My Final Catwalk Design

This is my first draft for my Final Catwalk Look!!

As you can see I have taken inspiration from Peruvian Textiles for the fine linear design I will apply using Aqua colour across the face, neck, shoulders and forearm. I will use these areas of the body because I consider them alluring. I believe the Yine tribe also do this. I will use Aqua colour because when dry it is less likely to smudge compared to Supracolour.

I will try to add a hint of hunters instinct into my look by painting in a slash across the parting in the hair and painting the forearm to look like tribal armour and the nails with spikes as if resembling spear heads, which some tribes use to hunt.

The tribal necklace will add a sophisticated flash of colour, taking inspiration from Tropical birds living in the rainforest amongst the Shuar tribe. Relating to this, I may or may not add feather to the hair, inspired by the Shuar crown.

The lips will reference scarification in terms of texture, I will do this by Duo gluing crystals to the lips in a nice rounded plump shape. 

The hair will be sculptural and will have to be severely backcombed and stuffed to achieve great volumes, a technique I have learnt in makeup lessons. the hair will finish in a fish tail braid, as I've noticed braids are tribal, and I particularly admire the fish tail shape. The braid will gradually go flat and flick out at the end to resemble a birds tail/feather. I will achieve the curly shape by using pipe cleaners inside the braid. Smaller thinner braids will come down from under where the hair is parted horizontally, and these will resemble dreadlocks, I will finish the braid with beads.

There is a lot of detail and skill involved in this look so I will need to practice it as I feel I've been quite ambitious. Fingers crossed I can pull it off!

Jack Sparrow Dreadlocks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=24BUskYbwJw

Here, this video shows the kind of effect I would like to achieve for the bottom half of my models hair. I am planning to part the hair Horizontally and have the top half as a big quiff and the bottom half braided to give the appearance of very thin dreadlocks. I would like to then push beads onto the hair, for an extra added dreadlock, tribal feel!

Rodarte

Loving the Tribal Tattoo influence contributing to this catwalk look! 

I too would like to draw onto the body, because I don't want my look to just stop on the face/head, I think by continuing onto the body I could bump my look up a level, focusing even onto the finger nails! 

I think the nails would be a great way to bring in the hunting/animalistic element of my design. I could add spikes and colour them to either compliment or contrast my colour palette?? Also going back to my other favourite tribe the Yine tribe, they paint the hands. 

Something I've really liked whilst researching tribal, is how certain designs mirror themselves on different areas of the face, so I would like to bear this in mind and mirror my design across the body. 

Maybe have a fine delicate design onto the face and down the neck as these are the two alluring places I've chosen to exaggerate, and then I could repeat an area of this design but in a bigger scale onto the forearm and maybe hints of it onto the nails!

Clear Skin! on the Catwalk...

Here's a great example of a tribal look with the clear skin I'm after!! following a natural mixed with black, white and red colour palette, these looks are really successful. Loving the braids and the focus on the eyes or forehead. Intriguingly, like my this look appears quite graphic, with its' use of pattern/design choices. With references to styling and tribal jewellery. Alluring eyes!

Fendi

As you may have noticed my catwalk makeup design 4 has some under eye detail, I believe this will make the eyes stand out more looking alluring! 

What I very much like about this Fendi design is how it introduces three colours that work well together. I think it really cleverly brightens up the face. Also, although I think I will put crystals on the lips at this stage, as seen in my makeup designs, Fendi have really mastered the dewy skin, it looks really hydrated as well as clear and the lips have a nice nude sheen over them! I could maybe do this before I add the crystals the plump up the lips as much as possible for my shoot!

Dior!

Loving these crystal eyes! Tribal in the sense the colour goes over the eyes, this is an alluring part of the face. The way the crystals are positioned/fan out, appears quite feathery following the tropical bird theme in terms of colour and shape. Also a lot of the tribes I've researched put emphasis on the eyes and this is a high fashion way to do this. Also the texture of these crystals reminds me somewhat of scarification, a very glamourous, tropical way of portraying scarification. I believe the contrast and combination of the clear skin and the eyes really creates a striking look. However, creating this look could be very tricky and would require lots of patience!!

Tropical Birds and Tribal Eyes

Common colours for tropical birds are red, green, aqua blue, cobalt blue, yellow, black and white!!

Above and below are my two favourite looking tropical birds. This is mainly because of the colour, and how they contrast eachother, they are so striking e.g the red, blue and tiny amount of green combination. Below, I am particularly fascinated by this beak! Look how the colours and markings are so subtle, yet layered as they change into one another. And I really like where the beak closes, as this forms a jaggered edge between the blue and yellow, with the pattern of black triangles running along side it. Such amazing shapes.

 The birds are so dynamic with their feathers too! Below, the feathers stick up on the head in a fan shape, I can see these shapes translating into some kind of tribal mohawk!

Here, are a couple of colour experiments, I will experiement with red next, I'm naturally drawn to blue as a colour anyway but I think if my look is to have hunting connotations I really need to add more firey colours. The blue just looks a bit cold. Also maybe the skin should be warmed up a bit, it's quite pale here, verging on white. Think I should work on achieving a healthier glow!

Making my own Catwalk Headband/Necklace????

I actually started making this piece with a strip of a black fabric place mat! I already had some cut offs of graphically patterned white cotton which I cut into thin strips. I paired this with a colourful ball of wool I bought, and used my sewing machine to stitch them along the edge of the place mat cut off.

I then repeated this, so I had two strips of place mat with wool and fabric stitched on as I have shown in the above picture. 

When I got to this stage I cut off one large strip of placemat and stitched it across both strips of wool, joining them together as one long strip. 

I added elastic to the back of the piece so it would not be visible when worn, this made the piece more flexible and rounded. I used elastic so it would fit all head sizes. 

I left the elastic cut at both ends so I will tie it onto the head. I thought this was better rather than a big headband as it gives me more control to adjust the head piece if it doesn't; for whatever reason fit properly. Also I believe when putting on this headpiece I can do the hair style first and then put on the headpiece without a major risk of messing up the hair, whereas if it was a headband I may struggle getting it over the head without touching the sculptural hairstyle I also aim to create.

Here, I've rather embarrassingly tried out a few ways to wear this headpiece. After this, I'm considering maybe threading wire through the wool so I can bend individual strands into exciting shapes. This should give the head band another dimension. Looking a bit tribal headdress/Medusa

Unfortunately I did try out the wire idea but the wool was too fine and every time I tried to put wire in, the wool split and so the idea didn't really work.

Below is the final outcome:

After trying out the headdress I may actually try turning it upside down and wearing it as a neck tie. 

I may add some sheer material to give it more of a chic catwalk feel. I could even paint some of the wool in more tropical colours to follow the amazon birds' influence.

The Shuar Tribe

I admire the Shuar Tribes craftsmanship, how they manage to create these crowns of feathers. Markings on the face circulate around the chin and cheek area, some designs continuing onto the nose and eyes.

Interestingly, I did not realise, the Shuar are based in the Peruvian Amazon. They are a sub-tribe of the Jivaro Indians, who are all based in the Topical Rainforest.

I think it is the amazing colours the Shuar brand themselves with, that draws me to this tribe. The feathers, bright yellow and red, are really striking but could also be seen as warning colours. 

Wanting to include animalistic qualities into my catwalk design, I now think that tropical birds are the perfect root for me, I'm already thinking of the beautiful colours of parrot feathers, perhaps this idea can be developed along with influences of Peru textiles, which are also similarly coloured. 

I'm also drawn to the hunting elements of tribes, this is something that really grabs me and I think I could create quite a strong image, maybe using hunting poses. Although beautiful and flowing/graceful, I also want my design to be sharp and fierce, so it is most striking.

Tattoo Inspiration, for my Catwalk look!

 The images I have chosen are carefully selected to be quite angular, graphic, including circles as these elements hold resemblance to the angular qualities of tribal textiles. These designs also include repeated shapes, as does the work of Hundertwasser and Aboriginal paintings. The images also highlight how important it is to have the pattern work with and mould to the shape of the model and their body. This is particularly clear with the Maori inspired tattoos, as the designs mirror the arms' muscular position/shape/form. 


Rodarte on the Catwalk:

Maori inspired Tattoos:

Alex Box makeup look:

Small Taster of Catwalk Inspiration

mini mini moodboard/ image selection

Makeup and Hair Designs for my Catwalk Look

Catwalk look:

My Ideas for the catwalk look span from linear designs  based on textiles, specifically those from peru, my looks are inspired by the Shuar and Yine tribes, with their pure skin and body painting.

 In terms of pattern, shape and colour, I still admire Hundertwasser's artwork and feel I could encorporate my own design for tribal tattoos into the catwalk look.

Also, I really like the African American tribesmen, remembering my research at the very begining, on headdresses and Orlan. 

Here, I have drawn hair onto my previous makeup designs, could also accessorise the hair with feathers.

I aim to make some kind of headdress of my own, whilst trying to keep it chic and in keeping of 'tribal'.

Catwalk Designs 1 and 2:

Catwalk Design 3:

Catwalk Design 4, and potential backview of the hair:

 

Seema Chopra Workshop

This is the Hair look I created during the Seema Chopra Workshop, what I like about it is, that considering the length of the hair I was able to create a lots of volume by backcombing and come up with quite a nice rounded but structured shape. For my final shoot I would like to think I could create a more impactful look, by having a very sculptural hair look, perhaps quite large, so maybe I need to find a model with long hair or consider more seriously the use of a wig. 

I think if i was to re-do the workshop I would aim to make the hair neater, I think the crepe hair, though I like the colours, looks messy and was not symmetrical on both sides of the head.

I like how the look appeared different depending on what angle the photo was taken from. The main aspect I enjoy is creating and looking at the hair height. I think this is going to be one of the main features in my hair design, almost resembling a tribal headdress, in terms of height/shape.

The back section of the hair was stuffed, with a hair doughnut and pinned into position on the back of the head, surrounding hair was then backcombed, sprayed and folded over the hair dougnut for maximum coverage.  The middle to front section of the hair was backcombed, rolled and pinned into a quiff. While the middle side sections of the hair were also backcombed and scooped over into two small rolls, meeting in the centre of the head. To finish plaits coming from the bottom of the head were pulled over the sculptured back of the head and pinned into positioned. Crepe hair was woven into the plaits to make them longer and to add colour to the hair design. These are skills I have learnt from both the Seema Chopra workshop and my Wild Kingdom makeup and hair lessons.

Though I like the use of colour, I need to think about whether I want the colour to be as bold or more subtle, natural shades. Another aim to create depth in the hair.

Into the mind of Seema Chopra - Hairdresser and Wig Stylist

Here are some examples of Seema Chopra's amazining work as a wig stylist.

I found the Seema Chopra visit really inspiring but also reassuring, sometimes I have ideas and think, "how do I do that?" and worry that I have to produce it in a 'correct' way, but I felt with her enthusiasm and success, Seema Chopra, made me feel more confident about handling hair.

I love how striking these hair looks are, but also the variety of camera angles/shots work with the look to create a stronger outcome, lots to think about.

The love of working with afro hair - combing out the hair and spraying it lots to create a strong avante-garde wig design. Great texture to work with if trying to achieve a bold shape.

Also the makeup look for the '2011' image, reminds me of some tribal designs I've seen whilst researching, the cross over effect, down the cheeks, from the eyes, such a beautiful look.

Seema Chopra - Tribal Photoshoots/Designs

What I really like about these shoots, are the animalistic qualities for example, the below image reminds me somewhat of a lion's mane, in the sense this style hints at a mane with its colour natural colour choice and the bottom image I believe resembles antlers.

These colour palettes are similar to what I have in mind for my editorial look.

Remembering styling is really important but as these successful images prove, you dont need to cram the model with accessories because you could end up with a styling pile up, sometimes less can be more, its all about figuring out what to include and what to leave out, know when to stop as well as when to start.