Emperical Menswear
When I first got given this brief I didn't really feel too inspired, partly because I wasn't sure where to take it or even where to begin. However inspiration struck as I started researching into Sustainability and Ethical Fashion. I became really passionate about the subject itself and through pages of research found out so much information which I never knew. We all buy clothes but give little or no thought to the process in which it's gone through to get on these hangers.
I felt really focused on Britain's Throw Away society, and was completley shocked with the sheer damage it's doing to our environment.
Chosen Community, Maybe?
Initially I struggled to draw inspirations from any of the communities I looked at, partly because I found it difficult to understand their history and how I could relate it back to this project. However going by their garments and costumes I felt most drawn to the Tibetan people, and decided to look into their lifestyle with more depth.
Tibetans have all the qualities that as humans we admire:
Courage
Integrity and
Generosity
Their own little world functions completley out of rhythm to our own, they have a sense of community and togetherness which many of us lack due to lifestyle.
Nomad Tibetans are constantly exposed to elements of nature: Rain, Snowstorms and Drought.
Their lives are completley tuned to the growth of grass, birth of animals and seasonal movement of their herds. They have developed a close connection to their land and the livestock that nurtured them. For thousands of years they've survived through raising animals.
Alongside taking care of animals, Tibet nomads developed specialised skills in spinning and weaving. Since the first nomads ventured onto the Tibetan plateau and began raising sheep and yaks, their very existence has depended on spinning and weaving skills.
Today, nomad men spin sheep and yak wool and yak hair. Women weave wool into fabric for tents, blankets, bags and clothing. Men braid ropes and slingshots. These items are still used in everyday nomadic life
Costume
The weather along the Tibet Plateau for the most part of the year is extremely bad and changeable. Tibetans tend to wear loose and durable fur garments with wide sleeves - not only to resist the coldness but for convenience as they have manual work to do during the day.
During the day they take off one of the sleeves to work more freely and tie it around their waist as an accessory.
They were caps as a way of protecting the head from the cold, generally made from sheepskin or fox skin.
Materials
Most of the Tibetan costumes are made from animal fur, simply because fur is soft, durable and warm. Sheepskin is the most common.
In the past the type of fur worn would indicate a different meaning, for example. A hero of the war would wear tiger skin, and a deserter would have to wear fox skin.
There is a specific material that is uniquely used in Tibet: pulu. Pulu is made of sheep's wool. It is fine and soft. A high-quality pulu garment can be used as a raincoat and it is suitable to wear throughout the whole year. Cotton is also a favorable choice. In summer, Tibetans usually wear thin cotton garments.
Colours
Tibetans in the city prefer lighter colours, where as in the pastoral area women are fond of bright colours. Citizens match clothes of similar colors together, while country people make their clothes, most usually aprons, with stripes of five different colors: white, blue, green, red and yellow, which represent the cloud, the sky, the rivers, the earth, and one of the gods in their religion. The match of colors shows the specific sense of beauty of Tibetans.
Resettlement in towns....
"...as nomads are resettled in town, they have no need for mutual work and co-operation. They don’t like to help each other. They become less related to each other. Finally, they lose the solidarity they cherished in the past and live lonely next door to each other."
Tibetans are beginning to lose that community they once had....
Solidarity:
Nomads who live in the highlands of Tibet are more united with their families and tribes. They co operate with each other to survive and work, they communicate a lot.
After resettlement there is no need for mutual work or co operation, the become less related together and therfore lose that solidarity they once had.
Virtues and Good Qualities:
Tibetan Nomads have always been well mannered, they respect their elders and love their youngers.
Solidarity:
Nomads who live in the highlands of Tibet are more united with their families and tribes. They co operate with each other to survive and work, they communicate a lot.
After resettlement there is no need for mutual work or co operation, the become less related together and therfore lose that solidarity they once had.
Virtues and Good Qualities:
Tibetan Nomads have always been well mannered, they respect their elders and love their youngers.
Income:
For a long time Tibetans could not be seperated from animal husbandry. Nomads live on their meat, they use yak hair for wool; their tents and cushions are made of yak hair; their bodies are nurtured by yak milk and yoghurt and they use yak dung for heating.
Since they've been resettled, one: they have no income, and secondly: they are unable to eat the foods in which they once ate when they were children. As a consequence Nomads now have to buy foods from the supermarkets - and the price of foods can easily rise.
Tibetan nomads live on the cutting-edge of life. They deal, on a daily basis, with the raw elements of a harsh environment while they go about their rigorous lives with incredible poise. They are men and women who can still start a fire with a flint and steel. Both men and women, and even children, are extremely adept at handling large animals, which can often be very unruly. Nomads possess a great body of knowledge about the environment in which they live and the animals they raise for a living.
Over thousands of years, nomads accommodated to their environment, learning to live with what it offered instead of changing and molding the landscape to suit their needs, as farmers try to do. Nomads have much to teach us!
Chosen Brand: All Saints
The reason I've chosen All Saints as my brand is because I feel their clothes are unique, they push boundries and really experiment with their silhouettes. I feel there's a lot I can do with it.
Through Questionnaire here's a breif summary of what I found out:
Most people who I asked ranged from ages: 23-28
The majority of them were employed
They said they shopped there because they generally liked the clothes.
Most people who I asked said they did shop there regularly
Tibetan nomads live on the cutting-edge of life. They deal, on a daily basis, with the raw elements of a harsh environment while they go about their rigorous lives with incredible poise. They are men and women who can still start a fire with a flint and steel. Both men and women, and even children, are extremely adept at handling large animals, which can often be very unruly. Nomads possess a great body of knowledge about the environment in which they live and the animals they raise for a living.
Over thousands of years, nomads accommodated to their environment, learning to live with what it offered instead of changing and molding the landscape to suit their needs, as farmers try to do. Nomads have much to teach us!
Chosen Brand: All Saints
The reason I've chosen All Saints as my brand is because I feel their clothes are unique, they push boundries and really experiment with their silhouettes. I feel there's a lot I can do with it.
Through Questionnaire here's a breif summary of what I found out:
Most people who I asked ranged from ages: 23-28
The majority of them were employed
They said they shopped there because they generally liked the clothes.
Most people who I asked said they did shop there regularly
