JUVENILE.
EDITOR’S LETTER Contents Page: Editor’s Letter Street Style, Subultures and Youth Culture Rosalind West 80s Fashion in Breakin’ (1984) Fashion 101 with Tenielle Glanville Subcultures and Fashion: Fear or Just Simply Fashion?
Deconstruct. The word deconstruct means to analyse a text or linguistic or conceptual system by deconstrution as well as to break something down further. This zine uses the concept of breaking down and offering information as well as a deeper understanding of the concepts of street style, subcultures and youth culture throughout the years which will be completed through written pieces as well as images that represent these three cultures, This zine offers an in depth analysis on how to make a garment as well as the discussion as to whether subcultures and fashion evoke fear or are they just simply an art form?
Renae West
#L.Y.B.L Live Your Best Life...With no regrets
Street Style, Subcultures and Youth Cultures What is street style? Street style is a specific fashion style which originally comes from British fashion culture. The “street� approach to style and fashion is oftentimes based upon individualism, not simply current fashion trends. Using street style methods, individuals demonstrate their multiple, negotiated identities, in addition to utilizing subcultural and intersecting styles or trends.
What is a subculture? Fashion subcultures are are groups organised around or based upon certain features of costume, appearance, and adornment that render them distinctive enough to be recognized or defined as a subset of the wider culture.
What is youth culture? Youth culture is the way adolescents live, and the norms, values, and practices they share. Culture is the shared symbolic systems, and processes of maintaining and transforming those systems. Youth culture differs from the culture of older generations.
#STREET KNOWLEDGE
Street Knowledge is key in regards to youth culture. Its a method in order to survive. You Gotta Have Street Knowledge
Rosalind West What year was this image taken and how old were you? I think that this picture was taken in 1991 and I was 22 because my son, Dwayne was 2 years old. What can you say about the fashion at this time? It was a casual sporty look. Demin was really in during the 90s and we wore trainers with everything! How would you describe your style in this image? The pink top that I had on was part of a Nike two piece that I had. It was very comfortable dressing back then with a little edge of Bashment. I don’t know if you can see my earrings, but they were a bit dance hall. Large, gold, square earrings, which I used to wear to Dancehall raves (which you guys call clubs now). My patent belt with studs was from Miss Selfridge. Now looking back, did you feel as if you belonged to a particular style tribe? Yeah, Hip Hop meets Bashment. Bashment was a style of Reggae music that I used to listen to. What was your favourite item of clothing during the 90s? A pair of olive green tailor-made leather trousers. They were paper bag leather trousers. I also loved my red bomber jacket. I also loved a pair of denim shorts. They were like a really light, washed out blue that were also frayed at the ends.
WHAT FAM...
WE’RE ONLY GOING TO HELP OUT AT THE DOG SHELTER
BUT I’M PRAYING...
YOU THINK IM A SINNER
80s Fashion in Breakin’ (1984) Breakin’ is a 1984 American Breakdancing comdey film. The films setting was inspired by German documentary called Breakin’ set in the multi-racial hip-hop club, Radio Tron, based in Los Angeles. One of the factors that distinguishes the film as a hip-hop film is of course the fashion used.
In an age of excess, style reflected the zeitgeist perfectly. As seen in the image above, the character ‘Turbo’ is seen wearing what was known as parachute pants, which had its rise to fame when MC Hammer wore them. The pants worn are also made of Velour. This This plushy fabric essentially combined the luxurious feel of velvet with the stretchy properties of materials like spandex. It was everywhere, especially on tracksuits. Spandex and leg warmers were seen everywhere in the 80s. Rock stars began to wear spandex, and they weren’t afraid to be seen in it! The 80s was also the era when fitness videos almost took centre stage.Spandex was light, stretchy and confortable to wear.
The 80s silhouette was all about evoking power. To evoke that you needed to look menacing with really broad shoulders and shoulder pads achieved that look perfectly. The fashion trend was mainly adopted by women, yet some men have been known to wear shoulder pads, for example, the late Prince.
Converses played a huge role in 1980s hip-hop. Although it represented the grunge aesthetic, it also became a shared motif of the Blood and Crips gang Westcoast America, which lead to it dominant presence within the hip hop culture from the 80s to this day.
Fashion 101with Tenille Glanville Street style is amazing and wouldn’t it be great if you could create your own at home? You do not need to be a seamstress to learn how to create your own custom apparel. Making clothes requires a bunch of different tools for sewing, for making patterns, and for measuring the patterns to make sure that they will fit. Make a pattern. Sketch a pattern for your garment using the measurements you took. Use a similar garment as a guide for the appropriate pattern design and layout. Next you will want to place your chosen fabric out onto a large flat surface and put the pattern pieces onto the fabric. You want to fold the fabric, making sure that the right sides are facing together, matching selveage to selvage. The selvage is the finished edges of the fabric that stop it from unravelling. The next step would be to iron out any creases that are in your garment as this can mess with the final piece. You would then want to pin the pattern piece to the fabric, this will tell you where you should cut. Cut the fabric according to the pattern. Next you can remove the pattern paper from the fabric. Now, on to the fun part; sewing your garment! Pin the fabric pieces together along the seam edges with the pins at a 90 degree angle. You should then sew the fabric pieces together ensuring that you do it edge by edge, from one end to another, until you a complete garment that has been put together- but remember patience is a virtue as this will take some time! You have to make sure that you use your sewing machine properly. You need to ensure that you have the right needle as well as thread for the material that you are using. When using the sewing machine, you want to make sure that you gently guide the fabric through the machine. DO NOT push or pull the garment through the machine or else you can ruin it!
Tenielle Galnville
Next you want to hem the edges, this ensures that your garment will have a clean finish, you do this by folding the edges inwards and iron over the edge that has been sewn. You may then add and finishing touches which may include fastenings, embroidery or embelishment. And finally, you can now wear your garment!
Subcultures and Fashion: Fear or Just Simply Fashion?
The mix between subcultures and fashion has been a topic that has been running through the minds of many as the years have developed. A subculture is a “cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger culture.” (Oxford University Press, 2018). There has been a substantial rise in subcultures, from the 1950s Teddy Boy to the Punk subculture in the 1980s. Theses subcultures have sparked a wide discussion due to dress sense as well as their antisocial behaviour and crimes that have been linked to them. This then takes us to the modern day, where we see designers such as the late Alexander McQueen and Rick Owens who seek out to create this shock factor to provoke a strong reaction from their audiences, thus we are left questioning whether subcultures and fashion create fear or are they simply just fashion which is presented in an artistic way? And in order for us to answer this question we will have to take a look back at these talked about subcultures. It wasn’t until the 1950s that there was an emergence of the adolescent. The early 1950s is also where we saw the emergence of the British subculture known as the Teddy Boy.
The Teddy Boy fashion was inspired by the Edwardian era which occurred during 1901-10. After World War II, there was the development of the adolescent, a generation of young people who had money to spend on clothes that were inspired by the Edwardian era. Most of the Edwardian style clothing was sold on Saville Row. The fashion for the Teddy Boy look began with drapes and drainpipe trousers, which were then customised as pockets and cuffs now had trimming as apart of the adornment of the garments. A popular shoe that was associated with the Teddy Boy subculture were creepers. It could be argued that since the Teddy Boy subculture was said to be believed as the birth of the teenager in 1950s Britain, that alone was a fear, the concept and belief that there was in fact a generation the purposely set out to differentiate oneself from their parents, could have been perceived as a threat to ones parents. This then leads you to question that if someone was to wear the Teddy Boy attire today, would it also provoke a strong reaction (due to the crime that has been closely linked to this subculture) or would it simply get looked over?
Teddy Boys in the 1950s
The Punks subculture emerged in the mid1970s-80s. “punk seized on the flashy cheap and tacky: fluorescent colours, fake leopard-skin, fishnet stockings, plastic stilettoes, pancake make-up and obviously dyed hair” (Evans and Thornton), Evans and Thornton express how the Punk subculture represented a tacky and cheap image as their ethos included “anti-authoritarianism, a do-it-yourself ethic, nonconformity, direct action and not ‘selling out”. The DIY aesthetic with coloured hair and safety pins in people’s faces, razor blade being used as jewellery as well as the use of leather and PVC becoming a popular material used to create punk clothing, was fearful alone to the people of Britain. The Punk subculture included experimentation of drugs, which included inhalable solvents and drinking an excessive amount of alcohol, once again a subculture becomes fearful amongst the community due to antisocial behaviour as well as their bazaar aesthetic which has never been seen, especially to such an extreme extent.
Top Row: Punk Fashion in the ‘80s Bottom Row: Rick Owens’ Spring 2016 Runway Collection
However, to them, the clothing and makeup used was a way of expressing oneself, so is it fair to say that the punk subculture does in fact evoke fear, or does it just merely an artistic expression of their reality through the use of fashion? Now bringing you to the modern day, we can see designers such as Rick Owens who never fails to spark conversation as well as provoking his audience. Normally, things that are presented to us on the catwalk are then filtered down, so they can become accessible to us. However, in Rick Owens Spring 2016 runway, he sent a version of what could be considered as a human backpack down the catwalk. Owens had harnessed one model onto another model whilst walking down the catwalk. The designer found his inspiration from motherhood and sisterhood which has been described as trying to portray “women raising women, women becoming women and supporting women…”
This runway show undoubtedly sparks conversation due to its unconventional apparel which at times can become very unsettling for the audience. It is fair to say that if it was seen to the public, that people were harnessed to each other, would be perceived as fearful as it is not seen to us as being the norm, whereas it is more so likely to be seen in a horror film. This then leaves us with the question as to whether Owens has created fashion that is fearful or is it simply just an artistic way of getting the message of women supporting other women across to his audience?
The Late Alexander McQueen is also another designer known for sparking a discussion due to the shock factor that’s used in his garments as well as his runway shows, specifically an exhibition called Savage Beauty. This exhibition was held at the V&A in London. This exhibition explores McQueen’s catwalk presentations that without a doubt evoke feelings of shock to the audience as his garment are unusual and dark which closely ties in with the punk subculture as they are both undoubtedly unusual and dark and have clearly sparked conversations about its chosen aesthetic. “McQueen’s characteristic blend of tradition and subversion was evident from the outset with ‘Bumster’ trousers, sharp frock coats, corroded fabrics, slashed leather and shredded, fleshrevealing lace.” (V&A, 2016) Here we are painted a true picture of some of the garments that McQueen has chosen to display in his exhibition. The idea of corroded fabrics as well as slashed and shredded leather conjures up an image of an almost zombie aesthetic which of course would be perfect if we were living in a post-apocalyptic world, however we are not.
Therefore, making this look quite fearful to many, unless you’re into the zombie aesthetic. One the other hand, McQueen’s Savage Beauty exhibition could be perceived as a piece of sheer genius as he explores so many themes throughout the exhibition such as romanticism, the savage mind, the gothic mind as well as curiosity which some may believe to be a hard task in such an intimate space he has chosen but has been executed well. Although McQueen does an amazing job of expressing these views in an artistic way using fashion, it still sparks debate as to how there is a fine line within the fashion industry between provoking fear as well as getting a strong reaction from people versus whether it is just simply material and fashion. The question as to whether subcultures and fashion evoking fear or if they are just simply an art form of ones way of expressing their reality will always create a discussion within the fashion industry as it is hard to differentiate the difference between fear and art expression, especially when there are modern designers such as the late Alexander McQueen as well as Rick Owens who create bazar designs that are thought provoking, therefore making the lines blurred for people.
Alexander McQueen’s Savage Beauty Exhibition at the V&A
#YOUTHFUL