Fashion Inspired by Music...Say What?!?!

"Music and Fashion; it all comes from the same place of creativity."

- Gwen Stephani 

Music and fashion are very close entities because of the fact they both require a high level of creativity to be successful at it.  If anyone looks at the industry they will notice that a lot of successful musicians have their own clothing lines. IE Roca Wear, Sean Jean, and Baby Phat. The owners of these clothing lines have been very successful in their industries and they still have that creative itch, so they ventured out into another creative industry.   Their career in the music industry has highly influenced them on their personal fashion as well. Also we look to our favorite artists for our personal inspiration, even if its not fashion.  They are our role models, not always in a good way but none the less our role models. 

Lets take a look at the skinny jeans and t shirt look that is out right now.  I am personally a fan of this look because of its versatility and a lot of bands use this look as well. A favorite band of mine, A Day To Remember, uses this look:

As you can see in this picture they all have slim fitted jeans, t shirts, and vans/chucks on.  I love this look because its simple but you can do so much with the shirt and express a lot of you interests.  You could express your favorite band, favorite politician (if you really cared THAT much), what school you went to, ect. and the outfit will still look good. And to compliment it you could even wear hats, necklaces, and bracelets.

But this is the more punk rock version of dress where as this picture depicts the punk hip hop version of this look.

The New Boyz here are a cross between punk and hip hop and they have accessorized their outfits more to show off that look.  Notice they still have the skinny jeans and the t shirts on but it is done with more swagger than in the other photo. The over all theme is still the same but the smallest of differences makes it an entirely different outfit.  This look is huge with skaters or rockers.

Another artist's style we could look at is Jay Z's style.  His style varies from classic men's attire to urban attire.  His style is generally baggier, but on the fore front of urban style.  Jay Z doesn't just wear clothing that is baggy, but he wears clothing that is stylish and he adds layers to the clothing to give it a more refined and classier look. He also has moved into the slimmer clothing but still adding his urban twist onto it.

 

This photo shows the classy look that Jay Z can embody and how clean and classy it looks.  I love this suit because of the pin stripe and the accents of white, white and black are very classy colors especially together.

 

In this photo it shows Jay Z with his more urban flavor going on.  Still styled to the hilt, but less classy than the previous image.  He makes both work for him.  His style trickles down to the common fan and they get inspiration from him.  They begin to dress in a manner like Jay Z so that they can feel like him or look like him and thats why fashion and music are interlaced.

Fashion as Inspiration

"Don’t be into trends. Don’t make fashion own you, but you decide what you are, what you want to express by the way you dress and the way you live."

— Gianni Versace

Fashion inspires our lives, and our lives inspire our fashion. We dress as an expression of who we are and what we feel. We dress to impress or to deter. We dress to say "Hey this is who i am and this is what i believe in."  This week i interviewed 3 people, Kathy Mayer, Cameron Mohler, and Suzanne Dennis, to see why they dress the way they do. The reason why i interviewed these 3 people is because i feel like they all have very similar styles, with noticeable differences but over all very similar. The questions i asked them were:

1. How do you describe your style?
2. What inspires you as a person?
3. What inspires your style?
4. If you could have anything in your wardrobe, what would it be?
5. Does your clothing style fit your life style? If so how

 Kathy Mayer is a senior apparel design and fashion merchandising student. Her responses were:

1. I would describe my style as ever evolving.  I think it is fun to sort of 'dress the part', meaning I like to dress differently depending on what I will be doing that day, or who I will be surrounded by.  It depends on my mood or by what is inspiring me.  
2. I am personally inspired by people, successful people, people in my life, characters, people who aren't in my life, people who changed the world, made an impact.  I feel as though I can learn so much by everyone because we are all individuals, all different.  
3. My style is inspired by what I see around me, whether it be street style or different forms of media (music, movies, tv).  Take note that this is never necessarily about trends or the present.  Many times I am inspired by 'vintage' seen in old family photos, movies, silhouettes and styling.  Somehow, vintage styles inspires me because of the times.  I once read about a girl from California who always dressed really nice in early 60s style skirts and dresses, heels, hair done up, the whole image.  When she would walk around the city, she said that men would always open doors for her, and act like real gentlemen.  This story impacted me because men really did look at women differently in the 60s, women weren't really seen then as they are today.  I would love to time travel back to the early 60s and after reading this story its kind of like I can, if I dress the part.
4. I would love to have a vintage fur coat in my closet.  It would mean the world to me if I had a fur coat from my grandma. The idea of having something so elegant with a story and history behind it means a lot to me.
5. My clothing fits my lifestyle, because, like I said, it is ever evolving.  I feel as though I can dress a part no matter what that might be.  Right now, I really love the Ivy League look which fits well because I am in college.  Sometimes I look around and wish that everyone was dressed in that way, like in the book Take Ivy.  

 

Cameron Mohler is, obviously a guy, studying apparel design and he is a junior.  His answers, were short and to the point, but they were:

1. Urban punk with a touch of class...aka the urban gentleman.
2. Nothing to specific but just the fact that I know one day that I'll be doing something that I love to do.
3. A lot of my style comes from my love of formal wear and the vastly growing urban, self sustaining, local shopping, and simplicity.
4. Suits for days. 
5. It does but one day number four will be the primary look for me 

 

Suzanne Dennis is a junior studying apparel design and fashion merchandising.  Her answers were:

1. I would describe my style as eclectic vintage. I try to never wear the same outfit twice, I like mixing and matching all of my stuff and shopping for vintage or used clothes. Making "ugly" clothes cute is my hobby.
2. Music inspires me a lot, as well as nature, the past, and the people in my life.
3. Music also inspires my style, I like vintagy artists like She & Him, The Pierces, and Adele. I love the 50's and the 40's glamor.  I am also inspired by street style and some celebrities, like Zooey Deschanel and Sara Bareilles. Mostly I'm just inspired by the way I feel on any given day.
4. I would love love love to have a dress from Elie Saab's Fall 2011 Couture collection.
5. It does, being a college student I generally like to wear clothes that make me feel comfortable, but also allow me to express myself.  Being in a band and performing is a huge part of my life also, and I feel as though my style conveys my identity when I'm onstage as well.   

"From Heaven to Hell and Back Again" - Alexander McQueen

"It’s a new era in fashion - there are no rules. It’s all about the individual and personal style, wearing high-end, low-end, classic labels, and up-and-coming designers all together."

— Alexander McQueen

The late Lee Alexander McQueen was known for his eccentric style and he didn't follow the typical rules of design.  McQueen saw the beauty in everything and was able to create such beautiful art from this. Now his design style was often a bit edgy but that's what made him unique.  His taste and his style made him so different from every other designer, he employed shock and awe to the runway.  McQueen was noted as "the holligan of English fashion" but that didnt stop him.  He kept doing his style of show until the world noticed him.

Alexander McQueen personally is my favorite designer because of his amazing creativity and his "holligan" style.  I myself am a bit eccentric and quite the "holligan" so its a good match. Often McQueen's designs have been in the relm of wearable art, some of it resembles aliens in my opinion.  Savage Beauty, the final exhibition of  McQueen's work, McQueen brings in aspects of nature and the call of the wild.  There are elegant uses of animal print and just the animal spirit. The entire exhibition has an untamed and exotic influence.  This theme carries on throughout the entire exhibition and has a raw yet mastered feel to it.

I think the comsumers and the critics look at this exhibition with shock and awe, only because the garments are so extreme and so wild that they catch you off guard.  Ultimately I think that McQueen's designs are looked at with a lot of respect as well.  This is because he makes that rawness, the emotion, the complex ideas work in unison from one garment to the next.  Although each garment is very different from the one before it, they all have the same darkness and emotion behind it.

This garment is one of my personal favorite dresses.  To me it speaks about the random chaos of life, and that life is a dance.  We start off in this world innocent and pure, the white dress, but as the dance of life proceeds forward we are tainted and colored by the world.

Although Lee Alexander McQueen has passed away, his work and the ideas portrayed in his work live on.  To get a true sense of who McQueen was i recommend watching this other video, that walks through the Savage Beauty exibit and goes in depth on Alexander McQueen.

"I think there is beauty in everything. What ‘normal’ people would perceive as ugly, I can usually see something of beauty in it."

— Alexander McQueen