Reflection: Day of shoot.

The appropriation of the Beatles style went well for us, we thought through the styling process by taking inspiration from the Beatles album covers and iconic images and mixing it with new trends. We applied this to the androgynous fashion that we studied and our styling on the day of the photo shoot went well as we had applied the formal wear style with the female form and it was really striking.
The photo shoot started off quite a slow process, the make up and hair and first outfits took a while to produce as we wanted the best quality of styling that the resources we had offered. It was really really windy in Liverpool by the docks, the models we used were really good and toughed it out with us in the cold and we managed to get some amazing shots, however most were affected by the wind so we couldn't use them. When the wind got un-manageable we decided to look for somewhere more sheltered, and we couldn't think of a better place to stick with out Beatles theme than Matthew Street. So we headed of down there. The models got a quick change at Weatherspoon's and off we went!
We created a couple more outfits, still using the formal wear styling such as bow ties and black ties, but we kept the figure hugging clothes in to as to create this androgynous effect. Make up got a re-boost and hair got sleeked back. We started shooting at the Cavern pub, we really got into character as a group, in a male perspective and we tried to imitate the body language of men that we saw out to give us inspiration so that we could direct are models clearly and effectively. This did included being rather masculine and really appropriating the male behaviour aspects.
We stayed in Matthew Street, adding a few styling tweaks as we went further on down the street, we really liked the dirty bits of the street, we thought it looked good as a background to our clean cut styling.
Finally we rounded the day up by visiting the official Cavern Club were the Beatles were once famed, and we cheekily asked wether we could do a few shots in there and to our luck the manager said yes!
It really closed our shoot and we got some really successful images that depicted the Beatles fashion appropriation and the androgynous style which was what we wanted to achieve!
And we got some cheeky drinks in, when in Rome :P

T x

Final Images

Favourite Images

These are some of our favourite images from the shoot in Liverpool. The we used an androgynous style, consisting of trousers, shirts, ties and dickie bows however, we put a modern twist to it and used shaped clothing to show off a feminie figure. For the make-up we used the idea of big eyebrows and created this look using mascara, we also kept the skin really matte buy using foundation and translucent powders. The hair was sleek and tied back in some of the photos, however towards the end of the shoot and a long day in the wind we preferred the ones with loose tousled hair. I really like the location as it set the tone for the images, also, the fact we shot in Liverpool relates to our iconic image of The Beatles. We started buy shooting at Albert Dock and then moved on to Mathew St, famously known for The Cavern club, we then was able to arrange to take some shots inside the club which looked very cultured and rustic. This gave a real atmosphere to the images and a sense of history.

Ax

Helmut Newton.

   

   

Helmut Newton is a fashion photographer that focuses on provocative and eroctic scenes which empower and liberate women. He often photographed in black and white and his work has been featured in French Vogue and other publications. His images often portray an androgynous style, whether it is he styling or the masculine poses and props. I love the extent in which he goes to portray strenght and empowerment and I really like the harsh contrast of the images. 

Ax 

Love

A publication which would suitably work well with our images is 'Love' magazine. A quirky, alternative fashion magazine. The magazine hasn't been around for very long so it is extremely contemporary and communicates with its audience in extravagent and fresh ways. Even though the majority of Love images are taken in the studio i think the style of image is similar to the direction we have travelled in. The poses in these oarticular example i have found are masculine and contraversial. The editing is also similar to ours in that it is very low saturated and sharp.

Hayley x

Androgynous make-up

I started to research beauty trends for our photo shoot in Liverpool. I began to notice that Androgynous style editorials and icons had a very simple make-up style. They all had large, dark eyebrows and very matted looking skin. Some kept the face plain and simple with no other make-up, but I found the ones which used red lips or smokey eyes made the face look more feminine and sexy.

I also found a make-up tutorial on the Topshop website which had a similar style. It used mascara on the eyebrows to make them look really thick and manly, I thought we could try this when doing the photo shoot in Liverpool. I really like the smokey eyes as I think it adds a really sexy edge.

Ax

Sleek Hair

A Stereotypical male would have short and sleek hair. The images below show how a hairstyle could make   a ladies face seem more masculine.

The hair has been scraped straight back leaving no strand out of place and has a shinny and tight look.

Looking at the make up, it is very natural and plain. 

Taking away heavy eye make up on some of the images create more of a man feel

*Vicki

MASCULINE POSES

These images are just some examples of the way men stand, and act.

Looking at more images like these will give a good idea of the male stance, and the way the female models could be. 

*Vicki

Having a look at the style of publication we would find our images in.. Today our shoot looked a lot more high fashion than we first planned it also had a very contemporary, modern/'fresh' style. I noticed that a lot of Nylon covers have featured more than one female model, meaning our images would fit in to the magazines style.. The colours are also very high saturated and the contrast is high too, i think this sort of style would look good with several of our images e.g the ones in the cavern club and the ones on the dock by the red pillars. (post e.g of these images when i have them)

hayley x

A fashion appropriation:

So how are we going to achieve a fashion appropriation: well...We are going to appropriate the Beatles style in the early 1960s, which consisted of formal wear, e.g black and grey suits. And model this male formal styling on women = Androgynous style.

The Beatles:

The type of formal styling, we really like as a group because its versatile and can be adapted to a woman's style. However in the 1960s I doubt you would see a woman wearing a suit, so our editorial could be a statement to show how styles have changed for women due to modernisation and changes in society?

In many high street shops at the moment formal styling is quite on trend and is accessible for us to go and get for our models :

for example:

Zara.. wide leg trouser 

TopShop: Blazer

Basically work wear or smart/ casual wear can easily be bought and I think as a group we can easily style our model to look like she was the 5th Beatle :). There are a variety of colours out there at the moment, maybe some neutrals like camel or beige or maybe the opposite like grey and marl? The black suits are iconic and we defiantly want to use them but as we discussed we don't really need to exactly copy them, we are just using them as a foundation inspiration block.

 T x

Androgyny

Sexual ambiguity makes this type of styling work, it makes it easier to sell products as it doesn't fix a gender market. Personally I love it,  I love how masculine style can adapt to femininity, I particularly like how in society it reflects sexuality and therefore image dictates personality, wether true or not it gives persona and designers often play on this.
For example:
Denis Gagnon a canadian designer focuses on minimalist approaches rather than detailed clothing which we often associate with female clothing. This gives us the androgynous look.

Most designers bulk their clothes out, they loose the figure fitting hemlines and they chuck the fussy detail to give a more masculine approach:

Of course it goes the same way for the opposite sex-

The Rocky Horror picture show is a transgender, provocative film that suggests androgyny through sexuality.

This is probably the most extreme styles of androgyny but it highlights the principles clearly.

I think due to us looking at the Beatles and their early style, it would make sense to use more of a subtle approach and use the styling to make the female appear more feminine. for example Armani make a very good statement putting a woman in one of their male suits and styling her to look more androgynous but keeping her feminine looks by long eyelashes and sleeked hair.

T x

strike a pose..

here are several images i have collected which are inspiration for poses during the shoot. They are strong, solid poses which look extremely quirky and masculine and represent the style we want to achieve. All are similar in that they revolve around the legs apart, hands on hips look. This instantly communicates authority and status which is becoming more common and noticed in women generally and especially celebrity role models in the lime light e.g beyonce, lady gaga, rihanna who are proving that women can be in control.

Hayley x

Found these images by popular fashion photographer Rankin. I thought they were similar in styling to what we want to achieve on the shoot tomorrow!

Hayley x

Annie Lennox

 

Annie lennox is a huge style icon and she tends to strongly follow the androgynous trend. she is often pictured in suits with a tie supporting short hair and a very masculine face. I love how masculine her whole look is yet she has very feminine and pretty eyes which add the feminine edge. I love the short hairstyle and how she enhances her feminine facial features to create a 'pretty' masculine style. I feel this is something we need to portray in our next photo shoot to keep it look editorial and high fashion.

Ax



I began to look into music which involves role reversal and shows women acting and dressing like men. Artists today still use this idea to visualise there feelings upon equalisation between men and women. I love the styling used in these videos as it uses this 'Androgynous' style to portray the transition. I like the way they act and dance like men and create a perfect male scenario.

Ax 

Androgynous Editorials

              

I started to research editorial shoots which have already been done using an Androgynous trend, I really like the sleek hair and bare faced look. Also I found that most of them used a 'suited' style with shirts and ties. However they all seemed to add a twist, with skinny fit trousers or unfastened dickey bow, which I really like as it seems to add a more fitted effect which shows off a women's figure. Also I noticed that the models seem to be posing in very masculine ways which looks really effective.

Ax

Styling Ideas- Androgynous.

After styling the first in 1960's style suits, which proved to look very sleek and retro, I started to look into women that wear suits and found a trend names 'Androgynous'. This seemed to be women that dress similar to men, wearing things that are typically designed as menswear, however I find that it works really well and I love the idea of using female models in our second shoot using this 'Androgynous' trend.

 

Many designers are still using this style for their women's wear collections, I find it gives a really empowering effect for women and using this in the context of our project could represent the change in women through the 1960's. They started to become more equal and the dress sense between men and women seem to become a blur, starting with the 'teddy boys' which influence 'teddy girls'.

Here's an image I found of Teddy Girls in the 1960's, they began to challenge their typical dress expectations and began to take influence from the underground society and began to explore their sexual freedom. I love the oversized blazers and casual shirts along with the straight cropped trousers.  


Ax