University of Rhode Island
Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design
TMD 402K The Art and Science of Fashion - Speaker Summaries
Kirsten Obermiller: African Tribal Art in Fashion Today
Katherine Morrissey: Music’s Influence on Fashion in the 20th Century
by Sarah Faith
To conclude our semester of lectures relating to the influence of art and science on fashionable textile and apparel products, several students have presented on topics that they have been researching throughout the semester. On May 4th, Kirsten Obermiller and Katherine Morrissey presented their findings to the class. In her presentation entitled “African Tribal Art in Fashion Today”, Kirsten answered the question, “What are Afrcian aesthetics?” She discussed such topics as African art, body supplements, body modifications, and African tribal influences in the mainstream and runway fashions of today. Katherine talked about the connection between music and fashion in her presentation entitled “Music’s Influence on Fashion in the 20th Century”.
Kirsten began her presentation by discussing tribal art from the sub-Saharan region of Africa. This type of art is made both by and for the people within a tribe and focuses mainly on masks, sculpture, and body art. The use of natural shapes and organic media was and still is very important in the creation of tribal art. She then went on to discuss body supplements and body modifications. Traditional African tribal body supplements include wrap garments, head wraps, and body paint. Some body modifications that are prevalent in the African tribal culture include piercings, gauging, body re-shaping, cicatrisation, and tattooing. Finally, Obermiller related these traditional tribal artistic practices to mainstream fashion and runway fashion today.
In the second presentation of the afternoon, Katherine showed the class the close connection between music and fashion. She began her discussion in the 1920’s, with the rise of jazz music and flappers, and continued through the decades until the 1990’s and the rave movement. For each decade she discussed both the trends in music and the fashions that they provoked. Many musicians and bands had important influences on fashion throughout the 20th Century. For example, the Beatles popularized cardigan-style jackets and “mop tops”, Elvis was the first performer to wear “stage costumes”, and David Bowie created the “glam rock” look by wearing Spandex jumpsuits and makeup. American Bandstand and MTV also had important influences on fashion. American Bandstand started in the 1950’s. Surprisingly, it was the audience members, and not the performers, who had the greatest influence on youth fashions. The birth of MTV in the early 1980’s brought music and “music fashion” to over 58 million viewers.
Although quite different, the topics that Kirsten and Katherine discussed were both interesting and unique. African tribal influences are becoming quite widespread, whether in regards to fashion, body modification, or music. It was very interesting to learn about the origins of these influences. The influence of music in fashion is also very apparent. As Katherine stated, fashion would probably not be what it is today if it were not for the influence of music. It is clear that both of these presenters put a lot of time and effort into their presentations. I feel that both Kirsten Obermiller and Katherine Morrissey did an excellent job in presenting to our large class, and succeeded in teaching us all about two topics in which many of us may not have been familiar.