Focus on the eyes!

 Drawn to the eyes...


One major makeup factor I have noticed whilst researching tribal makeup is the fascination with the eyes! May this be because of the camouflage they need within the wild? or maybe to people within those communities eyes are the most attractive, thus more decoration of the eyes is essential? Who knows, regardless it is indefinitely the most popular area made up with makeup in tribal communities.
And not only the focus of where the makeup is placed but red seems to be the most popular and dominant colour! I have a few images here from tumblr, catwalk photo's from magazines..etc. Each with a different design for makeup around the eyes. This one the the right brings focus straight away to the eyes and lips, showing me that placing colour on the face is actually very important and is definitely something to consider when doing my face charts!



This image for anyone who is into fashion is obviously from a catwalk. If its their flawless and beaming skin which doesn't give it away its the simple orange and red on the eyes which has been smoked out to the edge of the face. Classic smokey eye for couture shows! This also represents how a simple bright splash of colour anywhere on the face, if designed right, will give off the tribal look and feel to any viewers! AGAIN the red is used here?!

 This image is slightly different but it does have the same effect as the others in terms of focusing on the eyes. In fact this design brings out the eyes differently, instead of putting the makeup on the eyes it frames them! The dots surround the eyes which outlines them even more, especially with this males skin tone that it contrasts so well with! The white is a great colour to use, as it happens it stands out brilliantly on any skin tone! Note to self: USE THIS TECHNIQUE!



This final image is more subtle and detailed, used in a photo shoot. To me her eyes look like a bird of some kind and with the white flicks (again the white being very affective) it gives her eyes a feathered look. Relating this to animals again, it only shows the importance of how an animals appearance influences the idea of 'tribal' and 'wild kingdom'. Linking all these photo's together I have come to the conclusion that I am liking the idea of the red, the focus of makeup on the eyes and most of all linking an animal aspect to my design!

Catwalk Inspiration!

Who doesn't love a little catwalk.. Literally..

Here are images from the Alexander McQueen Fall 2000-2001 collection. To focus on the styling I found looking at previous catwalks gives me great inspiration and a different outlook onto how others perceive the 'tribal' theme. There are so many patterns and styles to take in it's insane! I feel his work brings the natural theme of tribal to a more contemporary glamorous look. His models makeup are more simple and plain and I LOVE it! Suppose he doesn't want all the attention away from his clothes!

John Paul Gaultier created a fabulous spring/summer collection in 2005 theming Africa. The simple makeup designs and the hair styles captured the cultured life of africa.

 The braids, twists and up-do hair styles gave the whole show an edgy look. Personally these hair styles reminded me of the unique plantation in Africa; their tree's covered in vines and branches.This gave the whole outcome a very raw, natural vibe, quite literally going to the 'root' of African life.

Jewellery Fascination!

You're not a normal girl if you don't love accessories...

It is common within African tribes for women to be topless and wear a lot of jewellery. The jewellery is normally hand made with beads, string, shells and even teeth! As you can see in the image here even animal skin is attached! I get the impression that jewellery means quite a lot to tribes like this, especially when clothing is minimal and it is the jewellery that attracts the attention of others! I love the bright colours included, and I guess for them the bright colours is a form of having something artificial rather than just having original pieces. 

 As I am a POOR student I went round Southampton town looking for bargains to get my accessory options available. I went to Primark as I know they do good cheap beads etc! And here is what I found... Too add to my jewellery hunt I also bought some rustic string from a little corner shop in bags, brown and green, I thought these were quite a raw material, something many tribes would use in the jungle!
Primark had some good chunky beads, they were great colour's too and not unrealistic! Dark and light browns, with some shimmery golds and some dark greens! Perfect for tribal with those 'earthy' colours! Another necklace I bought had pink plate in it, which I really didn't like at all but I took a great liking to the gold circular plates in-between. So however long winded I thought this would be I took apart the necklace and removed all the pink plates, I then put all the gold circles back on which to make matters worse were different sizes! Despite the effort it took to edit this necklace I loved the outcome, the gold plates looked good on their own, I was even thinking of using them on the face maybe...? It doesn't have to be a necklace after all! Here are a few images below for you to appreciate the effort, with a bit of help from my house mate of course haha!

Happy Halloween!

My random fascination for Mexican Sugar Skulls..

As I was previously looking at skulls, and the Halloween holiday has just been around the mexican sugar skull came to my attention. The 'day of the dead' is celebrated by Mexican's on the 1st and 2nd of November. On these days it is believed that the gates of heaven are open to all the dead child spirits to reunite with their family's for 24 hours.

Here is an image of my housemate on halloween, this showed me that such cultures can take something so simple (a skull) and turn it into something completely different. Using this example imparticular it definitely shows contrast between the violence some tribes go through to gain their look compared to this where something not pleasant like a skull is transformed into something beautiful (LIKE THE DAMIEN HIRST SKULL SCULPTURE!!) I believe that tribal communities celebrate life and death so much, they really embrace the circle of life which others do not! Including me!!

Contemporary Native American

Lets get things up to date..

To get some inspiration I looked at other peoples interpretation of a more contemporary outlook on 'Native American'. Here is an image uploaded by themillicent on tumlbr. I love how the model here is obviously not Native American, I think this brings an 'urban' outlook onto this particular tribe. Her dark eyes and lips add an edge to her pale skin and fair hair, bringing her back down to the 'raw' tribal community.

Here is another image from Tumblr uploaded by salepetitepute, I absolutely love this image as it brings tribal against materialism. The sunglasses and cigarette give the image a boost into society today, the mixture of tradition and fashion in this image adds a more in depth meaning! I have seen images before of men from actual tribes with cigarette's in their mouth parading down a street! Look's like some tribes are getting to grips with the more modern way of life!

Again, from Tumblr uploaded by crazy802. The natural setting and the simplicity of the body gives all the focus to the head gear and black make-up onto the eyes. This gives me the confidence to play around with simple ideas, and bring the focus to a certain point.

Contemporary Tribal Art

Who love's art? Me! Me! Me!

Damien Hirst is an english artist renowned for his artistic sculptures, one in particular caught my eye; this skull covered in diamonds called 'For the Love of God'. After looking at my market research I found this skull sculpture to be intriguing, as this is yet another example of tribalism being designed to fit into today's trends. This piece reminds me of poverty which occurs daily within tribes, and the bodies left to rot in the wild. It also reminds me of the human sacrifices which seem to be so crucial within the religion of tribes. This is why the skull is controversial as something so raw is covered in diamonds. The diamonds themselves represent the contrast of the rich and poor, death and life, yet at the same time combines the contemporary fashion, to the original trends which still remain in tribes today.



Here is a image I found on Tumblr posted by beauty-of-africa, straight away after researching Damien Hirst it brought me straight back to the idea of controversy between the glamorous life of today and the raw way of life for a typical person in a tribe. Obviously this image isn't as extreme as Damien Hirst's piece but the fact that this young girl has diamonte pieces stuck to her face proves that tribes today are crossing paths with the rich and westernised world. As the emotional person I am, it is also quite a sad concept to see, as the difference between rich and poor in this world is quite large.



Here is a video by Caroline Saulnier, the first model completely represents what i've researched from the Damien Hirst Sculpture; bringing the raw basics from tribes today to the western world. Again this back's up my concept of the ever growing popular skull pattern, common in today's high street shops! I absolutely adore the quirkiness of this video! It adds a new raw edge to my perception of tribalism!

Market Research

This collage of images contains what I found on a day trip out to the main shopping area of southampton. The 'tribal' sense of fashion is becoming more and more popular within high street stores today, whether it be an ornament or a pattern on a piece of clothing. Skulls have become  a major fashion trend, especially with the patterned bone structure, these patterns reminding me of Maori tattooing with the swirls.
Tribal patterns on tops, jumpers etc are even becoming embroided rather than printed. The idea of embroidery patterns gives me the sense that tribal markings are not only there to be seen but felt too. This is me is an obvious representation of contemporary tribal design in today's society. It seems that the skulls are providing an out look on the circle of life which a lot of our cultures don't pay attention to.
The common colour palette of this research consisted of black, white, grey and red! I LOVE this range of colour's, it really emphasises what I have been researching and red is a common colour within every tribe I have looked at!