August 16,
I finally did the long-anticipated shoot I've been wanting to do since the end of May.
This by far has got to be one of my favorite shoots ever because I feel like it was a true learning experience. The fun of it was trying to apply the style and aesthetic of an artist whom I truly admire to my own project.
I don't have any Gucci clothes ('cause they hella expensive), but I've been absolutely loving their vision and designs. So I rampaged my closet and mom's to do the best I could to imitate the whimsical aesthetic. Here were the results. (Sorry Gucci for not doing you guys justice!)
Inspiration——
So the inspiration behind this whole shoot was obviously Gucci under Alessandro Michele's reign. His style can be summed up as very maximalist and [wildly curated?]. Think: florals, rich colors, sci-fi, 70s hipster, "vintage-tinged, eccentric, bookish" (Brannigan, "Gucci Goes on a Glittery, High-Glam 80s Kick for Spring 2018").
I think this quote puts it best: "Although he had invented the clothes, it was as if they had been culled from a thrift store to which centuries of Roman princesses had consigned their most extravagant castoffs" (Mead, "Gucci's Renaissance Man").
Because of his 70s-space-race-era-tinged aesthetic, I wanted to feature a quirky item in there that kind of resembled that mood. Thus, came in the Space keychain my grandma got for me from Seattle Space Needle (fun fact: this whole shoot was actually born from this).
His maximalist style really encouraged me to step out of my usual comfort zone, taking some risks with layering (though not risky enough looking back, but baby steps). I notice through Gucci's Instagram page the frequency of bold layering from trenches on shirts on dresses to even coat ON coat every now and then. For the first styling, I layered a sweater vest on top of a frilly blouse. I really liked this look because I felt that it successfully combined the 70s-bookish-hipster look (from the vest) with the Neoclassical feel of the frilly French-18th-century-looking blouse.
I layered the green intimate dress on top of a loud flowery blouse for the second styling more on an impulsive move because I had lost the original pants paired with that top. But I'm glad I lost those pants that day because I would've never thought about playing with an intimate dress for the fit. I loved how the solidity of the green color contrasted the blouse really well. (And the color matching the leaves of the blouse was just icing on the cake!!)
And I LOVE costume jewelry... you all already know that! So whether or not Michele's aesthetic included that (which he does luckily), I knew I had to incorporate pretty opulent bracelets and rings and hairclips all over!!! The Banana Republic flower-motif bracelet and rings have always caught my eye (I've reused them for countless other shoots haha).
Setting——
For the vibe of of the shoot, I was thinking: packaged chocolates, a globe FOR SURE, rich/warm-colored luggages / crates, "grandma's"sewing tin boxes, old encyclopedias... basically anything in my house that screamed “worldly, vintage, or bookish."
One of my favorite part of shoots (which I’ve mentioned in an earlier ~fashun~ post) is finding quirky corners and rooms in my house which I tend to overlook every day and turning them into something viable and purposeful for a shoot. I stand in this particular hallway upstairs every morning and night brushing my teeth, but I never really took in the charm of the warm lighting emanating from the funny antique-looking light fixture before -- so I knew I wanted to do something with that. The two frames hanging along the wall kind of added an odd, personal aesthetic which I loved.
Mood——
Pinkish, warm tones. saturation up.
Reflection——
Overall, I'm really happy with the results of this shoot. I think the one thing I would for sure change is taking out the socks from Styling 2. Looking back, I don't think those high-knee stockings went with the outfit AT ALL. From the material to the color, it's just a no-no. Whoops.
+And also I would pay more attention to small details when shooting, because while editing the pictures, I realized I couldn't use a lot of them simply because her hand was moving or the choker was out of place or the tag of the bracelet was peeping out lol.
Click here for styling details and more pictures.