Our July cover story looks at the sketchbooks of some of fashion graduates in NCAD with photography by Ruth Connolly.
“‘Blue Rinse’ is a collection aimed at 50+ women who reject the anti-aging beauty industry. Older women are largely unseen in the media and femininity is often linked with youth. This obsession with age, celebrity culture, fakery and beauty is still prevalent in today’s fashion industry.
By looking at popular media such as tabloid magazines and film I wanted to examine our fixation on hyper sexualised bodies and the “perfect body.” I have used recognisable everyday objects and cheap plastic food to represent the normality of ageism and the lengths we are prepared to go to in the name of beauty.
I have taken inspiration from garments and accessories typically associated with the cliche “granny”, such as a headscarf, a trolly and check bags to inform shape. Combining hand drawn prints, photography, knit, screen printing and embellishment to create bizarre, over the top yet glamorous pieces that celebrate life and growing older. I wanted this collection to resonate with those with a spirit of non-conformance and ultimately show you can be creative, stylish and vital at any age.”
Photos: Ruth Connolly
For more see also Megan Thomas, Linda Byrne and Conor O’Brien sketchbooks.
The NCAD graduate show runs until Friday June 16.*
*The show might be over but you can still explore all the graduates’ work from across Design, Education, Fine Art and Visual Culture at NCAD.WORKS.
