Fashion Issues
Fashion Issues
Fashion Issues
Fashion Issues
A magazine that showcases my graduation project photoshoots and my thought process behind the themes.
Fashion has no gender.
Outside the rigid boundaries of the gender norms too often imposed by our society, fashion is a place where people can be whoever they want to be and provides us with the freedom to express ourselves in any way we want. And because fashion’s main purpose is to promote individuality, it should therefore be genderless.
Not a compliment.
My project consists of photoshoots in public places, which resulted in a new topic for my re-search and design, and that is catcalling. I was on my way to a photoshoot with my younger sister as the model and my friend as the assistant. She looked gorgeous and was dressed in a non-traditional way, so all the eyes were pointed at us while we walked towards the location. We were on the central street in the heart of Chisinau when I heard the first comment of many to come that day. It came from a group of teenage boys: “Wow, where is this pretty lady going dressed like that?” my sister brushed it of so one of them screamed “whore!”.
The power in my shoes.
Growing up in a post-soviet country, stating your opinions about some of these matters was not always praised. Feminism was not always a given since I was made to believe that we as females are inferior to men.“Look at that bad driver, it’s definitely a woman be-hind the wheel.” “Don’t hire a woman because she will just get preg-nant and go on maternity leave”, “Don’t cry, what are you, a girl?”. These are just a couple of remarks I heard so many times as a kid, and at some point, they made me believe it myself. I had to relearn what feminism is as a grownup, understand that it is not a man-hating propaganda, but instead that it advocates for the rights of women and demands equality in opportunities. Feminism is not just important for women but for every sex, gender and caste, it is supposed to empower the people and society as a whole.
Bla Bla Bla.
When you forge your own path and step outside of the norm, you will be judged by others. And often, that judgment can feel harsh. Often, the more unconventional you are, the more you can expect to have that “nobody gets me” feeling and all the fear and anxiety that comes along with it. Many of us are so afraid of judgment. We find our-selves covering up, hiding to avoid it. Some of us even change who we are. We pretend we are someone else. We lie about actions we have taken. We are afraid. But why? Why are we so terrified of how other people see us?
Time to age disgracefully.
There is an epidemic of anxiety and depression among young women. We don’t know why exactly, but we suspect it has something to do with that vague term “self-esteem”. Boys suffer, too, but evidently many young women are unhappy when they should be having the time of their lives. The pressure on them to look a certain way grows. That pressure is no longer confined to youth, we are expected to age “gracefully” and to show no sign of getting old..
They say you can’t wear a short skirt after 40, well, how about a see-through one at 47?