways has become the new looking good, and the better you feel, the better you are going to look.”
By Jamie Schneider Layout by Julia Margalit Photos by Tina Yu
Rendez-Vous on Film CONCEPT & STYLING: Olivia Velarde & Alana Valko PHOTOGRAPHERS: Benji Bear, Shannon Maiers, Robina Rranza, Ryan McLoughlin, Sam Plouff LAYOUT DESIGN: Xinyi Liu PHOTOGRAPHY EDITING: Benji Bear & Shannon Maiers MODELS: Na’kia Channey, Kelsey Knickerbocker, Paris Parker, Sophia White, Christine Lee VIDEOGRAPHERS: Paige Wilson
Nasty Gal - Hot pink tank top Shop Bop - Light pink/nude fluffy jacket Madeworn - Bowie bodysuit Mango - Leather overalls Zara - Black and white pinstripe shorts Forever 21 - Light pink lacy blouse
Express - White and red heart dress Windsor Smith - Lace up shoes Urban Outfitters - Puffy red jacket
Forever 21 - Black sheer shirt Zara - Black pearl pants Urban Outfitters - Pink handkerchief
Zara- Black booties Monki - Yellow fluffy jacket Realisation Par - Navy blue cherry blouse Vintage Levi’s -Light wash jeans Thrifted - Black thin sunglasses
H&M - Nude bodysuit Nasty Gal - Black and white gingham pants
Nasty Gal - White silky shirt Missguided - Pink silky lace skirt
“Clothes mean nothing until someone lives in them,” the American fashion designer, Marc Jacobs, once said. The someone that Jacobs is referring to pushes the fashion industry past its boundaries and propels creativity and imagination. The individual who takes the clothes and accessories out of their closets and into the world with a message, purpose, and personality are the inspiration behind the industry. They are the trendsetters that designers love to design for, that critics love to criticize, and that young, fashionable boys and girls desire to be. Marc Jacobs would certainly agree that the following female fashion forces meet the criteria of this “someone” he describes. Rihanna is one of the most recognized style icons in the fashion world today. From somehow making extravagantly oversized outerwear look sexy, to appearing cool as ever in socks and heels, RiRi shocks the fashion world time and time again with her confidence and elegance, as she uses her grace to inspire and support women to follow in her footsteps. On social media, Rihanna advocates for women who disobey social constructs with their fashion choices. She once tweeted about Nicole Richie’s controversial 2013 Met Gala outfit, announcing her as “#bestdressed” and claiming Richie’s bold ensemble, which included spiked, violet hair and earrings which covered the entirety of both ears, “makes me throw up!!”—a true complement in the words of a BadGal. Rihanna also stands out as a role model to the next generation, having earned herself the Rock Star Award at the Black Girls Rock awards show. Though many may view the fashionista’s wardrobe choices as inappropriate, she defended her style in her acceptance speech. “I think I can inspire a lot of young women to be themselves,” Rihanna argued, “and the minute you learn to
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love yourself, you would not want to be anyone else.” When it comes to gendered fashion ideals, Rihanna ignores every societal rule. Take one look at her internet-breaking outfit from the 2014 CFDA Awards, and it will make perfect sense why she was named the CFDA Style Icon that year. As she glamorously walked up to the stage to receive her award, she dazzled the world in an Adam Selman Swarovski crystal-covered, floor length, completely see-through dress, paired with matching gloves and head wrap. She finished the look with a bubblegum-pink fur stole. Nipples out, confidence high, Rihanna graciously accepted the award from Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue. “It’s fun to feel a little bit boyish one day, and like a dazzling diva the next,” Wintour said, applauding Rihanna’s style as she presented her with the award. Riri’s collaboration with Puma has led to the creation of numerous new fashion trends, many of them unisex. ‘The Creeper,’ a low-top sneaker famous for its recognizable cleated platform, along with leggings that lace all the way up the side of the leg, bright-colored slides with the letters “F.U.” printed on top, cropped puffer jackets, stilettos designed like sneakers, and velour jumpsuits are all included in her show-stopping collection. It’s quite obvious that she didn’t create her line for the everyday wearer; she created her clothes for the confident risk takers. According to the BadGal herself, “You will never be stylish if you don’t take risks.” Rihanna’s is certainly not the only celebrity voice encouraging fans to be courageous and find themselves through fashion. Another bold female fashionista is Beyoncé, the CFDA Style Icon recipient in 2016. She, too, accepted her award in an eye-catching ensemble: a sparkly, pinstriped Givenchy pant-suit paired with a
giant wide-brimmed black hat. Queen Bey spoke about her mother’s vast influence on her style. Beyoncé proudly told the audience that when her mother was growing up, her grandmother lacked the means to pay for her mother’s tuition, so she designed and created school uniforms in exchange for her mother’s education. Bey’s grandmother passed her sewing skills on to Beyoncé’s mother, who designed her first prom dress, her first Destiny’s Child costume, her first Grammy dress, and her wedding dress. Aside from her mother’s fabulous designs, Beyoncé has created a wardrobe — or should I say a work of art — full of accessories and apparel for every occasion. Bey takes confidence to a new level with daring combinations such as the pink camologue flat hat and printed clutch which reads “I kiss better than I cook” which she wore to a dinner date with Jay Z in downtown NYC, and the velvet neon orange pant-suit which she sported to a showing of Hamilton. Beyoncé’s fearless fashion choices inspired her athletic wear line, Ivy Park, which is designed for women of all shapes and sizes who want to “look and feel at the top of their game.” She motivates other women, as her mother and grandmother motivated her, to embrace their body type, whatever that may be. In an Elle 2016 interview, Beyoncé shared the methods behind her madness and the level of specificity required to create a line that makes all women feel comfortable. She discussed the use of breathable fabrics, the attention to durable straps, and the underlining in their leggings that lifts and supports women’s bottoms while working out. Beyoncé’s meticulous attention to detail has allowed her to execute a line that “celebrate(s) every woman and the body she’s in while always striving to be better.” These women’s voices, along with so many others, are now empowering the next generation to use fashion as a form of self-
love and expression. For example, Hailee Steinfeld sings about the importance of loving oneself, and slays the red carpet again, and again, and again. Notable looks include her all back Vera Wang outfit at the 2017 Met Gala, where she brought sex appeal and stealth by rocking a top knot, winged eyeliner, and leather platform booties, as well as her lilac gown with sparkling silver neckline that brought the words ‘fairytale’ and ‘princess’ to mind at the 74th Golden Globes. Zendaya has made her name known in the fashion world as well, both with her shoe line, Daya by Zendaya, and extravagant looks. Pom-pom pumps, cropped blazers with floor-length tails, neon blue tutus, and thigh-high boots with thirteen buckles going up her leg have all made heads turn. InStyle noted several occasions where Zendaya “achieved a pretty neat color-blocking effect,” appeared “effortless, polished, and still glam,” and “pushed the envelope” in their article “15 Lessons We Learned from Obsessing Over Zendaya’s Fiercely Cool Style.” She likes to play with her hairstyles, too, keeping the media on their toes with the occasional blonde mullet or bob cut wig. She says, “One of my biggest goals in life is to help others find self-confidence and to help them learn to feel comfortable in their body.” RiRi and Bey would be proud. These women emulate the essence of fashion. This industry is all about taking risks and creating an identity out of clothing, whether it be a personal identity, a designer’s, or a generation’s. Don’t get me wrong, a classic DVF wrap dress or a pair of Gucci loafers with jeans will never go out of style, but the fashion industry doesn’t move forward when we stick to what’s comfortable. So go buy the most absurd platform boots you can find, and I assure you, you’ll feel like you can rule the world. By Livvy Gordon Layout by Claire Abdo Winter 2018
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fast fashion needs to slow down greenwashing in the fashion industry garments, and with their Conscious line and low prices, seems to the consumer to be the most environmentally conscious brand of the fast fashion bunch. Zara is a member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, as well as other commitments to ethical purchasing of materials. These attempts, in reality, are overshadowed by the deleterious impacts of the business strategies of fast fashion as a whole. Their company mindset focuses around bringing huge volumes of poor quality, trendy clothing to the market, for it to be worn, washed, and tossed away in a matter of months. They flood the market with a new season every week, as opposed to the traditional model of a Spring / Summer season, and a Fall / Winter season. These constantly updating storefronts, short-lifetimes of garments, and low production costs of the newest fads keep consumers consistently purchasing an ocean of clothing from the fast fashion industry. No matter how environmentally friendly or sustainable these brands attempt to market themselves, the rhyme and reason of their selling is the antithesis of sustainable. In fact, their guise of eco-friendliness may do more harm than good to our environment.
As a broke high schooler, I practically lived in the mall, specifically in everyone’s favorite fast fashion store: H&M. What really drew me towards this Swedish-born brand was that: 1) it was always up to date trend-wise, and 2) it was cheap enough that I could afford to experiment with my look without financial repercussions in my thinly lined pockets. One section of the store I tended to gravitate towards was their “Conscious Collection,” marketed as a sustainable clothing option for the environmentally-minded. Most of the collection consists of pieces using organic cotton, recycled fabrics, and synthetics. Nowadays, I have a lot of trouble reconciling the sustainable approach to some of H&M’s clothing, while their business model suggests the complete opposite.
the problem Currently, H&M’s usage of the Conscious Collection brings the idea of greenwashing to the forefront of conversations around environmental impacts in the fashion industry. A term coined by environmentalist Jay Westerveld in 1986, greenwashing is a type of marketing spin used to promote an organization’s image to look as though their products are environmentally friendly. This often includes a hypocritical element: while this image portrays a green look, the company gets away with investing only minimally in business practices that would reduce their environmental impact.
the impacts While these discrepancies are most noticeable in the fast fashion side of the industry, this is an industry wide—and consumer wide—issue. The average American consumer throws away almost seventy pounds of textile waste a year, which can take almost eighty years to decompose.3 This comes in tandem with the doubling of clothing item purchasing in the last twenty years.4 Our current culture of consuming requires us to buy continuously in order to keep up with the latest fads. How often do we, as consumers, take a minute and look beyond the face value advertising of a product or brand to think, “Is this really the best thing that they—or we—could be doing for the environment?” The most discouraging aspect of this phenomenon is perhaps that the more disingenuous greenwashing put out by companies, the more difficult it is to be fully educated on the topic: it’s a constant battle. Consumers aren’t informed enough (or are misinformed), and companies use this lack of awareness to their advantage to prey on consumers who want to be environmentally conscious, but are not savvy enough to do their own, deeper research into a company’s environmental impact.
the facts Marketing towards the environmentally conscious is a huge demographic to fill. A Michael Peters Group survey found that more than 77% of Americans reported that a company’s environmental reputation would impact their likelihood to purchase from them.1 Additionally, two thirds of consumers were found to be willing to pay more for sustainably produced products in a Nielsen survey.2 Looking as environmental as possible while doing the bare minimum fosters good favor with consumers on an extremely broad scope. H&M, and fast fashion brands in particular, use these marketing tactics to an extreme extent. H&M has recycling programs for used
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DiLouie, Craig. 1994. The Lighting Management Handbook. 1st ed. Lilburn, GA: The Fairmont Press, Inc. The Nielsen Company. 2015. “The Sustainability Imperative”. Nielsen.com. http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reports/2015/the-sustainability-imperative.html.
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Koch, Wendy. 2013. “Clothes Recycling Goes Curbside As Demand Rises”. USA TODAY. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/20/recyling-clothes-expands-curb side/2092351/. Ibid.
Green dress, blue fur coat, cheetah pants, and black turtleneck from Reformation
who’s really transparent? Some companies, however, are making tangible and meaningful steps towards a sustainable future. Everlane has been a recently touted company who has an extreme focus on their transparency, with the cost breakdown, factory locations, and markups being visible to consumers. While environmentally they aren’t perfect, using some less sustainable synthetic fabrics, they have much more durable clothing than fast fashion, at manageable prices, and have shown aspiration for a reduced environmental impact. Alongside Everlane is Patagonia, who has been known for their long-lasting outdoor wear and socioenvironmental activism. Reformation, a company formed in Los Angeles by Yael Aflalo in 2009, pride themselves on the fraction of the environmental impact they produce, while still allowing for the production of trendy, stylish garments. The company goes out of its way to be transparent, listing a direct comparison between each product it sells and the industry standard for the amount of carbon dioxide and waste produced. Purchasing from local, independent brands with a focus on environmental conscientiousness is often a safe bet, in addition to supporting the local economy. Conscious Clothing is a brand with
its naissance in Rockford, Michigan, which produces all of its pieces in-house with low-impact materials. The care put into this sort of designing shows in their relaxed silhouettes and neutral coloring. If you’re looking for accessories, check out Ann Arbor’s own Feller Shades, created by the Kish brothers in 2016. They sell stylish and polarized eyewear, built out of wood and other sustainable materials. Additionally, they donate to the National Forest Foundation with every pair purchased.
so what can we do? As consumers, there’s a lot that we can do to get around the greenwashing done in the industry. Most of this lies in thinking through, researching, and understanding the impacts of your purchasing decisions. Search for companies in which you feel you can put your trust, and support them. Void companies whose environmental policies seem ‘not enough’ or insincere. Focus on purchasing lasting garments, in larger singular purchases rather than small, multiple purchases. No brand (or person) is perfect, but meaningful change is needed, even if it is baby steps, to sustain our limited resources on the only planet we have.
By Caleb Hogeterp Layout by Sara Groenke Photos by Katie Corbett
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SPIKE IT
Photographer Benji Bear
Concept & Styling Olivia Velarde & Alana Valko
Model Chloe Chung
Photograph Edits Mackenzie King
Layout Claire Abdo
Black eyeliner Combination of: Almay Black Liquid Eyeliner, Kat Von D Tattoo Eyeliner in Trooper, Sephora Black Liquid Eyliner
Pom pom earrings Madewell
Black sheer shirt with high neck Out From Under
Long sleeve open back bodysuit Forever 21
SAPAC@UMich
Sexual assault can and does happen anywhere. This is a terrifying reality that hits home even harder on college campuses; a place that is supposed to be a safe haven for students to find themselves and gain experience before entering the adult world. Nonetheless, according to the documentary “The Hunting Ground: The Inside Story of Sexual Assault on American College Campuses,” one in five women and one in sixteen men are sexually assaulted on college campuses. The University of Michigan is no exception where, according to a 2017 article in The Tab, “Almost half of sexual assaults reported at UMich occur in freshman dorms.” Between 2014 to 2017, there have been nearly 50 reports of sexual assault and rape on campus. These numbers are alarmingly high, and may even be higher, given that many survivors feel reluctant to report the assault in fear of drawing attention to themselves, getting negative responses, or being harrassed by peers or their perpetrator. Additionally, survivors may not know that their experience falls into the category of sexual assault, because of a lack of awareness and education surrounding what is and what is not consensual sex. Many survivors are then left to live in fear and take on the burdens of college along with the guilt, pressure, and anxiety of their assault with no resources to confront what has happened. A lack of support can be a detrimental obstacle for survivors when having to face their assault and find a way to live on the very campus that’s supposed security has been stripped from them. One of the most significant exacerbations of lack of support for survivors and perpetrators of sexual assault on campuses is an overarching theme of negligence from schools and their institutions. Oftentimes, perpetrators are protected by universities in order to avoid public scrutiny or negative attention to
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the school, and survivors are neither believed, nor supported when they make the brave choice to step forward. For example, Emma Sulkowicz, a senior at Columbia University, was assaulted in her own dorm room as a sophomore in college. After Emma came forward, numerous women also accused Emma’s perpetrator of assaulting them as well. In the end, the campus judiciary process sided with the accused student, and police also ended their brief investigation of the assaults. In retaliation, Emma decided to start the “Carry That Weight” project for her senior thesis, declaring that she would carry around her dorm mattress wherever she went, until her assaulter no longer attended the university with her. Columbia did not expel or suspend Emma’s assaulter. She accepted her diploma at her graduation while carrying her mattress across the stage. It is crucial that survivors have a resource they can trust for guidance, safety, or even just to have someone to listen to them. Although the Michigan campus environment is neither perfect nor exempt from the ubiquity of sexual assault, the campus Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC) is an accelerating source of support and education that helps categorize Michigan as one of the more progressive schools in the nation in terms of addressing sexual assault. Survivors can utilize SAPAC for anything from counseling, to guidance from professionally trained staff, to a place to access support groups. Allies can go to SAPAC for training to help a friend, or for counseling to get support in the assault of a friend or fellow student. I sat down with Nora Akcasu, a SAPAC volunteer and volunteer co-coordinator to discuss the issue of campus sexual assault, her experience with SAPAC, and what the campus resources offer for survivors and allies.
Interview: Friday, January 19th 2018 1. What is SAPAC? What resources does it provide? Nora: The main thing is that we have confidential advocacy services by trained counselors who meet with survivors and help them navigate legal processes—if that’s an avenue they choose to take—and emotional trauma, as well as allies who may not know how to give support. We also have a twenty-four hour crisis line that advocates answer, and, if necessary, they can meet the victim somewhere, such as the hospital. We also have a Peer-Led Support Group that students can drop-in to and engage in self-care activities with their peers. 2. What kinds of programs does SAPAC provide on campus to spread awareness? Nora: We have “Speak Out” every year. It’s our longest running program; it’s been running thirty-two years. Our other major event is our art show in April called “Revolution.” It has themes of sexual violence and healing and empowerment. Students always submit their art. This year, we’re starting a DIY type magazine. We’re holding an event in the Union, and you can come and collage things with themes of self love and empowerment, and we’ll display it at Rev. We’re also going to call for poetry submissions. But those are just things that my volunteer group, SEAS, is doing. There are two other volunteer groups that each have their own projects and focus on different levels of sexual assault prevention. 3.How long have you been working at SAPAC? Nora: I’ve been a volunteer since I was freshman, and I’ve been a volunteer co-coordinator for the Survivor Empowerment and Ally Support program for 2017-2018. 4. Recently, professors have been putting the information for CAPS and SAPAC on syllabi for students in case they need support throughout the semester. Would you say a lot of students utlilize the resources at SAPAC? Nora: I think so. A lot of students use it, but certainly through advocacy they hear about it. I think sometimes it’s helpful to know as a student that your teachers won’t reprimand you if you’re going through something. The syllabus isn’t mandated; they were able to enforce the mental health blurb, but we had a hard time convincing teachers why having the SAPAC component on there was relevant to students’ academic performances. In my personal experience, it was mostly women’s studies teachers that agreed, whereas other teachers weren’t really understanding of the significance. I don’t have an exact estimate of how many teachers incorporate this into their syllabi or which classes they teach, though. 5. With the recent emphasis on mental health, do you think students at Michigan put their mental health first, or is there still a lack of concern on campus about students’ mental wellbeing? Nora: I think at a university that’s as academically competitive as Michigan, it’s hard to prioritize your mental health. You have to make that decision and decide if getting that assignment in is more important. As self care comes more into the mainstream, I think some people have misconceptions about what it is. Something that SAPAC wants to emphasize is that it’s about reflecting on relationships and your life and making decisions that benefit your long-term wellbeing. People sometimes equate self-care with self-indulgence, but it doesn’t have to be. Self-care can be short-term or long-term; it doesn’t have to be instant gratification for it to be an intentional action that prioritizes your health. 6. What is the most common reason a student might go to SAPAC? Nora: I think most of our involvement with students is through volunteering, and a lot of our engagement is with actual participating students and advocacy on campus. But students come to seek SAPAC
services for all kinds of reasons. They themselves may have experienced an assault or intimate partner violence or another type of sexual violence. Students also may come to SAPAC with questions about how to support their friends who might be dealing with a difficult situation. So it’s open to both survivors and allies. 7. In your experience, do you think students at Michigan are aware of or in discussion about issues of assault on college campuses? Nora: I think recently yes, definitely, and probably at Michigan more than other schools. We have a much more developed sexual assault program than other schools. We’ve been around for thirty years, but a lot of other schools are just now making changes. Even in the last four years, I’ve seen a difference. But now that many people are aware that sexual assault is happening, we need to educate them on how to respond when an assault happens and how to reduce the incidence of this problem. 8. Do you think assault is a prevalent issue at Michigan? What can we as students do to make an impact and eradicate rape culture on campus? Nora: It’s definitely still a very pervasive issue; in the recent 2015 campus climate survey, it wasn’t good. One out of ten students said they had experienced sexual assault since starting at Michigan. A big thing is just supporting people, supporting your friends, being an ally and believing people when they say they’ve been assaulted. We have an ally training program which is eight hours, and professional staff presents presentations on how to respond to a victim and how the power-control wheel affects people. One of the biggest things you can do is holding people accountable, particularly in more insular social circles. You shouldn’t forgive them for transgressions just to keep up the status quo. 9. Has there been any intervention in Greek Life in terms of sexual assault? Nora: One of our volunteer groups does workshops with Greek Life, and even though it’s really important, some people don’t understand why it’s really essential. In a fraternity, they should be holding each other accountable and stepping in when necessary and supporting people who’ve been affected by sexual assault. And the same is true for sororities. 10. What can students do to better educate themselves about assault on campus and how to stay safe, help a victim, or get help themselves? Nora: A lot of it’s about power dynamics for sure. In terms of staying safe and educating yourself, you can rely on help from other people and utilize your friends and allies around you. Open communication is the most important thing. You should also know that you can rely on confidential resources on campus like SAPAC or CAPS. It is not a weakness to seek professional help; it is a strength to know how to help yourself when you need it. SAPAC’s office is located in the Michigan Union in Room 1551 and is open Monday-Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Their 24-hour crisis line can be reached at (734) 936-3333, and their office phone line can be reached at (734) 764-7771.
By Katherine Feinstein Layout by Manda Villarreal
Winter 2018
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the
blaine game Growing up, style was never a big part of my life. Being stylish meant wearing whatever my mom had picked out for me the night before. It meant always wearing white shirts underneath all my clothes, tucking my tops into my pants, button-ups, sweater vests, slipon shoes. What I did love was TV and the movies. Before I fell in love with fashion, I was infatuated with red carpets. Before I fell in love with boys, my biggest crushes were celebrities and fictional characters. Before I fell in love with myself, I looked to the screen to who I wanted to be.
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The first time that all of my loves poignantly collided was when I was watching Glee. I know, so typical, yet I was amazed. Besides the musical numbers, I felt myself drawn to Blaine Anderson, a character played by Darren Criss beginning in the show’s second season. He was effortlessly charming, confident, and quite possibly the coolest gay man I had ever seen in my life. Despite the abundance of accessories and his choir-boy status, he was an example to me that being gay didn’t just mean being well-dressed, traditionally feminine, or sensitive—not to suggest that any of these
attributes are bad, but to declare that I don’t have to be limited to how society labels me. As I continued to watch the series, I began collecting his signature bow-ties in great amounts alongside various little things to add to my outfits. These items became a part of my closet, a part of me in the way I presented myself to the world. Blaine wasn’t just a cute character I adored or emulated, he was an inspiration for finding myself. This is what I’d like to call the Blaine Game. It’s a term I created to describe the way that gay men, myself included, discover their identities through representations of men in the media: men as society expects us to be, men that we are sexually attracted to, and, most importantly, men that we are inspired to be like. It’s the way that a pop-culture obsessed, little boy like me can use his love for TV and movies to help love himself through fashion. At this point, while the screen was already such a big part of my life, it began to shape me in ways that it never had before. Its impacts manifested themselves into the way I talked, as well as how I dressed. The Blaine Game helped me to be myself. Since I can remember, my head has always been up in the clouds. Even before the advent of the Marvel cinematic universe, watching these characters, I dreamt of being a superhero. The modern superhero is an individual that doesn’t necessarily fit into society, but one who is admired by all men, straight or gay or in between. Slowly making peace with what I understood about myself, I couldn’t decide if I’d rather marry or be Chris Evans as Captain America. Naturally, I opted for both, adopting superhero T-shirts into my wardrobe. From Steve Rogers to Spider-Man, these simple additions to my personal style were a step towards self-love. My younger self was always so focused on appearing polished in the eyes of others that I never realized I could have more fun with fashion. The way I dressed didn’t have to be all ties, all the time, or feeling embarrassed to wear my (literal) heroes on my clothes. The Blaine Game meant I didn’t—I shouldn’t—hide or discard any part of my identity. Cardigans shifted into layers for my Avengers tees while Spider-Man: Homecoming emerged as my own personal version of GQ. By playing the game the way I wanted to, I could be anyone I chose to be. During just these past few months, I’ve made the most drastic stylistic changes yet as I have discovered my newest fashion idols: the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race. They’re gay men, gender non-conforming individuals, and even transgender people united by the art of drag.
Due to the nature of their work, having a strong style and an individual drag aesthetic are essential to being a successful performer. Despite already being members of the LGBT community, being a part of the drag community deviates these queens even further from societal norms. However, through their larger-than-life fashion sense, personality, and unstoppable attitude, these queens have transformed their distinct qualities into sources of pride. As I watched them tear apart masculinity and femininity into their own definitions, I was inspired to do the same. Awestruck over the impossibly long-legged Naomi Smalls of season 8, I incorporated elements of her lush brand into my own, now strutting through life with faux fur flowing over my shoulders and a pair of little shorts underneath. Naomi, alongside countless other queens, allowed me to express other sides of myself that I was too scared of before, out of fear for being mocked as too feminine. Wearing these new clothes, I’ve never felt clearer about my identity as a male. After all, I’m my own man. I just do it with a crown. The Blaine Game therefore, is not a method of leaving who I am behind, rather one of evolution. Its rules, just like those of fashion, are self-defined. There’s no “winning” involved. Playing the game means having fun with your own style, learning more about yourself as you go. I’m not the same person that I was so many years ago—I don’t even dress exactly the same way. My style has changed and grown with me. Thirtyseven ties later, Blaine’s bows are now taking the form of big ribbons tied à la Naomi Smalls. I wear my fur coat like a cape. All at once, I’m both superhero and supermodel. I’m me. You can watch Glee on Netflix, The Avengers: Infinity War soon in a theater near you, and the 3rd season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars every Thursday at 9 PM. I’ll be here, in living color.
By Sean Tran Layout by Elizabeth Marics
Winter 2018
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BEHIND
CONCEPT AND STYLING: OLIVIA VELARDE, ALANA VALKO PHOTOGRAPHERS: BENJI BEAR, MACKENZIE KING, SHANNON MAIERS LAYOUT: KATIE BEUKEMA PHOTOGRAPHY EDITING: BENJI BEAR MODELS: JASMINE SMITH, JUSTIN WRIGHT, DEREK ESTY, TIGER SHI
THE SCENES
CAV EMPT SHADOW CROWDS- WHITE WINDBREAKER
ADIDAS X RICK OWENS LEVEL RUNNER- SHOES AMERICAN EAGLE- PANTS THRIFTED LEVI’S- WASHED JEANS
H&M- YELLOW PUFFY JACKET OUR LEGACY (TODAY)- SPLASH SHIRT
THRIFTED LONDON FOG- BLACK TRENCH URBAN OUTFITTERS- DON’T BE AN ASSHOLE TEE POPPY LISSIMAN- RED SUNGLASSES
TODAY CLOTHING- NAVY BLA ZER CAVT EMPT- RED SWEATSHIRT ACRONYM P23- BLACK PANTS
RECLAIMING T H E B O D Y: T A T T OOS A S THE FUTURE OF FASHION In his poem “Tattoo,” American poet Wallace Stevens explains the way light imprints itself on water and crawls under our eyelids. Tattoo in the English vocabulary has three uses: 1) an indelible mark or figure fixed upon the body by insertion of pigment under the skin or by production of scars, 2) the act of marking the skin, and 3) a rapid rhythmic rapping. Wallace’s poem seems to simultaneously refer to all of these things. The rhythmic patterning of light, the mark light leaves on a surface, the imprint of light on our eyes—perhaps he never meant for his definition to be so broadly interpreted. Most automatically assign tattoo its most common definition: a mark fixed upon the body. The current drama of the tattoo has in recent decades been its permanence—a concept ironically wholly missing from its acute definition. A Lilly on a left shoulder, a coy fish swimming up a thigh, these are all forms extracted from small crevices of visual culture and assigned some infinity on the skin. Permanence is perhaps what has so often separated tattoos from the volatile world of fashion. Yet under the umbrella of self-expression both tattoos and fashion are made of the same light that crawls under our eyelids. In fact, the significance of a skin as canvas may be on the cusp of what it means to define and redefine the modernity of the industry. How do tattoos define and redefine the bodies they inhabit? How do tattoos implicate gender norms? LSA sophomore Lilly Morris says for her tattoos were never a question of yes or no, but rather of when, where, and what. “There’s this iconic picture of me as an infant sitting on my dad’s lap and him holding me, and his arms are just covered in tattoos. He looks like a biker, and, ever since I was little, he used to draw some of his tattoos on me, so I always just knew that I would get one.” Just because tattoos have always been a part of her visual world, however, she hasn’t been sheltered from their stigmas. “Outside of home life, I grew up learning that tattoos are against Judaism, and tattoos are not appropriate if you’re a girl, and ‘girl’s shouldn’t get sleeves—that’s gross.’ There are so many underlying stereotypes that people have about tattoos, and everyone has their own opinion.” Smoothing over the coy fish that swims up her left calf, she nods, “I got this knowing that it was an invitation for people to comment on my body, so that’s something I had to prepare myself for.” In the runway world, this invitation for comment may be reinterpreted as a wish to enter a relevant conversation. The 2018 Spring/Summer season experienced an insurgence of tattoos on the runway. Oscar de la
Renta, Marc Jacobs, Coach, Eckhaus Latta, Helmet Lang among other names showcased tattoo-clad models. At Marc Jacobs, Jamie Bochert wore an open back dress that revealed a snake skeleton winding up her spine. Other designs were more subtle—small cartoons on wrists at Coach, flowers on hands at Alexander Wang, outlines of shapes on sternums at Helmut Lang. The rising prevalence of tattoos in high fashion can be traced as far back as Jean Paul Gaultier’s Spring 1994 collection Les Tatouages, which experimented with trompe d’oeil sleeves. In 2009 Chanel sent models with temporary leg tattoos down the runway and in 2011 Louis Vuitton’s spring menswear collection showcased tattoos by renowned artist Scott Campbell. A tattoo-clad Cara Delevingne graced the cover of Vogue Paris in October 2017. The exponential trend of the visibility of tattoos in the world of high fashion is in line with the relatively recent intersection of the subversive connotation of tattoos with their more widespread acceptance in modern western culture. The tattoo may be considered a subdivision of street wear. In an article for The New York Times discussing the elaborately tattooed mannequins showcased in the windows of Barney’s on Madison Ave during the Spring of 2016, cultural historian Christine Rosen suggests that what were once seen “as the seditious insignia of proud outliers [during tattooing’s resurgent in 1990s are now], in [our] era of excessive individualism…viewed not as a sign of freakishness or outlier tendencies but as an expression of personal taste.” Becky Simonov, an LSA Junior with a major in Communications and a minor in Sustainability, sees her tattoos not so much as an expression of personal taste but as a documentary timeline. She centers this timeline not only on reclaiming her sense of self, but also on reclaiming her body. “I was going through a sort of rough patch mentally and emotionally and what I would consider a pretty big period of change and growth, and I was really tired of being a timid person and kind of closed off.” Becky got her first tattoo just over a year ago. On her left arm is a a map circumscribed by a triangle. “I had been planning on getting tattoos, and I had this one design that I was going to get. At the last minute, I decided to get something completely random. I wanted to have this autonomy to do random things to my body, to decorate it the way I want. That’s why when people ask, ‘Well what does it mean?’ I don’t really have an answer. It’s more just about a time. It’s purely aesthetic.”
Unlike Lilly, Becky’s upbringing did not paint a favorable picture of tattoos. “My family is also Jewish, and tattoos are so against the religion, and for years I would say, ‘I can never get a tattoo’. It wasn’t until college when I finally started to become my own person that I allowed myself to like the look. I remember very vividly being with my brother right before college started and looking at this book cover where they had sleeve tattoos, and I turned to him and said, ‘I think I want sleeves.’ I loved the idea of the power of it.” However, as part of the LGBTQ+ community, Becky is hyper aware of the power of imposed perception. “I’ve dated multiple women who have tattoos, and I find it so attractive. I think because it seems to suggest they, like me, are taking control of their body, that they have autonomy; that they are artistic. They have this confidence to some capacity that may not have been socialized. And why is that different for men? They don’t seem to be taking control of anything. When I see woman with highly visible tattoos I say, ‘Wow this is interesting,’ it’s like a statement. With men, it seems less about the body; it just seems aggressive.” A new exhibition at the New York Historical Society entitled “Tattooed New York” traces the origins of tattoos in New York’s region through art. It begins with the region’s native Iroquois and continues through the Women’s Liberation Movement in 1970. Janice Joplin and The Women’s Liberation Movement are largely credited with the widespread acceptance of tattoos as personal expression. The full history of tattooing in western culture, however, reaches back much further. Captain James Cook and his crew of tattooed sailors returning from the Pacific Islands supposedly brought tattoos to the West in the sixteenth century. This of course led to the identification of tattoos with the “primitive” and therefore led to their association with the lowclass. According to a 2003 study by Atkinson, the prevalence of tattoos in low societal and therefore outsider groups such as prisoners, the military, and motorcycle gangs have since contributed to their hyper-masculine association. Therefore much of our culture’s definition of tattoos forgets or manipulates their distant origins and other cultural connotations. Some of the very first evidence of tattoos was found on the mummified bodies of female Egyptians. While western excavators (exclusively male) labeled the presence of tattoos as perhaps marks of the concubine (in line with Winter 2018
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western history of the link between tattoos and prostitution), historians at the Smithsonian have suggested that tattoos served a “therapeutic role and functioned as a permanent form of amulet during the very difficult time of pregnancy and birth.” What Becky is tapping into is a relatively new front of research that connects the tattoo’s western history to its modern day physiological implications. A 2007 study by Swami and Furnham, researchers at the British Psychological Society, showed that women with tattoos were rated as less physically attractive but more sexually confident. A 2015 poll by Harris taken in the US found that women tend to have smaller and less visible tattoos overall. A recent article in Psychology Today highlights a new study by Polish psychologists Andrzej Galbarczyk and Anna Ziomkiewicz in which both men and woman rated images of tattooed men as healthier, more masculine, and dominant. At the same time both men and women with tattoos were rated as worse potential partners and parents. What does all this mean for the relationship between fashion and tattoos? To say that tattoos are an expression of personal taste seems a side note to their greater evolutionary path. While the future of fashion is leaning towards homogeneity (both of gender and culture) and brings with it the normalcy of the body as canvas, the speed at which high fashion picks up conversations can sometimes be problematic. In asserting the normalcy of tattoos, the industry can sometimes gloss over their historical implications and culturally ingrained psychological associations. Some campaigns can even enforce these presumptions. Take for example Valentino’s 2014 ad campaign. The campaign showcased tattooed male arms and hands grasping brightly colored handbags and shoes. The ad actively sought to perpetuate the gender dynamics we assign to the material—the femininity associated with objectification, the possessive qualities associated with masculinity, the aggressive nature of tattoos, the delicate nature of footwear. The result is counterproductive. Like Lilly, we still deal with manipulation of the body as an open invitation to comment on the body. The fashion stage, it can be argued, thrives on this
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commentary. But there’s a fear there. When this commentary is inherently gendered, how does it become regressive rather than progressive? Why does this kind of personally acknowledged bodily intimacy translate to an invitation? How exactly do we flip the conversation from he’s aggressive to he’s artistic and in tune with his body? From she’s making a statement about her body to she’s artistic and in tune with her body? These are perhaps questions that fashion should begin to address. Tattoos have the potential to be the future of fashion because they still have the power to be subversive. They’ve been around for thousands of years, but still they have the power to make us stop and question, to stop and stare. What is it about the body that still terrifies us? Fashion’s future is perhaps in working towards eradicating a tattoo’s incredibly gendered implications and with it that very fear of the permanence of owning our own bodies, and our simultaneous fear of losing that very ownership. As streetwear merges with couture, cross-cultural collaboration inspires, and the definition of fashion broadens, the tattoo is perhaps at the forefront of all these conversations. I want to return to this idea of the tattoo as rhythmic. Is it possible that we could learn to experience tattoos rather like music? Imagine Jourdan Dunn on the runway. The skeletal snake tattooed up her spine, though clashing with the sequined fabric of her backless dress, seems to be the out of tune key that rather gives the piece it’s very purpose: to expose something genuine in the conception of an art form. We wear our clothes; our clothes don’t wear us. Tattoos should imprint themselves on us like light on water. Perhaps we will grow to become our tattoos. Like poetry, tattoos are full of visualized intimacy. Stevens talks about how invested we are in the visual, suggesting that while we extract images, we also embed ourselves in those images. More plainly, we own image as much as it owns us. There are filaments of your eyes/On the surface of the water/And in the edges of the snow. While in modern culture our tattoos still so often own us, the power of the art of fashion is to continually remind us of our own autonomy. What about permanence in an ever-merging world stabilizes us, how do we detach our identities from our continually changing bodies? What about permanence terrifies us, what about that fear empowers us? These questions are not about progress, but ones about reclaiming origin, those ancient Egyptian women—the glorified, protected, and emboldened keepers of their bodies.
By Sophie Cloherty Layout by Paige Wilson Photos by Ryan McGlaughlin
Winter 2018
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POPADELIC Concept and Styling: Olivia Velarde, Alana Valko Photographers: Mackenzie King, Sam Plouff, Michael Barsky Layout: Katie Beukema Photography Editing: Mackenzie King Models: Cassandra Granville, Jonni Mills
Amazon- Pink Sheer Shir t Face Stockholm- red lipstick Face Stockholm- eyeshadow
Fly Behavior- dress
Get Up Vintage- dress Thrifted- green stole Face Stockholm- eyeshadow Face Stockholm- lipstick
Get Up Vintage- floral two-piece Face Stockholm- lipstick Face Stockholm- eyeshadow
Urban Outfitters- alligator booties Fly Behavior- camel duster Boohoo- red vinyl pants
Get Up Vintage- green tank top Madewell- yellow handkerchief Fly Behavior- white pants
Fly Behavior- black fluttery top Fly Behavior- maroon ruffle pants Face Stockholm- eyeshadow
Thrifted- brown patchwork jacket Thrifted- turquoise necklace Abercrombie and Fitch- paisley top
Fly Behavior- dress
the stories in the stitches a mother’s journey to send her son off with style
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Findlay, Ohio, is a small, industrial town quietly holding its ground along the Midwest rust belt. It’s where Kim Furiate was born and bred. Where she received her Vogue in the mail and poured over its pages. It started as escapism, the way many passions seem to in the Midwestern towns people forget about. Back then, flipping through each new issue was about Kim’s love for those images rendered within the confines of the page. Over the years, it became a love for the way reality could be rendered with aesthetic, and the way it could break the confines of what we perceived. It became a love for the stories behind the stitches.
She became a mom earlier than expected. Fresh out of college, she married Tim in Arlington, Ohio. It’s a town she describes as flat as a piece of paper. Nathan arrived in the world shortly after the wedding. Back then, Tim’s job providing for his new family often took him on the road, leaving Kim and Nathan to grow together, surrounded by a thick expanse of woods and fields. As a young mother, Kim began the task of figuring out how to raise a life alongside her own. But she didn’t mind all the time alone with him. She was enchanted with Nathan from the outset. He was mellow and bubbly. Their personalities meshed even as the years marched ahead. When Kim talks about Nathan it’s with words that flow tender from the tongue. Words that steep in the air and in the silence that hangs as she pauses to smile. It’s been thirty-one years since their shared story began.
He’s getting married this summer in the forests of Eugene, Oregon. Kim is over the moon even though it means giving him away. She loves his fiance and the thought of them sharing this life together. For Kim, being the mother of the groom is a chance to honor Nathan and the journey that has led him to that one fleeting day approaching in July. Kim sees this wedding as a chance to celebrate the man she’s watched him become since their meeting in that small town hospital all those years ago. In a world saturated in words, Kim knew exactly where her search to give them meaning would lead her: Fashion. How many times can “I love you” be said before it begins to sound like a moot point? Fashion is Kim’s space to reaffirm what she tells the world through word and action. Just as her relationship with Nathan has grown over the years, so has her relationship with style. What began as a childhood fascination, turned into Kim’s favorite space of self expression and art. When Kim began to think about the wedding, she would imagine standing next to Nathan in a dress she picked for that day in particular. She knew she had to find a garment that would reflect her desire to honor her son and his journey to the altar.
Kim sees fashion as more than a method for covering the nakedness of the human body. It’s her calling card. She says it lets her announce how she feels about herself and the world. But sometimes her passion leaves her feeling misunderstood.
High fashion comes with a big price tag. Yet where some see status and labels, Kim sees art. Her love of fashion as an art stems from its ability to convey stories, and its capacity to allow her to tell her own. Just as many designers start with a muse, or with a story that they want their collection to encapsulate, Kim began the search for her mother of the groom dress with Nathan as her muse. She knew that whatever dress she chose needed to have a story complimenting Nathan’s and her own. She wanted more than a pretty dress to wear and greet guests in. Fashion is Kim’s way to own, celebrate, and honor the personal journey. As Kim began the search through designers, a clear connection began to emerge between Alexander McQueen’s Fall 2017 collection and Nathan. The collection was inspired by a small county of Cornwall, England. During the design teams’ exploration of the land, they encountered the sacred cloutie tree at Madron Well. Strips of brightly colored cloth were tied along the branches. People wrapped them on the tree in honor of people in their lives needing wishes. For this reason, it was also called the wishing tree. Locals said that as the cloth became worn down over time that the wish would become true. Kim was intrigued. Nathan, like his mom, is Midwestern born and bred. He was raised where the fields kiss the woods, where the vastness of the land becomes an invitation to roam. Nathan always loved the trees and being around them. He grew up playing in the woods of small town Ohio and Indiana. To this day Kim thinks he’s happiest on a hike.
She saw the dress in person the first time during a trip to Dallas. Kim knew there was an Alexander McQueen store, and she felt pulled to it. She couldn’t lift the collection from her mind. When she saw it for the first time, she was quiet and overwhelmed. She describes the dress with a reverence that mimics its careful construction. She calls the dress a divine mess. But it’s exactly what she wanted. It’s reflective of her story as a mother: beautiful and a little chaotic. In this dress she saw the reflection of Nathan’s life. It captured his love for nature, for the trees dotting his Midwest youth. Most of all, the dress captured the way their lives wove together. It told of her wish for him to find love in a world that often feels as distressed as the dress’ fabric.
Kim knows that her dress will play no overall role in the event. She wants it that way. The wedding day is for the bride and her son standing beside her. She’ll be watching from the sidelines. There, her dress can quietly honor the boy she raised. The boy who, as she tells it, ran to the woods to play and find his peace in nature. In July, Nathan will pass Kim as he walks down the aisle to start a new chapter of his life. He will walk past the colorful strands of fabric blowing in the soft breeze. Just as she did all those years ago in the Midwestern woods, Kim will watch him as he goes. This time she will be wearing her love in the threads of a dress sewn with their shared story.
By Kate Cammell Layout by Elizabeth Marics Winter 2018
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THE LIBERATING POWER OF A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP
The cold air wrapped around my head and slapped me in the nose as I embarked upon the boldest journey of my college life thus far. The lights were off in all of the shops around me, and I imagined that their owners were in their beds somewhere, wrapped up in thick blankets through which even the Michigan wind could penetrate. Ten minutes earlier, I was two seats away from Lili at Espresso Royale. We always sit at least one seat away from each other, as if that alone will eliminate any temptation of conversation. She had at least three notebooks strewn across the counter with hand-drawn diagrams of what I can only assume were molecules or chemical compounds or something along those lines. I had one notebook in front of me, and was working on a list of my goals for the semester. Slightly before midnight, which is when Espresso Royale closes, Lili took out her earbuds and asked me if I wanted to go to the library with her. I said no, and thus began my rebelliously liberating journey home to my bed. In a typical setting, going to bed before 2 AM is hardly revolutionary, but I’ve always had a knack for making things more difficult than they should be. This academic year, I moved into an apartment with my four best friends: Lili, Allison, Isabella, and Shannon. They are supportive and loving and even when I’m stressed and irritable, they somehow manage to say something that lures me out of my room and into a laughter-filled conversation. They are also incredibly accomplished. When I visit my friends from high school, I brag about them like a proud grandmother. After about a week of living with them, I started calling my parents crying. All of my roommates had already chosen a major, except for me, the dumb one. My dad asked if I could meet for coffee, and I arrived at Starbucks armed with handwritten outlines of the majors I was considering. “As a person in the business world,” I asked him, “which of these do you think would make me the most hireable?” “Hannah, you don’t have to prove yourself,” he said. “You’re a smart, hardworking young woman. You’ll be hireable no matter which major you choose.” I shuffled through my outlines, avoiding eye contact. Of course I didn’t have to prove myself to my own dad, but when he dropped me off back at my apartment, I would still be the only one in the room without a major. Something about that knowledge caused a physical pain in my stomach. Maybe this tendency to compare myself to others is merely my competitive nature. Competition runs in my veins. All three of my younger siblings are competitive athletes, and our “family vacations” consist of four hour drives down to soccer tournaments in Ohio, where we’re lucky if there’s a Jo-Ann Fabrics to explore between games. In the over a decade that we’ve been traveling for tournaments, I
don’t think a single second-place trophy has seen the interior of my mom’s Ford Explorer. It’s not that none of my siblings’ teams have ever come second place; it’s just that if a trophy doesn’t say “first place,” it is dropped right into the trash can at the athletic complex. Throwing away second place-trophies is an unspoken family tradition. Maybe when I go to absurd lengths to prove that I’m as smart as my roommates, it’s my version of throwing away a second-place trophy. Although I refer to all four of them as my roommates, Lili is the one with whom I actually share a bedroom. My competitive nature was most pervasive when she stayed at the library until late hours of the night. I would crawl under my covers with the knowledge that she was bettering herself and making the most of her education, while I was sleeping— the easiest task known to mankind. Some nights, I would wake up after a few hours and find that her bed was still empty. She was still out there studying. In my cloudy, half-asleep state, the only thought I could form was that she must have learned so much in those past few hours, while I wasted them. I returned to my slumber with a distinct awareness of my own incompetence. Lili never once implied that I was lazy or somehow unworthy of my spot at this university. She was entirely encouraging and supportive of my academic endeavors, and managed to mind her own business when it came to our respective sleep schedules. I, on the other hand, came to dread her late nights at the library. So began the 11 pm coffee runs, the nights spent curled up in a chair on the third floor of the library, book in my hand, too tired to comprehend what I was reading, but too insecure to go home. You have nothing to prove, I thought as I turned the key to open the door of my apartment and marched up the stairs after I got back from Espresso Royale. I had spent almost the whole time there working on my goal list. It’s a habit my dad instilled in me in early high school; we used to get up early each morning so I could read my goals out loud—it’s proven to be more effective that way. However, this time, when I tried to think of goals to add to my list, the only thing I could think of was love more. I wrote it out at the top of my notebook and traced it over and over with my Sharpie pen. I really don’t know what it means to love more. But when I envision deep, limitless love, I don’t see comparing myself to my best friends, trying to prove to myself that I’m as good as them. I see a better way of life, where I take care of myself because I deserve it, where I support my roommates without comparison. It was exhilarating, pushing my insecurity out the way and putting my needs first. But that’s what love is: bold, risky, sometimes scary. And so I faced my fears and crawled underneath my comforter before any of my roommates came home. In the morning, I wouldn’t be any less worthy of my place at this university. I would, however, be a little more full of love—rebellious, terrifying love.
By Hannah Harshe Photo by Sam Plouff Layout by Carla Borkmann Winter 2018
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Radiate, Refresh, Repeat Self love manifests when you care for your body and mind in a way that’s uniquely suited to the moment.
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Concept & Styling: Olivia Velarde & Alana Valko Photographers: Shannon Maiers Layout Design: Xinyi Liu
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Winter 2018
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The Right
In season 2 of the Netflix original, Grace and Frankie, the two female title characters devise a plan to produce and market a sex toy targeted towards older women. Although the program has been commended for tackling some rather difficult material regarding sexualtiy, its approach to female masturbation is hardly revolutionary. Female masturbation is one of the only remaining taboo topics when it comes to sex, so much so that even in relatively progressive media, the most acceptable way to reference it is through sex toys. One of the earliest examples of this in the media was on an episode of Sex and the City called “The Rabbit.” The women begin using a vibarator in their sex lives, a representation that, aside from being obviously very heteronormative, suggests that discussing female pleasure is only acceptable if there is a man involved, even if only symbolically. SHEI spoke to The New York Times bestselling author, Peggy Orenstein, about her book Girls & Sex, and taboos around female masturbation. When considering the stigma surrounding female masturbation, it’s important to start at the beginning. In Orenstein’s book Girls & Sex, she points to the flaws in the sexual education system in the United States. Starting from a young age, there are vast differences in how women and men are taught to think about sex, in all capacities, even their own bodies. Orenstein explains that when raising girls, parents often find it difficult to actually name their children’s genitals, while boys are made aware of theirs from a very young age. This causes women to grow up confused about their own anatomy, finding it to be an almost nameless entity. Even when anatomical charts are shown to children in sexual education classes, oftentimes much is left unnamed on the women’s body, leading to an internalized suppression of female sexuality. As children mature and sexual education expands, again boys and girls are taught ideas with many complex differences. Most prominently when discussing puberty, children are taught that as boys mature, alongside their physical changes comes an increase in sex drive and testosterone. With girls, however, puberty is often only defined by physical changes in their menstrual cycles, breast development and hair growth. “Boys have erections and wet dreams, and girls have periods and unwanted
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pregnancies. Oh boy! That’s fun, huh?” Orenstein quipped. Although the inclusion of male sex drive in discussion of puberty may seem like a relatively trivial detail, the exclusion of increased female sex drive actually becomes another internalized misunderstanding of innate female qualities. Girls grow up believing an interest in sex to be a part of boy’s nature, but not their own. Orenstein explained that an easy way to address this issue is to openly acknowledge female sexuality to girls at a young age. “I sat in on a puberty education class where the teacher just named everything and just said, ‘This is the clitoris; it’s for making good feelings,’” Orenstein explained. “That’s what you need to know when you’re ten years old,” she went on. Excluding the clitoris is one of the most common offensives when teaching sexual education to young women, eliminating any discussion of female pleasure. As Orenstein explained, in American Girls’ Care and Keeping of You Edition 2, a woman’s external genitalia diagram is provided with everything labeled but the clitoris. “What are they so afraid of ?” Orenstein questioned. Furthermore, girls learn shame about their bodies, particularly about their genitals. “They’re taught that they smell bad, or they taste bad, or they have to be embarrassed about them.” Orenstein explained, adding, “There’s a lot of anti-vagina talk.” As early as middle school, it is common knowledge that boys masturbate and look at porn. They are sexual beings, afterall. However, this conversation is generally nonexistent for girls, even in liberal and progressive environments. Due to the lack of discussion, particularly in the media, female masturbation is not normalized at all. “One thing I really noticed is how often male masturbation is talked about and how casually [in] all kinds of contexts.” Orenstein stated. The same is not true for women, and this inequality leads to all kinds of disparities in sexual relationships. My own informal research reinforced Orenstein’s conclusions. I found that it is incredibly rare for women to discuss masturbation with their female friends before college. Those who did felt an immense amount
to Pleasure Peggy Orenstein and Destigmatizing Female Sexuality
of shame, as if they were doing something disgusting or unnatural. Moreover, those who were able to talk about it only did so in vague terms. In one case, a woman used an emoji to reference masturbation over text, because even saying the word “masturbation” was “too uncomfortable.” Men have a never-ending supply of descriptives for masturbation, but women must resort to emojis — further evidence that a man’s pleasure takes precedence. After interviewing over seventy women across the country about their sexual experiences, Orenstein found that the two most common descriptives women used for for “good sex” were 1) it did not hurt and 2) their male partner climaxed. Although no one is directly taught that sexual satisfaction is limited to men, through sexual education and conversation, or lack thereof, indirectly women are taught that sex is about male pleasure and not their own. This acceptance of one-sided sexual pleasure inadvertently creates a stigma around female pleasure. Orenstein emphasized the importance of women understanding their own bodies, how they work and their pleasures, while being able to assert wants, needs, and limits. Quoting University of Michigan professor of psychology Sarah McClelland, Orenstein discussed the function of “intimate justice” in relationships. “With intimate justice we should ask who is entitled to engage in sexual behavior, who’s entitled to enjoy it, who’s the primary beneficiary, and how each partner defines ‘good enough,’” Orenstein said. Orenstein found that, “Young women did feel entitled to that first thing, they felt entitled to engage, but they didn’t necessarily feel entitled to enjoy, they didn’t necessarily feel that they were the primary beneficiary of the experiences they had, and they defined ‘good enough’ at a radically lower bar, in heterosexual relationships, than the men they were with.” American culture plays a large role in how young women think about sexual relationships. “American culture simultaneously politicizes and commercializes sex, and we don’t have any real discussion about actual healthy sexual interaction,” Orenstein said. One of the largest factors in this commercialization is the multibillion dollar industry we know
as online porn. “The trouble there is it doesn’t portray a very realistic impression about how the female body works,” Orenstein explained. The portrayals of women in porn put a lot of pressure on young women, leading them to believe they should be looking and acting like women depicted in porn. Orenstein explained that these representations lead girls to believe that pornography is somehow “superior or the more advanced form of sex, instead of being a completely stylized, fake version of sex.” She went on to explain, “it reinforces that whole aspect that your sexuality is a performance for somebody else, rather than something that’s there for you.” The recent focus of the controversy surrounding comedian Aziz Ansari highlights this issue. An anonymous woman published an account online describing an encounter with Ansari during which he persistently pushed for sex despite her obvious disinclination. This scenario was disturbingly familiar. Indeed, many came to Ansari’s defense, claiming the woman was unclear with her signals, or that she should have simply left. Ansari was just following his nature; he’s a man, so of course he wants sex. Glaringly absent from the conversation was any discussion of her desire, her needs, her pleasure. The normality of this is where the real issue lies. As with so many things, it all comes down to an imbalance of power. Hopefully, female empowerment movements such as Time’s Up and #MeToo will force us to better define sexual misconduct, and therefore level the professional playing field. But as women move closer to equal power in the boardroom, they must demand equal power in the bedroom as well. Once we as a society acknowledge that a woman’s pleasure is as valuable as man’s, the stigma of female masturbation will be lifted.
By Sophie ReVeal Layout by Paige Wilson
Winter 2018
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As She Coalesces Concept & Styling: Olivia Velarde & Alana Valko Photographers: Benji Bear, Mackenzie King, Robina Rranza Layout Design: Xinyi Liu Photography Editing: Robina Rranza & Mackenzie King Models: Grace Lees
Get Up Vintage - Red spaghetti strap dress w/ black appliques Designed by Robina Rranza - Red dress long sleeve
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the making of unapologetic Top to bottom: Model Chloe Chung posing in our studio for Spike It; Editor in Chief Maggie O’Connor concentrating diligently on holding the light for As She Coalesces; Photo Editor Ryan McLoughlin, Video Editor Paige Wilson, and others shooting Rendez-Vous on Film at the Graduate Hotel; Creative Director Shannon Maiers being her beautiful, radiant self on the set of As She Coalesces.
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