︎︎CINEMA
︎ Roasting Susan Sontag:Cinema’s Distopian Rebirth(?) and Gerwigs ‘Barbie’ Movie
︎ 13.06.2024
There's nothing like the anxious ache that riddles a realization that someday, that person you love so dearly, that has tenderly cushioned and raised you with such uncompromised quality will someday be laid to rest. A pain in the acknowledgement of the person you once waltzed with, with such vigor and explosive passion will become a bottle of ashes on the mantle, or an all-you-can-eat microbe buffet six feet below. Death is absurd, but the idea that an artistic medium as abstract as ‘cinema’ has an expiry, a death akin to a life cycle, a moment of supposed combustion we should all be wetting out pants about, is ridiculous. Susan Sontag’s 1996 essay ‘The Decay of Cinema’, is worth exploring and remains relevant across the state of cinema today despite Sontag's dramatic analogy, which is a false draw to say the least. To briefly pander to their linguistic choices, cinema is certainly not dead and never will be. Though, true to Sontag’s prophecies, cinema is in a state of indefinite pollution due to its vandalization by corporate greed, but evolving spectator cultures, technologies and relationships to screen have revived new appreciation for the medium. In unpacking Sontag’s influential inquisition, my reasoning will lean on the 2023 blockbuster film, ‘Barbie’ directed by Greta Gerwig. Barbie is a curious piece of cinema that is simultaneously embossed with cinema's prevailing elemental cultural charms whilst lying in a bed (that is fuchsia, heart-shaped and trademarked) with Sontag’s artistic nemeses.  

To begin, the temptation of personifying cinema within its definition is understandably hard to resist given the moving medium's spiritual ties to the human state of being. For this essay in the hopes of avoiding the melodramas of poetics (for which we so fondly use to describe our beloved cinema) I will prescribe a more rigid definition to 'cinema’ that will act as an important clarification as we indulge Sontag’s reasoning. In their essay, ‘Cinema Hangs Tough’ (2020), André Gaudreault and Philipe Marion share my interest in defining what is meant exactly by Sontag’s use of the word ‘cinema’ examining the ideological implications of the very matter. Amongst discussing a French versus English (American) approach (cinéma versus cinema) they utter that Sontag’s plea is for a medium that is “something more, something bigger, something grander than the word film.” (Gaudreault, Marion 2020). This grandiose praise for the medium can be helped further with Eisenstein's dialectic theory that assesses cinema's ability to render emotionally moving synthesis beyond the simple illusion of motion picture (Eisenstein, 1998). Cinema bursts with not only aesthetic spectacle but with poetry seeping from the pores of a deliberate and impactful use of oppositional visuals. Cinema, as most contemporary art stands, is simultaneously for the people and undeniably elitist. Therefore, to appease Sontag and myself, a simple, conclusive and shared definition of cinema is art that is medium specific to film. 



In their 1996 essay, Sontag strongly expresses that commercial tampering is to blame for cinema becoming a ‘decadent art’, suggesting the decay of our culture under capitalism in tow is emaciating cinema from its artistic richness. Sontag’s initial reasoning is viable, even prophetic through today's lens but still concludes too slippery in its severity, that is that cinema is doomed. It is more productive to examine how cinema is linked to (western) capitalism and how it might prevail and evolve despite Sontag’s predicament. Hence, a better descriptor for cinema’s contemporary existence is ‘evolving’, though we tend to wince at such optimism.
Sontag’s first sentiment states that ‘good’ films must be violations of capitalist norms. ‘Good’, from inference meaning of reputable artistic merit and ‘capitalistic norms’ meaning the idea of having traditional commercial value. I disagree with Sontag that these factors are mutually exclusive with a modern complication that ‘good’ film (cinema) can exist without violating capitalist norms. To illustrate, let us glance at Gerwig's 2023 film ‘Barbie’. The blockbuster was met with critical appraisal and cultural debate. By all accounts, Barbie was a good piece of cinema with a contextually timely narrative embossed with themes of gender, existentialism and radical positivity. Journalist and film maker, Silvi Vann-Wall described the film in her 2023 review as “a slapstick parody and sincere thesis on humanity rolled into one film”. Gerwig, formally an indie darling, could easily gone for bronze on a pathway cleared of controversy and intellectualization when making her Mattel branded masterpiece. Instead, she went in for the kill with a surprisingly perceptive piece imbued with a self-awareness that felt fresh, tactile and from the heart, all whilst pertaining as a gargantuan hot pink advertisement. Could Gerwig's film really have the best of both worlds or is Barbie a hint at a cultural fate worse than Sontag could have imagined?
“If cinema is to be resurrected it is only through the birth of a new kind of cine-love" (Sontag, 1996). Sontag puts forth a semblance of a solution that is only muddied by what Barbie stands for in our current cinema culture, she suggests prematurely that cinemas authenticity could be revived when we return to a new kind of cinephilia that would magically abolish corporate greed. However, the modern age has taught us that the system of capitalism is less of a blatant aggressor and more so an annoying and conniving chameleon with a few extra tricks up its sleeve. Such as what we saw in the Barbie movie, Hollywood has figured out how to tear apart and repackage cinema. They wrap films, not just with the glittering and alluring paper of spectacle, but with a satin bow of soothing ideological validation and expected of such an irresistible combination, consumers are more than happy to lap it up like bears to honey. The phenomenon is summarized with hilarious cynicism by Vann-Wall in her quote “We’re all dying inside, but sometimes we want to wear pink” (Vann-Wall, 2023).
Lastly, and in due to the demands of corporate intention, the pinnacle of Sontag’s grievances with cinemas decay is that we now have an industry that is unashamedly concerned with the reproduction of success.  She digresses that “the point of good film now more than ever is to be a one-of-a-kind achievement and that commercial cinema has settled for a policy of bloated derivative film making, a brazen combinatory or re-combinatory art in the hope of reproducing success (Sontag, 1996). I agree that a determining factor of ‘good’ film should constitute that of a one-of-a-kind achievement, but such a sentiment is not completely undermined by capitalisms interest in reproduction. The action of doing so certainly bloats the film industry to an embarrassing proportion but it doesn't by any means obscure the original artistic breakthrough. The truth in Sontags prophecy can be found in the aftermath of Barbie’s successes and Mattel’s planned roll out of films stuffed silly with nostalgia and intellectual property. We face a new dawn of a ‘Mattel universe’, a concept that predated the Barbie movie with the 2018 announcement of the company's theatrical division justified by its ever sincere CEO "Mattel is home to one of the world's greatest portfolios of beloved franchises, and the creation of Mattel Films will allow us to unlock significant value across our IP"(Newswire, 2018), A statement that just radiates good intentions and is not at all grinning eagerly down the road of exploitation, pardon the sarcasm. In April 2022, Business Wire released a harrowingly transparent report that Mattel’s motion picture development slate featured movies based on franchises spanning from toy cars ‘Hot Wheels’ to the abstract concept of the card game ‘UNO’ (Business Wire, 2022). We will have to face the matter that such films are likely to be unapologetic cash grabs and in the words of Sontag, utterly ‘witless’. What remains is the disturbing fact is that just like what has become of the marvel universe, films prospects like ‘UNO’, ‘Polly Pocket’ and ‘Magic 8-Ball' (it’s going to really shake things up), too will have their zombie disciples mindlessly shuffling into the box office. Even with this revelation and unstoppable domino effect, Barbie (Mattel's big pink ‘GO’ sign) still stands as a strong piece of cinema and will no doubt signpost, as all good cinema does, a remarkable moment in time. Aside from its product, the film signifies an evolution of our cultural and political relationship to cinema where it has not ‘died’ or ’decayed’ as Sontag suggests but is rather serving (as it always has) as a reflection of a social subconsciousness that at this moment in history happens to call its puppeteer late-stage capitalism. 

“The sheer ubiquity of moving images has steadily undermined the standards people once had for both cinema as art and cinema as popular entertainment.” (Sontag, 1996). Contrary to Sontag's idea, the saturation of moving image has not damaged cinema. In some ways, and rather unexpectedly, modern technologies such as the internet and streaming have sparked new ways for the public to engage with the medium. The aptly coined ‘Cinema of Interactions’ (Grusin, 2016) and Laura Mulvey's idea of ‘delayed’ cinema are modern theories that work to deepen cinema’s curiosities and revive our cultural appreciation of the medium. Together they outline cinema as a relevant artform in the twenty-first century. Due to new critical theories that have spawned from new access through technology, cinema’s quality has not worsened as Sontag suggests, rather it has sought new directions in its relationship with viewers.  
Film theorists, such as Francois Jost, describe the current cinema landscape as the ‘post-cinema’ period. Jost explains “the characteristic of post-cinema is interaction” (Jost, 2020). Richard Grusin coined the term ‘cinema of interactions’ in 2016, basing the concept off Tom Gunnings ‘cinema of attractions’ (Gunnings. 1986). Grusin defines the ‘interaction’ by its relationship with other media forms and by its aesthetic sense, where we find narrative logic that pairs to “digital media like DVD’s and videogames rather than that of photography, drama or fiction.” (Grusin, 2016).  The interactions also greet a sense of accessibility. Cinema as a market product today is imbued with so much more than the spectacle of witnessing it take place in the cinema, where Sontag examines “to be kidnapped, you have to be in a movie theatre”, we can now take the chains off. Today you can kidnap and relive the essence of a film through its marketed soundtrack, it’s merchandise and under the doona via your Netflix app. Streaming is to be considered a logical ‘continuation of cinema’ where the audience is given choice and freedoms in how they choose to proactively partake in and engage with cinema. The choice of device, whether to watch a film in parts or all-at-once, and whether to watch at home or elsewhere (Jost, 2020). Laura Mulvey also stands optimistic amidst Sontag’s worries in her essay ‘Delaying Cinema’. Mulvey pivots her perspective to modern technologies ability to preserve and manipulate film and its ability to allow us to consume old cinema in modern ways (hence, bringing about a new ‘cine-love'). Mulvey asserts that when viewers have the power to play with cinema in time space (pause, play, rewind etc.) they are given powers to pull cinematic sequences apart from the inside, finding ‘hitherto unexpected meanings’ (Mulvey, 2006). The tools presented to us as viewers and lovers of cinema, that allow us to share opinions and discuss the intricacies of films construction deepen the magical allure of the artform and frees textual analysis from being a puritan academic practice. The internet has evolved into ripe grounds for rapid discussion and debate of the arts, opening doors for new critical voices and crafting a newfound appreciation for cinema, a rebirth of cinephilia. Film critic for the New Yorker, David Denby describes a new ‘internet cinephilia’ as generating “an unstoppable exfoliating mass of knowledge and opinion, a thickening density of inquiries, claims, reference points, agreements, outraged and dulcet tweets, rebuttals, summations, dismissals” and the internet as “sensationally available for young critics to find a voice” (Denby, 2012). In the same breath, Denby takes Sontag by the hand and consoles her call for a “new kind of cine-love"(Sontag, 1996). It’s easy to make the assertion that an oversaturation of cinema and freedom of access would work to dilute to medium both as art and entertainment, however like most of Sontag’s argument it fails to be any less than overdramatic flub. The reality stands that we have witnessed a total transformation in how we interact with cinema that has birthed a new cinephilia, continually prevailing and reimagining cinema’s importance today.  

In summary, we find that by its logical definition as an artform, cinema cannot ‘die’ by the normal use of the word. Most of Sontag's argument, however influential at the time it was conceived, today reads as an over-dramatic and emotionally charged response to what is we can now better understand as an evolving medium. Sontag's first argument points its finger at corporate greed killing cinemas artistic merits. We complicated this idea by illustrating the sentiment in relation to Greta Gerwig's 2023 film Barbie, a film that was well loved whilst remaining closely tied to the interest of business. Then, heralding Sontag’s major point about a need for cinephilia to have a rebirth, we found rhetoric for this new cine-love through contemporary technologies and advancements in the medium that save space for new interactions with cinema.  Sontag was not entirely wrong in her prophecy about the future of cinema as we now see. Simply, she assumed a justified but worried misjudgment upon the hands that would be passed the baton at the turn of a century. 


SUBLIME!

References
Ackerley, T (Producer), Brenner, R (Producer), Heyman, D (Producer), Robbie, M (Producer) & Gerwig, G (Director). (2023). Barbie [Feature film]. Warner Bros Pictures, Mattel Films, Hey Day Films, Luckychap Entertainment.

Eisenstein, S. (1998) The Dramaturgy of Film Form (The Dialectic Approach to Film Form.) The Eisenstein Reader (pp.93-110).  Ed. Richard Taylor, Trans. Richard Taylor and William Powell, London: BFI.

Gaudreault, A., & Marion, P. (2020). Cinema Hangs Tough. In Post-cinema (pp. 67–84). Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048551941-006

Grusin, R. (2016). DVDs, Video Games and the Cinema of Interactions. In Post-Cinema. Theorizing 21st Century Film. Ed. Shane Denson and Julia Leyda. Falmer: Reframe Books.

Jost, F. (2020). What Kind of Art Is the Cinema of Interactions? In Post-cinema (pp. 159–174). Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048551941-011

Mattel Launches New Theatrical Film Division: ACADEMY AWARD®-NOMINATED PRODUCER ROBBIE BRENNER JOINS AS HEAD OF MATTEL FILMS. (2018). In PR Newswire. PR Newswire Association LLC.

Mattel Films and Warner Bros. Pictures Announce J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Will Produce Hot Wheels Live-Action Motion Picture. (2022). In Business Wire. Business Wire.

Mulvey, L. (2006). Chapter 8: Delaying Cinema. In Death 24x a Second: Stillness and the Moving Image (pp 144-160). London: Reaktion Books.

Sontag, S. (1996, February 25). The Decay of Cinema. The New York Times. https://www.proquest.com/magazines/decay-cinema/docview/215507787/se-2?accountid=13552 

Vann-Wall, .S (2023, July 20). Barbie Review – This Barbie Will Bust the Block. ScreenHub. https://www.screenhub.com.au/news/reviews/barbie-review-this-barbie-will-bust-the-block-2620265/ 

︎︎CINEMA
︎ Donnie Darko (2001), The American Dream on it’s Head
︎ Latter half of 2023
*This essay was written for a university class in film criticism.



It takes not only a stubborn clarity, but visceral guts to contradict tradition in film. Donnie Darko, is director Richard Kelly's ambitious 2001 breakout feature film. Upon first watch the film is a dark, genre-twisting piece, edgy at best. Upon closer examination however, the narrative seemed to seek a crude and hostile commentary on American Life not to mention navigating this world of absurdity as an adolescent. The truth of the film is how it sought the goal of positioning itself to interrogate with a bold nihilistic gaze upon traditional American values that lean into individualism. Deconstructing a thickly glazed concept of tradition resulting in the issue of losing purpose behind the drape of a star-spangled banner, abruptly fracturing the American dream ‘hyper-reality’ (Laist 2015) that was oversaturating Hollywood films in the 1990s. This goal most profoundly finds its footing in Kelly’s direction of the mise-en-scène across the films watch. A rigid coding of mise-en-scène, from the acting to costume and the films choice in set, straddle wrangles a heated perspective on American life and suburban utopia arguing it’s disposition to credit an individualist focus and strangle a ‘transformative human experience’ (Perkins 2008). 

Donnie Darko has received critical praise for its unique production and narrative. Described generically by website IMDB as a mystery, drama and science fiction film. It tracks the plot of Donnie, a troubled teenager played by a then nineteen-year-old Jake Gyllenhaal, when he discovers in an ambiguous sleepwalk lead delusion that the world is bound to end in twenty-eight days during which he avoids tragedy when over the same night a jet engine has crashed through the roof of his bedroom. Over a series of bizarre suburban events and realisations lead by Donnie’s apparent psychosis (or otherworldly forces?), the film traces a time space continuum backwards and the plot ends where it started, only this time Donnie dies from the jet engine. 

Mise en scène, a debated and pretentious term to some that in cinema ‘means everything and nothing very specific’ (Martin 2014). It encapsulates all the visual and audible elements of a film aside from the script itself. It works to both suspend disbelief, a smoke screen of sorts, and can be decoded by critics and theorists alike to unravel meaning. 

An obvious success of Kelly as director, was his ability to precisely direct actors body language and staging. This promoted, over the duration of the film, a juxtaposition in attitudes towards American values of individualism, critiquing those as such. Early in the film, we are introduced to Donnie Darko, as well as his immediate family in a lengthy slow motion opening sequence, followed by a more than memorable family dinner scene. We find a zombie-like Donnie clearly suffering from a slow burn insanity. We recognise this, not only in his slumped body but with a strong visual reference to American post horror film, The Shining (dir. Stanley Kubrick), Donnie, chin to his chest, donning a menacing ‘Kubrick stare’ at the dinner table. The zombie glaze calls to ‘themes of depersonalisation and disenfranchisement’ (Dery 2012). This reference to horror, a genre known to elaborate on societal taboos and disturbed nuances in the real world, gives clear headway to Kelly’s directorial vision and communicated immediately the dialogue to be had in the film on madness and suffering, the unglamourous life of an American teenager. The choice to open the film with such a scene, one so that highlights the formalities of American family life, a father figure heads the table eating with his hands, the mother less central to the shot eating eloquently and the children to either side is our introduction to the traditional counter lifestyle that Kelly is casting an argument against. We continue to experience Donnie in this state. Lest we forget how Gyllenhaal’s acting separates Donnie as an individual personality. Later he exits his house on a deluded sleepwalk with the same maniacal expression, he walks between two trimmed hedges. This scene leaves little to interpretation about Kelly’s references and in honesty, he could have been more subtle, yet it is still a crystal-clear way to introduce Donnie as the discussive vessel for the films goal. Horror references in the mise-en-scène of the films introduction immediately and undeniably subverts an expectation of the (then, very familiar) suburban narrative – a perfect opening position to discuss the downfalls of an established American dream and its familial values.


Moving forwards, mise-en-scène is constructed by Kelly for a telling observation on individualist society with juxtaposition, most notably in the family’s reaction to the twice repeated scenario of the jet engine crash. The first instance, Donnie survives the freak accident when he has left the house overnight to seek Frank (played by James Duval) on a golf course. A side note on this specific choice, the golf course is a fantastic liminal space to open a discourse on an American lifestyle of greed and pleasure, now back to the main discussion. Donnie returns home to the chaotic scene. Police, news reporters and the local community gather around the Darko’s property to the shock and sickly delight of the Darko family. This is the first scene that disrupts the previous strong colour palette of blue and red (obnoxiously symbolising American tradition), now the Darko family stand together wearing hues of purple, pink and red as they relish in the surprise of sudden attention. In this scenario, Donnie is the subject of a miracle, the talk of the town – despite the horrific event. An intelligent contrast is drawn with the mise-en-scène in a later sequence, where the event repeats itself only this time Donnie is knowingly in bed and dies beneath the jet engine, a less maniacal expression heralds him insinuating over coming an individualist complex and seeking the role of sacrifice, an outcome he knows has saved the world from its doomed conclusion. Gyllenhaal's expressions noticeably soften throughout the film symbolising this attitude transition, upholding the films goals. The conclusive contrast here, however, is the Darko’s reaction to the same tragic scenario, only with Donnie’s newfound victimhood. This time, the mood is much more sinister. A mirror to the introductory slow-motion sequence that supported a dream like vision of suburban life, the sequence here instead gives thought to a darker stroke of tradition. The same chaos is subdued by the Darko families' expressions of grief, standing divided. The father carrying a child, the mother alone smokes a cigarette (a punch line served from an earlier scene where Donnie smokes at school, informing his younger sister “don’t tell mom”). Kelly’s choice to create this binary of reactions to the same event give and take Donnies fate, intensely works to contribute to the films goal of interrogating American values by flipping them on their head. 

Ultimately, it is obvious why Donnie Darko struck a chord in audiences, especially of western descent, upon its release and still today. It’s unusually strange and at times convoluted succession of its critical discourse on American tradition and the American dream. 




References:

Dery, M., & Sterling, B. (2012). I must not think bad thoughts drive-by essays on American dread, American dreams. University of Minnesota Press.

Laist, R. (2015). Cinema of Simulation: Hyperreal Hollywood in the Long 1990s (1st ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing Inc. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781501304668

Martin, A. (2014). Mise en Scène and Film Style: From Classical Hollywood to New Media Art (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137269959

Perkins, C. (2008). Becoming-Democratic: Donnie Darko and Other Recent Suburban Utopias. Rhizomes, 16.

 ︎︎FASHION
︎Year in Review
New Year New She: December Donations and What We’re Shopping in 2024
︎ 30.12.2023
If there’s a perfect time for my nihilism to shine through it’s an end-of-an-era recap. The fashion has-beens of the past year, what’s going to look agreeably flammable in 2024 and what’s going to pump from a subconscious undercurrent into the glitz of utterly haute street-style. Whilst personally I’m remaining calm in the fashion rockpools of 501’s and Breton stripes, the tide is high for a seasonal shift in trends. So let us take a float, a tumble rather, in the turbulent waters of my predicted incoming fashion landscape.

Collectively, with wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis on the western front and the pinnacle of such events manifesting within our ever-consuming hyperstimulation  – our fashion conscious has reached a split end. For womenswear in 2024, we will continue to experience a sensual yet modest approach to our choices in dressing. An attempt, I will argue, to calm our nervous system under a ceiling that continues to crack. And as we try to ignore the plaster decorating our scalps, we turn, with all logic, to cardigans. Another group is ignoring the untimely caress of a dismissed length of asbestos by further radicalising a maximalist and eclectic look, advancing the romance of femme-core and a ‘pop of red’ trends. Gazing well past a sexy modesty towards a vivacious and estrogenic expression.

A cadence of untimely voices will dwindle in 2024’s cultural harmony. Trends you can expect to see less include ill-fitting cargo pants, parachute pants and trousers with a military influence. Instead, we will be seeing people opt for blue collar inspired pants, straight cut denim continuing down a path of neat and orderly modesty. This sense of order will relay onto the more bohemian woman as well who will trade her textured and bias-cut midi skirt for something more structured be that trousers or maxi denim skirts (that will continue to branch out in design possibility). I pray that we will stop layering skirts over pants, but this is yet to be clear. Moto jackets, leather and suede will be out in general, overlapping a growing interest in synthetic and wool outerwear. The moto style may still be popular as it adapts to a lengthening silhouette in 2024, minus heavy leather and no longer donning racing motifs. Capris almost certainly will be gone from the radar. Traditional north American camouflage print will be retired. ‘Real Tree’ camo is decidedly having a moment with the rise of mid-west American aesthetics at a cross section with coquette-core (thank you Ethyl Cain). I’m sensing this trend to be a bright and blinkable solar flare like we saw with brazil-core. Football (soccor, sigh) jerseys are out in 2024 too, FIFA is ZUN.

Skinty Pirate Jockey!
I sense a rejection of the denim jort. However, long structured drill shorts will prosper and replace the desire for A-line skirts. A sense of female functionality is essential to a woman expected to be on her feet in 2024, and on her toes – the unbreakable match of a below the knee buckle boot, topped with the subtle thrill of a white cotton sock. I love the strong edgy look of this trend and I hope to see it stay a while into 2024. I emplore that this silhouette doesn’t remain a way that makes it size exclusive as I am yet to see it pulled off by larger women. The trend suits a slender figure with boots that gape the calf and shorts that sit on the apex of bony hips, adding volume to the legs, and leaning into a continuing trend of the elongated torso in 2024.


Clean Romance and Tightening the Bow.
Coquette and soft female embellishments ruled the latter half of 2023 and I don’t see its grip loosening on us any time soon. Married with the desire for structure and seriousness, I think materials will become crisper, whiter and cleaner. Bows had us in a chokehold, and still will in 2024 but colours will drift past baby pinks and reds, exploring bolder possibilities and continuing to modernise this aesthetic.




Grounded Girl boss?
I really don’t know what else to describe this as, but it’s giving a lot of kudos to Roz from monster inc., as she rightfully deserves by the way. Modest materials, business casual fabrics, slouchy crescent bags that amplify the ‘I love you gravity but you’re bringing me down’ effect! Ballet and mary jane flats continue to grace the soles of our feet, gently caressed by a pair of super long and wide trousers. Soft silhouettes embraced through cardigans and low-rise trousers. In 2024 we’re ditching the weighty heart necklace that everyone and their dog was condoning, instead corsages are here yay! Big statement roses on chokers will contribute to the body lengthening style exercise we are all so obsessed with. Slay!


Red
Red is here to stay, only she’s moving away from simply being a ‘pop of’ and is going to take over as a general statement colour on dresses and blouses. It’s going to be attractive to consumers as a seemingly classic look and a safe buy, but not for long – trust me.


Cut Out Basics/ Cold Shoulder
Apart from lengthening, silhouette will be toyed with through a continued reimagination of classics with airy, yet considered cut outs. We’re inclined to play it safe with our purchases in turbulant times. A simple flirtacious cut out in your favourite tank, or prada-esk disruption to a vest or jacket is a safe way to ride the trend wave next year. I’m hoping the cold shoulder trend will take flight in 2024 aswell, in a continued consideration for the 2010s indie revival. 

Double Breasted 
As discussed earlier on this blog, double breasted coats and jackets will be all the rage. Jackets with military braiding and all essential colonial attributes will be spicing up our autumn and winter fits. I like this trend a lot! Its totally classic and worth investing in a quality piece that you can wear on many the iconic occasion. 




Thats all off of the crack in my skull, if you have any excess ideas that you’d like to discuss with me, please don’t hesitate to email me at xandraslater@gmail.com - I would love, in fact I lust to hear from you. I crave it. Adios!

︎︎FASHION
︎The Metadrobe
︎ 17.10.2023

I hate talking about AI, not because I dislike it, because it feels so normal. I’m tired of talking about AI like it’s some crazy new technology that we didn’t totally expect to manifest out of the woodwork. AI feels like it has always been there, and its fucking awesome. Yes, it causes us to take a hard look in the mirror of consciousness, but it’s a great tool, a divine extension of ourselves really. A trend that I feel is going to hit hard in the coming months, is digital print. In a certain utopic, otherworldly and artificial sense that harnesses the idea of the sublime. Its already succumbed to the underground, text driven digital prints have been a mainstay in the post ironic fashion trend I reported on at the start of this year, a dead trend if I do say so. I’m inkling at maximalist abstract colour prints becoming a core graphic movement in the greater fashion sphere. Obviously reflecting the zeitgeist absurdism that we are experiencing and least we forget, assaulting the abilities of modern textile technology. With the rise of AI designers online, it’s strangely exciting to see how this fashion thinking will be adopted by the fashion warriors of our concrete jungle, the first and most obvious adoption will be in print. Not so much glitchy, but distorted colour graphic prints on Lycra or tight-fitting and abstracted garments, maybe piggy backing off the y2k trend but with a contemporary flair. Swampy palettes, like you’ve been dragged from the Merri-creek onto Gertrude Street (how do you say...earthy), chromatic pastels like you’re soggy and hungover after Pride Month. Motifs that mimic animated or digital graphic content and characters. Soft distortion even, prints that radiate divineness mirroring the god like creative cheat code felt when using chat GPT. Ombre will certainly be making its obnoxious return, to my excitement. When we are experiencing new cultural movements, style wise, I am inclined to suggest they always manifest in a superbly obvious way. Some in the forecasting world have coined this trend ‘digitopia’, rather optimistically I feel, but good on them. There’s an air of camouflage about this trend, blending into natural environments in the most unnatural way possible. Blurring the lines between fantasy and reality is a suitable movement as we take the developing metaverse concept head on – but is there a sense of irony to this? When our personas, personalities and spirits take the journey to a less physical place (as I would argue we are well on that pathway with social media), what is the need to reflect this in real life, let alone with tangible fashion. I feel walking the streets and seeing ‘digitopia’ take hold will feel only natural to us in the months to come, I’m yet to see an oversaturation in the glum Melbourne streets, need I say, watch this (meta)space.  


︎︎CINEMA
︎ Technological and cultural movements of the decade spanning 2005 – 2015 and the development of the teen-party comedy movie (sub)genre.
︎ 07.09.2023

Certain genres, more specifically subgenres, arise from significant cultural and technological movements in their context. This essay will be examining the development and success of a subdivision of the comedy genre, the teen house party comedy that was prevalent from the years spanning 2005 – 2015 and key cultural and technological movements that served as the catalyst for its development and popularity. Genre is examined in this essay as a distinguishing method to characterise a film by its narrative form, style and camera use and their unity in promoting an aesthetic product then to be read as a historically dominant product. (Harboard 2002). The teen-party subgenre of the comedy sphere in the late 2000s and early 2010s suffers a small scope of coverage academically however this essay will supply a logical argument for its development. The subgenre can be defined as comedies with teenagers in high school or university as the central characters who forgo any aspect of the heroes' journey through the vessel of a house party. Staked firmly to their contexts, these films usually feature stereotypical depictions of gender and engage traditional American values, later films also challenging such . An understanding of genre that can explore a wider contextual culture in relation to its aesthetic (Harboard 2002) and thematic origins is crucial to its evolving contributions. When examining the chosen genre, I will be looking first to its origins whilst deciphering a cyclical cultural similarity between film contexts of the past and now. Further, I will examine the global financial crisis (2007), the Iraq war beginning (2003), social media with the introduction of Facebook (2004) and Myspace (2003) also changing personal relationships to music with the iPod nano (2005). The effects of these events and technologies were instrumental in the culmination and success of the teenage (house) party comedy film genre.

The semi collapse of the global financial system in 2007-08 eloped amass of cultural shifts in America (Negra and Tasker 2014). Signposting an age approaching the brink of capitalism, the global financial crisis gave headway to the realisation of the American dream's erosion, it began to collapse long championed traditional gender roles and a communal suburban lifestyle. A dismantled future especially weighed on the conscious of American teenagers. All this beckoned a cinematic trend leaning on coming-of-age narratives and nostalgia centred amongst romanticised middle-class suburbs. In his thesis, ‘The Cultural and Industrial uses of Nostalgia in 2010s Hollywood Cinema’, Cooper (2021) states ‘In an attempt to weather this multitude of discontinuities, the contemporary American film industry can be seen to have internalized the logic of cultural nostalgia in a plea for continuity.’  With this desire, a host of teen party flicks were produced, tucked cheerfully within the comedy genre. I will use the 2007 film ‘Super Bad’ directed by Greg Mottola as an example. The plot centres around high school seniors Evan and Seth, looking to kick start their sex lives at a party before going to college. The central motivator to the plot is the boy's mission to obtain alcohol with the climax at the party event. The title sequence to Super Bad (2007) supports a retro aesthetic and appeases the nostalgia trend at the time. Featuring a VHS theme with a 70s touch as the characters dance as silhouettes visually reminiscent of technicolour technology. The film is also a coming-of-age film, speaking to the young audiences living in an economic depression eager for entertainment that was not only relatable but resembled an adolescence their parents had been privileged too in a world unblemished by financial hardship. To the public, the concept of a party hosts ideas of community and kinship. For young audiences, the party symbolises careless freedom away from authority and a space hidden from their worldly realities. Additionally in America, the recession caused a trend in return to traditional gender stereotypes, assumed because of the emasculation of the working class. It has long been assumed by feminist scholars that ‘equality is reserved for times of plenty’ (Negra and Tasker 2014) hence, it is no surprise to see the teen-party comedy genre adopt sexist dogma and frat boy humour. These films utilise plots, pedalled by the male characters desires to have sex with inebriated women at the parties they attend, see prescribed plot to Super Bad (2007). Appeasing a male audience's obsession with stability through gendered power dynamics supplies cultural fuel for this genre's popularity, hence it’s development. 

By 2007, as well as experiencing the recession generation Y had grown up in the aftermath of the Iraq war. These bleak predicaments served to enhance a sense of nihilism amongst this audience leading to ignorant behaviour shaping a culture that conversely, though not contradictory to my last argument, saw a desire to rebel against traditional American values. We can examine a parallel to the teen-party genre spanning 2005-15 and its audiences' desires in a predecessor generic trend of the 1980s. Like modern audiences of the late 2000s, teenagers in the 1980s were facing a future post-Vietnam war, a recession spanning three years (1980-1983) and a conservative political leadership coined ‘The Raegan Era’. The popularity of films like ‘Hot Dog: The Movie’ (1984), ‘The Last American Virgin’ (1982), ‘Footloose’ (1984) along with their male-gaze ideologies and use of the ‘party’ as a scenario to achieve their goals of desire were no surprise considering the context of the given decade. Cinema is a vessel to encode our cultural experiences and we can use it to analyse not only the past but to see the present (Finlay Kerr 2009) and it is with this sentiment I can prove the development and significance of the genre in its modern context against its predecessor films of the 1980s. A major difference between the films in these periods was the teen-party comedies of 2005-15 we’re significantly more reckless. From substance abuse to sexual harassment and trashing private property – a noticeable elevation of the (sub)genre was occurring. A multitude of cultural factors serve as reason for this, though the undeniable frustration amongst young people was at the core. Another popular film that suits this genre is Project X (dir. Nima Nourizadeh 2012), the film caused concern throughout suburban America that its displays of youthful ignorance would spark copycat events to the one depicted in the movie. Project X (2012) had a $12 million budget but grossed well over $100 million at the box office (Sydney Morning Herald 2022), it manifested the desires of frustrated young people globally to rebel against the restraining predicament of the American dream tradition seen when the main character annihilates his college fund in clean-up costs after hosting a catastrophic house party. Like the recession sparking desire for a return to tradition, a culminating post-war attitude towards an uncertain future helped audiences connect with the absurd and reckless narratives clear in teen-party comedies causing a saturation of these films and a continued historical cementation of their genre. 

Technological movements of the era hosting the teen-party comedy genre included the increasing accessibility to digital cameras, music sharing platforms like iTunes and the new fruits of web2.0, Myspace and Facebook. These movements were instrumental to the development of the teen-party comedy genre in its relatability to young audiences and a newfound means to document and connect with each other. A common theme to films within the genre is a process of self-documentation performed by the actors, remembering the party through flash saturated images. Project X (2012) is notable in its adoption of this theme with its montage like visual form that perfectly captures the essence of a wild night to remember. The film is also shot almost entirely as handheld camera footage, operated by the character Dax who appropriately stays mysterious throughout the film. This choice leans into the concept of memory and nostalgia discussed in my first paragraph. Reflecting on the montage sequences of the film, a strong style of brightly lit shots strongly resembles a fashionable style of digital photography amongst young people that was often shared to platforms such as Myspace, which was launched in 2003, and Facebook, launched in 2006. Another use of this within the genre occurs in the young adult film ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules’ (2011) directed by David Bowers that during an instrumental house party sequence, also utilises montage style to conceptualise the narrative event. Portable digital camera technologies contributed mass uploads to early social media sites of montage-like content, it is only natural that young adult films reflecting this zeitgeist would amass great popularity, developing the genre of teen-party films. Facebook particularly was reshaping how young people could organise social happenings. The concept of curating a mass gathering was not farfetched anymore, so the absurdity within the plot of teen-party comedies of the time was only reflective of the absurd social spheres young people were becoming privy to. Notably, Project X (2012) attributed much of its success to a major viral marketing campaign on Facebook. On the other hand, Myspace along with the introduction of a more portable iPod Nano in 2005 was reshaping relationships with music and its curation. The playlist was becoming an important part of shared cultural identity, music and its contribution to a sense of self was also being reimagined via Myspace and the feature to add music to your personal profile. Particularly towards the turn of the decade, 2010s pop culture was flooded with the sleaze of party culture. Dance music was topping the charts and 2011 saw the release of acclaimed album by duo LMFAO ‘Sorry for Party Rocking’ with the hit song ‘Party Rock Anthem’ that topped charts globally. Again, the film Project X (2012) serves as the peak of the teen-party comedy (sub)genre, capitalising off the hardcore partying trend with its parallel release of a hit soundtrack. Technology of the decade contributed to a new cultural connection to music which no doubt changed the dynamic of social settings especially for the Y generation. Internet users now had the means to marry music with personal imagery in a way that romanticised their lived experiences, like a movie. The scope of this trend saw further evolution and success of the teen-party-comedy film genre which was successfully emulating the technological shifts at the time. 

There is a reason teen-party centred comedies haven't felt the same since the early 2010s, nor are they nearly as popular. The genre lost its flair midway through the 2010s as anxieties amongst young audiences fell away to clearer futures. There is no doubt, as I have examined, that the cultural and technological influences of the decade between 2005 and 2015 was instrumental to the development of the teen-party comedy genre and proved its historical importance to film culture. Certainly, with the culmination of similar factors in years to come we will see its renaissance with added nuances. 



References 
Cooper, Matthew, "Backward glances: The cultural and industrial uses of nostalgia in 2010s Hollywood cinema" (2021). College of Communication Master of Arts Theses. 36.  https://via.library.depaul.edu/cmnt/36

Finlay Kerr J (2009) ‘Rereading’ Be Kind Rewind (USA 2008): How film history can be remapped through the social memories of popular culture, Screening the Past, Volume 24 Available from: https://www.screeningthepast.com/issue-24-first-release 

Harbord, J 2002, Film Cultures, SAGE Publications, Limited, London. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [25 May 2023].

Negra, D, & Tasker, Y (eds) 2014, Gendering the Recession : Media and Culture in an Age of Austerity, Duke University Press, New York. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [25 May 2023].

Stafford, R 2008, Understanding Audiences and the Film Industry, BFI Publishing, London. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [25 May 2023].

Bibliography

Aguado, V., & LaBelle, B. (2021). Party studies. Volume 1 : home gatherings, flat events, festive pedagogy and refiguring the hangover (V. Aguado & B. LaBelle, Eds.). Errant Bodies Press.

American Cinema of The 2010s : Themes and Variations 2021, Rutgers University Press, Pittsburgh. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [25 May 2023].

Antonio Sánchez-Escalonilla & Pablo Echart (2016) Tales of Rebirth: Alexander Payne and the New American Dream, Journal of Popular Film and Television, 44:2, 99-108, DOI: 10.1080/01956051.2015.1100582

Huq, R. (2013). Making sense of suburbia through popular culture. Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781472544759

Kramp, J. M. (2014). Symbolic Loss in American Adolescents: Mourning in Teenage Cinema. Journal of Religion and Health, 53(2), 363–372. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-012-9636-3

︎︎FASHION
︎The Bekett is Back
︎ 16.08.2023

Hello, I am once again writing about the returnapocalyse of late 2000s fashion, but it seems like we’re moving forward quicker than imagined. They’ve infested my tumblr feed, the Melbourne fashion grads have begun to adopt them, the girls are hanging up their Geobaskets by the laces to instead don the glorious Bekett sneaker wedge Velcro and all, brought to you by your honourable French-wave 80s it-girl Isabel Marrant. I’ve been a big Marrant fan for a while now, she seamlessly interrupts the moment with casual garments that make you do a double take, and these sneakers are no exception. They’re a wedge sneaker for god's sake – so shorties and shawties, it’s your time. The Bekett isn’t immune to my discourse on ironic fashion, being a part of the 2010s return that has sent shivers down the spines of millennials and Kanye West (now, formally ‘ye’ but I refuse to use that pronoun), they’re kind of hilarious shoes. With added swag points, the sneaker wedge carries unfathomable levels of irony for reasons I don’t need to explain here. With a sky-high price point and not-so-timeless feel (debatable?) these bad boys are unlikely to become mainstream, preserving their ‘cool’ I will argue. They look much better with some torn up Levis than your pretentious Yohji culottes and for this I thank the fashion Gods for a forced cultural refreshment – the globes only getting hotter, and so are we – box up your black balloon pants so let thy legs sing in the sun. Let thy toes marinate in the sweaty goodness of a pair of suede sneaker heels.  

A footnote to this article, I doubt that the style of a sneaker wedge will penetrate the mainstream fashion narrative being normal people would rather spend their money on either an actual practical sneaker or an actual formal heel. It would be hilarious if I am wrong, and they begin donning the shelves of your local Kmart. I think we should add a wedge to more shoes (hello Ms Marant if you’re reading this). Personally, I could get around a gumboot wedge, or a converse wedge, oh wait I’ve already got those. Too much information – goodbye and extra footnote, these shoes only remain timeless as a SEXY MUM SHOE, yes I want to be dropping my midgelings at the front gate in a pair of these in 20 years and a f*ckoff big pair of sunglasses. 


︎︎FASHION
︎The White Stripes
︎ 04.07.2023

Though I hinted at it in my article ‘The Great Crash of the Tabi Market’, I can safely assume the coming tidal wave that is a return to indie sleaze fashion. 2000’s garage and indie rock is having a re-revival with an influx of late teens and twenty-somethings indulging in a pseudo lifestyle only real millennials have the advantage of having authentically lived. I can see them writhing as I type this ha. It’s time to fawn once again over Julian Casablancas and Brandon Flowers, sleezy rock legends now approaching middle age who’s music serves the utmost perfect backdrop for the image I’m about to paint.  

See, on the menu tonight is seared bangers, mash and tomato sauce – and if you squint your eyes that plate turns into a hot, steaming mess of black, white and red. It’s 2003 leftovers baby, reheated in our 2023 hyper trend microwave. It’s the sexiest colour combination right now and you’re about to see it all over the street.  


I have no other callings to explain why we are feeling this tremor in the fashion tectonics other than the devastatingly unoriginal ‘twenty-year cycle’. But if I have any revelations, I will be sure to update this blog. Potentially it’s a call back to what may have been the last authentic youth expression from a time pre social media, certainly leaning heavily into a search for cultural nostalgia amongst gen Z. There is a certain cringe associated with this era amongst millennials, who most likely came of age in the 2000s. Blend this with the defiant post irony mindset of genZ, and you’ve got a style movement.

Other micro trends you are about to witness within this sleazy slum fest is waist or thigh length coats with toggles, double breasted jackets, long necklaces, colourful high-top converse and maybe even ray-bans... yep. Another thing I see on the horizon is military jackets.


More to come.

︎︎FASHION
︎Armour of Ignorance
︎ 09.02.2023

Lately, I’ve been considering re pledging my allegiance to the Zuck - and by that I mean reinstating my facebook profile as an active entity. Dig up fossils of my thirteenth birthday and begin sharing updates about my life, lighting up the faces of overseas cousins and my old boss. With a second thought, I don’t really want to do this, facebook is irrevocably lame - but some instinct is ticking over in my brain. I guess I just love to be a devil's advocate, instilling in myself an attitude towards feigned ignorance. Yeah alright im a hipster - a post ironic, meme riddled culture louse. This isn't unusual amongst my generation though, we are doomers - eloped in a world plagued by the threat of war, unstable economies, pandemics and the rocky idea of a future so our only amour to this forefront humor, and irony at that.

Meme fashion came to rise mid last year, calling it that already ruins the joke. You’ll find your local swag lord rocking a ‘I Fucking Love Microplastics’ hat from Haunted Starbucks, it girl promoting her “Flop Era” on a custard yellow micro tee from OGBFF, or your dero friend embodying an informative recipe upon his sternum of “How to Cook Meth” (also from haunted starbucks). Not everyones going to get it, especially if you didn’t have an internet connection growing up, but those who do are uniting in the spirit of post irony.

It’s a great tactic in coping with the influx of terrible news befelding our world, siding sarcastically with the doom climate, and as a nihilist myself, I think it's incredibly endearing. Many global problems are far beyond our reach and out of our control which makes it simply the most relieving sight to see gangsta spongebob fanning his rack at me and informing me to get my bands up, and an erotic sonic cartoon in support of the Joe Rogan podcast.

The typefaces commonly used in these garments are reminiscent of 2010’s slogan tees and the like which makes me curious if this is an early adoption of motifs from this period, I’m thinking clothing that harbored jokes on the early days of iPhones and internet culture (like the iPoop t-shirts you might see on a street vendor stall). They also pay homage to a DIY culture and attitude, brought on from the pandemic mundanity.

Here in Melbourne you’ll find any of these pieces in the wardrobes of smelly inner city shared houses, on the backs of rich stay at home sons, hot ravers and e-girls that frequent collingwood bars. The attitudes of these kinds tend to be in the defense of their ego’s, don’t point out the joke or you’ll become it. Wearers are on their high horse about a supreme sense of humor. Observe, laugh and carry on from a distance - feel free to send them a DM of appreciation on Instagram however. These people are not mean, simply they’re chronically online and often forget how to be friendly without the support of an emoji.

As for the trend itself, memes as an artform are not going anywhere so it will be interesting to see how it evolves. Humor carries a sentiment that tends to get stored in a time capsule and won’t hit the same a few years down the line so we will see how these pieces hold up. Right now the comedy is still gold but as more people catch on to the trend it’s becoming less impactful on the street scene. What also makes it different is the bravery it takes to wear an ironic slogan tee for the backlash you might face to those not in on the joke - I’m sure this trend won’t trickle to the high street market or even make it out of the underground. Hallelujah! More so, what will this oversaturation of post-irony do to us? Will we be pushed back in the direction of the earnest or will we become post, post, post ironic (surely we can make a better phrase for that concept!)  I’m very interested to follow this one.



︎︎FASHION
︎ Brazil!!!!!
︎ 17.01.23 (Trending)

I’m not a fan of the unoriginality of ‘core-ifying’ everything these days, nonetheless, ‘Brasil Core’ has had and is still somewhat having its moment. I would rather say a more creative term but here we are. Potentially, ‘sporty tropicana’ could be a more inclusive term for all the other styles we have seen birthed from the Brazil craze.

The fashion girls have turned brazilian. They’ve removed their butt lifts and instead have begun to proudly wave their flags in the form of fitted, sporty green and yellow baby tees.

NSS Magazine has a really good article on this trend from September last year so Imma just link it here: 
The Subversive Aesthetics of Brazilian Core




︎︎FASHION
︎ Onisuika Tiger Mexico 22
︎ 17.01.23 (Trending)

Have you noticed the pavement has been seeming kinda cheesy lately. Not in a corny way, though one could say that too. Small yellow droplets are starting to trot along the sidewalks of hipster bars and art schools. Behold the Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66, 2022s shoe - bearing its radioactive teeth at us from beneath shaggy haircuts and 505 levis.

I have to admit I love them, they’re awkward, nerdy and fit perfectly in the current predicament - the return of indie sleaze. Like you’ve strolled off the set of Juno (2008). And how can you not feel cool wearing a shoe modeled the mexico 66?

They come in many colors. I predict the black body with white stripe model will be popular too, with many wearers weaning from the classic blue white and red. However, this shoe will not last too long in the spotlight, already it’s oversaturating pinterest boards globally. Unfortunately, you’ll no longer be special.


Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66


︎︎FASHION
︎It’s Not Heroin Chic, It’s the Great Crash of the Tabi Market
︎16.01.23 (Trending)

It all started in the smokers, or should I say, vapers lot of a Rude Baby event - December third (I Think). I was already wound up from spending the afternoon at a friend’s friend’s 21st. A total polyester fiesta filled the expected milk maiden styles, ditzy florals and almost certainly sponsored by Kookai. Lovely people however, needless to say, the hateritis had been aggregated.

Back to Rude Baby - I was amongst my fellow bohemians once again, in the smokers having a conversation with a second year fashion student (RMIT). Corseted up, probably in a cargo skirt (I can’t recall) and certainly in a pair of Maison Margiela ankle Tabi boots. On the topic of trends I explain my inkling for a resurgence of mid/late 2000s rocker style, coined indie sleaze. Imagine any socialite circa 2003, essentially every garage rock band of the time and our boy Heidi Slimane. I told her Tabi’s were old news. Sexy dirty chic is back, and her new God? A pair of beat high top red Converse.
She didn’t believe me, why would you accept such a fate when you’ve just spent a rack on boots? I’d say it’s already happened but for your sake, give it six months and to be seen in Tabi boots will be a new fashion crime.

Heroin chic
Heroin chic was not a fashion trend, it was a look. Whilst the clothing of the time has seen a comeback, thankfully anorexia hasn’t. Some are fearing the return of the ‘Heroin Chic’, not to worry - it’s not coming back. The resurgence of the worrying body ideal was stopped dead by a wave of inclusivity and positivity. The styles of the early 90s have been and gone, it’s the mid 2000s baby. Easily confused due to the fairly equivalent consumption of illicit substances and apparent hedonism of youth in rebellion.

Is thin back in?
But I beg the question. In 2023, is it possible to be bored of body positivity? Thin could be back in, as disturbing as it sounds. Celebrities are removing their BBL’s in anticipation. Potentially, ‘thin’ could be an undercurrent of ideal - rather than the standard, who knows?

More to come.


Heidi Slimane YSL (2003)


︎︎FASHION
︎Fashion is a Hellscape, Though I’ve Discovered my Super Powers
︎15.01.23 (Hello and Welcome)

Look, I know that we’ve never not been obsessed with ourselves. It’s 2023 and this realization has never been more accurate. The fashion world is a hellscape. Balenciaga is still wiping the floor clean of its baby bondage scandal with the credit cards of fuckboys, Gucci has succumbed to minimalism, we officially have become bored of Bella Hadid's face wincing at us from every store front. The escapism, the hedonism, It’s boring. It’s a hellscape. It’s utterly grim and 2023 has never been a greater time to become a self confessed hater.   

This is the perfect moment to let you know that this is in fact a fashion blog and the stage manager has just told me the confetti cannon is jammed so let me take a moment to explode this party popper…*pew*.

Argh me hearties it’s not all so bad - we still have our everyday realities to romanticize - and my romance takes place in the city of Melbourne on the east coast of Australia. I am but a boil on the buttcrack of the dirty Melbourne fashion scene, an observer, a creative and two time fashion education drop-out *BOOM* - there goes the confetti cannon. Frankly, no matter how far I try to run from this forsaken industry I am rebounded right back to the center of it like I’m attached to a fucked up bungee cord. I’m fascinated by the ebbs and flows of it all, the fashion globe and its circular seas that we just keep sailing. The trend cycle is much more complex than a twenty year stint. It encapsulates a melting pot of current affairs and predicaments we face as a global community and surfaces as a commercial product and a crescendo of visual stimuli.   

So my superpower is consolidating what the next trend may be - forecasting. Recall those seas? On the ship it’s me braving the whiplash of fierce winds and treacherous storms. See me gripping the sail’s pinnacle to peer into the future of fashion to write such biographies for our beloved trends. I see trends as an artistic response to what's happening in the serious world and its communities and just like life in a petri dish, trends see a fleeting moment of independence before multiplying and mutating only to be left performing a shriveling and decaying ballet of commercial uncoolness. Such is life.