Last week I visited the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery to deepen my understanding of identity in physical objects, garments and crafts. I quickly found myself interested in the ‘Queer Looks’ exhibition which showcases a collection of outfits curated by queer people to showcase their identity and interests through how they style themselves.

I decided to complete a few pencil and charcoal sketches to sit and reflect on what I was viewing. The first sketches I did were of Adrian Pel’s styled outfit, he is a gay man born in 1967 who moved from London to Brighton and has a heavy interest in Vivienne Westwood. I have always loved Vivienne Westwood, and like Adrian, wear a Westwood orb necklace almost every day and so felt myself aligning with not only his outfit but interests. This made me question how we all share similar interests and often collect with people who share the same ones. Shown through how I connected with his outfit of choice and the little information I was given about him, identity can be portrayed by the smallest of details. It is easy to quickly make up persona’s for people based off of their visual appearance and interests, therefore I want to make sure I really hone my styling skills for future photoshoots etc.

Adrian Pel states how he used to save two weeks’ wages to be able to shop in the Westwood store in Chelsea. He also talks about how due to Margaret Thatcher and AIDS he struggled with accepting his sexuality, stating ‘because of the times, I probably wasn’t very comfortable with it (his sexuality). This demonstrates how not only sexuality, but the current dynamics unfurling around us have a substantial impact on identity. It also shows how it can be comforting to be able to express identity through what you are wearing.

I then completed sketches of a dress designed by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren in 1981. It was from their first runway collection ‘Pirate’ and the dress is an almost faithful recreation of a woman’s Regency Gown from 1800.

I found this dress particularly engaging as it holds a strong identity, if you were to see someone wearing a garment like this it would certainly tell a story. I want to ensure when I am shooting garments that they help craft a story of identity, and I want to play around with the idea of creating personas through objects.

I am going to begin planning styling for photoshoots that will be in idem and revolve around the theme of identity. I want to complete a shoot with @els.loops who is talented at the craft of crochet and regularly wears the garments she creates. When I have completed more research into this and contacted her I will write a separate blog post detailing this photoshoot.