1 3 December 2010
Foundations
Tina Aufiero
My idea for this project derives from my HS classes. My professor introduced the writing styles of Alice Walker, Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, Derek Walcot and Thom Gunn; I took particular interest in Virginia Woolf. Upon reading Virginia Woolf’s, A Room of One’s Own, she notes how it is vital for women to have financial support in order to write, “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction” (4). When I read this sentence I related it to my financial situation for schooling. My struggle for an education then made me realize those women during the early 19th century fighting for equal rights and opportunities as men. In one segment of her essay, she creates a fictional character named Judith, “Shakespeare’s sister” to argue that a young woman as talented as Shakespeare was more than likely to be rejected to pursue their development as a writer,“ Meanwhile his extraordinarily gifted sister, let us suppose, remained at home. She was adventurous, as imaginative, as agog to see the world as he was. But she was not sent to school. She had no chance of learning grammar and logic, let alone reading of Horace and Virgil” (47). It was from this very passage, I felt vulnerable and hopeless but at the same time, empowered to call attention to issue. In my project I want to convey the harsh reality of equality for women. I felt the best way to translate this message is by constructing a cage as a headdress which reflects how minds were confined, denied of education and, unfortunately, even today.
On a lighter note, finding my inspiration for my headdress was quite simple. The first person to come to mind when I thought of crazy, outrageous and flamboyant style was Lady Gaga. This pop diva’s lyrics are as risky as her insane and most extraordinary clothing style.
Lady Gaga states fashion is a major influence on her music; in fact, she supervises her very own clothing production called, The Haus of Gaga. The team invents and creates from her clothes to the props on set of performances. When she writes a song, she envisions the final product and how it will amaze the fans, she says, “When I’m writing music, I’m thinking of clothes I want to wear on stage. It’s all about everything altogether – performance art, pop performance art, fashion. For me, it’s everything coming together and being a real story that I will bring back to the super-fan. I want to bring back that. I want the imagery to be strong that the fans will want to eat and taste and lick every part of us” (MTV News.com). Lady Gaga has no limitations for her designs when it comes to clothing, therefore, after viewing pictures of outfits I felt more comfortable inventing a design. When mentioning Lady Gaga as one source of my inspiration, a student then suggested I research Isabella Blow. Isabella Blow noted fashion editor and international fashion icon but mostly known for her array of ridiculous hats and headdresses. Her obsession began when she befriended designer, Philip Treacy, who designed the wedding veils for her second wedding. Soon after that, Blow took him under her wing and promoted his designs by wearing his hats. She claims she wore the hats to keep sane and to everyone away from her, she once said “Fashion is a vampiric thing. It’s the hoover on your brain. That’s why I wear the hats, to keep everyone away from me. They say, “Oh, can I kiss you? I say “No, thank you very much. That’s why I’ve worn the hat. Goodbye.” I don’t want to be kissed by all and sundry. I want to be kissed by people I love” ( Guardian.co.uk).
