Fashion in an age of pandemic

Janet

Most of the points in this piece have been touched on here and there on the YLF forum, but this is a good summary of where we are, even if we don’t yet know where we are going...

https://bmoreart.com/2020/05/f.....2020-05-05

4 years ago

Inspiration

19 replies

Latest reply was from Gaylene

Becky

Veteran

This is a fascinating read. Thanks for sharing.

4 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Food for thought.

And off to the side... I wonder if everyone will have a video space in their home now... like back to the telephone table... where you have a good background for video calls. I’ve been watching newscasters in their homes and where they choose to broadcast from and what they put in the background. They’re not changing their backdrops... and I wish they would, lol. That same old magazine propped up there in the corner... lol.

4 years ago

Anonymous

Here's a few others I can think of:

More emphasis on eye makeup, since we can't wear lipstick w masks.
Small earrings, cause dangles get caught on masks.
No big rings- cause they'd tear gloves.

Re: masks. I'm noticing I just can't really make decisions with the mask on. I just want to get what I need and go out- then I forget stuff. Even the hardware store is no fun anymore

4 years ago

Sal

Veteran

Interesting article.

And yes Rachy - I have experimented with a couple of spots with mixed success. If I was in a more professional role I would definitely consider changing my office around to make it more video friendly.

4 years ago

DonnaF

Veteran

With ZOOM, one can add an artificial background, so that’s been fun.

4 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I enjoyed the article! Thanks, Janet.

I see a larger polarization of dressy and casual, with little in-between.

I'm with Suntiger on the lipstick, rings and dangly earrings - or rather lack thereof.

Masks are going to become fashionable, and you either wear them to MATCH your outfit, or wear a very basic rendition. Hong Kong is one of the most fashionable places on the planet. EVERYONE wears the same very basic blue or white mask!

4 years ago

Lucy

Veteran

Interesting read! I have been wondering many of these same things too. I reckon it will go hard one way or the other - we will either reject stretchy pants and elastic waists in a bid to "return to normality" or we will never get dressed properly again, lol.
Rachy - I am a lecturer, and so needed a space to record for an hour at a time, plus a lot of zoom meetings. I took back "my office" from my son, who had been using it as a gaming set up. I had to tidy up the bookshelves behind me, which had gotten messy over time. Now, I guess I will keep this space and my tidy shelves!

4 years ago

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

Great article, thanks for posting it.

4 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Yeah, the Zoom thing is not something I’ve had to deal with much, but I am scheduled to give a presentation to a photography group in early June, and we’re talking about keeping the date and converting my talk to that format. I’m a little nervous but I have a few weeks to prepare. The good thing is I won’t be on screen much personally as it will be showing lots of images and some text slides instead of my face, yay!

I have already delved into the world of printed and patterned masks, and I think it’s a fun way to make a necessity a bit more of a statement. However, yes to the dangly earrings — I’m having to scale back my earrings so they don’t get tangled in mask straps. And I miss my statement rings.

Shoes are becoming more practical, for sure.

4 years ago

Anonymous

Thanks Janet - interesting read.

4 years ago

Barbara Diane

Veteran

Yes, interesting.
I’m enjoying seeing both thought out and “as is” backgrounds in people’s homes. After my first Zoom I finally made the bed in the spare bedroom (formerly DS1’s room) after seeing what it looked like on Zoom.
I have a desktop, no laptop or iPad, so I can’t choose my real background.

4 years ago

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Great article Janet.
I’m doing my Zoom meetings for my second job on my little iPhone sitting on my bed! I didn’t get to buy a webcam for the desktop before our lockdown-4 shops I tried were sold out.

4 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Janet, I’m sure you, as a visual artist, will put up a great talk. Your topic sounds well-suited to being taught online. In the faculty development course I took, when I was a prof, the first two things we learned were that asynchronous and as little of the talking head as possible were best.

I’m surprised people want news shows to switch up the background—did they do that in studios?

4 years ago

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

My partner works in technology & was able to get a second monitor for my workspace - sounds minor but it really makes such a difference in my teaching, because I can launch 'presenter view' to see all upcoming slides & notes, whilst having my students visible at all times. Trying to do everything from just one tiny screen is a lot more exhausting than in-person teaching!

@Angie I was recently given a fashion mask to wear over such a white or blue mask, as seems to be popular over here - people usually don't wear the fashion mask alone, so it's either a case of double layering or just a white/ blue one (especially as it warms up). I find the double layering helps to keep my mask in place & to prevent my glasses from fogging up.

4 years ago

Preppy Pear

Veteran

Thoughtful piece. I wonder if the pandemic will erase even more of the options between fast fashion and high end brands and that quality and fashion will become even less obtainable. Thinking about post-pandemic as a kind of post-war where we all become more careful consumers is a potential silver lining, but because the effects of the pandemic are distributed so unevenly economically, I don’t know how large a shift we will see.

4 years ago

Helena

Veteran

Very interesting Janet, thank you! I think it's going to be hard to get people back into the office (at least not 5 days a week) - ergo, I think it's going to be hard to get people out of comfortable wear! I think polished comfort-wear is the future for business workers at least. (it was going that way anyhow).

4 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Zaeobi, great point about dual monitors! You’ve given me a good idea to connect my laptop with my home office monitor (which I sometimes do for photo editing) and using one screen for my notes while I speak.

For the moment, I think I have my location settled. It’s in my office and my bookshelves are visible in the background. The light is decent. The shelves are a little busy, but I think far enough behind me as to not be too distracting. I’ll test it out.

Glad you all appreciated the article.

4 years ago

nemosmom

Veteran

That's a great article, thanks Janet!

I've been working from home for a long time. Usually it's around 3am, when no one has the capacity to put on makeup. Now that my exec team is working from home, I have more video calls later in the day and I have to put more thought into how I and my surroundings look. Between noise-canceling headphones and OCD handwashing, I've given up on most jewelry.

I get the appeal of a siren suit!

4 years ago

Gaylene

Veteran

Hmm, a siren suit and a matching face mask as “The New Look” for 2020 decade...

4 years ago

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