Vassar Contrast Spring/Summer 2023

CONTRAST X AFrican Students Union We are excited to present you with the historic 17th edition of Contrast. For the first time in Contrast’s history, The african Students union is featured on the cover. Our collaboartion took place over the course of several weeks and culminated in with our shoot in Beauty Up, a beauty supply store in downtown poughkeepsie. We were also able to collaborate on an african fashion show along side contrast’s annual show. elsewhere we continued our series of firsts by recontexualizing sports and diving into the surreal. we hope you enjoy and shoutout to Beauty Up! - nick

Lamp Shades Recession, sucession, QUiet Luxury Impersonal Red Carpet ASU Collaboration Vassar camp Jewelery on Red Carpet Fashion in Motion Contributors

lamp Shades Maya Page & Jade HSIN

Recession Succession and Quiet Luxury Wyatt Keleshian

with everything and be worn forever as opposed With the fourth season of Succession airto buying a new wardrobe every season based ing, Gwenyth Paltrow’s sultry courtroom style, and my TikTok for you page instructing on microtrends. I also think that people don’t me how to dress like “Old Money,” I got to want to be flaunting designer labels in a time of economic downturn, as it can be viewed as tone thinking about how fashion trends have slowly started turning since the pandemic deaf and out of touch. Recently, we have been from screaming logomania maximalism to seeing a lot of discussion surrounding brands the so called “quiet luxury.” Quiet luxury is such as The Row, Loro Piana, and Brunello Cunca staunchly minimalist style that focuses on inelli. These fashion houses are known for their quality of the clothes, solid and muted col- amazing quality and minimal designs, and eye ors, and heavy tailoring. Think Ralph Lauren popping prices. Loro Piana especially is known for their excellent wools and cashmeres, which and your rich New England aunt’s beige are some of the best in the world. And no family cashmere sweaters. This fashion philosoloves these brands more than the Roy family in phy comes from the saying “money talks but wealth whispers.” The fashion world has the hit HBO show Succession. turned away from garish, obvious displays A fashion statement that has become synonyof wealth, to more silent, if you know you mous with the show is the $1195 all black cashknow luxury statements. mere Loro Piana baseball cap. At first glance, The cause of this drastic flip in trends has to this hat looks as though it was bought at your do with the onset of the recession. With re- average mall kiosk. But according to the Italian cessions, people are not going to be spend- fashion house’s website, it is “made from The Gift ing as much, thus it is more fiscally responsi- of Kings® — Loro Piana’s exclusive selection of ble to buy better quality pieces that can go the world’s finest wool.” There are no logos and

no marketing. It is a statement of wealth to those who recognize it and completely unassuming for us plebeians who don’t. To people with serious money, it is not Chanel, Dior, or Louis Vuitton that are a display of wealth, but the custom suits, million dollar watches, and $7000 cashmere sweaters that silently complement their obscene fortunes. To them, the logos and monograms of the most famous designer brands are simply too bourgeois for their tastes. Anna Wintor once said that “Armani dresses the wife and Versace dresses the mistress.”

In the same manner, Gucci dresses the nouveau-riche while Brunello Cucinelli dresses generational wealth.

Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo all have collections that emulate this “old money” style, so what is the point of spending thousands of dollars on unlabeled, basic clothes. The answer is: because why not? When someone has that much money to burn, it becomes not about the quality or the style, but to prove to everyone else that they can afford to buy a $1000 baseball cap and wear golfing. So in that way, this quiet luxury fallacy is just that, a fallacy. The price tags of these items scream money more than Versace sneakers. Although trying to be understated, the baseball hat is practically an exclamation point over the head of the investment banker, financié wearing it. It screams I have oil money. It shouts aristocracy. While this all may seem so outlandish to our bourgeois sensibilities, this is the reality of the generational wealthy. They want to fly under the radar as much as possible, especially during recessions, where much more scrutiny is given to

their fortunes.

The quiet luxury aesthetic shows how pop culture, the economy, and social media are an overwhelming influence on how we dress. This makes sense. Recessions permeate

our lives, change our spending patterns, and thus affect how we dress. Pop culture, such as TV shows, enthrall us, we obsessively watch them, and therefore of course they will impact how we present ourselves, giving us a standard to dress to. So the quiet luxury style becomes more than just a style, but a microcosm of class philosophy, popular culture, and economics. It shows that fashion is not separate from the politics of our world, but deeply intertwined with every aspect of our lives.

Impersonal

Red

Carpet Lindasy Shih The Grammys. The Oscars. The Emmys.

These names signal accomplishment for an artist, whether that’s on a record or on a screen. The question “Who should we nominate” only goes hand in hand with another question: “Who are you wearing?” The red carpet has always been a spectacle to behold. Designers clamor for chances to dress the attending celebrities in custom gowns, suits, and other ensembles meant to captivate and stun audiences, thus cementing their status as fashion icons. In recent years, however, the red carpet has become somewhat of a lackluster parade of “safe” looks. Crowd-pleasers, if you will. Red carpet fashion has become boring, and frankly, disappointing, lacking any personality. “Experimental” doesn’t have a place in anybody’s vocabulary, especially regarding their wardrobe choices. Daring ensembles have faded into near obscurity, leaving audiences with bland and uninspired looks that ultimately fail on the carpet.

Boundary pushing seems to have also been relegated to the sidelines, causing celebrities and stylists to veer toward such “safe” fashion choices. In the past, the red carpet was used to showcase inventive, inspiring fashion. How can such

a precedent be disregarded in this day and age?

There’s no singular answer to this growing emphasis on conformity. Most glaringly obvious is the rise of social media. With the rise of social media, celebrities and stylists are exposed to a near-constant stream of commentary – whether it be positive or negative. Everyone’s eyes are on everyone else all the time. Due to the all-seeing nature of social media, celebrities turn to “safe” looks for fear of online criticism. Stylists and celebrities choose classic silhouettes and colors, which become predictable and repetitive. Stale, even. Fashion houses also contribute to the loss of personality on the red carpet;

designers have shifted to focus on creating wearable pieces for commercial success, rather than embracing the avant-garde. It would be ignorant not to address the fact that awards shows are still dominated by white people with the industry’s ideal bodies. Progress has been made, but there is still much to do in terms of representation of different body types, races, and genders.

Designers don’t design for diversity – they don’t create inclusive fashion that would stun on a diverse range of people. Fashion houses are not dedicated to creating fashion-forward designs, and are lagging behind in a sense. If designers started to design outside of these arbitrary boundaries of beauty, they would create innovative pieces

that flatter people who don’t fit the fashion industry’s mold.

The 2018 Met Gala (theme: “Heavenly Bodies”) was a prime example of how fashion houses use the red carpet as a platform for promotion. While some outfits stunned with their creativity, more often than not, celebrities relied on more traditional looks from established designers. This pattern not only reinforced the theme of conformity but also served as a way for designers to promote their brand and capitalize on the Met Gala’s popularity. At the 2019 Academy Awards, monochromatic gowns (particularly white gowns) dominated the red carpet. Yes, Lady Gaga dared to wear a statement-making look, but others opted for more conservative looks that were forgettable and lacked personality. The pattern continues

into the 2020 Golden Globes. provocative and elegant take of formal attire. In order to At the Golden Globes, celebrities on a traditional black dress. In break this cycle of banality, displayed a sea of black, white, other words, it showed Cher’s designers must expand and and neutral color palettes. Few ce-personality through its exquisite create fashion that shatlebrities ventured into bolder hues. beadwork and ruching. It was ters fashion’s homogenous Again, there were some standout bold. It was daring. It was so standards. Stylists should moments (namely Billy Porter’s very Cher – designed to make take risks with lesser-known feathered suit), but overall, the at- a statement and grab attention,designers instead of relying tendees underwhelmed. The trend exuding confidence. She was on contracts with designer in sameness is, again, in part due looking to stand out. Rodrigo, monopolies. Embracing to the fact that celebrities choose however, was looking to fit in at uniqueness is the only way the safety of established fashion this year’s Grammys. Her sense the red carpet can recover houses instead of taking risks by of style typically plays with from years of lifeless exploring lesser-known design- vintage and contemporary monotony. ers. These choices in attire further elements, combining to create perpetuate the cycle of conformityan edgy, youthful eclecticism. and commercial gain for these es- It often reflects her personaltablished designers. Outfits end up ity and artistic vision. At this looking like cookie-cutter copies year’s Grammys, I was disapof one another, lacking originality. pointed by her look. Her Miu Possibly due to the pandemic, the Miu ensemble featured similar 2021 Academy Awards contin- elements to Cher’s in that both ued the trend of conformity. While were sheer and followed the there were some stunning looks, natural shape of the body. many celebrities still stayed in Although, Rodrigo’s dress had the “safe” zone with understated too few details, going too far colors and the same silhouettes. towards minimalist. She also It wasn’t surprising, given the past didn’t accessorize very much, few years of red carpet fashion, save for a big Elsa Peretti bean but it was still disappointing to see (which I do love, just not here). a lack of excitement and creativity. Black is always a safe option, Take two all-black ensembles, but in this case, Rodrigo played for example – Cher at the 1988 it a little too safe. That’s not to Oscars and Olivia Rodrigo at say that it’s an objectively bad the 2023 Grammys. No, I’m not look, but it’s not particularly talking about the Cher look with enthralling. the feather headdress (though, Red carpet fashion has lost its it is iconic). I’m talking about the luster. Predictability is becombeaded sheer wonder that she ing the norm for celebrities and wore when she won Best Actress stylists. This lackluster parade for Moonstruck. Cher’s “revenge emphasizes conformity rather dress” (as it is called) was floor- than showcasing innovation length, low-cut, and sheer. It was a and pushing the boundaries

ASU Haley Whetstone

The Board of the African Students Union Takes us Through Africa’s Regions With Clothing.

Special Thanks to Beauty Up for helping us tell this story

Pierangelis Valerio My outfit is from South Africa and it’s traditionally worn by single Zulu women. Its multiple components : a black and white Zulu skirt, a beaded necklace and finger bracelets meant that it took me a bit longer to get ready. But in that time, I felt and saw the interacted beadwork and sleek triangle patterns come together to really represent Zulu culture through clothing. The necklace remains my favorite piece of the set as the subtle weight it placed on my chest and its diamond pattern made me feel absolutely beautiful and confident. I will say, I did personalize my outfit by wearing the finger bracelets around my ankles instead. They kept unclasping around my wrists! So i figured that the black and white pattern would match perfect with my converse so I reworked things :) I’ve got to say, the final outfit captures my essence and my own relationship with the set.

Fanta Wague Well, this outfit was made by a friend of the family who is a seamstress in Mali. I would definitely say it stands out from most Malian clothing. Outfits are usually made out of basin or bogolan but this is more of a cotton fabric, making it lightweight. It allows for such a large range of motion. In addition to this, the bright orange and yellow are very unique. I definitely love the way the colors contrast with my skin. This is the perfect outfit for Eid or other major celebrations! I enjoy wearing my traditional clothing as it makes Mali feel closer than an entire ocean away.

Benjamin K0di

My piece is a black tribal shirt made of kitenge fabric, laced with white designs of various African instruments and animals. I got it from my older cousin’s closet, who originally got it gifted to him by his mother who bought it directly from a clothing market in Nairobi, Kenya. This piece’s significance holds for me is that it was worn during multiple graduations in the past, so it’s almost as if the piece contains the essence of success, which is given to me when I put it on. Lastly, what I like about this piece is how beautiful the white designs sit on the black background.

Marissa Desir My outfit is from West Africa, specifically Mali. It’s a two-piece, rather than a dress, which is one of the things I love about it.

To me, this outfit perfectly symbolizes the traditional clothing and beauty that appears in Mali. Like the bottom, it’s a wraparound skirt, a piece of clothing that is commonly worn. Or the stunning patterns, from the one printed on the fabric itself to the intricate overlapping diamond shapes that create the sleeves. Even, the headwrap! From my crown to my heels, the outfit does exactly what it’s supposed to: Make Me Feel Like A Queen.

Mariam Eshetu

The dress I’m wearing is an Ethiopian Habesha Kemis.

The dress is made from cotton and comes in various shades of white and beige with colorful embroideries around the wrists and down the center of the dress. It’s typically accompanied by a head scarf called a netela with similar embroidery. A habesha kemis is worn on holidays, formal events and ceremonies. I received this dress as a gift from my mother so it has a lot of sentimental value to me. This is the first habesha kemis I’ve had with an elastic waistband, making it more form fitting and from my perspective more comfortable to wear. I also love the vibrancy of the colors in the embroidery.

Fatima Osman

For the photo shoot, I wore a Moroccan kaftan that I got from a friend. I really loved the patterns and flowiness of the piece. It reminded me of a Somali baati when I first got it which was really special to me. Both are light garments perfect for a summer day. The kaftan was also really breathable which was wonderful since the weather was so hot and sunny. I really enjoyed being able to walk down the street and feel the breeze with the kaftan on.

Va s s a r

Camp

Wyatt Keleshian

also naive. Those who wear nightgowns over jeans do so with I begin with a contradiction. Vassar the intention of dressing well. is fashionable. But being fashionable Breaking all aesthetic rules on is outdated. It seems as though being purpose. Yet just because one unfashionable on purpose is the style. breaks rules does not make one Dresses over jeans. Soccer jerseys over stylish. It does however, make ruffles. Things tied to our waists and in them camp. Vassar is full of rule our hair. Either fifty layers or no clothes breakers. We break stereotypes at all. It’s kitsch. It’s campy. It’s nonetheby being stereotypes. We shatter less Vassar. What is both the most stylish, gender, class, and order. Femiin the very name of the word, is not stylnine men. Masculine Women. ish at all. What makes an outfit good is Everyone in between. What is not its upholding of high-fashion values, so camp is not our actual style, but in its direct attack on taste. I should but the naive belief that we are be clear: I do not mean that everything the most stylish student body to is ugly. Quite the contrary. However, I do ever exist. It is our own self conthink that things are bad. Intentionally. fidence that is camp. The ability And it is in this bad-ness, a particular to walk in the quad in nothing sect of camp, that we get the Vassar but a sheer slip dress has nothCamp. ing to do with truly breaking the As Susan Sontag writes in her manifesto grounds of fashion, but to break Notes on Camp, “Pure camp is always all the means of society. Our naïve.” Vassar Camp, by definition, is camp-ness stems not from good

taste, but from inherently bad taste. Perhaps it is our youth, our c’est la vie attitude. But I believe it to be our naivité.

It is no secret that we are a bubble. A nucleus of the intellectual elite. For many years, Vassar was a symbol of the bourgeois, well-behaved elite of America’s finest families. The Rockefellers, Roosevelts, Kennedys. Yet now we are a whore-house of queer thought, progressive ideas, and most importantly, we are pushing the boundaries of what it means to be an elite institution. And part of that is our style. I see it as a reaction against elitism. By breaking the rules of traditional tastes and aesthetics, we break the stereotype of the prudely rigid bourgeois. We have become

Our bad taste is what makes us happy. And that is camp. Vassar camp does not care what you look like. People do not care what you wear. You walk around campus with your nipples out, no one bats an eye. We are a utopia of fashion and disfashion. The models of NYFW co-exist with the grunge and the goth. Vassar camp is not a unified style.

But a collage of everything, put together in a 1,000 acre campus. Perhaps it is a resistance against normalcy. Perhaps it is pure immaturity. But it is definitely our naivité that allows us to wear what ever the fuck we wear, and think we look good. It is our undeniable awfulness that makes us camp. Vassar camp is awful. That is the point. Good style is to have no style at all but to be confident in what you are wearing. “It’s good because it is awful” concludes Susan Sontag. And I conclude with this: It’s not camp because it’s ugly. It’s camp because you think it looks good.

a vestige of gayness. At Vassar, it is fashionable to be gay.

Sontag writes: “Not all homosexuals have Camp taste. But homosexuals, by and large, constitute the vanguard –and the most articulate audience– of Camp.” By becoming a beacon of queer culture, Vassar is again breaking another one of its stereotypes. Queer culture plays a dominant part in Vassar’s culture. Today the two are inseparable. And we are camp. While it is not (most) of our intentions to be camp, we are whether we like it or not. Camp is built off of gay culture and BIPOC culture. And at a predominantly white institution that likes to pretend it is more progressive than it actually is, being kitsch, being tacky, being drab-

by, is Vassar Camp. A man wearing a dress is not camp.

It is intentional. Wearing a soccer jersey and a crochet skirt and thinking that you have good style, that is camp.

It is our naive self confidence that we are at the forefront of style that makes us camp. By no means am I saying to stop doing these things. I’m not going to tell you what to wear, and regardless no one would listen to me even if I did.

But we are a stereotype of ourselves. And that is camp.

THE ABSENCE OF JEWLERY ON THE RED CARPET Abigail Strauss Red carpets often act as a second runway for brands, allowing them to showcase designs on high-profile clients for brand visibility. These carpets also act as a placement opportunity to showcase their archived looks that are rarely seen by the public. In past years, this tool has been used by numerous brands both clothing and accessory-wise.

Yet, a new trend is emerging, with jewelry being cut from the necks of celebrities. - the so-called disappearing necklace. For jewelry brands such as Cartier, Tiffany, and co, etc, these opportunities are extremely important as they rarely display their jewels on the runway. Given the press that necklaces can bring due to their jaw-dropping prices, their disappearance spells the loss of press for the celebrities who once wore them. So why would stylists leave them out?

If we look at the recent Golden Globes many celebrities such as Margot Robbie

sported high necklines, eliminating the opportunity for displaying spectacular jewels as seen in seasons past. Higher necklines can also make larger earrings look oversized and steal attention away from the celebrity they are supposed to accentuate.

Others, however, had the same low-cut dresses that once begged for a necklace to be considered complete. At the 2022 SAG awards, Selena Gomez donned a Bulgari necklace worth over a million dollars, making major headlines, and boosting her press time. At the 2023 Golden Globes, no such necklace could be seen, despite her off-the-shoulder dress by Valentino, her neck was left completely bare, and she wasn’t the only one. Milly Alcock, Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon, wore a host of Cartier jewelry to complete her ensemble for the July 2022 world premiere, yet fast forward to this year’s Golden Globes and her neck becomes bare. Some actors seem to have started the trend sooner, with Sydney Sweeney arriving sans necklace to numerous events in 2022 such as the Euphora season two premiere. Before this, she wore dazzling statement jewelry, donning a show-stopping diamond necklace for the 2019 Harper’s Bazaar party which, arguably, overshadowed her Rosario mini dress.

The issue of overshadowing is but one of the hypothesized reasons for the absence of jewelry on the red carpet. Without large necklaces, the outfits celebrities model can receive more focus from the press. In addition, some stylists claim that large necklaces are commonly used by aged clients, as many of the necklace designs are vintage. Leaving the neck bare with only the dress to complement can therefore create a more minimalistic, clean, and youthful look, The pandemic may also be a contributor to this phenomenon. At the beginning of the pandemic, a disastrous ‘Imagine’ cover was posted, with celebrities such as Gal Gadot and Will Ferrell among others singing snippets of John Lennon’s song from inside their gilded mansions. This post received strong backlash, with those

who participated being called out for their hypocrisy and flaunting of wealth at a time when so many were struggling. Necklaces that cost millions of dollars and come with their security details send a similar message, a flaunting of wealth at the worst possible time. Luckily for necklace lovers, like all trends, bare necks and minimalistic jewelry will likely be replaced with the same necklaces the trend forced away. The current prediction is that as we return to normal in a post-pandemic world, the red carpet will do the same, bringing back jewelry fit for royalty.

Fashion in Motion

Abigail Strauss & Jade Hsin

Exec Board EdiTOR IN CHIEF Nicholas Gayle

BEAUTY

Carissa Kolcun Yasmin Mohamed

h h

Managing Editor Frances Walker Fox h

pHOTO Jade Hsin Mareme Fall Lily Tarrant Willow Grote Gwen Ma

fILM

Jade Hsin Mareme Fall h

Layout

Freddie von Siemens Gwen Ma Emilia von Lilien-Brockmeyer Katherine Startsev Frances Walker Fox

h

STYLE

Carissa Kolcun Lily Tarrant Willow Grote Yasmin Mohamed

h

eDITORIAL & Media Anjali Krishna Henryk Kessel Julia Colon Wyatt Keleshian

Contributors Writers Abigail Straus Lindsay Shih Wyatt Keleshian h

Photographers Haley Whetstone Maya Page Abigail Strauss Gwen Ma Jade Hsin Mareme Fall h

Models Leta Blades Avery Naif Talia Roman Carissa Kolcun Sophia Baliey

ASU EXec Board Fanta Wague Mariam Eshetu Pierangelis Valerio Fatima Osman Marissa Desir Benjamin Kodi h

Beauty Up h

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