Abby Roberts, a professional makeup artist, beauty promoter and social media influencer, rose to fame after sharing her creative makeup looks on Instagram and Tiktok.
Her popularity has given her huge recognition within the industry, appearing as a guest judge on BBC’s glow up series, and regularly granting her access to high profile events. She has since also launched many make-up collaborations, namely with Tati lashes, and her own makeup range with Morphe.
On one occasion, Abby attended an Alexander Mcqueen fashion show, and created a get ready with me on her Tiktok.
Since the first time I saw this look, I have always wanted to re create something similar. The effect she crated with the eyes, using a technique that was referred to on Tiktok as ‘tyre mark mascara’, was really effective. This dark, grunge look could help to really effectively present how a mental health disorder may feel. In the context that I will be using the effect, I believe it could easily be seen to represent a tired, heavy eye, or even how one may look after crying. This is a technique I am certain I will experiment with during my design process.
When thinking of grunge icons within the main stream media across the most rent years, one of the first people that comes to mind is Lady Gaga. The fact she refers to herself as mother monster, and her followers, little monsters, speaks for itself. Not only has she been known to follow a punk rock, rebellious kind of lifestyle, she is also recognised around the globe for breaking boundaries with her outrageous fashion choices.
However, although the singer has is mainly known for her bizarre on stage stunts, music videos, and past appearances, she has experimented with her mediums over the last few years, landing her huge acting roles in films and TV shows such as American Horror Story, A star is born, and House of Gucci.
Not only can Lady Gaga’s unusual style help to inspire my hair, makeup and fashion choices for this look, but she is another great example to support the idea that although mental health struggles are hard, you can come so far if your persevere.
After gaining huge fame in the early 2000’s, Gaga set the record straight, by opening up about the realities of living in the spotlight. Sharing stories about battles with bullying, depression, chronic illness, sexual abuse, eating disorders, PTSD, self harm and substance abuse, Gaga helped open the eyes of the middle class person. As one of the first celebrities of her time to open up about her past, and be vulnerable in front of millions of people, Lady Gaga’s following grew to an astonishing new level.
Lady Gaga channels her pain and suffering through her work in such a way that makes others feel related too, distracting them from the potential horrors of their own lives, and making them feel less isolated. For this, she is admired all around the world, as an icon, and advocate for all taboo subjects, including mental health, abuse and support for the LGBTQ+ community.
As seen in the images above, Lady Gaga often sports dark make-up and outfit choices. Although more recently she tends to sport a look that is more of a gothic twist on the modern beauty and fashion trends, in the past she has been known for her outrageous hair, makeup and wardrobe choices – much like the meat dress she wore at the MTV Video Music awards in 2010, pictured below.
However, her dark sense of style, and recognition of Gothic beauty, throughout he whole time in the spotlight, will be a huge influence towards my hair and makeup designs. Almost every image I could possibly find online of Lady Gaga could give me some form of inspiration, towards my hair, makeup, costume, or photography considerations.
Similar to vogue, which I explored in my previous post, the Rolling Stone is an American made, monthly published, magazine. However, this magazine focuses more on music, politics, and current popular culture.
Founded in San Francisco, California, by John Wenner and, music critic, Ralph J Gleason, in 1967, the magazine was first known for its coverage of rock music. Today, the magazine is published world wide, and is renowned for its iconic grunge imagery. Although its publishing is much more article based, I am keen to analyse some of their iconic front covers, in order to find inspiration for my hair, makeup, costume, posing and photographic background.
I believe the posing, hair and accessories from this cover could all be used to inspire my photo shoots. Firstly, I love how the posed face, along with the arms, make it seem someone else is in control of the person in the image, and feel this would be a really effective way to convey the symptoms of a mental health disorder. Additionally, the accessories such as the gloves and chunky jewellery, that are worn on the hands create a dark atmosphere. Finally, the red colouring, and shaggy styling of the hair helps to further emphasise this effect.
Additionally, I believe the posing and costume in this cover could be used to inspire the look I create within my final images. I feel the leather look helps to give a dark, grungey effect, while the posing makes the model seem stern and certain. I feel this would be a good representation of how a mental health disorder may appear if they were human. I also believe the contrast created between the dark look, and light textured background, help to effectively further develop this idea.
Finally, I believe the posing of this image would be a great choice for the portrayal of Anxiety disorder within a photo shoot. The way the model seems to be hiding from the view of the camera, by pulling up her jumper, could be a great way to portray the feelings of withdrawal one may get as a result of their symptoms of anxiety. Finally, as mentioned in my previous post about Vogue, I really like the effect that is created within the black and white filtering of images. Therefore I must ensure to experiment with this technique during my editing process.
Vogue is an American made, monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine, that covers topics across couture, fashion, beauty, culture, styling and the runway. First issued in 1892, founded on December 17th of the same year, Vogue is now published world wide, and is known as one of the biggest publishers in the world.
Vogue magazines are comprised of a range of editorial and campaign imagery from all kinds of designer brands and houses, from fashion, to fragrance and beauty. Although each issue also includes many articles, on a range of different topics, Vogue is essentially a catalog of the latest editorial and campaign imagery, making it the perfect source of inspiration for creatives like myself.
Although not very far fetched, my new years resolution this year was to buy and read every issue of vogue, to broaden my research sources, and expand my knowledge on fashion and editorial beauty. Since January, I have succeeded… so far, in collecting each issue.
As part of my research, I carefully explored each issue, to identify any images that may help to inspire my hair, makeup and costume designs, or accessories, posing, and backgrounds for the photography of my work. I have included images below of some pages that stood out to me.
These images have all been found within Vogue magazines, issued between January and May, of 2023. They all have provided inspiration towards my hair, makeup and costume designs, or inspired my staging and posing for the photographing of my final looks.
Hair
The images above have hugely helped to inspire some of the hair styles I intend to include within my final designs. The posing of the first image, along with the hair style itself, helps to create a really sharp, exaggerated look. I love the effect this creates and am really wanting to create something similar within one of my looks, by taking inspiration from the look itself, as well as the posing.
The second and third images, use elevated hair styling methods to create an over the top finish. To me, these styles create a sense of an issue that is out of control. I feel this would be a great way to convey certain symptoms and disorders within one of my looks. Furthermore, both of these images use a similar posing technique. The hunched over posture makes it seem as if the hair creation is heavy. This could help me portray the feeling of being weighed down, which is a term that is often used to describe the symptoms of mental health disorders.
Make-up
The dramatic, dark, and imperfect make-up looks created within these images have helped me generate ideas for my make-up designs. The combination of dark, graphic eyes and lips, on a smooth, light base makeup, create a really effective dark and grunge feel within the overall look. This is something I am wanting to create within my work, so can use these images as inspiration in order to create a similar feel.
Costume
As shown in the images above, the use of rough, and layered textures creates an extremely dramatic effect. Therefore, I will ensure to use dark, rough, and layered materials within my final imagery, to create the desired, dark and memorable effect.
Black and white
Although I will not be able to use this technique in all of my looks, as I must be able to show off my make-up creation to its fullest potential, I really like the effect created within these black and white images. Therefore, I intend to experiment with black and white filtering during my image experimentation process.
Posing
The images above are just a few of the images from this selection that have inspired the posing I would like to experiment with during my final imagery. I feel these poses could be used to accurately represent how it may feel to be a victim of a mental health disorder, or how powerful a mental health disorder may feel if they were a person.
Presentation
These images helped me begin to consider how I may present my final image collection. I love the effect that is created within the collage of the first image, and feel I may be bale to covey a strong message if I was to create a similar finish for one of my designs. I could surround the head shot of my image, with titles, quotes or imagery relating to that specific disorder. Additionally, I could create a grid format, as shown in the second image, to present all of my looks together, in one image. I will ensure to try both of these effects during my image experimentation progress.
During New York Fashion Weeks; Mark Jacobs Autumn Winter show in 2016, the brand showcased 65 heavily embellished, layered, dark, grunge inspired looks. Using a combination of iconic supermodels, and grunge icons such as Lady Gaga, the brand showcased a collection of familiar, but new styles – recreating old styles in a new black and grey palette, to fit the new grunge aesthetic.
This collection experimented with proportion by creating over sized, and shrunken pieces, to create an overall dramatic effect. Each design also referenced iconic Gothic characters, such as Lydia from beetle juice.
For my final piece, I am intending to create a very dark atmosphere. In order to accurately portray how miserable mental health disorders can make one feels, I am wanting to use dark, graphic and extreme techniques within the hair, makeup and costume. I feel this collection can be a great inspiration to all of these aspects.
By using a combination of over exaggerated finger waves in the hair, dark and graphic makeup techniques, and overly proportioned, and layered fashion pieces, these looks create an extremely powerful and dramatic effect. They are exactly the kind of images I am hoping to create, so I will be sure to refer back to them during my design process.
During Paris fashion week, for the SS23 collections, Balenciaga delivered a runway performance like no other. In true Balenciaga spirit, they created a performance that shocked viewers around the world.
Talking inspiration from a fashion exhibition at the groups Paris, Rue De Sevres head qaurters, which contained art from the pinault collection, and a dive in to over 900 pieces from the Crisobal Balenciaga archives, that were established in 2001, the focus of these designs was on the relationship between us humans, and the environments we live in. This collection highlighted pieces that had sustained wear and tear, due to all kinds of environmental factors.
When asked about the design process for creating this particular runway, Demna describes the set of the show as ‘ a metaphor for digging for truth, and being down to earth.’ Therefore, even though this collection is made with a clear literal meaning, it also carries a strong metaphorical message.
The finale showpiece of the collection was a leather look, made from deconstructed black Balenciaga Lariat bags. This gave the show an even deeper meaning as it touched on recycling fashion, which is a huge topic of discussion recently, in the debates surrounding luxury vs fast fashion creators.
I believe this show can hugely inspire my work, as not only was the theme very dark, and grunge, but the show also carried a deeper meaning, much like the intention for my final piece. I can learn from many elements with in the staging, accessories and overall looks, allowing me to create a similar affect within my work.
In this post I have explored two recent Dior campaigns, and their imagery.
Dior SS23
During their spring/summer 2023 collection, Dior created a collection that celebrated femininity, power, and grace, with campaign imagery by the legendary Brigitte Niedermair, working under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri. For this campaign, Maria’s ideas were hugely influenced by the late queen of France, Catherine DeMedici. This collection embodies the timeless Dior style, crafted with a modern twist.
This collection pays homage to historic women who have lead with poise and confidence, using a wardrobe that had been inspired by sovereign grace. Using models; Stella Lucia, Carla Pereirs, Shemyshi, Freya Rothmann and Jen Thompson, the images boast looks full of light and dark colours, photographed against a clean, bright green background.
The fashion pieces, featuring classic Dior elements, mixed with new styles, and elements and accessories that reference the historical counterparts that inspired the shoot, created final imagery that boasts modern interpretations of the dramatically proportionalised fashions from throughout history.
As seen in the images above, the contrast created between the vibrant green background, and dark clothing and accessories, created a very dramatic finish. This is something I have identified throughout multiple examples I have analysed, so will be sure to consider this when deciding how to photograph my look. Furthermore, these images help to show how basic hair and makeup can be within fashion editorial pieces, which can further help to inspire the overall look, and outcome, that I create.
Overall, I feel this campaign imagery can be a great inspiration to me, when considering how to accessorise and photograph my looks.
Dior AW22
Before the historically inspired campaign that I explored above, came the Dior Autumn/Winter collection for 2022. With similarities in the overall campaign imagery, I also believe this could be of huge inspiration to me when considering how to accesorise and photograph my looks.
Unlike the following campaign that was focused on historical characters, this collection was focused on celebrating ‘the next era’. Photographed by Brigitte Niedermair, using models; Maryel Uchida, Sterinberg, America Gonzalez, and Philyne Mercedes, the set was designed to look like an art gallery, with models set in front of a vibrant red background.
Although this collection was focused on the future, this also put a modern twist on history by taking its main inspiration from portraits created between the 16th and 19th centuries. This can help to emphasise that fact that all hair, makeup and fashion trends of today are often just some form of trends from the past.
As seen in the images above, the finalised product is very similar to those from the SS23 campaign, however these images have taken a darker approach. The contrast between the darker colours and vibrant red background once again stands out to me as an effective way of creating a very dramatic effect within the final imagery. Therefore, I will assure to consider these factors when deciding how to photograph my look. Also as mentioned above, these images further help to display how simple hair and makeup can be within fashion editorial images. Knowing this information will help me decide how to create, and present my final imagery, in the most effective way possible.
Marc Jacobs is now known as one of the most famous high end designers in the world. However, he faced huge controversy, which almost ended his career, when designing his historic Grunge collection for Perry Ellis SS93, in 1992. Although this collection now sees him as one of the founding members of grunge fashion in the wider community, at the time he faced huge backlash.
When designing the pieces for this show, Jacobs was required to dress Supermodel icons; Carla Bruni, Naomi Campbell, Tyra Banks and Kate Moss. He chose to create a collection that was inspired by the current grunge look of every day street wear, elevating this style to new heights. However, although he is now known as one of the first designers to bring street wear on to the runway, pioneering the street wear phenomenon, he received huge critique when these looks were first revealed.
The New York Times described the collection as something that ‘Mixed everything up… a typical outfit looks as if it had been put together with the eyes closed in a very dark room’, which can completely sum up the feeling of dissatisfaction for the collection. Furthermore, for a major fashion house to sell the typical punk street fashion style at such a high price point was considered disgraceful, as it stripped the punk scene of all that it stood for.
This dissatisfaction was so high that the collection never actually made its journey from the runway, to production lines. After sending samples to punk icons Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, Jacobs was shunned as they revealed in an interview ‘We burned it. We are punkers and we didn’t like that kind of thing’. The results of this interview lead to Jacob’s being fired form his position at Perry Ellis, however he was awarded the CFDA women’s wear designer of the year for the same collection that caused this whole controversy.
Kurt CobainCourtney LoveCFDA Women’s wear designer of the year award
In 2019, under his own brand, Marc Jacobs decided to give this collection a second life in ‘Redux; The return of Marc Jacobs’. In this lauch, he completely reproduced his previous Perry Ellis designs, even down to using the original materials and accessories. In his new launch, Jacobs dressed current super models; Gigi Hadid, Slick Woods and Binx Walton, and had his campaigns shot by Juerger Teller.
As you can see from the images above, this collection consists of dark colours, along with dramatic textures and layers. I will use these images as inspiration when creating costumes and accessories to accompany my final makeup look. Additionally, I love the contrast that is created between the darker garments, and lighter background, so will be sure to consider this when planning how to photograph my look.
Overall, within Punk fashion Marc Jacobs is an icon for being the first designer to introduce this style in to the luxury designer platforms. Although his ideas were not loved at the time, Marc Jacobs now has huge success from these collections. He is now, and forever will be renowned for his interpretations of popular culture, and credited for launching the gunge look of the 90’s.
In this post, I have explored the causes, effects, symptoms and treatments of OCD.
Some of the subjects explored in this post may be triggering for some readers, please proceed with caution.
OCD is used to describe a condition that causes Obsessive thoughts and/or Compulsive behaviors. These thoughts and behaviors can be extremely distressing, and often cause huge disruption in a persons daily life.
This disorder is known to affect men, women and children just as equally, and can begin as early as age six! However, it is most likely to develop around the teenage and young adult years.
Symptoms of OCD include frequent obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors of all kinds. Obsessive thoughts are unwanted and often unpleasant thoughts, images or urges that repeatedly enter your mind – often causing feelings of anxiety, unease and disgust. Furthermore, a compulsive behavior is a repetitive physical or mental act you feel an overwhelming need to do in order to temporarily relive the unwanted feelings and/or thoughts your brain is channeling. For example, if a person had an obsessive fear of being burgled, they will feel a need to consistently check there doors and windows are locked. Furthermore, women are most likely to develop OCD after childbirth, often they will have obsessive worries about harming their baby, therefore will constantly check the baby is breathing, or visit the doctors in fear something is wrong.
Many people with OCD are reluctant to reach out for help, as the feel they will be misunderstood. However it is extremely important to visit your GP as your symptoms are only likely to worsen if you do not get help. Upon visiting your GP, they will complete an assessment of your current state in order to decide the appropriate next steps to be taken. Often self referral to talking therapies, online sources and books will be the first port of call. However, in more severe cases a referral will be made to a specialist mental health team in order to complete an intensive treatment program. Before this, support groups, medications, and GP referred taking services may be advised.
Although the exact cause of this disorder is not yet understood, a combination of multiple factors is believed to cause an onset. Family history is one of the largest believed factors, as those with a family history of the disease are believed to have inherited genetics, and learned behaviors. Furthermore, a difference in the brain, for example unusually high levels of brain behavior activity, or low levels of a brain chemical, named serotonin, may contribute to these factors. Additionally, you are believed to be at a higher risk of developing OCD if you have lived through certain life events, or traumas such as; bullying, abuse, childbirth, bereavement and neglect. Finally, personality traits may also contribute to these factors, if a person is neat and methodological, or has high standards, they are more likely to develop the disorder.
As someone who struggles with OCD, I would like to focus on the fact that although a common stereotype for this disorder is that everything must be clean, tidy, and even, my head feels like a jumbled mess. The fact that I can not control these thoughts and behaviors makes me feel I am fighting a loosing battle with that big mass of unexpected messiness. Therefore, I would like to create a look that reflects this feeling, of unleashed, mass chaos.
In this post I have explored the causes, effects, treatments, and symptoms of Body Dysmorphic Disorder.
Some of the subjects explored in this post may be distressing to some readers, please progress with caution.
Body Dysmophic disorder, is used to describe a person who spends a long time worrying about flaws in there appearance even though these flaws are often unrecognisable to others.
This disorder can affect anyone, at any age, but is more common in teens and young adults. However, men and women seem to be equally affected. It is important to recognise that people with this disorder are not self obsessed, or vain, in fact they are often very distressed every time they see themselves in a mirror or image. As you can imagine, this can have a huge impact on ones daily life, as this may even cause people to cover any mirrors in their house, or avoid taking photos with people.
Symptoms of this disorder include; worrying about a specific area of the body (often the face), comparing your looks with others, constantly looking in or avoiding mirrors, going to extreme efforts to conceal flaws, taking prolonged time on hair/make-up/outfit preparations, or picking at the skin to make it appear ‘smooth’.
These symptoms can cause extreme distress and disruption to work, social and romantic lives and relationships, which may also lead on to feelings of depression, self-harm and suicide. The hardest part of this condition is the steps taken to conceal the flaws, often actually make the flaw worse, for example picking at spots to make them go quicker, will Actually make the healing process take longer, and likely cause scarring.
It is important to reach out for help if you believe you are suffering from any kind of mental health condition. When talking to a GP, they ate likely to ask you about your symptoms, allowing them to asses the severity of your situation, and therefore chose an appropriate next step.
There are a range of treatment options for all symptoms and severity’s of this disorder. A GP will usually recommend one, or a combination of the following; Self referral to talking therapies, CBT (cognitive behavioral therapies) – will help to identify and overcome triggers, Explosive response prevention – Slowly introducing difficult situations to overcome fears little at a time, and/or Medication – may take up to twelve weeks to work effectively. It is also important to complete self help tasks, by partaking in mindfulness exercises, relaxation, support groups and breathing exercises. If none of this is successful, a GP will likely refer the patient to a specialist mental health team for more intensive treatment. Although it can be scary to reach out, it is important to remember your symptoms are not likely to get better on their own, so reaching out is vital.
Although there is no specific cause identified, a combination of genetic factors are believed to cause this disorder, as a person who has a family history of Body dysmorphia, OCD, or depression is more likely to suffer the disorder. However chemical imbalances in the brain, and environmental and historical factors such as abuse and bullying may also contribute to the likeliness of this condition occurring.
It is important to identify symptoms and reach out as soon as possible, because more severe cases of this disorder can cause a person to see extremely distorted versions of themselves, which can be extremely distressing.
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Megan Hoff 