Bloodlines

Bloodlines - Experimental Fashion Design

Assignment prompt: Create a garment using trash or other unconventional materials, to convey a message about sustainability.

CONCEPT

Sustainability is a highly important concept as a property of biological and environmental systems, and most of my classmates approached this project by choosing to use plastic water bottles, old newspapers, cardboard, and other materials found in waste and recycling bins. In thinking about practices and habits we have in regards to environmental sustainability, I began thinking further about social sustainability and wanted to challenge existing behaviors and practices we perpetuate -- especially in regards to the pressure on women to act and "perform" their femininity.

Body accentuation and glamorization are key tactics in an industry that preys on women's perceptions of themselves, further perpetuating this obsession every day. Amidst the pressure to be girly, be a lady, and be sexy, there is little attention given to the singular aspect that separates women from men, and this is the most fundamental and basic of biological differences… a woman's monthly menstrual cycle.

In this project, I wanted to not only visually display the amount of waste produced by feminine products in a year, but also send a message regarding the sustainability of pushing societal expectations of women to "perform" their femininity. I chose to create a bridal gown out of the amount of menstrual pads/tampons a woman goes through in a year, to juxtapose the construct of purity in marriage, with the dirty nature of monthly bleeding.

Construction