Prompt #6- Applying Duffy and Hund's Tropes to Muslim Fashion Blogger Maryam

Recognizing the prevalence and impact of blogging in the modern day, authors Duffy and Hund analyze the presence of three main themes in female blog pictures and narratives. In this post, I bring in a new case— a Muslim fashion blogger Maryam Asadullah (@sincerelymaryam)—and analyze the presence of Duffy and Hund’s three main tropes, while also discovering a new theme. 

1. The Destiny of Passionate Work: On her website's "Get to know me!" page, Maryam eloquently states her reasons for blogging by stating “My goal through this platform is to empower women like you to stay fashionable whilst being draped in dignity.” This statement conveys the overarching idea that blogging is a predestined activity for Maryam, as it is her calling to explore elements of fashion and modesty. Regardless of the amount of money she makes from blogging, Maryam dedicates a lot of time and resources to this passion, as depicted by the professional cameras and other technologies she sports in her pictures.

Maryam Displays her Camera to Showcase the Labor of Blogging

  2.) The Glam Life: Utilized as a mechanism to balance the “labor” aspect of blogging, Maryam’s posts reveal elements of traveling, exclusivity, and luxury. As explained by Duffy and Hund, bloggers are able to elevate their social status via associations with celebrities. For example, on her Instagram, Maryam posts a photo of her speaking with The Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon. Additionally, we see glamour exemplified through the many images of Chanel handbags and Steve Madden pumps, most often characterized as gifts from big name fashion companies.

 Maryam on The Tonight Show

3.) Carefully Curated Social Sharing: Maryam utilizes scripts that enable her to be simultaneously relatable and aspirational. Paying homage to her family, Maryam references her sister’s support in helping her launch a Hijab scarf brand. Also, loving pictures of Maryam and her husband are sprinkled throughout her Instagram. However, even with these relatable factors, Maryam rarely, if ever, posts pictures of herself looking sub-par, giving viewers the impression that she is seemingly perfect.

Maryam and her Fiance Celebrating their Pregnancy

 

One theme I noticed throughout my analysis of Maryam’s blog posts was her constant reference to her Muslim faith. Instead of displaying authenticity by taking pictures in her lounging clothes wearing no makeup, she chooses to display legitimacy to her Muslim followers via quotes from the Quran and in the way she dresses. In all of her pictures, Maryam is sporting the traditional hijab, modestly covering her hair and the sides of her face. Additionally, in one of her posts, Maryam is wearing a shirt with Arabic writing, which seems to make note of her political involvement in the Israeli-Palestine conflict. I would argue that in addition to following suit with Duffy and Hund’s tropes, Maryam also forms an authentic image through elements of her faith. But what about the fact that Islamaphobia has recently infiltrated into Western mainstream political thought? Maryam is probably aware that she may be at a risk of losing followers by proclaiming her Muslim identity. The unfortunate fact that she may never be able to reach national prominence as a fashion blogger due to racism is discouraging but also christens her as a symbol of strength for the millions of other Muslims who have a passion for fashion. 

One of Maryam's Instagram Posts References her Faith

Arabic Writing (Relation to Israel-Palestine Conflict)  

Prompt #4-The Future of Fashion: Normcore & Sustainability

For the longest time, items were deemed “fashionable” if they stretched the boundaries of normalcy and entered into the arena of outlandish artistry. The impracticality of wearing 6-inch heels and Lady Gaga-esque evening dresses is what separated true fashion icons from the everyday, average Joe, sporting a t-shirt and jeans. However, fashion seems to be regressing back to the basics with the normcore movement, a phenomenon “embracing sameness…as a new way of being cool, rather than striving for ‘difference.’” Translating this idea into wearable items, we see normcore manifest itself in the averageness of Uniqlo khakis and New Balance tennis shoes. There no longer appears to be a need for jewel-encrusted t-shirts and extravagantly embroidered hats, items that enabled individuals to simply purchase identities instead of showcasing their own. Through normcore, we are ushering in a new era that invites sameness as a platform for connection between people. 

Example of Extravagant High Fashion

Example of "normcore" Fashion 

            At the same time, the fashion world is also ushering in an era of production sustainability. More specifically, we are witnessing consumers become more aware of the “highly fragmented and inherently complex fashion supply chain” that values lower costs, lower prices, and high production rates over everything else. Within the fast-fashion world, “everything else” mainly refers to the violation of human rights and environmental destruction that underpaid garment workers in third world countries must endure.  As stated in Joyet al., the most popular purchasing practices are the ones that allow consumers to frequently change their identity, from grungy chic one day to conservative couture the next. However, as the horrendous working condition of garment workers are brought to light, the fashion industry is experiencing a conversion towards ethical fashion, which idealizes elements of durability and fair labor practices.

           

Garment workers in Bangladesh Protesting Unsafe Labor Conditions

Putting normcore in conversation with sustainable fashion, we see that both movements are working together to shift our society’s cultural values away from materialism and towards functionality in fashion. Having plain, solid-colored clothing items in our closets enables us to increase the amount of possible outfits that we can put together, therefore allowing us to make fewer purchases. On a macro scale, a decrease in the demand for new items every week puts far less pressure on consumers to always be “in style.” For example, consumers no longer need to buy full, new outfits every week but can easily put together something new with the flexible, basic options in their closets.  It also allows the fashion industry to be much more sustainable, as garment workers are no longer forced to work 12-16 hour days in order to meet the ridiculous demands of factory owners. But what does this shift towards sustainability and minimalist clothing say about fashion as a form of individual expression? While some may argue that wearing simple, plain materials takes away from personal expression, I would argue that it actually directs more attention to the wearer, highlighting their true personality as opposed to distorting it. Directing less attention towards the clothes we wear can have indirect positive effects on the global fashion industry as a whole. In this way, sustainability and the normcore movement are mutually beneficial and suggest a transition in the fashion industry towards moral values and practices.

Prompt #5- The 'Fashion Show' as depicted in Gossip Girl

 With its chartreuse Burberry scarves, limited edition Givenchy handbags, and iconic red bottom Louboutins, Gossip Girl is no stranger to high fashion. Blair’s mother, Eleanor Waldorf, is the acclaimed designer of Eleanor Waldorf Designs, a top-level, global fashion brand. Season 2 Episode 5 is centered on Eleanor’s annual New York Fashion Week show and the tremendous amount of aesthetic labor that goes into its preparation. Drawing on the argument in “The Fashion Show as an Art Form” by Skov et al., Gossip Girl depicts the fashion show as a controlled, idealized performance. All the major decisions that go into planning a fashion show are carefully calculated to achieve success. However, innovation and spontaneity still play an important role in the construction of fashion shows. 

The spatial framing of Eleanor Waldorf’s fashion show creates this distinction between the new (inner-world) and the old (outside world). Displayed in a private, windowless enclosed warehouse somewhere on the outskirts of the Upper East Side, the setting forces viewers to direct their attention away from the bustling New York City streets, towards the moving art-pieces on the cat walk. While the stage is not elevated, we witness a clear distinction between “those who look [and] those who are looked at” by the contrast of the models standing up and taking up space on the lighted catwalk and the audience members, sitting down in neatly arranged seats in the dark. This scripted decision is intended to focus the audience’s attention towards the models and away from the mundane, outside world. While an immense amount of labor goes into deciding the order of models, the sequence of fashion pieces, and the entire theme of the show, Skov et al. also brings attention to the controlled seating arrangements. As depicted in Gossip Girl, Eleanor Waldorf pays particular attention to placing the society girls, like Serena and Poppy Lifton, in the first row, as a way to attract publicity and prestige. There is even one point where Blair states that she purposefully avoided seating a photo editor next to his mistress art director, in order to avoid a showdown that would take attention away from the performance on the catwalk.

 

Socialites Serena Van Der Woodson & Poppy Lifton fill in as Eleanor's Models

In the Gossip Girl episode, we see evidence supporting the classification of fashion shows as controlled works of art because each decision made, no matter how miniscule, has a distinct purpose. However, I would argue that what separates a good fashion show from a phenomenal one is the designer’s ability to gracefully introduce elements of surprise into the show. Whether intentional or unintentional, these risk-taking decisions elevate a fashion show beyond just a mechanically prescribed performance. For example, when Eleanor’s models go missing, she makes the spontaneous decision to ask the front-row seated socialites to fill in, transforming the show into a smashing success. We see a similar phenomenon occurring in the documentary Unzipped, where the designer Isaac Mizrahi makes the intentional decision to include a transparent backdrop behind the stage, in order to showcase the ordered chaos that goes on backstage. While Waldorf and Mizrahi’s decisions are not conventional in nature, they both showcase the value of creativity and risk-taking within the ritualistic production of fashion shows.

 

Transparent "scrim" in Mizrahi's fashion show as depicted in Unzipped