Inspiration for FMP

As an aspiring makeup artist, I am interested in people's identity and the role image plays in forming this. I thought the theme of identity would be a good starting point for my project. However, it is too broad a subject so I needed to find a more specific theme related to identity to base my project on. I took an interest in subcultures as they can be very central to someone's identity. However, I could not take inspiration from the style of dress, hair and makeup seen in specific subcultures as I cannot translate a style into a style. This would just be a direct copy. I thought I could still take inspiration from subcultures, other than the image. I read Dick Hebdige's book Subculture's: the Meaning of Style as research and to get ideas for a specific project theme.

Dick Hebdige takes an almost philosophical approach to analysing and explaining the existence of subcultures, specifically those that arose that emerged up to the late 1970s, particularly punk. Everyone's experiences of subcultures are different and everyone interprets them differently. Hebdige's analysis is not necessarily the correct one, although he does come up with some very interesting ideas on subcultures.

He suggests that subcultures could be a place of security for young people struggling to form an identity. Subcultures do just this; they give a person an identity. However, subcultures could be seen by some people as pretentious and those belonging to them as posers. The image plays a huge part in subcultures. Some people might join subcultures to fit in or because of peer pressure. Subcultures can give young people street cred. They can be a haven for the insecure. Hebdige says subcultures could be a "mask to escape the principal of identity".

However, subcultures can also be a place of innovation, creativity and productiveness. To some it is a lifestyle and something to be taken very seriously. They can be a real statement. London was a cultural melting pot. Some subcultures emerged from taking different elements of different cultures to create a new style/identity. Subcultures can be very expressive. Hebdige said of punk: "various stylistic ensembles were expressions of genuine frustration, aggression and anxiety". Style can be an extension of a person's personality and a way to try out new personas to discover who you are.

Those belonging to subcultures of the late 1970s were usually of working class, in disadvantaged or unsatisfactory circumstances. Subcultures were an alternative source of self esteem. It feels good and exciting to belong and be part of something new. In a way subcultures took away a person's class and reinvented them into someone of significance.

Punk:
Punks played up their alienation and alternativeness. They embraced being rejected. This was a symbol of empowerment. Punk spoke for the neglected working class youth metaphorically through chains, dirty clothing and ironic dress. Punks were to "make something of what is made of them"; "to embellish, decorate, parody and wherever possible to recognise and rise above a subordinate position which was never of their choosing". Punk was liberating but "condemned to act out alienation". It "voluntarily assumed" a perceived hopeless condition of "exile and rejection".

In the 1970s and 80s, young people started to challenge conventional dress and chose went for styles that were daring and sexually ambiguous. That eccentric and confrontational style of dress can be liberating. In those days there wasn't as much variety and alternatives as there are today. You couldn't buy the aesthetic; the styles seen in subcultures were very much DIY. Punk bore style statements that are still iconic today i.e. the safety pin, the rip etc. The punk aesthetic was a contradiction; it appeared to be careless and scruffy but was meticulously styled. Punk was also quite provocative. Punks took to attire associated with pornography. Hebdige suggested bondage could be a reflection of the narrow options of the working class youth.

David Bowie:
David Bowie had an extremely huge influence on subcultures in the 70s and 80s. If punk was about making a statement on the reality, then Bowie was about escaping from everyday life into a fantasy world where an alternative identity could be explored and expressed. Interest shifted away from class and gender to sexuality and gender typing. Dressing was androgynous yet very artful.

Consumerism:
Subcultures are quite ironic as subcultures arise from a group of people wanting to be different and to set themselves apart from others and yet over time everyone ends up being like everyone else; it becomes a trend. They become "passive teenage consumers" instead if being a youth culture who thinks for themselves.

Inspiration for FMP:
I really liked Hebdige's idea of punk being a metaphor for the working class's unfortunate circumstances and the idea that punks created something artistic and brilliant out of something negative. I wanted to take this philosophy of using a person's style as a metaphor and use it as a starting point for my FMP theme. I came up with the idea that I could take a couple of issues that concern youths and translate people's experiences into "looks". I want my project to relate to youth culture. Like the subcultures I researched, I want my "looks" to be creative, innovative, daring and eccentric. I liked the idea of escaping into a fantasy so I want to go for an avant-garde approach. I also like the DIY mentality of the punk subculture. I want to include upcycled materials in my "looks" and customise garments.