9 Muses

MUSES 9

Fashion & Social Issues

Importance of Costumes The Fashion Industry’s Labour Exploitaion Problems

Art & Creating Characters Drawing People and How The Human Form is Represented in Art Why and What People Draw

How to Create a Character

Philosophy & Politics Philosophy Throughout the Ages Centrism in Politics

Contents

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Inspiration: Self Obsession

Introduction - Letter from the Editor - Contributor’s Pages - Table of Contents

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5 4 2-3

Guide To Drawing the Human Body Christine Chen

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-Upper Body -Lower Body

Christine Chen

- Boldo to Picassion - Motivation - Personal Inspiration - Art Difference

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Left, Center, Right Aaron Booe

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- Why in a Modern Day 12-15 Democracy Do Only Two Parties Dominate?

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6-7 8 8-9 9

Evolution of Philosophy Aaron Booe

- A introduction to the 16-17 complex history of philosophy

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The Importance of Costume Greta Quill

- Costuming Significance

26-29

Greta Quill

- Costume Designers - Recognize Outfits from Famous Movies - Trivia on Iconicism

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Isabel Kilday

24-25

Behind the Lines

The History of Western Women’s Fashion - A look at how fashion has changed throughout time

The People Behind the Purchase

Iconic Costumes

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Isabel Kilday

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22-23

Amalie White Wenner

- The Thinking Process 32-33 of Creating a Character -Motivation of 34-35 Character Design

- Labor Exploitation 18-21 in the Textile Industry

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How to Create a Character Amalie White Wenner - Good Original Character - How Not to Make a Character

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contributors

9 Muses Magazine Staff

Greta Quill is a 14 year old girl who has lived in Texas for most of her life. From a family of writers, musicians, and creators, Greta has been passionate about the arts for as long as she can remember. In her free time, she likes to listen to music, read, visit art museums, watch movies, and create and analyze art. When she grows up, she would like to avoid the science and math fields, although she isn’t sure what she’d focus on.

Greta Quill

Aaron was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and moved to New York, which is his favorite city. He participates in Model United Nations and Junior State of America (JSA).

He is a fast-talking, quick-witted individual with strong opinions. Someday Aaron wants to run for Congress.

Isabel loves fashion and shopping for bargains at second hand clothing stores. She reads novels, magazines, and newspapers, through which she learns about issues that affect the world and what she can do about them. She is fascinated with Greek Mythology and thinks it is still relevant.

Although Isabel has relatives who are artists, graphic designers, and journalists, she is underwhelmingly talented in each of these fields (she would Aaron Booe prefer a career in science, business, marketing, or fashion).

This is Amalie White Wenner: She’s not very good at starting conversations (or introductions, too, it seems), but she likes to anyway just to talk to people. She prefers to spend her leisure time alone Christine has loved to listening to music no one has ever draw from a young age.

Isabel Kilday heard of and doodling characters and She especially enjoys comics in her sketchbooks. She’s a using pen and pencil to nerd at heart, and loves to read commake sketches, as well ics and watch action-adventure movas doing digital art. She ies, and aspires to eventually make a is reserved but quirky career out of her artistic abilities and and is always open for a love for drawing as a comic illustraconversation. She aspires tor or storyboard artist. to be a character designer or animator.

Amalie White Wenner Christine Chen

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Letter from the Editor Greetings, reader!

Welcome to The 9 Muses, a magazine dedicated to illustrating the blurred line that both separates and connects artistic creativity and societal conditions. Living in such a dynamic world where people and their ideas are always changing, there were plenty of topics to touch on, so whether you’re an active participator in politics, or an aspiring artist or simply a regular person bored for a few minutes who picked this up, there’s something in these pages for your interest.

Amalie White Wenner. Image courtesy of Isabel Kilday.

Inspiration for the stories in this magazine came from practically everywhere: a general love of cartooning, a general hatred for the current political circumstances, a general intrigue for fashion and style. Even if you have a general indifference to all of that, you’ll still find something to read. A lot of passion went into these pages, and hopefully our love for design and the world around Truth be told, us shows through this semesterthem. long endeavor was hectic. Even with the whole team working, the production of this project was a feat, - The Editor, but we still put in all the effort we had,

Amalie White Wenner start to finish, to bring you the one and only issue of The 9 Muses, and hope you enjoy it as you begin read, start to finish.

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Multiple works from Picasso that feature humans. Top, bottom, and right photo courtesy of online user Citizen59, Pedro Ribeiro SimĂľes, and Nathan Laurell respectively.

Inspiration: SelfObsession

By: Christine Chen

Boldo to Picasso

he looked away, her face painted with intriguing floral patterns, laced with peonies, yarrows, Mexican marigolds, and even more so her upper torso, composed with cabbage, aloe vera, and all kinds of herbs. Another woman, sharp features, eyes unaligned, nose jutting from the side of her portrait, and ears dropping, with splashes of greens, blues and pinks on her face, looks in front. From Archin 6

Boldo, who painted people with assorted vegetation, to Pablo Picasso, who drew abstract humans, there are different ways to portray a human, ranging from composition to color to art style. The way humans display other people through art can show how societies affect the portrayal of humans and how one can use the properties of art styles, such as realism, to depict another human.

Boldo and Picasso, from different time periods and different countries, show the differences in how many factors can affect art style on the aspect of humans. Artists all have many different styles and mediums that they use to create art.

Motivation So, why do artists put so much effort and detail into recreating humans in their art?

Why would they spend so much time, material and hard-work into art in the form of people?

“Even from prehistoric times, we have always been fascinated with ourselves and our bodies.

Cave drawings depict people hunting and in motion. Ancient tribes used to carry totems that were carved into the female form, and artists have always been very sapio-centric. Many artists from the Renaissance were depicting

Human cave paintings in Hire Benakal in Karnataka, India

religious stories about humans, Ancient Greeks modeled their gods after humans, and we still do it today. In short—we are obsessed with ourselves. It is a human thing,” Holly Edwards, a Murchison Middle School art teacher, says.

Humans have always had themselves and others to look at, as subjects or even as inspiration. There seems to be a fascination of humans, from humans themselves. Artists could have been, or are being influenced on drawing humans from themselves. A big part of inspiration in drawing humans may come from looking at other humans. However, there are also many more factors that can

influence the way people draw, whether humans or still life, artists may get their inspiration from their surroundings or other artists.

“I think it has a huge thing to do with where [the artists are] from, who was inspiring them, and who they were, like, working under. I can’t remember who was working under Picasso, but I know that his work was very similar, in abstract form. But I think where you’re from, like the way that you perceive people and the way that other people are drawing, I think that has a huge deal with how you draw,” Jessica Fischer, an art teacher at Liberal Arts and Science Academy, comments.

“It could absolutely be where they’re from, maybe they had a mentor who showed them how to do something and that’s how they learned. I know a lot of my students are picking up a little bit of my style because of having me for a teacher. So, depending on who you learned the art from, I do believe that it will totally influence your style until you define your own style,” Gibbons agrees, as well, that art could indeed be influenced by where one is from and their own admiration of other artists.

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Personal Inspiration Edwards has experienced influxes in her art style as affected by many different factors.

“I think my background does affect the way I draw. For a long time I was copying other artists or trying to emulate their style to come up with my own individual look. Humans were a big part of this learning and experimentation phase. The constant comparing of my own art to that of a stranger’s culminated in the style that I have today, which I would consider a mix between cartoon and realistic. It’s kind of bizarre,” Edwards says.

“For humans I definitely look up to artists like Alphonse Mucha. He works with a great deal of floral designs, and his figures — women — were always so graceful.

Alphonse Mucha’s F. Champenois Imprimeur-Éditeur made in 1897

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I gather inspiration fromother artists/ illustrators like Dr. Seuss, Salvador Dali (a Surrealist), Peter Max (A pop artist/psychedelic artist), and Disney animators. I like the movement that most of them are able to show in their work, and the different nuances each character has. Everything is individual and important,“ Edwards explains on who had impacted her on her own art, “Their styles have definitely affected me.

I always look to the artwork of others to get ideas on how to make something different from how I normally would, or how to pose a person in a way that it would look normal to a viewer. I also take their dreamlike ideas and apply them to my own thoughts.”

Dynamic sketch provided by Edwards that her students have practiced

Soutine’s La Jeune Anglaise painted in 1934

On the influence of art, Fischer has also drawn inspiration from artists in her life.

“Soutine is a painter that also does medical illustrations and dark prints and paintings of meat so that’s kind of my inspiration on that [...] I would go into butcher shops and walk through to take pictures of it. Then I would paint that in a really abstract way,” says Fischer.

As humans in art changes over time, place, medium, inspiration, style, and other factors, the overall portrayal is the same. Artists from all over the world have many different techniques in drawing and use different mediums and styles in portraying humans, that can give clues on how the artist expressed the world that each different artist they lived, or lives in. Whether it’s Picasso’s famous abstract humans, or Boldo’s strangely realistic composed-of-plants people, art pertaining to humans shows a distinct lifestyle of an artist, their time period, their inspiration on expression and how they perceived the human body.

Not only are other people the influence of human art, but also one self’s emotions and inner feelings.

“In the Dolly Exhibition in Germany, all of his figures are very like, elongated and kind of surreal and unusual. So I think it’s just the artist’s personality.

And I think it has a lot to do with it, and he was sort of crazy, I mean he even said he was crazy, and I think you can see that in the work,” Fischer says.

Art Difference in Other Regions

Fischer also elaborates on art mediums and how humans are portrayed from many different places: “I have seen a lot of art from all over, and I would say that it is very different from place to place. But I think as far as like mediums change and the way people use color changes, overall, people capture human expression in kind of a similar way. Because they want other people to be able to identify with the work. So I think people go for that when they’re making something.”

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Guide to Drawing the Human Body

1. Face and Head

By: Christine Chen

1. Draw a circle. Then draw the cheeks and chin area as indicated.

2. Divide the face in half, horizontally and vertically.

3. Divide the bottom half into horizontal thirds.

4. Horizontal from top to bottom, line 1 > Eyes, 1. Take the head from before and divide it into

thirds vertically.

2. Draw the neck joint into the second third, or middle, of the thirds.

3. Draw the shoulder joints to which it is around one and a half heads wide.

- You can add tilt or more length on the

shoulders depending on what body type

you are drawing.

3. Chest

1. The first half of the arm should be long enough to touch the bottom of the chest.

2. The second half of the arm should be about as long as the first half, or maybe a bit shorter.

3. Divide the forearm into fourths.

4. The hand should be about 2.5 out of 4 of the length of the first half of the arm.

5. The hand is made up of a rounded rectangle and circle joints. The hand should be about two palms long, with the thumb reaching the middle.

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line 2 > Nose, line 3 > Mouth

2. Neck and Shoulders

1. Take the head and shoulders and draw

reference lines from the sides of the head.

2. The chest should look be somewhat of a rounded rectangle 3. Make sure the chest is about 1.25 heads tall, making the entire top half about 2.25 heads tall.

4. Arms and Hands

5. Torso and Hips

1. Measure out three heads starting from the head.

2. The hips should reach the end of the third head 3. If you divide the forearm and hand in half, the end of the hips should reach the middle of that.

1. The upper and lower leg should be around the same length.

6. Legs

2. The knee joint should make the outline of the leg rounded or somewhat jutted.

3. When you are finish drawing the legs, your

entire person should be around 5.5 - 7 heads tall.

7. Feet

1. The heel of the foot should be a joint/circle.

2. Draw a rounded rectangle like the one for the hand.

3. The foot is curved inwards towards the middle

Tips - Understand that this is only a general proportion and whoever you decide to draw could have different features.

- Shorter people are around 5 heads tall, while taller people are around 7 heads tall.

- It is recommended that you draw the head proportion first (7 heads, 6 heads, etc.)

All images courtesy of Christine Chen.

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Left, Center, and Right: The Current State of American Affairs

By: Aaron Booe

Political Reform

Why in a modern day democracy do only two parties dominate?

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hy, in a modern day democracy, do only two parties dominate? What of the other parties, many of which have contributed ideas and policies that have become mainstays of American politics? The answer, according to historians and scholars, is the political process that has evolved over the years, has relegated third parties to the sidelines. It’s also the nature of the parties themselves. However, this was not always the case.

At first, the Liberal Party was first called the Federalists, then Democrats, then Liberty Party, the Whigs, Then Democrats again, Though the first Democratic Presidents of the 20th century were really Progressive Democrats. Meanwhile, the conservatives were the Anti-federalist, the Whigs, finally the Republicans. These changes have resulted in growing divides.

This growing divide has been the most evident, following what is perhaps the most provocative political elections in the history of the United States of America. The growing tension against the two current major political parties: Democrats and Republicans, has resulted in the topic of the necessity of a two party system being the subject of heated debates.

The current two-party system gives a considerable amount of power to the extremists in each party, much of that is actually institutional in nature. The primary system means that in many states, independent voters are essentially unrepresented in choosing the two candidates that appear on the general election ballot. As a result, each party spits out more extreme candidates than would be elected if all of us chose our top two preferences.

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“The major problem with the parties (The Political Party Illusion) is that, in the House and the Senate, we’re gerrymandering electoral districts. Once you do that, you’re more likely to get challenged by someone who’s even more liberal or conservative than you are,” said Columbia professor of political science, Justin H. Phillips. As a member of Congress you’re always protecting your more conservative or more liberal flank.

Most voters see the system as alternating between the two parties.

First when the Democrats win, there is a noticeable increase the social freedoms of the country. Then after awhile they are voted out and the Republicans have their turn, increasing the economic freedoms.

Described in this way, it would seem that the twoparty system provides an ideal balance. “This system allows for this moving ever-forward with increased freedoms for all,” said Phillips. If this attractive image were the case, Democrats would not be filled with disappointment at the end of a liberal term in which their social freedoms somehow had not increased. It is this illusioin which fuels composomise.

However at the end of a conservative term, it is the reverse. While their stated objectives for regained economic freedoms somehow failed to come to pass (again, compromise was necessary), the leaders still managed to limit social freedoms in some way. (The USA Patriot Act in America is perhaps the most extraordinary example in recent years.)

“If America can’t find ways to bridge their deep partisan political divide and get on with the business of running the country, instead of the business of fighting with the opposing party, they will continue to stagnate their standing as a world leader will be in jeopardy, if it isn’t already.”

“First, the four primary pillars of this new third parties beliefs are going to be — Fiscal responsibility — Getting the government’s books in order for the long haul, so that we’re not stealing from future generations.” This party would focus on the laws that Congress passes and actually accomplish sticking to them.

“Second, this party would also respect the environment.

This is no different from fiscal responsibility. They would clearly recognize that the current generation shouldn’t live better today by passing on the costs to future generations.” Ignoring climate change is just as irresponsible as refusing to fix the current unsustainable entitlement programs that provide cuts to major corporations who have a vast amount of influence on the corruption of the environment.

“Another major foundation that this party will be built on will be social tolerance. The closest we can get to a cease-fire on social issues is to let Americans do what they choose when it doesn’t affect other people. That might be marrying someone of the same sex or keeping a gun in your home. Of course, when you take the gun outside, we need to talk,” Said Phillips. Given the live and let live attitude adopted by this party, would result in a majority of Americans favoring this potential centrist Party.

“They would also have a genuine commitment to economic opportunity. There is stuff government needs to do — build and develop current infrastructure, ensure access to education, provide a safety net for the truly disadvantaged, protect the environment, catch criminals and so on.” This means that they would also be in favor of current capitalism and multilateral free trade in the name of protecting the American economy while also recognizing the importance that comes with the developing the global economy.

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The Centrist Party would also learn how to interact and work with the Republican and Democrats, establishing a vast amount of appeal in the populous. However, the rules and procedures that determine how we nominate and elect candidates for federal and state offices absolutely guarantees that the fighting will continue, and even escalate.

In fact, the present system rewards elected leaders for not working together.

“They quickly learn that if they do choose to collaborate with the other side, they have a good chance of getting voted out of office the next time around,” said Nowakowski. The constant political infighting between the Republicans and the Democrats is clearly resulting the need for new blood in politics to change the current course the American Government is heading.

If America can’t find ways to bridge their deep partisan political divide and get on with the business of running the country, instead of the business of fighting with the opposing party, they will continue to stagnate at home, and their standing as a world leader will be in jeopardy, if it isn’t already.

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A number of people are in favor of a new party, even the political independents, which might have been expected given a lack of allegiance to either major party, have shown a far greater preference for a third political party than those who identify as Republicans or Democrats. “Currently, 71 percent of independents say a third party is needed, on the upper end of the trend line. That compares with 47 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of Republicans who say the same,” Said Professor Phillips.

The U.S. political system makes it difficult for third parties to hold elected office given the Electoral College system of electing presidents and election of members of Congress from individual states and districts based on the candidate getting the most votes. Such a system generally favors two parties — a center-right and a center-left party — that have the ability to assemble a winning plurality or majority in districts and states across the country. Also, some states have restrictive laws on ballot access that make it difficult for third-party candidates to appear on the ballot.

Representation of current politics. Image provided by Cagle Cartoons Inc.

“Our political system is at a crossroads. Our two parties are producing zero results for the American people, as they are more focused on running to the extremes to win elections than coming to center to solve problems.

The political pendulum swings back and forth, but very little is getting done. It’s time to change the equation.

We’re surrounded by innovation every day. Companies and organizations that weren’t around ten years ago have revolutionized the way we travel, communicate, entertain, live, and learn. But in politics, we’re stuck with two choices that most of us don’t like. We think some innovation is long overdue to make our politics more representative of and responsive to all Americans.”

“The American people need and deserve better than these current mainstream parties.”

Said Nowaksi. “They desperately need our government to work and face these pressing challenges,” said Nowaski.

However this is not to say that pursuing a third party will come without any disadvantages. They face many problems such as the fact that they are usually used as protest votes, meaning that you would vote for them to prove a political point this can result in giving votes away that could prove to be a pivotal point for many election. They also do not have a lot of money at their disposal, nor do they have name recognition.

However, there are advantages to an third party. The pursuing of political reform for a third party won’t be easy and will take time. The two-party system is deeply rooted. But it could make a difference if it begins now, pursuing reforms on a stateby-state, grassroots level. That will gradually clear the way for more nonpartisan candidates to get nominated and elected and allow them, once in office, to put the best interests of the nation first and work with their colleagues to get the things that need to be done done.

Symbols of the three political parties. Image supplied by Cagle Cartoons Inc.

“The country is dealing with historic challenges now, driven by the extraordinary pace of technology, cultural revolutions, the threat of terrorism, dramatic climate change, and globalization of our economy, to name just a few extraordinary issues that demand urgent attention.”

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Pre-Socratic

Ionian The very fisrt philosopher who sought the pricniple of the origin and dissapearnace of things.

Middle Ages

Socratic

Stocism Stoicism is predominantly a philosophy of personal ethics which is informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world. According to Eleatic Sought to find its teachings, as social beings, the path to the relation happiness for humans is between eternal change found in accepting that which we have been and unity. given in life, by not allowing ourselves to be controlled by desire.

Skepticism Philosophical skepticism is both a philosophical school of thought that questions the possibility of certainty in knowledge. It is generally agreed that knowledge requires justification.

Skeptics claim that it is not possible to have an adequate justification.

Scholsticism Scholasticism is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by the academics of employing that method in articulating and defending dogma in an increasingly pluralistic context.

It originated as an outgrowth of and a departure from Christian monastic schools at the earliest European universities in the study of arts, law, medicine, and theology.

Aristr Believ of vir as the wisdo more appro the un also in who r dualis of the

Philosophy Throu Platonism Plato believed the math were the highest Sophism forms of wisdom and The philosophical had a fear of change. problem of the nature of sophistry is He was somewhat a belittler of natural arguably even more scineces who though formidable. Due form was static. They in large part to the influence of Plato and believe in rationalism and materialism.

Aristotle, the term sophistry has come to signify the deliberate use of fallacious reasoning and original contributions to Western thought.

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Epicureansim A system of philosophy that believed in “pleasure” was the greatest good, but that the way to attain such pleasure was to live modestly, to gain knowledge of the workings of the world, and to limit one’s desires. This would lead one to attain a state of tranquility and freedom.

Eleticism “Eclecticism” is a name given to a group of ancient philosophers who, from the existing philosophical beliefs, tried to select the doctrines that seemed to them most reasonable, and out of these constructed a new

Humanism

Emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectivel and affirms their ability to improve their lives through the use of reason and ingenuity as opposed to submitting blindly to tradition and authority or sinking into cruelty and brutality.

Modern Ages

roleanism ve in the value rtue and science e highes forms of om. Generally a empirical science oach towards life and niverse. Change is nevitable to progress. reject the belief of sm and the seperation e mind and soul.

Heglaism

Rationialism A viewpoint that regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge appealing towards justification.

States we have to deal with the process of development applied to reality in its most abstract form. According to Hegel, in logic, we deal in concepts robbed of their empirical content: in logic we are discussing the process in vacuo, so to speak. Thus, at the very beginning of Hegel’s study of reality, he finds the logical concept of

ughout the Ages

ly,

Extentialism Belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual. While the predominant value of existentialist thought is commonly acknowledged to be freedom, its primary virtue is authenticity.In the view of the existentialist, the individual’s starting point is characterized by what has been called “the existential attitude”, or a sense of disorientation, confusion, or dread in the face of an apparently meaningless or

Empicirism States that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience It is one of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with rationalism and skepticism. Empiricism emphasizes the role of empirical evidence in the formation of ideas, over the notion of innate ideas or traditions; empiricists may argue however that traditions (or customs) arise due to relations of previous sense experiences.

Post Anlytic ostanalytic philosophy describes a detachment from the mainstream philosophical movement of analytic philosophy, which is the predominant school of thought in English-speaking countries. Postanalytic philosophy derives mainly from contemporary American thought, especially from the works of philosophers Richard Rorty, Donald Davidson, Hilary Putnam, and W. V. O. Quine. The term is closely associated with the much broader movement of contemporary American pragmatism.

Pragmatism Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that began in the United States around 1870. Charles Sanders Peirce, generally considered to be its founder, later described it in his pragmatic maxim:Consider the practical effects of the objects of your conception. Then, your conception of those effects is the whole of your conception of the object.

Post Structualist Post-structuralism is a label formulated by American academics to denote the heterogeneous works of a series of mid20th-century French and continental philosophers and critical theorists.

The relationship to its predecessor, structuralism, an intellectual movement developed in Europe from the early to mid-20th century which argued that human culture may be understood by means of a structure.

—modeled on language (i.e., structural linguistics)—that differs from concrete reality and from abstract ideas—a “third order” that mediates between the two.

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ho doesn’t love a bargain? Sale prices on fashionable clothing make them irresistible to consumers who crave new, inexpensive designs according to the current trends. But how can clothing companies turn a profit from such cheap prices?

The textile industry functions with a complex system of supply chains in which labor exploitation is rampant. Workers, who are sometimes children, endure long hours, in

Menendez, cofounder of Evan Brooke Ethical Clothing.

One culprit for the system that has developed of exploited workers and quick turnover in the manufacture of western garments is “fast fashion,” a term used in the industry to describe the low quality, cheap garments manufactured to conform to the current fashion.

“If you’re not paying for something, someone else is. If you’re only paying $5 for each T-shirt, then just imagine how much the person who made it

Labor Exploitation in the Textile Industry

By: Isabel Kilday

The people behind the purchase

cramped and unsafe working conditions, with pay that falls far behind the minimum or living wage.

“The big companies that are fast fashion producers, they are going to be pinching the workers in the factories to work faster, for cheaper, so that they can get more clothes on the floor for the price that they want, and if that factory doesn’t do it, then they’ll find another that will,” says Cameron Crake, international coordinator for the Austin-based fair trade clothing company Raven + Lily.

Although labor exploitation is widespread, many American consumers are oblivious to the system they are supporting when they buy their clothing.

“It’s easy to overlook the supply chain as a consumer in America. Marketing is an incredibly powerful force […] We even feel good about saving money, without considering the true cost of our products,” points out Evan Brooke 18

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons.

A Bangladeshi worker protests on the one year anniversary of a deadly factory collapse.

actually got paid,” says Crake. “That’s the challenge with fast fashion. It blinds people to the consequences.”

Consumers may assume that major apparel companies are keeping tabs on their supply chains and workers, but companies often put their profits first.

“For a textile company it’s always a matter of

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons.

Bangladeshi woman sewing garments in a sweatshop.

juggling their production costs, transportation costs, labor costs, so figuring out the sweet spot […] for reducing those costs overall, [and] maximizing profits,” says Cody Moody, World Geography and Advanced Placement Human Geography teacher at Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy in Austin, Texas. “We have seen that labor costs, being the most expensive cost [...] prompt the industry to outsource and outsource and outsource, to find ever cheaper sources of labor.

“If you’re not paying for something, someone else is. [...]

That’s the challenge with fast fashion. It blinds people to the consequences.”

- Cameron Crake

To explore how the system of supply chains developed, a look back at what drove textile manufacturing from the U.S. is necessary.

“Over the last 50 years, we have produced less and Often times, the cheap sources of labor — unless clothing in the USA. I’ve read that 95 percent educated, semiskilled people in third world counof our clothing was made here just 50 years ago, tries, cannot leave their position to find one that and now it’s around 2 percent. The reasons vary, treats them fairly. but perhaps the biggest is that labor was, and still is, significantly cheaper” says Menendez. “PowerCrake says that apparel companies have workers ful marketing, and, in turn, our American culture, in their sweatshops because it is their only ophas encouraged us to buy more and more for less tion. “They would rather be working fourteen and less money. Our demand is high, and counhours a day in really poor conditions than not tries with fewer laws to protect the workers, or having a job.” weak enforcement of those laws, have competed to keep prices down and hold onto our business.”

Many consider this labor exploitation to be slavery because the workers risk letting their famAmerican clothing manufacturers in particular are ily starve if they leave their job, and often times guilty of creating this system that leads to labor labor unions are not allowed. One definition of exploitation, and American consumers are known slavery, according to the Oxford English Dictionfor their materialistic appetite for new and fashary, is “a person who is excessively dependent ionable clothing.“We have this really consumerupon or controlled by something.” based mentality of buy, buy, buy […] without much thought to where it’s coming from,” says “It seems to me that human trafficking and forced Crake about American consumers. labor is so widespread,” says Menendez. “I consider modern-day slavery to be any of the followThe consumers may assume that they would be ing and more: forced labor with little or no pay; made aware of it if their clothing was made with child labor; unsafe work conditions; and physical child labor or in a sweatshop. But major disasters abuse.”

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Photo courtesy of Creative Commons.

Factory workers in Jordan work in cramped conditions for long hours.

are usually the only thing major brands respond to.

“Apparel companies based in the U.S. have not been too concerned about working conditions abroad, they usually only become concerned when American citizens find out about some big disaster, or some horrid conditions being reported by investigative journalists, that brings it up in the American discourse,” says Moody. “And then you may have those companies react with some kind of imposition of standards on those contract companies they are working with. But, we have never really seen anything that’s long lasting and permanent in terms of preventing those types of working conditions from happening, unfortunately.” In response to why companies can not effectively monitor the manufacturing of their clothing, Moody says,”with the situation of outsourcing it makes it more complicated, with this contracting and subcontracting to monitor everything that is going on, in all of their textile plants.”

The consequences of the passiveness of major apparel countries has made it a commonplace and virtually unreported subject. The workers have no way to get out of the situation they find themselves in, despite the efforts of charitable organizations, 20

fair trade and ethical clothing manufacturers, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

An example of this is Nepal, a poor country located to the north of India. “Nepal is an especially vulnerable area of the world because of the caste system and social status of women. Many Nepali women and girls are trafficked into India as prostitutes, but also within Nepal and other countries like China for sexual exploitation and forced labor. Many others have limited opportunities to be educated and learn skills,” says Menendez.

The working situations they are forced into by their circumstances leaves them powerless to demand better treatment and they are at the mercy of the system. They may not have a choice, but consumers do, with what they purchase and support.

“When you buy less and buy thoughtfully, your dollars can make an incredible impact on the system and people all over the world. I encourage my audience to buy fair trade and ethically-sourced when you can, and buy second-hand for everything else!” says Menendez. “Our dollars vote for and support what we spend them on.”

Shop

Raven + Lily

Photo courtesy of Raven + Lily www.ravenandlily.com

Raven + Lily is an ethical clothing brand based in Austin, Texas that empowers women through design in partnership with women in Kenya, Guatemala, India, Ethiopia, and more.

creating ethical fashion and empowering women through design.

AUSTIN FLAGSHIP 11601 ROCK ROSE AVE. 737.209.1072 AUSTIN GIFT SHOP 2406 MANOR RD. 512.236.1378 www.ravenandlilly.com 21

The

Isabel Kilday

of Western Women’s Fashion

Fashion and how it has changed and evolved over time reflects the culture it has developed out of. Looking back on women’s fashion in particular demonstrates the rise in women’s empowerment, the fluctuating economy, the prevalent social norms, the dynamic class structure, and the increase of American consumerism.

1780

1800 |

Marie Antoinette is a symbol of the extravagant fashions popular before the French revolution.

-Fashion was intricate and elaborate and demonstrated the wealth of the individual.

-This was before the sewing machine, but cotton gained popularity as a cheaper alternative to expensive fabrics.

-In rejection to the gendered and conformed fashion of the previous decade, jeans, leather jackets, and other unisex clothing rose in popularity.

-Mod fashion included more square, bright, futuristic styles, while hippie clothing rejected consumerism with nonWestern inspired handmade clothing and accessories, like flowy shirts and bell bottom pants.

-(pictured right) Jackie Kennedy 1960 demonstrated mod fashion with her pillbox hats, geometric outfits, -Madonna (pictured on right side) and and pearls.

Cyndi Lauper popularized many styles,

1980

Nancy Reagan and Margaret Thatcher (below) adopted the trend of “power dressing” in their daily wardrobes.

including tight leggings, large sweaters, bright patterns, off the shoulder tops, leg warmers, and large, brightly colored accessories such as glasses, hoop earrings, and hair clips.

-Hair was styled for volume and heavily applied, brightly colored makeup completed the look.

-“Power dressing” was a trend adopted to provide a sense of equality in the workplace, involving shoulder pads, tailored blazers, and knee length skirts.

-Grunge, minimalist, and relaxed aesthetics contrasted to the bright colors, accessories, and layering of the ‘80s.

-Plain shirts, plaid, darker colors, crop tops,

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skorts, tank tops, skater shoes, chunky black boots, and low rise jeans were in style.

1810

-After revolution, aristocracy women with the

1850 |

the French an association with was not wanted, and opted for simple dresses waist just below the bust--a style popularized by Josephine Bonaparte (pictured left)the famous French emperor’s wife.

-Clothing was still handmade by tailors.

1950

1950 |

-Rationing ended, and many fabrics were available, as well as many department stores that responded to the rise in American consumerism.

-Pastels and flower prints were favored, and full skirts that reached the calf showed off the popular hourglass silhouette.

1990 Seinfeld was a popular american sitcom that ran from 1989-1998.

-Hoop skirts supported the rise in wider skirts as they came into fashion.

-The sewing machine, an invention long attempted but previously only failed, is attributed to a Massachusetts farmer named Elias Howe in 1844, but was not widely used for garments until much later.

1860

-Fashion for women became slightly more pragmatic for in response to the changing attitudes about women and sports.

-“Health corsets” relieved pressure from the abdomen and put more emphasis on the rear -Stiff, tall collars, elaborate hats decorated with fake flowers, ribbons, feathers, etc.

-Garment factories, a largely American phenomenon, shifted the clothing industry from custom-made to ready-made with Jewish and Italian immigrants who brought their tailoring skills to tenements on the Lower East Side of New York City. This shift happened because of the industrial revolution, the growth of the middle class, 1900 and the large amount of foreign labor.

1900 |

An evening dress like one literary character Scarlet O’Hara from Gone With the Wind might have worn.

1920

-The great depression drew attention away from fashion and more towards function for clothing, but affordable costume jewelry and efficient zippers were clothing innovations of the time.

-Coco Chanel (pictured right) popularized costume jewelry with her strands of faux pearls.

1930

-Trousers and shorts became more acceptable, as well as other lessrestricting clothing.

-The flapper style (featured left) of the roaring 20s is iconic, and featured slits, fringe, and pleats, as well as a loose style with a low waist and a higher hemline which allowed for dancing.

2050 |

1940 -The war caused nationwide efforts to conserve fabric with the “make do and mend” campaign. Slim, efficient dresses with a thin waistline and a militarylike appearance were favored.

-Separate shirts and skirts started to come into fashion because they combined in different ways and added more variety to a woman’s outfit choices.

2000 -Vintage fashions and those that incorporated different patterns and styles were on the rise.

-Ballet flats, sweater dresses, and tunic dresses paired with a belt were staples.

2000 |

Sarah Jessica Parker, a celebrity and fashion icon.

FUTURE: what will the fashion of the future be?

2010 Pop star Taylor Swift is a modern influence on popular fashion.

PRESENT -High waisted booty shorts, skirts, and jeans, flowy dresses, military boots, androgynous and feminine clothing, crop tops, halter tops, and more!

Sources: makers.com Wikipedia.com interchange.org lovetoknow.com Photo source: Creative Commons

23

ICONIC

COSTUMES

by Greta Quill

A Q&A

Q: So why are iconic costumes iconic?

A: Iconic costumes are iconic because they’re often a symbol of a �ilm or TV

show that resonated with society or was just enthralling enough to not be forgot ten.

Q: What makes a costume iconic?

A: Being from memorable movie Being seen regularly Being unique enough that it’s identi�iable Worn by a famous actor Q: What usually are iconic costumes?

A; Disney character out�its Out�its from huge movie franchises (Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Hunger Games

etc.)

Some examples are featured on the sides (in no particular order)

24

Catherine Martin is a Catherinedesigner, Martin is aset costume costume designer, set designer, and producdesigner, and production designer from tion designer Australia whofrom has Australia who has done and won awards done for: for herwork work for: The Great Gatsby (2013) (2013) Strictly Ballroom Strictly Ballroom (1992) (1992) Moulin Rouge!

Moulin Rouge!(2001) (2001) Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Sandy Powell is a cosSandy Powellfrom is a tume designer costume designer England who has fromand England who done won awards has done work for: for The Aviator (2004) Shakespeare Shakespeare in in Love Love (1993) (1998) Interviewwith withthe the Interview Vampire(1994) (1994) Vampire Cinderella (2015) Cinderella (2015)

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Costume designers are the people responsible for designing out�its that can become iconic and in�luence the style of the world, so in turn they should be given more credit for all that they do. Here’s four costume designers that you should know.

Know Your Costume Designers!

by Greta Quill

Deborah Nadoolman Deborah Landis is Nadoolman a costume Landis is a costume designer forwho both has film and theatre and theatre who has done and won awards done work for: for Coming to Coming toAmerica America (1988) (1988) Raiders of of the Raiders the Lost Lost Ark (1981) Ark (1981) Animal House (1978) Animal House (1978) Blues Brothers (1996) (1980)

Milena Canonero is a Milena costumeCanonero designers is a costume designfrom Italy who has er from Italyawards who done and won done workfor: for: for her work Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (2006) (2006) The Grand Budapest(2014) Hotel (2014) Hotel Chariotsofof Fire Chariots Fire (1981) (1981) The Cotton Club (1984) (1984)

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The Significance of costume By: Greta Quill

Costuming is an important part of the visual medias, but why? This article explores all the aspects that make costume design and costuming what it is today.

If you haven’t experienced the feeling of watching a show and being captivated by what you see the characters wearing on screen, you probably aren’t human.

The things you see a character wearing in any body of visual work is referred to as costume design, and it isn’t given nearly as much credit as it deserves. Costume design is the design and creation of costumes. But there’s more to it than that. It’s extremely rare to see a performance where the actors and actresses wear their own, regular clothing. If you do, that might be done purposely for the sake of the story being told. Costume design

is it’s own art form and it’s safe to say it’s significant.

So significant that Kari Perkins, an Austin-based costume designer who has done work for films such as “Boyhood” (2015), “Bernie” (2011) says, “Costuming provides very important visual information about a character. Socioeconomic background, region, personal preferences can all be revealed through the costumes.”

In the award winning film “Les Misérables” (2012), you can immediately tell who has money and who doesn’t by the clothing you see certain characters wearing.

Jean Valjean and Cosette go through a change from being very poor to moderately wealthy, all of which is shown through their swapping of clothing throughout the film.

Left: Costumes from Disney’s Enchanted (2007) Right: Costume from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

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The color scheme of costumes tells an important tale, too. “lf you don’t have a color palette and a line palette to your costumes, a design can look very disjointed and not work,” says Melissa Alexander Driscoll, the theatre teacher at the Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy (LASA) in Austin, Texas. This makes sense.

Woman” character. She would have directors talk to her all the time and just be like, “Oh, no, we just want you to play the pretty woman,” she was like, “That was a character I did, that’s not me.” Driscoll continues, “If you look at the early roles, before she proved to the industry that women shouldn’t be treated that way, if you take her costume away, it’s the exact same character.

The costume really helped to distinguish because she

The color of what you see a character wearing can help give you information about the character, the setting the character inhabits, and the relationships between characters.

Certain colors are associated with certain meanings. Red is the color of anger, passion, desire, green represents rebirth, earth, naturality, yellow signifies both happiness, and alternatively, sickness. In the first of the “Hunger Games” movie trilogy, there is a scene where it’s to be decided who’ll go from District 12 to fight other children to the death. You see Effie Trinket donning an elaborate, mauve color, which is of great contrast to what the simple costumes characters Katniss Everdeen and her sister Prim wear. Katniss is wearing a pale blue color, symbolic of her intelligence and independence, while her sister wears white: the color of purity. What Effie wears shows her of being from a different place; one where food and money is abundant, and where she is of higher ranking than the two girls and everyone else in District 12. If these actresses were to just wear their normal and everyday attire the story of the show wouldn’t be as understandable and it probably wouldn’t be as popular amongst fans.

That isn’t to say a show is bad if there isn’t much of a story being told with the costumes, though many disagree with that. “As long as you’re consistent and fluid, your audience will buy into it,” explains Ms. Melissa Alexandra Driscoll. Riley Church see’s it differently. “Costuming makes or breaks a show.” Kari Perkins agrees with her, “A show without costuming would make a bold statement. The costumes help provide more information about the characters as well as help set a mood for the piece.”

While the question of whether or not costume design is necessary to story is debatable, it can often be extremely important to the actor. “For the actor, the costume can be a huge part of their body transformation, and also their mind and their voice, but the costume affects the body in the most,” says Driscoll, “Actors do so much work to create this body and this whole character that when you put that completion of the costume on them, it just brings it to another level,” Driscoll continues, “You’ll notice before

Costume from War and Peace (1967)

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Costuming and costume design is vital. It’s true that you could still have a successful body of visual work without costuming, which is “extremely avant garde,” said Driscoll, or where the characters are wearing just what their actors had been wearing before the performance. However, the film industry and theatre industries wouldn’t be what they are today without this aspect of the visual arts.

Left: (top) Costume (bottom) costumes from The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) Right: (top) Superman costume from Adventure’s of Superman (1952 - 1958) (bottom) Costume from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

28

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29

How to a

Make Character

Ever wanted to to make

a good original character,

Here are six quick tips

to keep in mind

Amalie White Wenner

Color Scheme A character’s visual identity is usually first and foremost determined by their color scheme, so using supplementary and complementary colors to make the palette more cohesive and present an overall more unified appearance is a good idea. In addition, natural colors often lend themselves to practically any design, while brighter, more vibrant hues like neons should be reserved for characters with more extreme and intense dispositions.

Facial Expressions Characters are like people in many ways. One of those ways is how they primarily communicate their feelings: their face! A character’s face should be able to change depending on their mood; but of course, in the case of drawing for fun, a character can have a default expression that exhibits what they are like on a daily basis: mischievous, content, depressed, etc. But a character shouldn’t perpetually feel only one way, so experiment with what they’d look like at the extremes of their emotions, beyond their normal range.

Body Shape If the character were a shape, what shape would they be? Triangle? Square? Circle? Whatever it be, try to make it a motif throughout their design - it’ll give the visuality of them a sense of unity. The basic geometry of a character can depict a lot about who they are: rounder, more curved characters appear more bubbly and childish, while more angular, straight-lined characters more strict and disciplined, and any range in between is possible with combinations of both.

Clothing The main purpose of clothing - aside from making sure a character isn’t stark naked - is to convey the world around them and what the character does in it without having to illustrate the actual surroundings. What job holding do they have and where do they have it? Their attire should answer these questions in at least a broad sense. Certain outfits have certain assumptions associated with them: Every career has a typical uniform alongside it, so typically a character should be wearing some variation of that attire to show what they do. (Can you guess what the character on the left does?)

Posture On a daily basis, how would the character stand? Slightly lopsided or hunched? With both hands on their hips? With their arms crossed? Draw them like that! However they casually stand is the best way to show what they are like with their body movement. There are so many different poses a character can make, and each one gives off a different feeling.

30

A well-designed character.

but don’t know how? next time you go back

to the drawing board.

and

How to

a NotMake Character Color Scheme Just because a character has a “colorful” personality doesn’t mean every color should be used for their outer aesthetic. This is when a color scheme starts to overdo it and the colors themselves lose all meaning to the character as a person. Nobody’s favorite color is the whole rainbow. More commonly, colors that clash - especially in saturation, like bright yellow and dark purple - do not make an appealing set.

Facial Expressions A character should only be blank-eyed and staring at nothing if they are daydreaming.

While drawing blank expressions for practicing the placement of facial features can be handy at first, eventually a character has to start showing emotion, and there is no better way to do that than through the face. So draw the character smiling, or angry, or sad. Start with the basic feelings and then branch off to more complex ones that require more eccentric expressions - confusion, sass, skepticism, fright - until they can emote everything that

Body Shape Character’s don’t always have to adhere to the concept of general geometry for sketching, but the way their body is shouldn’t mean nothing to who they are. A character should not be fit just for the sake of being fit. Same goes for being fat, or anywhere in between. Their body is, after all, their manifestation as a person, so what they do based on their personality traits and habits is bound to affect their physical form. Character’s should have the body they have for a reason from their lives, whether it be eating or exercise routines or lack thereof, they’re body should have meaning to its appearance.

Clothing Avoid dressing your character in an outfit that doesn’t show anything about them: what they do, where they are, when they are, etc. What characters wear should communicate not only who they are in their personality, but who they are in they’re society; it should say what they’re world is like without needing to show their environment. Clothing and fashion trends can be a huge hint to the universe a character is in.

Posture Don’t simply trace the character over from a body template found online. Try drawing them freehand in a position they might make in a certain scene in their field of work, or for practice, in just a general everyday stance they may casually stand in. But not absolutely straight - no one stands like a board. Give the character some movement, whether it be a hand on the hip or their shoulders slumped or their back arched - just don’t draw them

And a poorly-designed character.

Images by Amalie White Wenner.

31

Behind the Lines What the Artwork

Says About the Artist veryone has used a pencil before, but while most people are tapping one on their temple or jotting down notes they’re not going to remember, some people use their pencils for a little more than scribbling.

32

Christine chen, ninth-grader at Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA) in Austin, Texas, found herself drawn to the art room today, on Feb. 8, with pencil in hand and a sheet of loose leaf on the table in front of her, how she spends most lunches. Looking at her, there is just another teenager, with dark hair, glasses pushed up her nose, black sweatpants and gray jacket matching the color of graphite.

Looking at the paper, there is just another sketch, with a few rough outlines and a couple stray scratches in the margins.

by Amalie White Wenner

“Drawing characters, there has to be some sort of basis for it,” said Chen. “So I guess we base it off of ourselves; people, even though they’re more subtle, can still express the same feelings and emotions,” she said with a slight smile. “You know your imagination has to come from somewhere, and so I guess sometimes the things I see and then sort of fantasize in my head.”

Contrary to what you might think, people and created characters are not all that different. Looking at all the wonky and exaggerated styles they can come in, from stout and

Various character pose structure bases. Image courtesy of Amalie White Wenner.

Visual break-down of the layers of developing a character’s design, general pose to rough outline to final contour. Images courtesy of Amalie White Wenner.

thick-lined to elongated and sketchy, they can appear a little too out-of-this-world to be anything close to real.

But in reality, they can be more grounded in their fictional worlds than us in our real one.

yourself in the piece of art you’re looking at so you can connect with it.”

But on top of a multitude of

When you look at a fictional character, there’s immediately a sense of what they are feeling —

that is, if they are well designed. Happiness, anger, excitement, fear and emotions to choose from for a range of many more. As characters, there are uncountable Jessica Fischer, Chen’s art ways to show them. The facial teacher, puts it: “Artists expression is the most blatant want other people to be able — artist’s often spend a long to identify with the work, so time drawing the same character you kind of feel a little bit of consistently with different

emotions displayed on their face. Everyone knows what a smile means though.

Not everyone can immediately interpret the other features.

It’s an artist’s job to know how to show things, how to read certain aspects of characters and know things that the audience might pick up on, but not know they are picking up on them. The best example is body posture. People slouch and people stand straight, and they move at bunch of angles in between — characters are the same way.

“I think a little piece of myself always ends up in there anyway, whether it’s color, or texture, or something,” Fischer said. It

33

happens with body posture, too.

People are inherently creative — drawing and creating artwork is simply a way of making that creativity become a reality, so of course a bit of reality is always going to find its way into the fiction.

There is no one tell-tale sign of what people are like, though.

Personalities are not directly connected to how people look, and they shouldn’t be on characters either. “I think that what you’re seeing on the canvas tells a little bit about what’s going on in the artist’s mind,” Fischer continues.

However, most of the time, people are actually just drawing for fun, because as professional character designer, Claire Almon says, “Designing characters is appealing because you get to bring a person to life visually who can live and perform through animation or books, etc.” Expression is usually just a side effect, like with every aspect of people’s lives: clothing, talking, even how you stand can give an impression of who you are.

All of these things are so closely tied to people, they are actually all relevant in making characters, too.

As Almon puts it, “You always start with the personality and who the character is. The visuals are meant to support that and tell the story of the person, their personality and where they come from.”

Any decent character worth the time being created should maintain all of these details in 34

Completed character design from the development stages. Image provided by Amalie White Wenner.

their design, just as any decent person manages to figure out what they want to be like. It makes them more like a real person, who, just in the same way, “Wants to present who they feel they are to the world, and they can do that via how they dress, style their hair, whether they try to dress up to stand out or to blend into a certain crowd,” according to Almon.

Putting a little bit of a real person — the artist — is not completely out of the ordinary. As Almon says, “If you think about it, there is no

one on earth who you are more familiar with than yourself. So it follows that whether you are aware of it or not you use yourself as a resource when creating art.”

“If you think about it, there is no one on earth who you are more familiar with than yourself. So it follows that whether you are aware of it or not you use yourself as a resource when creating art�.

- Claire Almon

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9 Muses Magazine was created by five students at the Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy in Austin, Texas. These students are:

Amalie White Wenner Isabel Kilday Greta Quill Christ Chen Aaron Booe They would like to thank Ms. Giulietti, their teacher, for her help and encouragement throughout this entire endeavor.