Edward Bond ‘The Third Crisis:
Drama and Civilization ’
“The first Elizabethan age ended with the discovery of brave new worlds
(and incidentally the joining up of the United Kingdom). We are certainly on
the edge of vast new unprecedented worlds, cosmic changes in culture, economy
and society (and ironically the possible dissolution of the United Kingdom).
But are our new worlds brave, cowardly, explorative or degenerative? It could
be said the old Elizabethans plundered the new worlds. Perhaps now we can only
plunder ourselves and call it trade."
The Alexander McQueen Autumn/Winter
look definitely screams contemporary Elizabethan. The jacquard detailing on the
dress just reminds me of the rich patterns that were around during the
Elizabethan era. If you zoom in on the image you can see that the jacquard effect looks like a rich velvet with
lace detailing and was raised to creating this embossed effect. This effect has
been created with what looks to be lace, which was popular. And then there’s the collar. Although not as
elaborate as ones worn during the time, you can definitely tell where
inspiration came from for this look. The whole look is brave, creating an
entire look on such an elaborate era of fashion and beauty. Recreating a look
gone by leaves you open to all kinds of set backs, will the collection live up
to the inspiration? Here I think that
McQueen has touched on certain Elizabethan aspects but hasn't gone into so much
detail so that the look is still wearable in today's society.
Romero Jennings for Guo Pei couture 2013. Images available on instagram
The next set of images were taken
from Romero Jennings Instagram page during FIDé Fashion Week 2013 in Singapore,
showing his work on the models for Guo Pei’s latest collection. The whole
styling of the image looks Elizabethan, with the collar,
elaborate detailing on the dress and also the wide hips . The makeup is a new
twist on a classic. The skin base is pale with a more intense rose cheek. The
only difference to Elizabethan makeup is that Jennings has created a smoky eye
and harsh brows to compliment the base and cheeks. It’s an alteration on the
inspiration that was already there, transforming the look into the 21st Century.
The last images are from Vivienne
Westwood’s Spring/Summer 13 collection, Global Exotic. The collection is based
on the modernity of the romantics and
fairy tales. These images stood out to me because of the use of the white
makeup. In the Elizabethan era this would have been all over the face and thicker. Here, the team at Westwood’s has put
a contemporary twist on the look by placing it in certain places around the
face, like the eyes, which brings out the bone structure of each model. The look is fairly safe, as the white isn't massively bold. This may be to bring out the patterns on the clothing; the
blurred white wouldn't clash with the prints created. This to me is
contemporary Elizabethan; using a key aspect of Elizabethan makeup and
transforming it into a modern look by accentuating bone structure that would have been covered
up.
Overall I think that fashion
designers and makeup artists are taking inspiration from the Elizabethan era
and experimenting with these aspects. Turning them into modern looks with
contemporary components such as smaller collars, bolder cheeks and blurred whites to show bone structure.
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