Band Clothing

When shooting our music video it was extremely important that we had artist clothing, that was suitable to represent the band and genre of music that we have used. The main focus was to represent a modern but indie group. To do this we had to look at other examples that were similar to 'The Naked and Famous'. Therefore the obvious first choice was the band themselves and in the picture above there is a example of their style in fashion. Although simple it has a smart but quirky feel the denim  jacket worn by David Beadle was an idea that when then used in our performance. The denim jacket bought from All Saints was worn by myself playing the Keyboard player. The main theme was smart casual throughout which lead to the band wearing jeans or denim shorts however it was important not to present a bland outlook which meant that I wore red chinos from Ted Baker in order to offer some variety in the bands attire. My checked Fred Perry shirt is a style and brand that is often seen in young male bands such as Oasis and The Kaiser Chiefs. 

A mix of colour was also important and although 'The Naked and famous' often wear dark and plain colours we decided that to portray a different vibe we should add in some colour. Therefore we decided that as the main two members of the group Becky (the lead singer) and Luke (the lead guitarist) should wear and outfit that will have more of a visual impact on the audience. For the lead singer we considered a wide variety of options however settled upon a country rock theme in order to mix the look up between the band members. A good example of the look is Taylor Swift who you can see to the side wearing a red checked shirt. We decided to use this idea and added a pair of denim shorts and leather boots to complete the 'cowgirl' look. As the other main focus of the group Luke was required to have some sort of a connection with Becky which lead to him also wearing a coloured checked shirt. Luke's rather simple but classic looked was based around Noel Gallagher, who you can see the the right. He is an artist liked by many in our group and as a icon to indie bands seemed the ideal person to base the guitarist look around. Also his style can fit into almost and scenario or genre of music.

The Drummer of our band Max who was a very talented drum player which helped him fit into the role was dressed simply as it is not often that you see the drummer of the band wearing something that makes him stand out from the other members. Although most often the drummer will just wear a plain t-shirt we agreed that in order to fit in with the style of the band he should wear a shirt. Therefore we decided on the plain light blue Ralph Lauren shirt which is a classic and timeless look that has been around for years however it does not draw the eye away from the main focus of the band. It is similar to the shirt worn by Marcus Mumford from Mumford and Sons who sometimes players the drums for the band.

We also felt it important to insure that the look was complete including hairstyles therefore myself and Luke had smart comb over styles with Max sporting a more casual but still groomed quiff and Becky having her hair down to create a frame for her face, drawing focus from the viewer.

Clothing Ideas For The Music Video - By Luke

As the song that we have chosen is to of the indie electronica genre, the clothing and styling of the band members is absolutely crucial to how the band will be portrayed to the public.

The main focus for us is to create a typical indie band and to try and keep strictly to indie styled clothing and hair styles etc. This will prove difficult but if done correctly it will give us the star image that we want to give the band. This is seen in our research as most artists have an iconic look which not only attracts a fan base but also reflects their persona. A key example of this is the band 'Kiss' who consistently wear leather with their black and white face paint - giving them their identity.
Recently we have been searching the internet for different sort of outfits for the band members to wear and we decided on the lead singer, as she is a female that she should wear a typical floral type dress for the performance part of the video, here are some ideas;

When researching what makes an indie outfit we looked at a selection of blogs and websites such as googling 'How to dress indie?' - sites such as 'WikiHow' came in very useful as there are lots of tips that we can use to enhance our own knowledge that we have already. The research sort of already confirmed the image we had in our heads of what 'indie' actually is but we could just get a better insight through the experts advice. We could then go away onto websites (below) with our new knowledge. The key thing to remember was that indie literally means 'independant' therefore we have a lot of flexibility and options

Florence Welch is a fashion icon and we can use her example to see what makes a unique female music artist as our lead singer as mentioned is a girl and we want her to stand out in the music video - by creating a qwerky alter-ego we can achieve this look. 
Florence usually performs in flowing dresses which contrast against her hair colour. Because she has such a distinctive hair colour and style, she compliments it and almost highlights it as her identity even further. Even when she is dressed casually as you can see, she dresses with independence and this reflects her personality.




This little slideshow shows some of the ideas that we have had from looking at fashion websites such as; Topshop, Urban Outfitters, ASOS etc. and google images. As a group we may need to purchase a the perfect outfit for the lead singer. We want to portray her as a fashionista, leading the way for other people to follow. In this case, she needs to stand out as being a unique individual who does not neccessarily follow any trends - she sets them herself. This being said, the style needs to be in keeping with the indie feel of the music video otherwise the two elements of music and fashion will not compliment each other. They need to show what direction we are heading in.

The other narrative based part of the video is going to be slightly different, as its going to be lots of different groups of people doing lots of different activities, the clothing will be tailored to who the people are and what they are doing in the scene that they are in for example, in the camping scene, all the actors will be dressed up warm around a camp fire wearing jumpers in sleeping bags etc, in the scene thats in the field it will be the same sort of attire that they were wearing during the performance.

We decided that the males in the performance part of the video will be wearing clothes that represent the indie genre also, for this we also looked into fashion website for the males like; Topman, Urban outfitters etc. Here are some examples of what we are looking for.....although some have hipster/electronica elements fitting into groups such as Scenester kids.

Make your own slideshow with music at Animoto.

Styles that I personally like are the bright and vibrant AZTEC ones. This is actually very in fashion at this present moment in time with the winter season. You can see these styles appearing in a lot of retail stores...it is the idea of patterns and bold colours being put onto a piece of clothing. It makes a big statement and has 'indie connotations'. When looking at websites this was a prominent theme. Also a lot of people at our age of 17/18 have started to settle into this Aztec niche market and if adults in bands are wearing this style they do look much more young and almost appear more creative and exciting.

The band Spector are good examples of making bright colours look qwerky and quite trendy. Normally it is common to think you stand out in a bad way but they have their own unique style and star image. Their style I think opitimizes them. Thry are normally seen with tie-dye shirts in yellows, reds, blues and various other colours. It separates them from the crowd and also highlights this fashion revolution.  I think that the clothing item of a shirt looks smart yet can be made casual at the same time - looking rather effortlessly cool.

Bands like Foals have the common look of skinny jeans and short sleeve shirts - shown in the Balloons video. It gives a summery feel despite the fact that we will be shooting our video in the middle of the winter period. They look tailored, especially with button down collars as these give the look a more casual appearance. Foals provide a contrast to Spector as they are more often seen in pastel coloured shirts as opposed to a variety of vivid colours.