Enjoy the fashion show in SUNCAT!

SUNCAT contains details of a vast array of journals and magazines on fashion. We thought that some of these might be of use to @NLS_Business: they are to give a talk to Heriot-Watt University students of fashion communication. We’ve put together a list of a very few of the weird, wonderful and interesting fashion-themed titles; a small selection to illustrate the wealth of material that all researchers (not just universities!) can find from the many UK institutions contributing to SUNCAT.

A photograph showing a model on a cat walk. From Spring/Summer 2010 runway show Toronto.

Photo from Spring/Summer 2010 runway show Toronto. Taken on the 24th November 2009. By Lover of fashion (Frame photo gallery) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Press the fashion.
  • Flair with Fashion.
  • Franks’ Fashion Guide : A review of the world’s leading fashion journals.
  • Fashion flash.
  • Vogue. More dash than cash.
  • Supermarket Fashion: A Growing Phenomenon.
  • mode sans la mode / Fashion without fashion.
  • Lujon magazine : a magazine about fantasies in fashion.
  • Waist and wrapper album.
  • Scoop on Scoop.
  • SNOB Fashion.
  • Gurlz : express your own style.
  • World of fashion and continental feuilletons.
  • Spirit & flesh.
  • Molecule/Practice/Woman.
  • Pigeons & peacocks.
  • Re-bel.
  • The Coombs report on-target fashion forecasting.
  • Because : animated fashion magazine & app combo.
  • Plastique : explosive fashion.
  • Power Undressing.
  • Retrospectacular!
  • Bon Ton Magazine or, microscope of fashion and folly …
  • High street fashion retailers: Survival of the fittest.
  • “No substance”
  • Address : journal for fashion writing and criticism.

For more weird and wonderful titles on fashion, and indeed any topic you are interested in, take a look in SUNCAT!

Be in the front row of MediaHub’s Fashion Show!

You may be aware that recently there have been a number of Fashion Weeks for Autumn/Winter 2015, with 4th to 11th March the last major fashion week of this season in Paris. For anyone interested in fashion and indeed how culture affects style and trends (and vice versa) Jisc MediaHub has a really wide and fascinating range of items, from still to moving images, and even some audio clips.

Fashion Week

The major fashion weeks are held in New York, London, Milan and Paris and there are two major seasons per year – Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer. For womenswear, the Autumn/Winter shows always start in New York in February and end in Paris in March. There are a number of short video clips of actual fashion shows in MediaHub, many of which also giving you a peek into what goes on behind the scenes. One example is this short film of Matthew Williamson’s Autumn/Winter collection at London Fashion Week 2010.

An image of models back-stage of a fashion show getting their make-up done.

London Fashion Week 2010. Getty Images, 2010.

And don’t forget men’s fashion! The Zoolander antics in Paris earlier this week were a great reminder that men’s fashion and tailoring are an essential part of any fashion week. Here is a great example of a menswear collection catwalk show from Alexander McQueen as part of the Milan Fashion Week 2009.

An image of a male model from the Alexander McQueen Men's Fashion Collection, shown in Milan Fashion Week 2009

Milan Men’s Fashion 2009. Getty Images, 2009.

It is very fitting to include Alexander McQueen in this post as the exhibition Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty starts at the V&A, London on Friday 14th March and runs until 2nd August 2015. Below is another one of his dramatic creations, from the Alexander McQueen fashion show at Paris Fashion Week, Autumn 2006. The short film of Alexander McQueen: Paris Fashion Week 2009 also demonstrates how wonderful his designs are.

An image of a female model wearing a creation from Alexander McQueen at Paris Fashion Week 2006.

Alexander McQueen – Paris Fashion Week Autumn 2006. Getty Images, 2006.

Fashion Designers and their muses

A well as Alexander McQueen, MediaHub contains resources on other fashion designers, examples being Paul Smith, Karl Lagerfeld, Gorgio Armani and Vivienne Westwood. In many cases, there are particularly strong partnerships between designers and models, celebrities and muses. One very famous partnership was between Madonna and Jean-Paul Gaultier. Below is a picture of the singer wearing a pointed-bust corset by the fashion designer.

A photograph of singer Madonna wearing a pointed-bust corset by fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, taken on stage during her Blonde Ambition concert, Nassau 1990.

Singer Madonna wearing a pointed-bust corset by fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier. Time Life Pictures/Getty Images, 1990.

Fashion comes to the High Street

Of course, fashion is not just about Fashion Week and catwalks! Fashion pervades everywhere – from the catwalks to the High Street to the streets themselves. One clear instance of this is when fashion designers and models launch their own clothing ranges in high street stores, such as the Top Shop Kate Moss clothing range and the capsule collection designed by Luella Bartley for New Look, which included two ensembles. However, equally fashion can originate in the streets and go on to influence the catwalk. This is apparent when you look at fashion and youth culture and “street style” in particular, more on that a little later in this post…

Fashion re-lived and re-imagined

Trends come back around! At the moment denim and Seventies fashion, including tan, suede and kick flares, have re-appeared. If you want inspiration, or just wonder what people used to wear in years gone by, take a look in Jisc MediaHub – indeed you may remember that 1930s fashion was a very popular search term back in January this year! Here are a just a few examples of fashions from the twentieth century:

1920s fashion

A photograph of a pyjama suit worn by the actress Hilda Moore in the 1927 play Interference at the St James's Theatre

Jacket and trousers; pyjamas suit. Exploring Twentieth Century London (via VADS), 1927.

Swinging sixties

An image of the front of a Simplicity 'Designer Fashion' Dress Pattern No.7803 from the 1960s.

Simplicity – Designer Fashion Dress Pattern. VADS Collection: Arts Institute at Bournemouth Design Collection, 1960s.

1970s

Photograph of a model wearing a blue tulle-swathed turban with a cascade of ostrich feather pom-poms from the Kaleidoscope fashiobn show 1970.

Kaleidoscope fashion show 1970: “Blue tulle-swathed turban with a cascade of ostrich feather pom-poms”. VADS Collection: London College of Fashion – College Archive, 1970.

Eighties fashion

Photograph of a young woman in eighties fashion wear on the King's Road in 1984.

Girl in eighties fashion. PYMCA, 1984.

Fashion and contemporary youth culture

MediaHub gives you access to items from the PYMCA Image and Research Library, a collection of images sourced from all over the world documenting post-war lifestyles, fashions, hairstyles, music and subcultures of young people. These images provide powerful documentation of changing fashions and lifestyles of young people, depicted at their finest (and worst). Looking at these images, it becomes very apparent that music plays a big part in fashion and culture. Breakdancing, punk, mods and clubbing cultures, among others, are all represented.

A photograph of rapper Kool Mo Dee, taken in London in 1986

Kool Mo Dee. PYMCA, 1986.

Journey deeper into fashion

There are so many great fashion resources in Jisc MediaHub that it is impossible to cover it all in this blog post. In addition to PYMCA, here are some of the other wonderful collections you can access through MediaHub on the subject of fashion, style and culture:

There are a great array of fashion collections from VADS (the online resource for visual arts):

We also recommend the Gaumont Graphic Newsreel (Silent cinema newsreels from 1910 – 1934) for early twentieth century fashions and millinery, often including experimental and hugely glamorous ensembles.

As mentioned earlier, there are a number of fascinating audio clips of people talking about fashion. Some examples you may want to start with are a woman’s view of beauty, the reopening of Biba fashion shop, home-made and locally-made clothing in Shetland; local shops…, and the Hartnell fashion house.

We hope that by looking at some of the many fashion resources in MediaHub we have awakened your curiosity and creativity in clothing design, styles and trends. It is a fascinating area to explore, and one which will continue to evolve and leave its mark on culture and society as a whole. Do let us know if any of these items have inspired you – for instance do you have a favourite fashion image which you have found in MediaHub? Share your fashion highlighhts in the comments below or via Twitter using the hashtag #MediaHubFashion.

SUNCAT – always in fashion!

We are now well into the Fashion Week season for Autumn/Winter 2015. From 25th February to March 3rd is Milan Fashion Week, followed by Paris Fashion Week from 4th to 11th March. There is a fantastic array of fashion journals and magazines found in SUNCAT. Strut down the (SUN)CATwalk and take a look at these stylish titles. You’ll never be unfashionable again!!

Image of two models in the Ny Nordisk mode, Catwalk Show, 2012.

Ny Nordisk mode, Catwalk show. Benjamin Suomela/norden.org, 2012. [CC BY 2.5 dk (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/dk/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Flaunt.
  • The album of fashion : the highest Parisian authority on all matters relative to ladies’ and children’s dress.
  • The alamode : containing the English, French, and United States winter fashions for …
  • Plastique : explosive fashion.
  • Vogue. More dash than cash.
  • The “Standard” delineator of fashions, fancywork, and millinery.
  • Let them eat cake.
  • Oomph! : the code of style.
  • Rayon and synthetic yarn journal.
  • Lionheart magazine : for the roar in your heart.
  • Fantastic man : a gentleman’s style journal.
  • The milliner and dressmaker, and journal of fashion & the toilet.
  • The gentleman’s magazine of fashions and the tailors’ monthly pattern card of gentlemen’s fashions.
  • Phabrik.
  • View on colour : the colour forecasting book.
  • Another magazine : for men and women.
  • Hunger.
  • Hello Kitty fashion.
  • The glass of fashion up to date.
  • Loomis’ musical, masonic, and ladies’ fashion journal.
  • Belle prom : the prom magazine for the North East.
  • La belle assemblee, or, Bell’s court and fashionable magazine addressed particularly to the ladies.
  • Haute doll.
  • ffw>>mag!
  • The illustrated journal of fashions : gentlemen’s wardrobe.
  • Bias : journal of dress practice.
  • Devere’s half-yearly selection of Parisian costumes for English ladies.
  • The rake : the modern voice of classic elegance.
  • The fashionable magazine; or, Lady’s and gentleman’s repository : of taste, elegance, and novelty.

For more fashion-themed serials and other weird and wonderful titles take a look in SUNCAT.