Music and Fashion Intertwined

It is quite obvious that music and fashion, although entirely different genres, coincide very well together.  Fashion designers look to music for inspiration, and musicians play off fashion as a means to express personal style.  Musicians have actually become fashion icons throughout the eras and their specific apparel choices have altered the terms of style.  For instance people identify a black leather motorcycle jacket paired with a striped crew shirt as one of The Ramones, or a sleek and tailored suit paired with a fedora as Frank Sinatra.  Today a whole new crop of musicians are trying to complete the list of icons by performing at fashion-based events or flaunting specific designers while performing, giving a sense of their own personal style.  

Best Coast performed at Helmut Lang for Fashion's Night Out on September 8, 2011. 

Kanye West performed at Coachella in April of 2011 wearing a piece from the Celine Spring/Summer Collection.  Some were shocked because Celine is a womenswear line designed by Phoebe Philo.  

Fashion's Night Out

Sharing from Vogue.com

Fashion’s Night Out has turned into one of the biggest gatherings of fashion designers, enthusiasts, and buyers alike since the seasonal fashion weeks. Based in New York at the various flagship stores, retailers and designers alike are trying to encourage shoppers to have fun, buy breathtaking clothes, and support the economy in an after hours shopping event. It is also an opportunity for designers to appeal to the masses with their seasonal collections. Retailers give in to the hype of FNO because it shows that that specific store is in tune with what is up and coming and edgy in the fashion world. The night, which was once dedicated to encouraging consumers to buy during an economic crisis has become an innovative extravaganza that shoppers and admirers of apparel flock to in hopes of scoring deals. This event began in September of 2009 and was followed by two other successful annual events in 2010 and 2011, stretching to 250 retailers across the country as well as internationally. Spearheaded by Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour, this event, more so in New York City, has attracted an array of celebrities, artists, and other influential people in society. This event truly exemplifies the essence of public relations, how the right advertisements, motive for change, and appealing resources pull an audience in.

Vinyl Revisited

     It is amazing to witness the progression music has made within the world of technology, from the invention of iTunes to the recording, broadcasting, and then selling of an artist’s musical composition online.   Yet have you ever wondered if young adults today are trying to get a taste of their parent’s youth hood by playing a vinyl record?  Personally there is nothing greater to pull out a Led Zeppelin vinyl from my family’s collection and just listen to the raw performance.  I guess I just have an admiration for records since it reminds me of the golden eras of rock in the 1960’s and 70’s and allows myself to take on a new perspective of listening.  Evidently I am not the only person who feels that way, since there has been an increase in vinyl consumerism, by way of purchasing turntables and various LP’s.  The music industry is actually thrilled with the “throwback” to vinyl since it allows for another means of selling music versus illegally downloading on the Internet.  Modern day recording artists have actually been quite enthusiastic about the minor shift of music consumerism, and more bands actually release their new albums online as well as on Vinyl in stores.  

      

 Trendy retailers such as Urban Outfitters have increased their sales production of vinyl records by displaying bands that have collected an audience over the year as well as displaying new releases.  So is revisiting past musical endeavors really a trendy thing to do?  I think some of the retailers have actually played into the hype and are trying to stylize the records like the apparel sold in their stores.  Or maybe some music enthusiasts are just trying to escape every mean of digitality while they can.  

Pitchfork (My Addiction)

       The music world has been immersed in a digital world varying from the recording process to the distribution.  It has been amazing to watch recording artists literally become national and international sensations by just posting tracks on music blogs.  I have to admit I have literally become addicted to following up and coming recording artists on blogs, and it has influenced my decisions of concert selections and album purchase as well.  A website and music blog that I have avidly followed for a couple of years now is Pitchfork, an internet site that is dedicated to reviewing albums, publishing music and concert updates, as well as posting new tracks by artists.  Pitchfork is a little more focused on the artists and bands that are starting out with playing for a handful of listeners versus a stadium-filled audience.  It sort of plays into a rhetorical situation providing indie music enthusiasts or otherwise known as the audience with songs that invoke them with a certain message or discourse.  I really do enjoy this site, not just for the content but for the easy navigation of the layout and design.  Visual rhetoric is based on design and how the audience perceives that design, so I easily can find myself exploring the content for hours.  The easy to maneuver play list allows for viewers to listen to a sequence of tracks in accordance to their release date.  
Pitchfork is also accessible by social media genres as well, I actually follow their blog on twitter, which has actually become a very resourceful tool.  The sight has awakened my senses to artists that I never imagined I would absolutely love.  For instance Pitchfork has showcased tracks by music producer Clams Casino, a New Jersey band titled Real Estate, and covers from different artists for tracks by The Strokes, that I never knew existed.    I encourage any music enthusiast to check this site out and transfix himself or herself in music they never have experienced before.  

Here are some videos posted on the website as well as performances from their various music festivals:

No Age- "Fever Dreaming"

James Blake at the Pitchfork Music Festival 2011

Smith Westerns- "Tonight" 

The Black Keys- "Lonely Boy" (New Single)

Lana del Rey- "Blue Jeans" (Remixed by Odd Future)

Digitality & Magazines

For some magazine enthusiasts, either purchasing or receiving the newest monthly edition is its own sentimental treasure.  As ridiculous as it may sound, I actually cannot wait for the day each month that a new Vogue issue is on sale and I buy it immediately.  It is also a bit ridiculous that I don’t have a subscription and instead buy the magazine for sale price, wasting about $4 an issue.  Yet it will a be sad day, when myself as other avid readers will not be able to see an extensive selection of magazines as well as other genres of print media on the stands.  Some speculators state that in 2009 print readsership seemed to have decreased because advertisers would rather pay less on a web article versus a print article.  So not only has digitiality, or the condition of living in a digital culture affected people, but certain media genres as well.  Yet some magazines have taken initiative of the cultural shift, and progressed into attracting another audience of readers by posting most of the same information on their website, an example is Vogue magazine.  Vogue.com has launched and has attracted fashion enthusiasts on a broader spectrum, accessing them to a wide variety of editorial shots, designer updates, and even daily fashion blogs, accurately titled Vogue daily.  Below is a couple examples of Vogue.com’s daily posted pictures, these are just couple ones that caught my eye.  

This last shot is of the magazine's November Issue Cover Story, Actress Rooney Mara who stars in the newest film adaptation of Steig Larssen's Girl With the Dragon Tattoo directed by David Fincher.  I believe the shot is absolutely captivating, and really showcases the incredible design by Marchesa.  

-Stace

Introduction

My name is Stacey and I am currently enrolled at Florida State University majoring in Editing, Writing, and Media as well as Communication.  The intent of my blog is to explore the facets of Fashion Public Relations as well as Music Public Relations, ever-changing and evolving into the digital age.  Although both genres completely contrast each other in style and structure, music and fashion feed off one another in media and publication.