The Panicked Manifesto of Kyra K. Merchen

Alright, let’s start with UMW‘s site.

Their project centers around the fashions of the 80s and how they reflected the increasingly fluid gender identity spectrum and the introduction (resurgence from the 20s kind of?) of androgynous fashions (which I’m super excited to read more about!).

I love the background picture you’ve got going, very flashy and colorful (just like the 80s).

I still have more this-is-what-we’re-doing-verbatim to add to our own site, and I really like how you managed to outline (not quite the right word?) your project on your home page without making the whole thing sound bland.

God rest the strange immortal soul of our beloved David Bowie.

Your site is super easy to navigate but I do think your page names could use a little spicing up – probably just personal preference but, while National and Local mean about everything they need to, I want something that pulls me into the article like a panicked Spongebob on a fishhook. I’d also say that titling your home page something other than “Home Page” could really give you some color.

And the credits page is a great idea, just to consolidate all your resources! Obviously make sure you cite them wherever you use your information, just to be thorough, but I like that a lot.

Okay, next.

*drum roll*

*Reaches into hat, draws name*

Ummmm JSC, COME ON DOOOOOWN!

First impressions: I like the layout you’ve chosen, it’s very sleek and professional.

But, beyond that, it doesn’t look like you’ve done much (which I totally understand my babes).  I’m not sure if the uploads and how they’re laid out right now are functioning pages or posts, but it’s not the most intuitive layout. The pictures you have for the 70s are absolutely hilarious. Long live bell-bottoms!

I have the memory of a goldfish on all of the drugs, so I don’t quite remember what you’re project was going to be about, but if it’s about the 70s I am seven thousand different kinds of down.

You can do it, JSC! I believe in you!!

And so does this goat.

Do your be-e-e-e-est. 

…on a deadline, far, far away…

There was a small, cheering dragon, waving pompoms and declaring in no uncertain terms how very much they believed that you could “do it”.

Thank you, Tiny Dragon. We appreciate your support.

So. Website. Things. Updates.

We have those, definitely. New content in spades.

In all seriousness, we’re making substantial progress off of the site – I have a number of pre-written articles for the website (basically the skeleton of everything we need) that we’re going to flesh out once we’ve completed all of our interviews (which should be done by the end of this week).

We’ve definitely fallen behind (she said, shaking her fist at the mirror), but the last several days have been nothing but nose-to-the-grindstone productivity – so once we’ve got our interviews (and maybe an animatic or two to go with the audio), we’re golden.

Have a picture of a quokka.

This quokka believes in you.

…Which is only marginally less terrifying than an army draft.

So. Here’s the thing.

We have yet to hear back from Kelly Brown, the person who runs the archives at USAO; and we’ve said we don’t want to interview anyone before we have things to show them that we actually intend to use. So, pending a reply, we’re at a standstill.

But.

Never fear, we’re not just piddling around with bags on our heads; the research we’ve been conducting has been online, finding links (and vetting their reliability) on Pinterest, using resources like Google’s We Wear Culture. 

So, we haven’t looked at the website. Which means we don’t have any pressing problems with it yet.

But, just speculating, something we’ll have to decide is how we’re going to integrate our interviews with our images and text-posts; most likely, we’ll insert the audio at the top as a thing unto itself and transcript the interview below before we start in on latent commentary; alternatively, we can take the interview and make a slideshow/video/animatic out of it, because visuals make everything more engaging.

We’ll separate it out into a series of pages: the general progression of sexism and the way it’s reflected in crazy Space-Age fashion; Space-Age fashion, and what that actually means; a general overview of how our perception of fashion has changed recently; and more detailed posts analyzing specific images and examples from different decades.

And generally try not to explode.

Good morning Patriarchy, how are you this fine spring day?

So, “space age” fashion, for a really long time, meant dressing like a rocket. Like. Actually dressing like a rocket. The silhouette was conical, like, you know, the nose of a rocket. And people wore fancy buckets on their heads.

Ya’ll think I’m joking.

And and and AND when the silhouette wasn’t actively trying to be a literal rocket because these people have no imagination, the times were reflecting themselves hard in science-fiction illustrations like this gem:

Her suit is open to the frozen airlessness of space and she has no gloves why can you see her boobs do you people have any idea how space actually functions. 

I’m angry.

So the basic plan is to use images like these to see where we pull from historically to represent “future fashion”. And to tear these pictures into little bite-sized pieces I can throw at people on the street because it amuses me.

And voila. Images.

Fight me, 60s.

There’s a nightmare happening somewhere right now where some poor unfortunate dreamer is standing next to a powerpoint he hasn’t read, sweating and shaking and generally trying his best not to pass out in front of a group of skeletal teachers, zombified secretaries, and judgmental arachnids with notebooks and sour expressions.

Right here, there’s another nightmare happening: homework, obligations, and the ever-presence of the almighty deadline. 

Needless to say, the second is far more terrifying. We’re awake for this one.

This blog is supposed to center around a number of things, and these number of things all involve customization; which I’ve already done to the extent I currently wish to. I enjoy my current blog template, black on white with little sea-foam green accents, the text on the left so it’s easier to read; I intend to add a background picture, but one of my own making, so there isn’t one just yet. The changes I did make are as follows: the name of the blog, the tagline, and the copyright disclaimer at the bottom. I like the aesthetic simplicity of the blog, so the only thing I thought I might like to change was the words; make it more interesting without detracting from the minimalism. The title now sarcastically reflects both my excitement and abject terror (and the tagline as well), and the copyright string at the bottom amuses me.

The best jokes are the ones you have to hunt for; even if they aren’t particularly funny.

And hey, while we’re on the subject of abject terror, have a website! This is the google culture thing I mentioned in class: a collective of research projects and images from various universities. Regardless of what your project’s about, this should make you feel just a touch less like spontaneously combusting.

Oh, and what else did we need? An embedded video, right, got it. Okay. Google culture is, like, a tool, so the website should probably be useful, shouldn’t it? Something to make my classmate’s lives a little better?

Eh. Why don’t you just learn something about molar evolution?