London look Blue

‘News in the World’ project by Quinto Orazio Flacco High School, Bari, Italy

P.O.N. C5 FSE 02 Por Puglia 2012 – 152

www.exposure.org.uk

Unione Europea

Fondo Sociale Europeo Programme Operatiro regionale IT051po005 FSE Puglia

Contents and contributors

The Blue Team: Maria Teresa, Margot, Silvia and Annamaria from Quinto Orazio Flacco High School in Italy who have produced a special Exposure magazine on London fashion and culture. Ben fatto ragazi!

Blue Team contents P3. Lose yourself, find yourself, be yourself

by Silvia Cosentino P4. A puzzle of styles

by Margot Accettura P5. Tuning into fashion

by Annamaria Conticchio P6. Our body is a canvas Maria Teresa De Fronzo P7. Famous Londoner, Amy Winehouse

by Blue Team P8. Photo gallery

by Blue Team We are four Italian students from Bari and we’ve been given a platform here at Exposure to practice our English through media production.

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We have really enjoyed our three weeks in London. We are from Bari, a small city in southern Italy and we were amazed by the diversity of this incredible cosmopolitan city.

We saw many things we hadn't seen before, so many different types of people, fashions, hairstyles and tattoos.

We saw people who were not afraid to express themselves, who were creative with their look and who didn't mind what other people thought.

We also experienced so many different types of music and the rich culture of London.

So we decided to do a project about alternative fashion and culture in the city of London. This magazine is the result of our work.

We hope you enjoy it!

Lose yourself, find yourself, be yourself

by Silvia Cosentino Student

“This world is beautiful. Everyone in it is beautiful.”

That’s what a boy told us in Camden Town when we asked him about different styles and trends. I was really inspired because... actually that’s true!

Each of us is special in our own way and our look should reflect our personality and feelings.

So many people in the world, and of course Italians too, tend to conform, wearing what the latest designers impose, being afraid of others’ judgment.

In London we’ve found so many alternative and eccentric looks that we’ve decided to go deeper into the city’s fashion culture. It isn’t just a question of style! We’re talking about freedom of expression. If you’re open-minded and you don’t care what people may say about your new haircut or your new tattoos, it would be much

easier for you to find yourself and express yourself without any fears. Then, if we are able to accept individual styles, maybe we would be more prepared to get over discrimination in general.

If it is possible in London, why not in the rest of the world? We Italians are famous for being very stylish people, and maybe that’s why we feel pressure to follow familiar trends. We don’t dare to create our own. In this way our nation, where so many fashion brands were born, should exploit fashion and let people’s personality emerge rather than suppress it.

Originality is a quality that no one can teach you. It’s what we need to succeed in our lives and we could start to develop it by creating a personal style.

So how about discovering more about alternative cultures and fashion?

Lose yourself by taking a virtual journey with us to see what influences fashion in London. Find yourself by getting inspired by our research. And then always remember to... be yourself!

Collage created in Photoshop by Silvia 3

A Puzzle of styles

by Margot Acceltura Student London is a sea of different shades, with baseball caps and hoods in all colours of the rainbow, kippahs (black velvet Jewish hats) and innovative hairstyles. All of these accessories are not just linked to fashion, but represent particular religions.

I can see girls with blue hair, men with brightly coloured turbans, guys with lots of piercings and tattoos. None of them seem to care about being judged, leaving them free to express themselves.

Difference may cause indifference but London’s culture works through a strange kind of hospitality that comes from the large amount of ethnic, spiritual and national identities.

Women and men of all ages and origins come to London to find work, to improve the quality of their life or to learn the language.

In fact today one in four Londoners was born in another country.

We interviewed many people, from different backgrounds and cultures, with individual styles and adornments, and all of them told us they were proud to be unique and different.

In London lots of women wear a full burka, while in France it is forbidden in public places. In Italy the burka is not worn much, perhaps because people are less tolerant and foreigners are forced to quickly adapt to Italian culture.

I love London because of its cosmopolitan atmosphere. It’s been fascinating to see this melting pot of ideas, styles and cultures.

Being part of this has opened my eyes to new ways of seeing and developed my philosophy of life.

Collage created in Photoshop by Margot

Standing at the Tube station I am struck by the diversity of London. I notice lots of people walking, talking and interacting.

They are all quite different in their appearance, from the tone of their skin to their personal way of dressing.

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Tuning into fashion

by Annamaria Conticchio Student Is music a way to express yourself or to conform to others?

Going through Camden Town is a good way to understand how London is: a multicultural and free-minded city.

If you have a look around this amazing place or talk to someone, you will find out that no one follows a particular fashion style or thinks in the same way as others.

You will discover that people are more influenced by the style of musicians than by other people’s judgement.

We interviewed two teenage girls in Camden Market, who said they were quite original but at the same time inspired by the 90s.

One’s hair was blond and a bit dyed in pink and blue.

The other, instead, had blue hair. Another young woman told us she didn’t follow a particular style… “Maybe I’m punk. But I’m too old to care what people say about my style. My hair was red last week but now it’s purple!”

fashion and nothing else. People don’t listen to music because they appreciate its deeper meaning. Teenagers use music in an attempt to find another personality trying to hide themselves, thinking that by imitating others or being like them is better. Wrong.

Following a particular fashion style shouldn’t be a duty just to be accepted by society.

In terms of creativity, music should help us find our personality and reach an inner-self we’ve never known.

As someone once said, the world is wonderful because of its variety. How can we make it wonderful if no one is themselves?

Collage created in Photoshop by Annamaria

So we can say that here in London people are original but not completely. In England, as in other countries like Italy, there’s a sort of inspiration by music.

In recent world history, we know that cultural revolutions have been inspired by music. For example, in the 50s there was Rock ’n’ roll, in the 60s Beatlemania and the hippy movement. ‘Peace and love’ thinking conditioned the way students thought and dressed.

In my country, music inspired revolution also but now people seem to be more worried about how they will be judged and so we all dress the same.

Sometimes, a particular fashion, like wearing baggy pants, will be inspired by the music, in this case rap, but teenagers aren’t necessarily listening to the message behind the music. Music has become a question of

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Our body is a canvas

by Maria Teresa De Fronzo Student The people of Camden Town are alternatively dressed, adorned with piercings and tattoos. The rich and vibrant, colourful and innovative hairstyles reminded me of a rainbow.

Tattoos were introduced in Europe in the 16th century, when explorers and colonists discovered Polynesian islands in the Pacific ocean, where tattooing was an important cultural tradition.

The practice of body piercing has become very popular since World War I, increasing in the 1970s and reaching a peak in the 1990s.

A punk we met in Camden said he has 25 tattoos. “A lot of people get tattoos to remember a loved one. These people are serious about their body art, and I think that it’s a wonderful gesture. Also religious tattoos are very common. But I have these tattoos just because I like them. They can be pretty painful but I don’t mind hurting for the end result.”

We spoke to an assistant in Tattoos and Piercings, a shop in Camden.

“Piercings are as popular as tattoos. We sell a lot of jewellery for the piercings and our customers are young and old. Any part of the body can be pierced. Piercings can be made of wood, metal and plastic.

Collage created in Photoshop by Maria Teresa 6

For the tattoos, black is the most popular colour, but others are used as well.

Nowadays there are proper artists making tattoos of any shape, colour and size.”

Then there is ‘scarification?’ It’s body modification that involves the formation of scars by branding or cutting the skin. You might consider this disgusting, but there are people who find it cool and alternative, especially to differentiate themselves from tattooed people.

We asked a pink-haired girl if she might have problems getting a job with a highly visible tattoo or piercing.

“Maybe yes. Especially if the job involves working with the public” she said.

So did she think that it was a positive thing to be alternative and original?

“Dressing in an eccentric and uncommon way could be negative if you do it just to draw attention. It’s positive when you are alternative for yourself, you behave and dress in a particular way because you like it and you feel good. You don’t care about the judgment of anyone. Too many people have blinkers. People should be more open-minded. Our body is a canvas and we are free to decorate it. Every tattoo reveals something about who I am.”

An alternative guy in Camden

Famous Londoner, Amy Winehouse London loves Amy by Blue Team Extravagant hairstyle, pin-up tattoos, a ‘Monroe’ piercing, big earrings, cat-eyes style make-up, drinking, drugs, and her untimely death. This is what comes to mind when we think of Amy Winehouse. But there was much more to her than that.

Before her death, in July 2011, she was considered one of the leaders of the new generation of White Soul. The 2006 ‘Back to Black’ album won five Grammys and established her as Britain’s number one Soul diva. All this was despite a constant barrage of negative press that concentrated on her dark side rather than her ability.

But who was Amy Winehouse really?

Growing up in North London, her family, which already had a rich musical

background, contributed to her eclectic and diverse style. Professionally and personally, Amy Winehouse was a woman of distinctive individualism.

Her songs are about life and love. The autobiographic lyrics reflected the self-destructive black hole into which she was falling. And her tattoos were pieces of her life as well. She mentioned that the thunder and the feather tattoos represented both her ‘strength and weaknesses’.

Amy is still an emblem of London. She didn’t just live in Camden Town. She was Camden Town. She managed to embody its profound soul, being a rebel, not caring about others’ opinions. Even when she became famous, she remained a ‘Camdenette’ and taking Camden’s colorful spirit with her around the world.

Not only music addicts and especially Londoners will miss Amy. They will be forever proud for having had such an enigmatic talent living among them.

And despite being such a superstar, she will undoubtedly be remembered for her death; at just 27.

For most Londoners, she was one of the brightest and most fragile artist of all times.

A collage created by Blue Team

Amy Winehouse with tattoos 7

This supplement was produced by talented students from Quinto Flacco High School in Bari, Italy at Exposure, North London’s award winning youth media organisation, in association with the UK Educational Development Agency (UKEDA). UKEDA work with European schools delivering inspirational educational programmes aimed at ambitious Europeans looking to learn English and experience British culture first hand. www.languageeducation.eu

Below is Blue Team’s photo gallery, around London

Alexander Palace north London

China Town Soho

Portobello Road Notting Hill

London Eye South Bank

tel: 020 8883 0260 email: info@exposure.org.uk