Off The Cuff - Issue 06

OFF THE CUFF VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

contributors EDITOR IN CHIEF // VINCENZO CALVI CREATIVE DIRECTOR // HELEN PEÑA-SMICKER MANAGING EDITOR // CORINA PINTADO DIRECTOR OF MARKETING // ISABELLE EPSKAMP DIRECTOR OF FINANCE // OLIVIA SIMONSON SENIOR ART DIRECTOR // SERAPHIM OSIAKWAN WRITERS//

ARIANA DAVIS AMBERLY MOODY YINKA FASEHUN MICHELLE SANTIAGO CORTÉS SUSANNA YUDKIN

PHOTOGRAPHERS// MADELINE CARPENTIERE ANGELA WANG IRENE ZENG SARAH SILBIGER MEGAN TANG NICKI GLITTER KAYLEA HO ANGELA FRANCIS

STYLISTS//

ALICE GAO CARLI SCHMIDT BRANDON ONG-SY ANIA PATLA RACHEL ANGELOFF DAVID LOWE EDEN PRITIKIN

VIDEO EDITORS// KAYLEA HO SELEN TERZI MEGAN TANG

ART DIRECTORS// GEORGIANA PAGOUNIS SOPHIE LIPITZ MADELINE CARPENTIERE NICOLE KWAK MARIA CASTELLANETA RAEANNE VILLONGCO

HAIR AND MAKEUP// ALEXANDRA DELANO ANDRIANNA TODOROVIC MAYA HUDLIN ZARAH KAVARANA

EVENTS CHAIRS// JEMMA DOUGLAS VERONICA CHENG RACHAEL ANGELOFF MARGOT MENESTROT

PUBLIC RELATIONS// EBRU KIR ALANA SCHWARTZ GABRIELLA PLOTKIN

FINANCE CHAIRS// MONICA COYLE MADISON BERMAN

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

5 7 13 15 17 20 24 33 39 47 57

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR FASHION HAS A N E W FAC E : T HE 2015 T R A N SGE N DE R M OV E M E N T

IDENTIT Y DEFT SMOOTH TRANSITIONS GLITTER ROCKS IT’S MY CULTURE & I’L L TAKE IT BACK IF I WANT TO

URBAN SAMURAI HEARTBREAK HOTEL ON AN EVENING IN BOSTON DAZE OF DISCO CANVAS

LETTER FROM

THE EDITOR

It’s bittersweet to say that this is my last Letter from the Editor. Since the very beginning, I kept that realization tucked away deep in the back of my mind. It seems like only yesterday that I was sitting with the original team at 100 Bay State, brainstorming over this ambitious idea for a new organization. It seemed like a lifetime would pass before senior year would come and we would have to pass the reigns over to new leaders.

This semester has shown me the real passion within Off the Cuff members. The vision, precision and skill showcased within the different departments allows us to create content that is both important and visually thrilling. Our team recognizes that over the last three years, we’ve built up a platform that we can’t let go to waste. Off the Cuff is not just an average fashion magazine – we stand for the celebration of diversity.

With multiple online and print shoots this semester – “On Hair & Race,” “Canvas,” and “On An Evening in Boston” – we are finally using our platform to discuss important topics. “On Hair & Race” celebrated black hair. And “On An Evening in Boston” celebrates non-traditional relationships… but I’ll let you figure out more on that on page 39.

I’m not going to lie to and say that after doing this for so long it’s gotten easy - it’s never easy. If it was, it wouldn’t be worth doing. I believe in a good challenge. I believe in pushing the boundaries. I believe in fighting what you stand for and staying true to yourself and for what you create. Not everyone is going to like everything you say or do. What proves your worth is how you react. After years at Off the Cuff, I want to leave a piece of advice to anyone who picks up this edition: if you love something, don’t let anyone stop you from excelling at it. No matter how hard it may be, sticking to your passion regardless of adversity proves your worth more than giving up and leaving - especially when you have others counting on you and you know there’s a fresh start right on the horizon.

With that sentiment in mind, I want to recognize the quality of our latest edition - it’s our best yet (even though I say that every year). Why do I repeat myself so much with that same statement? Because we keep hiring passionate, creative, intelligent, thoughtful people who love what we’re doing and bring amazing new ideas to the table. There’s no end in sight for Off the Cuff, even if mine is right around the corner.

With that said, I’m confident in our new leadership. I was worried for a long time about who would become the first Editor-in-Chief to succeed me, but I’m beyond pleased with my replacement. I’ll never forget the first time I talked to this person and asked her about how she heard about Off the Cuff and why she joined. ”I just had to be apart of it!” That answer stuck with me and over the last year, I’ve witnessed her amazing work ethic, her impeccable eye for detail and an understanding for everything we stand for. It is with great pleasure that I hand over the Editor’s red pen to Carli Schmidt. And in the words of RuPaul, “Good luck & don’t f*** it up!”

And for the very last time…

Stay Stylish, VC

OFF THE CUFF MAGAZINE 6

2015 has been monumental for the transgender community. Fashion and media have started to embrace the trans individual through various outlets. Just recently, Caitlyn Jenner’s stunning Vanity Fair spread depicted her in a demure, sophisticated manner and changed society’s perspective of the transgender woman.

Famed designer

Vivienne Westwood became vocal about her support for trans rights and gender fluidity. And with the release of documentary series such as TLC’s “I am Jazz” and the ABC Family reality show “Becoming Us,” new trans role models are being introduced on television. Even political candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have voiced their support for trans rights. In recent months, the fashion world has created star models out of trans individuals: Hari Nef, Aydian Dowling, Andreja Pejic, and Lea T.

FASHI ON H AS A NEW VO IC E:

THE 2015 TRANSGENDER M O V E M E N T BY: ARIANNA DAVIS

This past March, New York, the fashion capital of the world, became home to the Trans Model Agency. Its name is pretty self­-explanatory; the agency is exclusively for transgender models and connects them with the top the brands and companies of the industry. So far, 10 men and 9 women have been signed by the agency, but the company continues to grow. Thai beauty queen Peche Di created the company to give trans men and women, like herself, the opportunities that come so easily to cis­ gendered models. She told viralwomen.com that the Trans Model Agency is a “vehicle for advocacy and a means of rendering visible and celebrating a people who have been discriminated against and marginalized.” Trans Model Agency has gotten so much positive attention that it may even get its own reality show.

OFF THE CUFF MAGAZINE 8

Both graceful and fierce, Andreja Pejic, 24, has taken the fashion world by storm. Gender­ fluid Pejic has walked in dozens of women’s and men’s fashion shows, include those of Jean Paul Gautier, Jeremy Scott, Thom Browne, and Marc Jacobs. Just recently, she became the first trans woman to be the face of a Makeup Forever campaign. Andreja Pejic underwent full gender­reassignment surgery just a year ago; around that time, according to a Huffington Post article, she announced that she “will only be modeling women’s clothing going forward and has received support from her agency, friends and family.” She also voiced her support to trans youth and stated, “To all trans youth out there, I would like to say respect yourself and be proud of who you are. All human beings deserve equal treatment, no matter their gender identity or sexuality.”

In recent months, Hari Nef, 22, has also received tons of attention from the fashion world. She is arguably the top transgender model of the moment. Nef debuted on the runways of the Spring 2015 New York Fashion Week; she has since been signed by IMG—one of the top modeling agencies that also signed supermodel Gisele Bundchen and Kate Moss.

The Newton, MA

native is also the first trans model that is signed to worldwide representation and has graced the runways of Hood

by Air, Eckhaus, Latta, and Adam Selman.

Levi Thompson, a BU freshman and transgender male, did not have trans role models to look up to in the media. He believes that these new role models are “extremely helpful to teenagers and young kids who are figuring out who they are. It is a point of reference when they are coming out [to] family.” With the recent influx of trans media figures, a whole slew of role models have “come out” of the woodwork. Thompson comments, “There are lot more trans women in the mainstream media [now]. It is really cool.”

“To all trans youth out there, I would like to say respect yourself and be proud of who you are. All human beings deserve equal treatment, no matter their gender identity or sexuality.”

Men’s Health recently held its annual “Ultimate Guy” competition, and Aydian Dowling, a 22 year old transgender male, was a top 5 finalist. According to People Magazine, Dowling received over 72,000 votes and was close to being on the cover of Men’s Health. Despite losing the “Ultimate Guy” contest, Dowling will be featured on the coveted Special Edition cover. This is the first time a trans male will be on the cover of Men’s Health. He told People Magazine, “I’ve been getting a lot more attention, and it’s a lot more responsibility, actually, being a highlighted voice for the transgender community in the media right now.”

OFF THE CUFF MAGAZINE 12

identity: deft THOUGH THE COSTUMES MAY CHANGE, WE NEVER STOP PLAYING DRESS UP

BY SUSANNA YUDKIN When I was six years old, I was a princess. I u ​ sed to take​swaths of cloth from the bins in my basement, ​and by​ twisting them across my shoulders, ​ I​ transformed. The next day, my father’s felt hat turned me into a cowgirl as I galloped across my lawn and​the trees ​turned​into the walls of a dusty saloon. A green velvet dress, with long sleeves and a scalloped neckline made me an enchanted fairy, casting spells under the canopy of leaves.

Every sheet of cloth, ragged ends from bolts of fabric or pieces cut from my mother’s old dresses, turned me into a new person, creature, ​ or​ character. I was transported across worlds ​ and​through time, became a new person with each adventure.

And though I grew out of playing a princess and the cloth that allowed me to do so, I never stopped wearing clothes to transform into new identities. There is Professional Susanna: refined, yet edgy.

The moment I slip it over my shoulders, one oversized black blazer gives me the power to become my strongest self. I stand taller, think harder, shake hands more firmly. I become the young professional I want to be.

One swipe of wine-colored lipstick and I am Fierce Susanna. I feel ready to take the world, or at least the night, by storm. I feel magnetic, if only to energy and glamour. I am everything I have ever wanted to be.

It’s

not

that

my

clothing

makes

me

something I am not, but rather that playing dress up in my own clothes summons the part of me that I most need at that moment.

I have an arsenal of identities, each one fitting neatly back into its place inside me when it’s not needed. My body ​becomes a canvas on which I paint my identity​ : I become Holiday Susanna, Fiery Susanna, and Suitable-For-Your-Son Susanna.

The bins in my basement are still there, still overflowing with capes and hats, costumes from dance recitals 15 years ago, red feathered high heels, and a plastic banana (a surprisingly versatile accessory). It is from this bin that Silly Susanna

emerges,

hand-in-hand

with

Nostalgic Susanna. I wrap a striped tie around my neck, a tiny doll’s hat strapped under my chin and a pair of shorts printed

“I NEVER STOPPED WEARING CLOTHES TO TRANSFORM INTO NEW IDENTITIES.” Playing dress up is something we all do, whether it is in our own personal uniform or in trends dictated by glossy magazines. We each dress to become not something that we are not, but to bring out who we are and who we aspire to be. That’s what clothes really are: a portal to a world in which we are as sexy, as expressive, or as unremarkable as we ever wanted to be.

And on days when I want to be Plain Old Susanna, I put on jeans and a white t-shirt, and become simply, me.

OFF THE CUFF MAGAZINE 14

transitions

BY AMBERLY MOODY

1950’s

The ‘50’s was a decade of structure, not only in family life,

but

also

in

Undergarments

fashion.

were

used

to create sharp lines, and poodle of

skirts

volume

added to

tons

19

feminine

ensembles. Just think of the classic film, Grease: poodle

Elizabeth Taylor in a structured yet simple dress with a cinched waist.

skirts, leather jackets, and pointy bras galore!

In the 60s and 70s, polyester fabrics were the grooviest of

the

bunch.

for

synthetic

The

love

fabrics

were

featured in the psychedelicprinted peasant

bell

bottoms

blouses

and that

became staples of the eras, especially in the 70s. Many a

and

fashion icon, like David Bowie,

actress,

played with these textures

Barbara Stanwyck, stuns

and set high standards in the

in

arena of glam rock fashion.

The

American

television oversized

film

costume

1960’s 1940’s & 70 jewelry and a velvet dress, the fabric of choice during Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Barbara Stanwyck in 1941.

Texture

has always played an important role in the fashion world. Regardless of the color, the shape, or the size, the right texture can bring an outfit together or break it apart just as easily. Like everything in the fashion world, different textures have gone in and out of style throughout the decades. While slippery, synthetic materials were a huge staple of the ‘70’s, the ‘90’s were all about structured leather and denim. From the 1940’s to today, we are going to take a look at the evolution of textures in popular fashion.

The '80's were booming with acid wash jeans and mullets. One bold textural trend that turned out to be a favorite amongst style-lovers and mallrats alike was the jelly shoe.

From light-up to sparkly versions, jellies

the

were

flexible

always

vibrant hit for any outfit.

980’s

0’s

a

2000 -

The turn of the century saw many

experimenting

with

texture in terms of layers.

Whether you were a reality star or a girl in Orange Country, there was a gravitation to an array of eccentric styles like the sheer shrug. If anything, people were encouraged to play with textures in their ensembles,

such

as

the

combination of a satiny, corset top paired with a linen peasant skirt.

1990’s

Minimalism was all the rage during the 90s, but so was satin.

The era following the electric hues and rubber accessories of the 80s was an ode to grunge and simplicity – in the best way possible, of course. A satin slip dress or a pair of satin, neutralhued heels was the arsenal of any IT girl’s wardrobe. If Kate Moss and Courtney Love were fans, then you know you can’t go wrong.

OFF THE CUFF MAGAZINE 16

G l i t t e r Rocks `

By Michelle Santiago Cortes

W ithin its own bubble of debauchery and excess, glitter rock’s ephemeral life during the 70’s spilled champagne into the future of androgyny and glamour. The rock and fashion movement that rejected hippie culture’s hunger for authenticity gorged on alter egos and authored the rock n’ roll aesthetic that poured into Studio 54.

In 1971, Marc Bolan, lead singer of glam rock progenitor, T. Rex, stepped out onto the stage of the UK’s Top of the Pop television show wearing satin shawls and silver glitter on his face.

This shimmery moment in rock history became the first diamond of a fashion goldmine. A glance at NicoPanda’s Readyto-Wear Spring 2016 presentation dressed teens in satin slips and cosmetic glitter dripping from their hairlines as an echo of the first utterance of “glam rock”.

The men of the band, Roxy Music, were known for their shameless flamboyance.

Front man Bryan Ferry exuded the era with his greaser hair, sequin suits and tiger striped jackets.

Band mate Brian Eno wore feather chokers, blue eye shadow and bleached brows to work.

Glam rock’s celebration of the transformative power of dress led many men to wear makeup and completely transform into their glittery alter egos.

John Galliano upheld this gender-bending tradition in his Maison Margiela RTW SS16 show with a

gender fluid cast of models in wide mesh shirts and asymmetrical eyeshadow looks.

Glitter rock crafted a future in space while struggling with sartorial nostalgia for Victorian dandyism.

They appropriated dandy ruffles, gold, diamonds, and embroidery to evoke the lux hedonism lost in Woodstock. Gucci’s very 70’s RTW SS16 collection dressed buzzed cut female models in delicious yellow brocade suites and pompadour pink ties.

In 1973, Marc Bolan declared “Glam rock is dead!” and two years later, it was buried in an unmarked grave. Glitter rock’s commitment to excess and glory faded away into drag culture.

Designer Dries van Noten told Vogue that his latest collection was for the flamboyant woman.

“Sophisticated and raw, at the same time.

She’s not so careful,” he said. Glam rockers elevated their wardrobe to extraterrestrial heights by referencing the entire spectrum of art history while wearing hand-

19 OFF THE CUFF MAGAZINE

applied makeup and not caring at all.

The authors of glam rock managed to reach back in time and claw at inspiration from classical antiquity.

Renaissance imagery and space collided in David Bowie’s UK cover art for The Man Who Sold the World –a pre-Raphaelite portrait of Bowie’s Botticelli fantasy.

Diane von Furstenberg’s RTW SS16 show was graced by white and gold Grecian dresses while Rodarte draped black and bronze laurel patterned appliqués across their

empire cut gowns.

Today, glam rock fashion makes its more mature return, asking its edgier grandparents for advice in designing the future of this rugged couture.

While modern creative influences display how the times have changed, credit is due to the historical backbone of these new looks.

IT’S MY

C U L T U R E

A N D I ’ L L TA K E I T B A C K I F I WA N T T O

B Y

Y I N K A

F A S E H U N

You’ve seen it before: Halloween costumes resembling traditional Native American ensembles, the “Hey Amigo” costumes “resembling” Mexican men, bindis on the foreheads of teenage girls at the summer’s hottest music festivals. The list goes on and on. The common thread? Cultural appropriation.

“People always love to go out for Cinco de Mayo, but people don’t take the time to understand the background or of any significant cultural holidays,” says Luis Castro, Community Outreach Director for Alizana Latina-BU’s largest Latino/a organization.

“People listen to black and Latino music, but if I do it it’s weird.

And if it’s at some Allston basement and “Danza Kuturo” comes on it’s ok.”

Appropriation is taking a symbol and using it in a “new and unexpected way.” Therefore, cultural appropriation is taking a specific culture’s symbols for “new” and “unexpected” use.

What can be considered “new and unexpected” is anyone’s guess. The words new

and unexpected conjure a headdress.

While the positive light for an action bindi has increased in with negative effects. popularity, its wearers remain uneducated about A problem arises when its origins. The bindi is a culture is appropriated a symbol of the Hindu without the appropriators religion. It is often said to knowing the origins or represent the “Third Eye” meaning of the symbol. in Hindu and is typically Bindis and henna have worn by married women, become popular among making it a symbol that teenagers and young has a strong religious and adults in recent years. cultural significance. So, To many teens, they’re is it safe to assume that unique accessories worn the thousands of teens to complement a festival accessorizing with bindis ensemble or just to stand this summer understand out in a crowd. Bindis and have achieved the have been worn by the level of self-actualization likes of Selena Gomez, and spirituality the bindi Kylie and Kendall Jenner, signifies?

Are they and Vanessa Hudgens educated in the chakras of not only at music festivals the Hindu religion? Have such as Coachella, but in they fully surrendered every day wear. Hudgens their Ashamkara (ego) in even took her festival order to wear their bindis? ensemble a step further by This remains to be proven. donning a Native American

A problem also arises when the appropriators claim the symbol as their own and of their own creation. Take the hottest new trend on every high fashion runway: baby hairs, more commonly known as an “urban hairstyle.” In black and Hispanic cultures, baby hairs are the shorter hairs that frame a woman’s hairline—to their dismay.

The hairs can often be a burden and are hard to control. As a result, women have taken to slicking back their baby hairs with gel, an art that women of color have been mocked for in the past. So when high fashion designers such as DKNY and Givenchy slick down the straight and easily tamed hair of their models – with the majority being white – for New York Fashion Week, it’s no surprise why people of color would take offense—

especially when the “trend” was credited as an “urban, edgy, and new” way to wear your hair for the upcoming fall season by publications such as Elle UK. A problem again arises when a culture is appropriated to mock and reinforce stereotypes rather than to educate and appreciate it. Believe it or not, Mexicans aren’t the biggest fans of the mass-marketed Halloween costumes they “inspired.”

Google “Mexican Halloween costume” and you’ll quickly understand how Mexicans are expected to look: a sombrero, a striped poncho (serape), and a black mustache makes for an extremely inaccurate and offensive costume party attire. Search the web more thoroughly and you’ll find US border patrol costumes complete with

handcuffs and a baton under “Mexican Halloween costumes.” The costumes prove that stereotypes about the United States’ southern neighbor still exist—Mexicans are mustache-donning, poncho-wearing, tequiladrinking undocumented immigrants. Oddly enough, I don’t think the mass production of these costumes has altered anyone’s opinion of Mexican-Americans for the better.

“It’s really frustrating,” says Castro, “I feel like when I try and explain cultural appropriation to people it’s like I’m talking to a wall.

I’ve had friends say, ‘Okay, I get it. I just don’t agree with you.’ Just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”

Cultural appropriation paints a glamorous picture about cultures whose histories are not so spotless. One cannot understand the persecution Native Americans faced while being displaced from their homelands in the US. Nor can one experience the barriers to education and economic stability Native Americans deal with in today’s world by putting on a headdress and wearing fringe.

Donning baby hairs and singing music created by and for people of color does not erase the years of systemic racism and oppression African

Americans and Latinos have faced in this country-nor does it promote equality.

Such disregard does not sit well with Castro: “If you selfidentify as someone who culturally appropriates, stop. If you’re not sure, the fact that you’re not sure is probably a sign that you’re doing it. Google it. The same way I learned about these issues, you can too.”

Cultural appropriation allows groups of people to appropriate symbols and signs of a culture, but not the oppression and hardships that come with

being associated with a culture. Wearing a culture’s clothing and accessories or taking other pieces from a disenfranchised people doesn’t further understanding.

But perhaps, if work is put towards understanding a culture, its people, and its hardships, cultural appropriation is no longer appropriation.

If we credit cultures with the contributions they have made to the creativity, knowledge, and humanity of others, then appropriation becomes appreciation.

And the world is better for it.

Directed by Cris Cordero Photography by Madeline Carpentiere & Angela Francis Styled by Alice Gao, Carli Schmidt & Brandon Ong-Sy

Blend sharp silhouettes with the essence of

the earth for a grand and striking impact.

Urban

Hair & Makeup by Alexandra Delano

Samurai OFF THE CUFF MAGAZINE 24

heartbreak hotel

ELEGANCE AND GLAMOUR CAN’T ALWAYS MEND A BROKEN HEART DIRECTED BY Helen Peña-Smicker PHOTOGRAPHY BY Sarah Silbiger STYLED BY Ania Patla HAIR/MAKEUP BY Andriana Todorovic

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CREATIVE DIRECTION BY

VINCENZO CALVI NICKI GITTER, MEGAN TAN STYLING

BY RACHAEL ANGELOFF, CARLI SCHMIDT, DAVID L PHOTOGRAPHY BY

NG, KAYLEA HO ANDRIANA TODOROVIC, MAYA HUDLIN LOWE, ALICE GAO ART DIRECTIONBY RAEANNE VILLONGCO HAIR & MAKEUP BY

DIRECTED BY HELEN PEÑA-SMICKER PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGELA WANG & IRENE ZENG STYLED BY EDEN PRITIKIN & CARLI SCHMIDT JEWELRY BY SOPHIE LIPITZ HAIR/MAKEUP BY MAYA HUDLIN & ZARAH KAVARANA

daze OF DISCO GOT A FLARE FOR NIGHTLIFE? BECOME ENTRANCED BY THE GLIMMERING FASHIONS OF THE PAST. 47 OFF THE CUFF MAGAZINE

DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO DISCO

O O O O O O O O O O O O O

GROOVE GROOVE GROOVE GROOVE GROOVE GROOVE

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CANVAS DIRECTED BY HELEN PEÑA-SMICKER PHOTOGRAPHY BY IRENE ZENG, ANGELA WANG HAIR AND MAKEUP ANDRIANA TODOROVIC, ZARAH KAVARANA

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