Fashion, Film and Rebellion - Case Study Example

Fashion, Film and Rebellion Fashion is an evergreen and ever changing phenomenon that has captured the world because of the kind of dynamism it entails. It requires very high maintenance, constant vigilance as well as an eye for detail and innovation. Fashion may be good or bad but has its own impact on almost every aspect of the world today. It is the result of the amalgamation, as well as individualistic properties, of different cultures around the world, and how people belonging to them dress themselves according to their environmental needs. Over the decades, the film industry around the world has been able to grab onto the handle of fashion very well and adapt it into its surroundings. The main reason for incorporating the latest fashion and trends in movies would include a wider mass appeal by people that are interested in or amazed by wanting to have the same kind of couture as worn on screen by leading actors and actresses. Different kinds of clothing have inspired different kinds of people all over the world. A large number of designers today take on the work of designers from yesteryears and modify their ideas and morph them into their personal ideologies to create new fashion trends. High fashion or low end clothing; whatever it might be, fashion has been used to depict the surroundings of the protagonists in movies and acts as an excellent device for reflecting the moods and thoughts of people on screen. Movies are based on characters and their plots, and these characters are dressed appropriately in a manner befitting the fashion trends to suit the needs and create a visual aid for the viewer to be in awe of. (Bartlett, Becky) However, in the past many years, a number of films around the world have also begun using fashion as a mere tool of rebellion. In a number of movies from Comrade Couture to The Devil Wears Prada, different kind of fashion has been used in order to depict what exactly insurgency is in its own way. Upheavals take place wherever people are not satisfied with their lives and thus as a result they feel best to revolt and make sure their voices are heard. In many instances in history this has been done through the use of fashion. For example, during the period of industrial revolution, not many women were allowed to work in factories and manufacturing units, and even if they were, they were made to wear clothes to hide their bodies and not reveal themselves to the men folk around them. However, such clothing hampered their work and lifestyles and bound them to a large number of restrictions within society as well. A revolt followed as women began taking to wearing blouses and trousers to work as these clothes were much better to carry off and work with. Gradually, they began to accessorize the use of such clothing along with accessories like scarves. Much the same way, a number of such upheavals have also been depicted in movies; some based on real life stories, others merely out of the figments of imagination of script writers and directors. However, they all have one major thing in common; the usage of fashion as a tool of rebellion against mainly society and all that it has pressured the people and curtailed them to do. The main way by which fashion on film can actually be viewed as a tool of rebellion is when fashion is used to bring about a change in the lifestyle of the people. In movies and stories on the reel, there have been a vast number of instances where fashion helps to bring about this much needed revolution in the lives of people. The main purpose of using fashion to such notice of the people is because if a person feels that he looks good, then he gains the confidence to act on his own beliefs and principles and is not bowed down by the weight of society. Thus, fashion has been used to depict such a state of helplessness as well as restlessness among the people, waiting to be realized and churned into a positive attitude for the betterment and welfare for a person or a group of individuals. Comrade couture was a movie about rebellion and survival in the form of the struggles and hardships endured by designers and models in East Berlin. The style statement established was very Bohemian but very personal at the same time as well. The movie depicted the need for the creation of a personal image and style which was done by the designers from scratch. It was a call against the monotonous angst that high society provided to these low end designers waiting to make a name and some money for themselves and therefore reflected a sense of rebellion much the same way, however, in a different culture and time period much earlier, in the beginning of the twentieth century. The Devil Wears Prada on the other hand, is a popular movie based in the late twenty first century and depicts the struggle of a young woman wanting to be a reporter writer in a high end fashion magazine. As she climbs the social ladder, the only thing to provide her with support is the clothes she wears. She takes to high society very easily with a view to becoming closer to her boss in hopes of getting a permanent placement, and the only way she is able to do that is by breaking away from her previous lifestyle, friends and family. This act of rebellion on her part requires the use of high end fashion; very much from the stores of Milan, Paris and New York. The main idea behind the story is if she is not able to dress herself or present herself well, then she is simply not worth being part of the face of a magazine that represents fashion and is an icon for the global fashion industry. Fashion has had a number of sub cultures throughout the last many decades. Some of the very notable senses of style that have stuck around and made their way through cliques of the world include styles like punk, gothic, urban and hip-hop. These are mainly based on music and videos and have developed as a personal taste from the ideas and ideologies of people and their likes and dislikes based on what they hear, where they live and what they see and grasp from their surroundings. (Manzanares, Alma Linda) Other emerging styles would include subcultures on the basis of seasons. This is more prevalent in the world today as more and more people want to attach themselves to high trends and fashion. Getting back behind the scenes, the gothic subculture in the fashion industry was not a very fast emerging one and was able to achieve its peak and success because of being portrayed as a tool of rebellion in old age and avant garde movies all around the world. For example, in films like Vampyr and Labyrinth, a high amount of dark clothing and makeup was used in order to portray the lives of people that lived and survived as gothic. The main idea behind this was to help the audience know and understand the arrival and existence of such a group of people within society. Vampires and dark creatures were made to wear dark clothing and shown as beings to be afraid of. They lived in the dark, listened to dark metal music, wore a large number of heavy accessories and lived a life of trauma and pain as they thought that was how one should survive. With the help of upcoming as well as old age movies within the same subculture of being gothic, it was the fashion that provided the grist for the old mill. Fashion kept people alive and served as fodder for people who were waiting to fit into society and be accepted as familiar with such styles of film. (White, Brian) The gothic subculture thus arrived along with the use of morbid clothing, very erotic at times, to arouse others and make them aware of the dark side in people. Everything worn was black, including the hair color and color of a person’s lips. A lot of dark eyeliner was used in order to emphasize upon the clothing and black nail paint was used for the fingernails as well. Of course, along with all of this, black clothing was a must to complete the look. In films like Vampyr and Labyrinth, such clothing was used to make people aware of the kind of rebellious attitude that the protagonists had; and this could mainly be done by the use of the stark and vivid clothing worn by people on screen. Since most people carry back from the movies what they have seen and try and apply it in their real lives, fashion portrayed as a mere tool of rebellion in movies acts very well for this purpose. (Ashford, Jenny) This is mainly because it helps people understand their own personal style and creativity and helps them adopt a lifestyle of clothing that they have been inspired to by those on screen. Many people know what they want to be in life or how they want to act out as in front of others however are not able to do so because of the lack of freedom of expression or lack creativity they might possess. Thus, after watching in films, they are able to have a good hold and be motivated into absorbing the same kind of fashion into their lives so that it helps them become much more self confident and boosts up their self esteem. Even today in the twenty first century, there are a number of movies being continuously made on the gothic sub culture; more movies with vampires are appealing to a mass population and more and more people are adapting the sort of rebellious attitude in terms of high fashion of being gothic into their lives. (Wilson, Cintra) Rebellion is best reflected when a person does it in a way that others are able to visualize and remember it clearly and thus, first done in the movies, fashion is the path for carrying forward the legacy of garments and dressing; in this case, dark clothing and a dark and pallid demeanour of a person with respect to his surroundings and people around him. Therefore, in this respect fashion is indeed a tool for depicting the kind of rebellion people want to with the help of the film media. Movies like Twilight have paved the way for a new age dark gothic fashion culture, and have given rise to rebellious stances all over the world which are being adapted by high end designers as well. People like Alexander McQueen and John Galliano have adopted this kind of Victorian and gothic sense of style into their clothing and it is fast catching on to the world today. Therefore in this way, fashion can be viewed as rebellion in films as creating an upheaval for different sections of society or going against the already established norms and values. Dark gothic clothing was not a part of societal norms till such films based on the same genre came into view and helped them with a speedy birth. It also helps people form a sense of their own style and break away from the monotony of everyday life that they might be suffering through. Fashion is not a force on any individual or persona and thus it gives rise to personal views and leads to a lot of self confidence and esteem within a person. He or she is able to evolve into and derive from others their own personal style and reflect a unique image to the world. All this can be done with the help of films that portray heavy fashion as they give people a chance to raise their voice and choose their own paths. Films are the best way to portray something and have a lot of attention attached to them, and since fashion is the visual aid that people’s eyes can feast on, any form of fashion provides the best form of rebellion in film. Works Cited Bartlett, Becky. "GFF 2010: Fashion, Film and Rebellion." The Skinny. 25 Feb. 2010. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. . White, Brian. ""In the Humble Fashion of a Scripture Woman": The Bible as Besieging Tool in Freeman's "The Revolt of 'Mother'" Bnet. CBS Network, Aug. 2008. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. . Ashford, Jenny. "The Varied Fashions of the Gothic Subculture." Suite101.com. 2 Oct. 2009. Web. 22 Mar. 2011. . Manzanares, Alma Linda. "For Women, Fashion and Rebellion Coincide." The Ranger. 13 Mar. 2010. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. . Wilson, Cintra. "You Just Can't Kill It." New York Times. 17 Sept. 2008. Web. 22 Mar. 2011. Read More