Tuesday 31 May 2016

Making sense of styling - fashion psychology update

I'm still getting my head round the psychology of fashion and it's relationship with the ego, the characterisation of someone and fashion design as art.  As a stylist I'm not going to make people follow instructions about what should be in their wardrobe, I think they should have what's needed and wanted to put outfits together to enhance the person they are in a given situation, wearing clothes that suit their taste and reflect their lifestyle.  The starting point is to emulate the style of a favourite character in a similar scenario - visualise the person you want to be and use styling to create and develop that persona.  You want to take the essence of someone's energy and make it your own.

In trying to understand the nature of a shopaholic I see the use of clothing helps gain identity ie developing the ego.  The continued need for a lot of shopping reinforces that sense of self.  You need more individuality in a uniform environment like a corporate workplace or school - which is the time in your life you want to be individual but it would be more ideal if you got past that need once you've achieved self belief which is more difficult for some people.  I feel despondent when fashion is consumed by people who feel the need to constantly reward themselves to feel good - who can't express adequately by thoughts, feelings and actions and feel important via their core id.  Continually purchasing clothes is the best thing in their lives - that's my definition of retail therapy, the therapy being a means to gain positive reinforcement of their ego - they treat themselves to feel special because they don't have other adequate means to feel special, such as perceiving they're not loved, attractive, intelligent etc.  It sometimes seems this is the new salvation for unhappy souls.

Woman traditionally use fashion for recognition because men get recognition for their work talents automatically  Men traditionally receive recognition and expect it without doing any more than be themselves to get it.  The idea of "metrosexuals" is confusing to some guys, they don't get it.  The way I see it is in the context of manipulating society.  The hetero mans world just gets smaller so there's no place for him except the solace of his own headspace where he escapes by getting wankered on beer, fags and drugs..  He's rendered powerless by being made to be influenced by "metrosexuals".  Testosterone plays a part in motivation - if men are concerned  with focusing their energies on themselves and being approved of and appreciated they're not going to be asserive, defiant and rebel to become the authority figure.  This all goes towards calming defiance by realigning the priorities via manipulating the ego.

Lady Gaga's corralling the emos is why she's allowed and supported, it's not a genuine motivation to empower weaker people - once emos gain acceptance they'll probably lose their motivation and defiance.  I love LG's appreciation of high fashion and I see Couture as art.  The constant in your face marketing from the fast fashion industry makes me lose interest as it takes away what makes it special.  You can't be special every day - well, that's the point - it's filling a hole in the lives of people who need to be made to feel special every day because that's maybe all they have.  These are the folk who need to find a way to gain self belief beyond their image..  Once their needs are attended to and they don't rely on a quick fix consumer habit fashion can be serious once again.  Having watched a Vivienne Westwood interview I've found a great way to sum up my view: "Fashion is art and protest on the streets".

 William James, an American philosopher and psychologist who was also trained as a physician was one of the leading thinkers of the late nineteenth century and is believed by many to be one of the most influential philosophers the United States has ever produced.  In  The Sartorial Self: William James’ philosophy of dress by Celia Watson I found many statements and paragraphs to help understand from other people’s points of view.

Neither in tailoring nor in legislating does man proceed by mere Accident, but the hand is ever guided on by mysterious operations of the mind. In all his Modes, and habilatory endeavors, an Architectural Idea will be found lurking; his Body and theCloth are the site and materials whereon and whereby his beautiful edifice, of a Person, is to be built.—Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus

Yet to many readers, an examination of James’s dress might seem a frivolous and trifling endeavor: The idea that any serious development of the personality takes place at the closet door will, at first blush, appear to exaggerate the importance of the mundane daily duty of dressing.  Furthermore, some readers may think a study of James’s clothing is downright petty: Is it not, after all, unfair to draw conclusions about a man on the basis of his appearance? (Celia Watson).

By Lotze: “On the contrary, the wearer herself is by feeling directly present in all the graceful curves that with feather weight touch but a few points of the skin, and yet through these points excite the most distinct sensation of the breath, lightness, and softness of their sweep. Nay, even the pleasure afforded by such a sight is derived far less from the pleasing effect of the drapery which we see than from the fact that we can transport ourselves by thought into the imaginative, joyous, or dainty vital feeling which the myriad petty impressions from the garments must infuse into the form which they conceal.”

From Lotze’s passage the reader can glean one clue to the importance James placed on clothes: They are capable of being felt as a part of the wearer’s own body, fabric extensions of the flesh.  James explained, “is the recognition one gets from his mates. We are not only gregarious animals, liking to be in sight of our fellows, but we have an innate propensity to get ourselves noticed, and noticed favorably, by our kind.”

Going further to describe the fact that we choose what we wear “the free man can—and must—decide. He issues, from within his spiritual self, a “fiat of the will.” Although habit may ensure that a person leaves the house with shoes tied and pants zipped, it is the spiritual self that decides on the particular colour, fabric, and cut of the trousers and whether the shoes will be leather, or canvas, or otherwise.  Thus, in the daily act of dressing, the individual deliberates; he chooses what information he wishes to convey about himself, what garments he wants to don as extensions of his own body, and which elements of his wardrobe best reflect his idea of himself. Clothing is a form of self-expression, a way to allude to attributes of one’s most essential being, one’s place in the world, or one’s sense of beauty. Kingfishers catch fire, politicians wear red ties; the self announces its attributes with clothing..”  To William James, clothing was about self-remembrance and self-awareness—not “self-forgetfulness” as was the etiquette of clothing at the time, to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

Several historians have pointed to the relationship between James’s literary style and his artistic sensibility; his appearance gave color and atmosphere to his philosophy. John Dewey wrote that “[James] was an artist who gave philosophic expression to the artist’s sense of the unique, and to his love of the individual.”

James recognized that certain choices—decisions about dress among them—were necessary in defining the self.  James’s clothes were appropriate to his personality, to his writing, and to his thought. His thinking was marked by color and creativity, and in his dress he made choices that signified—and perhaps contributed to—those attributes.  Our actions and decisions he would argue, chart a course for our minds, while simultaneously our minds are reflected in our outward selves.







Monday 30 May 2016

Clarity Thanks fo Mr Motivation

A year ago was the beginning of when I started to thoroughly think a lot of things through to be able to define my outlook on life properly.  Due to a project idea someone had wanted my collaboration with which had a load of exciting potential to be artistically and culturally provocative, my head was full of alternative thoughts,  The exciting, crazier ideas were meant to develop a film project to appeal to a more edgy community.  I was getting further from conventional  with a kind of permanent over excited hyperactive state of mind and frustration with ordinary living, aware I was being too surreal in my creativity and wanted to suppress that too irreverent thinking to be less out there but I was relishing it at the time, it was putting lots of new information and ideas into my head..  As it happened, the person who came up with the idea had  no motivation for this so it came to nothing: great pity as I thought it was a marvellous idea but it's maybe best left alone.  As I said in a previous post I was quite demoralised with other things so this was a great focus for my attention and distracted me from any lethargy I felt, though when you're needing inspired it's hard to put what there is of your energy towards getting someone else directed to something that's stirred your own imagination.

Last year there was someone who instigated me to realign my focus - I was concerned he'd think of me as a dilettante with crazy ideas, which I can be but it's predominantly not me, I'm too focused - or so I'd like to think :)  He showed me there were still motivated people like I was used to growing up and not just feckers - most people are content plodding on and don't have a structure or direction.  So I started working on my business brain to develop a route to get where I wanted to be instead of making and taking opportunities as they arose or I had time and imagination to develop them.  I've achieved focus on styling and have theories about the psychology of fashion which make sense to me.

I've looked back and realised the effect situations have had on life.  Through these situations changing my perspective I've experienced confusion and seen how making the best of bad circumstances changes your focus: you go with new ideas and plans because they have potential at the time.  But I didn't want to be too surreal and lose any ability to relate to people on a normal level, which can be easy to do if you open your mind up and get frustrated by closed minds.  I wanted to be predominantly business like rather than arty farty dilletante.

As I had a very professional class background, my parents living a non arty consumer lifestyle and living in middle class Bearsden  where the expectation was after school you'd go to uni to study English, medicine, psychology or something similar.  My upbringing alongside my imagination made it quite difficult to resolve conflict between the two states if mind, and without courses or structure to develop a career plan I had to make it up as I went along, which has been great fun but the lack of trajectory has been frustrating, but in hindsight I wouldn't change it given the experiences I've had and the people I've met.  I've had to rely on my creative talents because I missed so much school - when you're channeled one way but you instinctively want to go another and you're not in the optimum environment to make it successful it's frustrating.

Now my business brain has centred it all and brought focus to the sometimes frenetic creativity.  Too much mental stimulation can sometimes cause confusion, not knowing where to start or what to do with the ideas.  I've made sense of it now .  I can take my creativity seriously and now want to be professional and in some ways a conventional professional.  I thrive on productive stress and hate stress I get with unproductive frustration.

Combining my desire for cultural and societal development I'm thinking how to conceive a progressive independent business, by taking our current conventional structure and figure out how to work independently beyond and around it to  succeed independently.  That's where I'm at now and finding out there are a lot more like minded people than I'd previously thought, and that there are larger support networks for these micro businesses.  I reckon this whole process has been about trying to put ideas into a workable framework, having to figure it out as you go along because the concept of microbusinesses in this currently scale is fairly new after so many people deciding to do their own thing after the economic crash.  I think a lot of us are having to find our feet and our direction.  I feel much more confident about my capabilities and my clear route forward which is fantastic :)





Wednesday 18 May 2016

Checkmate Fashion Show


Eris confronts the reality in a power struggle for everyman. The queen beats her opposition and releases the energy in people to achieve the potency of their own lives. The premise is the battle between the creative and corporate consumerism which the creatives ultimately win and take control of their future.

Exciting Scottish designers are showcasing their talent in an exciting performance fashion show. There will be a retail area so you can buy directly from designers on the night.


Buy your tickets from Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/checkmate-tickets-25693394635

Monday 16 May 2016

Creative Therapy

Being creative can make someone a happier person by enabling them to express their ideas instead of facilitating someone else's.  It has a beneficial impact on ego and self belief by enabling a level of productivity and accomplishment through a tangible body of work other people can appreciate.

By developing precision skills and creating something of value while taking pleasure in the creative process itself, developing a portfolio which pleases the maker and is admired by other people you get a fundamental self satisfaction which boosts the ego and can go beyond that to enhancing self belief in abilities and talent.

Creative thinkers enjoy challenges, analysing and coming up with an interpretation of something.  By thinking outside the box your life can work much better for you.

Thinking ambitiously and creatively enables new opportunities, although in our commercial business focused world it can be difficult to make progress as quickly as you might like.  There's too much empirical control for a real free market so we end up with a bottleneck and unfulfilled achievers.  The example I can site best is the Scottish creative industry where it's fragmented, unorganised and very few people can slip through the bottleneck to move away from the part time jobs and make a good living doing something interesting which would really benefit the economy.  Sourcing designers for fashion shows disappoints me as I find many talented people who have gone through university and have brilliant conceptual ideas working in the fashion industry only as a sales assistant or visual merchandiser, not being able to fulfill their creativity but falling in line with an old fashioned structure, following someone else's lead, not developing ideas and new concepts.  We need investment to enable big projects to allow greater economic growth beyond retail.

This is a high cost country, so we need high cost companies investing but in addition to big ideas we need solid business plans.  As stated in this article, historically too often tricks are missed; as it states "offering a way out of our decaying industrial past, a pathway from an old world to a new" we need to keep progressing to find new ways of doing things as the old world fades and "Scotland could break free of its old economy shackles" if only we consistently had faith in our abilities.  Sometimes I really wonder why the government doesn't try to attract new high end industry, though I understand the established method of control.  It would be anarchy if people were being entrepreneurial and making good money and getting leisure time en masse and actually having power to run their own lives rather than staying safely in their routines and behaving quietly.. Truly, anarchy is not rebellious bad behaviour, it's progress beyond the established control; thinking for yourself and growing your life the way you want, not in the construct deemed desirable for all.

It's high time to reject the current wearing you out at work lifestyles, ie work your ass off for a meagre reward and get pissed, the quick route to finding your own headspace and feeling slightly rebellious againThe twisted psychology of the system has a negative effect on everyone and consumerism is exploitation of the egoWe now have lots of means of self expression, it's time to move it up a level to the next stage of consciousness beyond ego-driven self expression through image.  

Modern life can't give people the opportunities to live their lives their own way eg choosing suitable and enjoyable jobs with sensible hours as then then they wouldn't be controlled and would have time to think.  Controlling people doesn't utilise capabilities to best effect and makes for a lot of dissatisfaction.

You've got to work out how to renegotiate your way through this greed world to stay independent: to me that means being as self sufficient as possible and making authority irrelevant.  Being creative in its many forms can help you see what your talents are and utilise these to become this self sufficient person who doesn't rely on approval to have self belief.  Investing in your independent thoughts is investing in the control of your future.

New Phase

So, as this new phase of life goes on I've got a fantastic level of energy I've not had for years.  A year ago I felt I was surrounded by derogatory and defeatist people.and stuck in a frustrating rut, a cage environment I couldn't work my way out of.  I was very demoralised and had to think myself out of the situation. In addition to that, due to being on prophylactic antibiotics for decades my gut bacteria balance has been pretty bad and has eventually developed into Candida overgrowth which has caused me to be terribly itchy all over and I think caused fatigue.  That's at long last being treated effectively and just over a week after starting a low dose long term course of capsules, in addition to me changing my diet to make it much more acidic, my energy levels came back, as in MY energy levels - don't stop till I drop - and I feel so much better it's wonderful.

Now I feel at long last my life is making sense, everything's coming together - I've got fantastic clarity of thought, all my various creative talents have their place and are complimenting one another, my health feels great and I've got smart, kind, forward thinking open minded friends..I've clarified what I want from and how romantic relationships fit in my life; what my expectations are and what expectations I feel content fulfilling.  It's been an interesting process where some people show you what you really want by the experience of being with them being what you don't want.  There was someone who motivated me by me perceiving him to be a reflection of how I wanted to be seen myself which helped me see focus on a way forward out of the de prefix place.

Health has always taken a battering, I feel I've lived my life back to front with the health problems at the beginning rather than the end of my life but although it's been hugely challenging many times I wouldn't change it because of the perspective and philosophy I've gained and developed through having to cope with difficult circumstances most youngsters don't usually have to deal with.  Operated on the day I was born, only discharged at 4 months old, then I eventually went to Great Ormond Street hospital when I was 15 for some pretty heavy going surgery (not got a good waterworks system), and once recovered from that I was able to start living my life and didn't hesitate in getting on with it.  There was more surgery in late 1999 with complications afterwards - adhesions and blood clots in my lungs.  My wee body's been through an awful lot, as a result I massively value my health and independence though when I was in my teens and twenties establishing it on my terms was a challenge: because I'd been so cosseted being weak and namby pampied was the last thing I wanted as I grew up.

Throughout my life I've been creative: drawing, writing stories once I could write, making a load of different things like doll's furniture from cardboard boxes, tapestry, designing clothes and costumes, and designing and making silver jewellery, theatre set design, visual merchandising, running live events, fashion styling and costume design.  My creative ability has always been great company by stopping me from being bored and I've been able to use my imagination a helluva lot.  I was always full of energy - running about, cycling, dancing, playing football.  I've always felt I'm in a race against time and hate being on the bottom rung of the ladder for more than five minutes, I've been so used to playing catch up and jumping stages of education I can manage to fill in the blanks fairly easily.

That was the good side, the bad side was being in and out is school so much and not having the self confidence which comes with being in an established friendship group.  I was called ugly when I was in primary seven and it was only when I was in my late thirties after constant self scrutiny and evaluation that I realised I was fine, pretty even!  I remember when i was 17 a magazine on my bedroom floor which had 'The Prettiest Girl In The World " written on the front cover, and my adorable boyfriend saw it and said "that's you.". I just thought yeah, if you say so...  and didn't take it that it was a compliment I was justified to receive.  Back in primary7 I was a Madonna fan and the song Over And Over inspired me to do better things with my life and show these other kids trying to bring me down that I'd be far and away better than them.

All my experiences have enabled me to think for myself well and truly outside the box.  I've got a great understanding of my mind and body.  I hugely dislike injustice and wish there were far better opportunities for everyone.  I always disliked authority and I guess after visualising a better life I'm disappointed with how frustrating and controlled and mundane living is a lot of the time.

I've got an ability to compartmentalise some feelings to such an extent I'm not aware of them, such as if I'm depressed I will not feel unhappy unless I'm very very sorry for myself - I need to keep functioning, and depression will manifest in loss of appetite or sleeping a lot.  I've developed great distraction techniques somehow.  I have a high level of self awareness and such a free flowing imagination, and I think I've got great communication between my concsious and subconscious minds.  Maybe so much time spent using my imagination as a child to keep myself entertained developed more effective and clear communication in my mind, and possibly all the meds I've been given in hospital such as anaesthetics and opiate painkillers have opened my mind and developed new neuro transmitters as well.

I've been making a silk purse out of a sow's ear my whole life.  Most important thing is I've never given in and always strived to keep going.and I hope to inspire others through this blog.