1930's

Whilst researching into the Tribal Fashion World, i came across this video. It takes you behind the scenes for Charlie Le Mindu at Paris Fashion Week - Spring 2012 Collection. I really love this collection as it mixes Tribal clothing and accessories with 1930's hairstyles.

These images show how the hair was worn in the 1930's. They used very smooth and sleek pin curls to create this Vintage look.

Paris Fashion Week 2012 - 2013

I wanted to start looking at head pieces as I feel that this is a very important accessory to most tribes. Typically, a tribe uses head pieces to show leadership or gender.

These designs are created by Manish Arora at Paris Fashion Week Spring 2013. I feel that although they are moving more towards the Indian style, the beads that they have used reminded me of the beads the young child is wearing from the Chimbu Tribe, yet worn in a different way. I also love how he has created a gold piece that sits just under the eyes, a bit like a mask.

Again, this is another piece created by Manish Arora. I know that it is not a head piece but i thought that the design was beautiful. I like how he has incorporated a piece that sits like a glove but looks more like a bracelet. Also, looking at the nail colour that has been chosen, is a very tribal muddy colour which would fit in well with my final piece.

This is a piece designed by Charlie Le Mindu for Paris Fashion Week Spring 2012 Collection. I was really inspired by these head pieces as i can see that the photo on the left represents a snake. I thought that the makeup was very interesting too, with the thick dark eyebrows and dark lips.

This is another piece designed by Charlie Le Mindu for Paris Fashion Week Spring 2012 Collection. I find this head piece very facinating as it appears very religious and ethnical. The whole look actually brings to mind the disney character, Aladdin!

I just wanted to add in a quick picture taken from the Disney animation film, Aladdin, as the Charlie Le Mindu Collection really inspired me too. Even looking at this picture, you can see the clothing and accessories have tribal related references to them - The beads and feather head and hair pieces!

London Fashion Week AW 2010

This is a piece of Legu 'Vegetable Ivory' jewellery deisgned by Estethica. I feel that it is a very relevant piece as it is moving towards my area of research. Mixing the beaded accessories worn by the Chimbu Tribe with the colourful accessories worn at the Mexican Day of the Dead Festival, i feel that this is very appropiate.

This is also another piece of Legu 'Vegetable Ivory' jewellery deisgned by Estethica. I feel that this piece is a better design for what I would need as the shape is very similar to the Chimbu Tribes necklaces.

These cuffs were designed by Michelle Lowe-Holder. Although these Cuffs do not correspond with the tribe that I am looking at, I came across them and fell in love with them. They are very detailed and give out a very realistic effect!

Accessories

I have decided to include this image as it shows their hair and accessories much clearer. They have made feather and bead head bands which seem to be an accessory that mostly women wear. Looking at her hair, she has a black afro which may mean that they are from a more tropical environment. She also has a high amount of beaded necklaces around her neck which must weigh quite a lot!

Here is a photograph of a child from the Chimbu Tribe. It shows that he is also wearing a beaded necklace. It seems to have been placed repeatidly around his neck quite tight with one piece hanging down. Whilst researching, I have not come across any grown men wearing jewellery. The men tend to paint their whole body, where as the women tend to wear long dresses meaning they leave their legs and feet natural.

Culture

I have found that the Chimbu Tribe are very cultured in their ways. They dance as a group for entertainment which is part of their cultural/religious beliefs. They do not wear much clothing as they pay most of their attention to makeup.

I have included an old picture of a grave as it shows what a full skeleton looks like. Considering the tribe do not have access to face and body paints, they have used clay and mud-like materials. Although it must be very hard for them to paint detail, they still look incredible!

First Moodboard (Take 2)

After some thought I decided to arrange a new moard board. I have added images of my current thoughts about the 'Day of the Dead Festival' and some images from the actual Festival itself.

Face Template

After researching the Mexican Day of the Dead Festival, I wanted to try out a rough design that was very similar to how they apply their makeup for it. This was my outcome.

First Moodboard

This is the first moodboard that I have created for this theme. It is an overview of what my current thoughts and ideas are for this project. As you can see, I really like the colourful skull designs and the tattoos that are inked all over them. I also like their wide range of accessories, including hair pieces, hair extensions, necklaces and clothing.This highly reminds me of pin-up dolls!

Mexican Day of the Dead Festival

I really loved the idea of the Chimbu Tribe Makeup and Styling which brought me to look at the Mexican Day of the Dead Festival.

I think this photograph is GORGOUS! I just love how they have incorporated skeletons into a beautiful and colourful piece of art. There is soo much fine detail within this design and it really stands out. It's clear that there is a religious and cultural thought brought into this piece.

In this photograph I really like how they have used different colours. Mexico is known for its wide use of bright colours and it really shows in these photos.I also think how they have painted the mouths is so simple, yet works so well!

This is my favourite photograph from the Mexican Festival. The colours they use work so well with the design. I have also noticed that a lot of the models have cob-webs painted on their faces - Maybe it means ageing? They also use many different accessories on the face and in the hair, including flowers, beads and sequins. This is another way of incorporating the Chimbu tribe into high fashion... Yet this time using COLOUR!

Chimbu Tribe

I started looking into the Chimbu Tribe. They typically have a full body of art in a skeleton design. It looks as though they use a very thick paste to colour their body. It looks like it has a 'Mud' texture to it. Although the texture is not smooth, they are still able to paint a realistc skeleton design. They never use bright colours, they stick to black, white and browns.

Both Men and Women are painted in the same way. The Women are covered up more with a long dress like costume where as the men only wear a simple piece of material around their waist to cover their genitals.

This photo shows more detail into their accessories. They wear head pieces that are made out of feathers and/or beads. This lady is also wearing multiple long, beaded necklaces.

 

I have included this video of 'Lady Gaga - Born This Way' because one of her looks in this video relates to the Chimbu Tribe. It is the one of her with the Skeleton face paint on her face. I feel that this is a good example of turning Tribe into Fashion! It also helps me with my own ideas of how to translate the tribal makeup to high fashion and editorial. Lady Gaga's Makeup artist has used smoother makeup to create a more detailed look.

Introduction to Wild Kingdom!

Very excited to be starting this new project! I feel that it will be fun yet seems like a lot of hard work!

Loving the idea of the tribal theme... Soooo many words spring to mind - Bright, Exotic, Jungle, Unusual, Fanatical....

Seems like it is going to be never ending with the amount of research ideas I have! So many amazing hair stylists, makeup artists and designers out there using tribal themes and not forgetting the tribes themselves.

I'm going to start by looking into the different tribes so I can have a look at the different makeup effects and designs that each of them use. I will also be looking at their hair and accesories including clothing. This way I can start to imagine what it will be like in high fashion.