My graphic arts Research Project.

GAPR.

For my Graphic arts research project (dissertation) I have decided to look at a few things...
I have always been really interested in fashion, I really want to find out why art students dress the way they do and why art students have a reputation of being wacky and different to other students and I want to find out if it's true, are art students any different do other students or is that a thing of the past?

1. Do creative/art students dress differently to non-creative/art student?

To do this I would look into what the students in my art school are wearing, ill take photographs and analyze if there is a trend amongst art students today. I don't find that many people on my course dress differently, from just sitting in the studio it's quite clear to me that a lot of the students just wear jeans and t-shirts, 'normal stereotypical student clothes.' Although I do think that a lot of the students on my course change their style between first year and third year. Also I could further my research if needed by looking at what other students around the university are wearing and see if it’s any different to the type off stuff that the students on my course wear. But, I don't really want to look into other students because I'm only really interested in what art students are wearing, and I think it would make things too complicated, but I might have to look into other students to further my research and to find out if all student's have a specific style. There are a few students on the Graphic Arts course who I think dress very interesting and unique. Therefore I'm going to focus more on what they have to say. I don't really want to look at the students who just dress the same as other people...It would make it much more interesting to look at the students whom I find dress like how I imagined art students dressed before coming to Liverpool Art School.


2. Is the way art students dress tribal? (Do they follow a certain trend?)

I'd be really interested to no if art students in Liverpool dress different to art students at other art schools, for example I'd go another big city and see if I could visit their university's/colleges and I could speak to student to find out what they thought. The city's that would be interesting to go to would be London, Manchester and maybe Leeds or Birmingham, just because they are large city's and I think there could be a big difference to students here to there. London especially would be a good place to look at because some of the best shops in the world are in London and it would be interesting to see if that makes a difference to the way the students dress there. It would be good to be able to speak to students at another art school to find out what they think, I'd like to ask them the same questions as I ask the students at my school, just to see if their views are any different to the students at my school. From just looking on the Internet I'm finding quite a big difference to what students in London wear to what they wear here in Liverpool. Most of my research is going to be asking other people what they think and also taking photos to see what I can learn about how different/similar art students are in and around different cities. It's really interesting how there are students from all different parts of the country on my course yet they all seem to follow the same sort of trends. I wonder if this happens everywhere or are their art schools out their full of wacky, unique, individual people? Finding this out will be the best part of my research and also the part of my research that gives me the answers I am looking for. From just asking around I've heard that the art students in London dress a lot more 'out there' than the students in Liverpool. I would be very interested to find out why, and I think the best way to find out would be to go there and ask the students myself.


3. Why do people wear what they wear? (Do they dress for themselves or to please/impress other people and why?)

I'm going to find this out by making a questionnaire, asking questions like...
Does the music you listen to inspire the way you dress?
Do you like to fit in with what other people are wearing?
Is there anyone you see as your style icon? If so, who?
What are your three favorite shops?
Who are your favorite three fashion designers/fashion brands?

I will only find this information out by maybe making a questionnaire and getting student from all different courses in the art school to fill it in.

Music really inspires the way people dress, like there are different little clicks and trend that people follow when that are into different types of music. One of the first things that spring to mind in 'indie' music and the way there is a huge following of it and it seems that everyone into that type of music dress's very similar. Its as though everyone has a label, like,

• Punk- skinny jeans, tartan stuff, leather jacket, chains, spike.
• Goth- black baggy clothes, white make-up, black eyeliner, chains, big boots.
• Indie-hair across face, big fringe, skinny jeans, checked shirts, hoodys, studded belt, band t-shirt.
• Chav-caps,velour tracksuits, big earrings, loads of jewelry.

I've found that over the years each of these stereotypes have changed quite a bit, like in the days when Vivienne Westwood started designing punk clothing, it was a lot more bondage and outrageous, now the punks don't seem so hardcore.
It will be good to see what shops people tend to shop in to see whether the shops in Liverpool are to blame for these 'labeled people'

Celebrities,models,singers,actress's are seen as role models and a lot of people look up to them and aspire to dress like them. I wonder if art students are just like everyone else and if they copy celebrity styles or if they are creative enough to feel that they can express themselves without dressing like everyone else or are art students just the same as everyone else?

4. Mix and matching clothing...looking at how people put things together to create their own individual style.

To do this I thought it would be a good idea to conduct an interview with a few people who I think look different, people who tend to mix things up a bit. There are a few girls on my course who I think really stand out and look unique. Because I mix and match myself I think I've a good eye for spotting other people who also mix high street, vintage, second hand and designer clothes. I could also speak to the owner of Bullet, a little vintage shop that attracts mainly art students because its near Liverpool art school and Liverpool community college art centre. I think she would be useful to talk to because she Sees what the customers are wearing and she isn't an art student so it would be interesting to hear someone outside the art school thinks about the way the students who come into her shop dress. Shops play a huge part in how people dress, because we can only wear what the shops get in. What I think is really interesting is how people put things together, it makes fashion and clothing really personal, this is what I love about fashion, seeing how people put clothing and accessories together, how they style their hair, how people do their make up and it brings me to wonder who do people dress for? Do they put things together for themselves or do the dress for other people, to fit into different cliques, to be part of something? Do they dress to impress people? Or is it simply that the students I'm looking at just dress for comfort?


5. Looking at my own style and finding out why I dress the way I do. (Looking at my own wardrobe, where I shop, my take on fashion and style).

I think this will be the easiest part of my research for it's very personal and I am very passionate about my wardrobe and my style, I love clothes, I wear high-street, vintage, second hand, and I also so make a some stuff myself. I've started this part of my research by taking photo's of my favorite items in my wardrobe and it would be good to see what other people think about how I dress and how I put stuff together. I feel that I dress for myself, not other people; I think fashion is far to personal to just copy what someone else is wearing. As an art student I do feel that I dress quite creatively, clothing an the way you dress, I feel really shows who you are, what mood your in and what type of person you are.

I've answered the questions that I am asking other art students to compare what they think with what I think.

Do you think the music you listen to inspire the way you dress?
I don't really think the music I listen to makes me dress in a certain way, I don't really like a specific type of music, and I like loads of different types of music.

Do you like to fit in with what other people are wearing?
I hate to fit in with what other people wear, I like to wear what I feel happy in because I think the clothes I wear can change what mood I'm In, I dress for myself, I wouldn't feel comfortable wearing the same or similar clothes to someone else.

Is there anyone you see as your style icon? If so, who?
I don't really have a style icon although I do buy a lot of fashion
Magazines like Vogue and I.D and I am inspired by the photograph's I see in them, but I don't really look at a certain person and say, I want to dress like her.

What are your three favorite shops?
Topshop, H&m, Bullet

Who are your favorite three fashion designers/fashion brands?
Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, Vivienne Westwood.

6. Have art students always dressed differently?

I plan to find this out by asking my lecturers about what they wore while at art school and if they can remember what trend/fashion's where out when they were studying.

-Chris Brown, London
-Hillary Judd, Liverpool
-Mike O'Shaugnessy, Manchester
-John Spencer, Liverpool
-Seal Garside, Liverpool

I could hopefully try getting hold of some old photographs. I think it would be really interesting to find out if art students in the past dressed much differently to the art students now, if they dressed more wacky in the past or if it was just the same as it is now. I'd have to put together a questionnaire to ask tutors at my art school and also the staff at central Saint Martin's college of art. I've looked at a few famous designers, who went to Saint Martins for example,

-Christopher Kane
-Alexandra McQueen
-John Galliano
-Stella McCartney
-Giles Deacon

I would like to try contact them and find out what they wore while at art school because I wonder whether big fashion designers dressed creatively while at art school or if they were just like everyone else.