Fashion

"I would rather die than have my fans not see me in a pair of high heels."
-Lady GaGa

I took control over the fashion used within the video. I researched into a mix between avant-garde fashion legends such as Alexandra McQueen and Armani for my model, as well as how I can relate it to avant-garde film. Although, I did not research into the male actor's outfit, and simply used a shady hooded jacket, that would hide his face to almost neutralise his identity-ensuring he isn't a main focus in the video.

My inspiration for the 'Red Cone' shot below, captured using Windows Media Player, Print Screen and Paint, comes from this picture on the left, from Alexander McQueen's Spring/Summer 2009 Paris Fashion Week Show. My inspiration came from the style of the hair-I wanted to imitate the dramatic way McQueen arranged the heads of his models. Being realistic, I faced the conclusion it would be near to impossible to imitate a look that was entirely similar. But it inspired the idea for a futuristic high-top headpiece, which I created simply out of a large piece of red plastic, and I stuck together with blue tack at the back of my model's head. This look was successful, as it gave my model a dramatic appearance, with the almost horrific blood-red cover shading the rest of her skin in a menacing tone.

In regards to avant-garde cinema, there is a presence of influence as well as full intertexuality in the video. The video makes a notable intertextual reference to Luis Bunuel's avant-garde film 'Un Chien Andalou' (1929) in the 'Knife' scene, shown on the left. The scene it refers to is the opening scene, in which the female lead has her eye cut, as you can see on the right.


The influence from avant-garde cinema is notably from the era of German Expressionism. On the left is a picture from the 'Glasses Scene'. The glasses are, in fact, needle storage wheels. The needles are all pointing towards the centre, which is where her eyes are-to impress the feeling of fear and intrigue, with the needles so close to her eyes. This refers to German Expressionism because of its innovative air, and how it aims to present an unsettled feeling with the audience-as the model poses effortlessly whilst the needles are pointed so closely to her eyes. Another reference to German Expressionism is the reference to the borderline fantasy-esque nature of the films. This is referred to via the crown worn throughout the video, as you can see on the right.


Also, as shown in previous posts, I made research into the essence of futuristic fashion in modern electro-pop, such as Lady GaGa's television glasses worn in the 'Poker Face' video. Unfortunately, I did not have access to any equipment that was as advanced as that. Instead, I found my brother's clip-on torch, as you can see on the left, and clipped it onto our model's outfit, shown on the right. Whilst this was not on the same level of technical advancement as GaGa's iPod screen-based glasses, it still enabled a presence of technology within her outfit, which allows the viewer to presume its futuristic qualities.

In total, the model wears 3 different outfits, with multiple variations (such as scarfs, gloves, glasses and so on):

A red/grey dress, a blue one-piece and a black one-piece. There are two major signs of electro-pop-culture that are apparent: the multitude of outfits and accessories, and consistent sexualisation. The number of costume changes are common in music videos to present the artist in several trademark designs, usually as a means of promotion. For example, all the clothes worn in the video are from the designer brand 'New Look'. It also converts a traditional music video into more of an art installation, presenting variations of artistic fashion creations.

The sexual imagery and showing of skin is also extremely common in electro-pop music videos, as well as pop culture in general. This mainly stems from the 'Sex Sells' theory. The idea of sexuality being used as a form of advertisement has been present in media since the 1800s. On the right is a picture of a promotional image for tire valve caps, from 1921. It shows a scantily clad woman carrying a large tin of the tire valve caps, enticing the viewer to buy the product, praising it. Whilst I do not necessarily agree with the idea of 'selling' a person's body to promote a product, I took the known fact that this process is consistently present in modern culture into consideration.

At present, it is now completely common for an electro-pop artist to show a lot of skin to present both fashion as well as 'selling' their bodies to promote the video to the audience. For example, here are some screen-captures of Lady GaGa's outfits during her 'Telephone' video, taken from her Youtube channel: