I Am Not Wearing Your Letterman Jacket

In these months of solitude, the bored masses have switched on to Netflix to help them escape the mundane feeling of the lockdown. This constant tuning in is no new feeling to teenagers, whose viewership has created an entirely new genre of melodramatic “teen” shows and movies. While I binged (and rebinged) these shows, I became increasingly interested in the patterns of dress. As a fashion zealot, I tend to fixate on styling within any form of media - I get excited by fresh perspectives in fashion. Especially when it is portrayed through a young character’s style. Sadly, as I binge hop from Riverdale to Love Victor, I am underwhelmed by the lack of originality in the costume designer’s styling choices. It leaves me to question if there is a dress code for every mainstream teen-oriented TV show and if this rulebook accurately depicts the taste of the current generation.

Throughout these teen melodramas, one-dimensional characters are condemned to insipid styling. Costume designers should use their fashion expertise to amplify the characters’ voices, creating dimension to these teens through clothing but many designers fall flat. However, the issues with costumes is not entirely the costume department’s fault. Hollywood costume designers have to answer to showrunners and the network to ensure that each garment they choose is on brand for the series and the channel.

The aesthetic issues of a show fall on the shoulder of its creator and writing team; the vigor in which they describe each character paints the picture of who the character is, therefore hinting at these character’s style. This causes a hindrance in the creativity for a designer making it hard for them to push boundaries, delivering stimulating costume concepts that their bosses can approve. Here lies the real root of the problem, aside from the basic network TV character breakdowns, a designer’s creativity is dwindled based on what network heads think their audience wants to see. Yet heads of networks (like seventy year old Mark Pedowitz from The CW) are typically the jobs of older white males who have not been in high school since the sixties. So, what do they really know about what our generation likes to wear? 

Consider their most popular show, Riverdale. This hit teen drama centers around five main characters that exemplify every single high school movie character trope ever. The All-American jock (who is ironically played by the New Zealand actor KJ Apa), the girl-next-door (Lili Reinhart), the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks (Cole Sprouse), the rich daddy's girl (Camilla Mendes) and the mean popular head cheerleader (Madelaine Petsch). The Riverdale cast is dressed in tropes: the staple “bad boy” leather jacket is paired with all of Sprouse’s outfits, while rich girl Mendes always adorns her fit with a pearl necklace and Apa constantly sports his football letterman jacket. 

Although some of these costume pieces do hold weight for some characters (like Mendes’ pearl necklace was a gift from her father before he went to prison), numerous costume choices simply promote these outdated tropes. Every week we tune in to watch Petsch, the prettiest popular (twenty-six year old) high-school girl, do a slow-motion strut down the halls in her mini-skirt, crop top and heels. She evokes the sense that, “Every girl wants to be her and every guy wants to do her” (F*&% the Prom- another teen flick starring Madelaine Petsch as the mean popular head cheerleader). It is baffling to watch the different shows replicate these tropes (sometimes with the same actor) with the costume design only emphasizing these stereotypes, confirming how superficial screenwriters think teenagers are.

Generation Z is a lot more than the silly high school tropes that are portrayed on TV and we show it by how we dress. We play and experiment with gender norms, always pushing the boundaries of fashion, asking the fashion industry to give us more: more inclusive sizes, more dynamic silhouettes, more comfortable clothing. Most shows don’t represent the dynamic tastes for this generation but, recently one show redefined the style of teen melodramas. HBO’s Euphoria pushes the boundaries of young adult fashion. The show’s characters and costumes embody everything Gen Z is: fun, bold, unique and unapologetic. Euphoria’s make-up artist Doniella Davy was informed and inspired by teen influencers who she researched for the show. Davy wanted to immerse herself in a younger generation’s fashion choices so that she can authentically create looks for young characters, paying off in her first Emmy for Outstanding Contemporary Make-up. This show loves to rebel against the norms of teen show costume design - throughout the series, a transgender character wears non-gender conforming undergarments. “There is a lot of power seeing a young trans girl not really trying to conform to a cis-gender standard” Hunter Schafer (Euphoria actress) stated regarding her character’s costumes. This series recognizes young adults and how we use clothing to express all aspects of ourself.

As Shakespeare’s once said, “Theatre holds a mirror up to society” (Hamlet); although, film is not exactly the same as theatre, it is a mass form of storytelling. People stare at these screens hoping to escape while wanting to find themselves. From the character development to the fashion styling, the lack of genuine adolescent depictions can be disheartening causing one to believe that their story doesn’t matter. As an impressionable teenager, when you watch a show that is supposedly made for you, you should be able to connect to real characters rather than clichés. Hopefully, with Euphoria unveiling what it looks like to be a teenager in today’s society (and receiving accolades for their honest work) there will be a paradigm shift in major studios; causing them to create characters that resemble this generation versus propelling old-fashioned Hollywood ideals.

Photo Credits: Pinterest

Report: Taylor McKenzie

The Netflix Channel For Fashion

London Fashion Week 2020 is the latest fashion event to switch completely to a digital format in accordance with coronavirus safety precautions. While the entire industry is still adjusting to its full conversion to online spaces, London Fashion Week in particular has been radically transformed by this virtualization in more ways than one.

The British Fashion Council (BFC) has announced the premiere of a new digital platform that will serve as the venue for London Fashion Week 2020. In what BFC spokeswoman Clara Mercer is describing as “a Netflix channel for fashion”, industry heads and consumers alike will be treated to a myriad of fashion shows and panel discussions hosted by the participating designers. This online platform is the first to be created by the BFC, and the content will be free and available for all.

London Fashion Week’s online shift has resulted in other smaller changes. In place of New York’s men’s week will be London’s gender-neutral show that includes smaller women’s labels. In fact, smaller, emerging labels will dominate London Fashion Week 2020, whereas the larger brands that are typically mainstays in the annual event will be absent this year. There are multiple reasons for these alterations, the main explanation being the adherence to social distancing requirements.

Photo credits:

https://hypebeast.com/2020/6/london-fashion-week-2020-virtual-schedule

https://www.voguebusiness.com/fashion/london-fashion-week-new-digital-plan-lfw

Report: Nia Hunt

The Power of The Digital Space

The digital space is slowly, but surely changing our societal traditions. Now that COVID-19 is in the picture, some of these changes might be for the better. For people who are not familiar with the term “brick and mortar”, it is the presence of physical buildings, such as stores, factories, offices, etc. Prior to the pandemic, some brick and mortar stores were struggling financially due to the rise of online shopping. With some malls being closed due to social distancing, many stores will struggle to stay open because they are not generating the necessary revenue to survive this economic crisis. For instance, “J.C. Penney filed for bankruptcy after years of decline and debt”, tweeted @business. Brick and mortar stores depend on traffic and without that it is almost impossible for them to survive.

Surprisingly, in today’s society everyone does not prefer to shop online. There is a nuance to physically shopping in stores, like the ability to try on clothes to make sure that they fit, which online shopping does not offer. Despite that, most people still prefer to shop online. This generation is what some people would consider a “microwave generation” because we prefer to have everything instantly. Online shopping falls in line with this theory because you can make purchases immediately and you do not have to worry about large crowds or long lines.

There are more perks shopping online than in the stores. In many cases, retailers offer broader selections and more deals online. A big part of shopping is finding the best deals, which comparatively brick and mortar stores do not have. Brick and mortar stores have fallen behind because they are unable to offer anything that will set them apart from online shopping.

While brick and mortar is dying, live streaming has become more popular than it already was. Usually, concerts and festivals would be right around the corner. Since those things can not happen, artists have turned to Instagram and Facebook live to hold virtual concerts, the most popular being the battles. These live battles have caused artists’ streams to increase at a rate no concert would be able to do. With so much free time, people are more open to listening to artists they never heard of or cared for, which artists have taken advantage of.

Platforms like Hulu, Netflix, and Prime Video have also seen another spike since the beginning of the pandemic. With movie theaters being closed, many people have turned to these streaming platforms. While most movies and tv shows on these platforms are not new, they do have some original films that have competed with movie theaters and cable in streams. For example, Netflix has produced films like Tiger King, Money Heist, When They See Us, and Orange Is The New Black. The digital space is in the process of redefining the social world. Change is inevitable and now that we’re in the middle of a pandemic, change might come quicker than expected.

Report: Brionna Thompson