TECHNIQUE
50. Structure and Scale
In the wild, when confronted by an animal, some
experts suggest extending your arms over your
head or out to your sides, or holding your jacket
open, to give the impression of being larger and
more threatening. Basic reptilian brain survival
instincts might be at the core of what drives us
to reframe our bodies to simulate more impos
ing shapes. A colorful example of fright or flight
fashion can be found among the costumes
designed by Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner
for the movie Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Many
costume ideas for that film came from animal life
indigenous to Australia. One of those creatures,
the frill-neck lizard, has a ruff of skin around its
neck that flares out when frightened. The design
ers emulated that feature to dramatic effect in a
collar on one of the costumes. When the male
peacock fans out its feathers to attract a mate, it
creates a very different survival impulse.
The hoop skirt is an undergarment that consists
of rigid concentric rings made of rope, osiers,
whalebone, steel, or nylon, and suspended by
fabric or bands of ribbon. When stored, the
structure can collapse into itself, but when worn,
the whole thing functions as a support system
for a woman's skirt. Particular shapes reflect
the fashion of any specific period, but the scale
also provides a measure of personal space that
keeps everyone at arm's length. The French word
panniers refers to wicker baskets that are slung
on either side of a pack animal. Panniers used for
fashion were fastened onto a woman's hips to
create an effect similar to the hoop skirt.
Headdresses, shoulder pads, bustles, and
trains are also used to extend ourselves and
our personal boundaries in the name of fashion.
At a time when fashion was focused on the bust,
Vivienne Westwood is credited with diverting us
to the rear with bustles dubbed Faux Cui, that cel
ebrated, if not exaggerated, a woman's derriere.106 Fashion Design Essentials... -
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