Dana Toder
Grey Sheep
Location
tel aviv / israel
University
shenkar college of engineering and design
Graduation year
2023
Latest Collection
My graduation collection theme explores the physiological as well as the visual aspects of getting
dressed nowadays and what the three variables; body, dress and mirror are causing to one's mind in context of today's world?
I began taking interest in this topic when I began experiencing strong emotional responses when trying to decide what to wear as well as visual distortions while looking in the mirror, anxiety, a sense of dissociation and depersonalization.
While doing research on those feelings I learned that everything I am feeling is valid and that many people experience it and that there are multiple things that go in the process of getting dressed that make it hard, confusing, and messy.
To begin, when we are looking in the mirror trying to choose our attire, we are aiming to create a certain image, framed in the mirror, and we treat ourselves as some sort of object with a mission to fulfil, and what is so confusing about that is that we can hear our thoughts and emotions, which creates a dissonance between the mission and the actual self; this leads to a quite chaotic task.
Along with trying to create an unachievable image, we are basically trying to answer questions regarding who am I and what do i want to represent and project- we are trying to elevate ourselves by pressuring ourselves to transform from our actual self to our ideal self- this creates a disorder in our natural being and the self is out of control at these moments. Looking in the mirror, we are facing the gap which resides in our clothes, between who i am, who i want to be, and who i fear to be- you are viewing yourself with many attires and each one brings up anything from confidence, to fear, to memories, to what you saw trending on social media this day.
This also brings up the next phenomenon researches have talked about regarding getting dressed- that this specific moment is stretching through different times- past, present and future.
We are bringing up several different past selves through our clothes, while being in the present trying to decide what we like, yet trying to predict the future with questions like who is going to see me today, will this outfit make me confident, will i like it later on, who am i going to be later that day, will it make sense? Is the image I'm creating going along with my social persona?- We are facing multiple selves that overlap.
The mirror has a big part in making this process hard.
Before you add a mirror to the equation, we are in a somatic awareness of self, we are getting dressed naturally, and it's a process of organism using all our senses from vision to touch.
When a mirror is added we move towards a reflective awareness which is no longer fueled by senses but by judgement, perception, pressure and media- it blocks the flow of our natural senses and natural being in the world.
The mirror, being our main relationship with dress and self perception, creates an ongoing communication between our mind, and our perceived reflected self, revealing layers and depth of self which can be quite uncomfortable when all you are trying to do is get out of the house.
After revealing all of this self, researchers have claimed that we can and are experiencing distortions in mirror, loss of identity, deformations in one's face, and visual distortions. While looking in the mirror, we are seeing a visual representation of our identity, and we are trying to construct a better identity- Our reflective identity escalates to a reflexive identity.
For all those reasons, many people have claimed to feel a level of dissociation and depersonalization while trying to get dressed and spiralling into an existential shock.
I believe that these hardships are more than ever relevant to now days and that social media and our society structure makes this simple task harder than ever.
From scrolling on pinterest looking at bella hadid's outfit, to social anxiety at never before seen rates, to no limits on what's appropriate to wear comparing to other times, we are facing so many challenges that are a huge weight on the already mysterious world of reflections, mirrors, perception, complex consciousness, memories, and self.
In the collection, I am displaying 7 looks that showcase the tension between materials of fabrics and mirrors, wearable garments and non-wearable that emphasise our aim for the prefect image in mirror.
I am playing with games of perception with print, reflections, and materials.
I am using the aesthethic of messy rooms, messy minds, and the memories that clothes hold on to (for example, i will be using metals on body to show the objectified self, and the metals are very stylized and old, for showing the baggage of memories).