4B — Thursday, March 10, 2016
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW

The video for Halsey’s 

newest single “Colors” is 
devoid of 
just that. A 
platinum 
blonde 
Halsey is 
painted in 
a white-
washed, 
upper-middle class suburbia 
— she’s dating the son (Tyler 
Posey, “Teen Wolf”) of the 
man her mother is dating. 
Her wig is only halfway 
convincing; everyone is oddly 
great at tennis; and there are 
loads of polaroids — you get 
the picture.

The video is almost 

entirely candid as the song 
just plays over videos of the 
characters. The mom seems a 
tad desperate, Halsey is aloof 
toward her boy-hunk and 
Dad’s mustache screams that 
he’s up to no good. The first 
chorus ogles Tyler Posey in 
a way that’s not unenjoyable: 
he jogs, smiles, changes in 
a steamy locker room (with 
his dad?). You know, typical 
pretty-boy shit. Meanwhile, 
Halsey is snapping pics 
through door cracks and 
rolling around some white 
sheets between flirty glances.

Finally, the third-act twist 

comes when she drops a 
handful of polaroids in front 

of her boyfriend, only for him 
to see they’re all of his father. 
The twisted would’ve had 
more success had the video 
played up the mysterious 
romance more, instead it only 
lead in with the odd, healthy 
suspicion uber rich white 
families most of us have.

The seemingly out-of-

context video is supported 
by a fantastic song, without 
a doubt. And while the 
aesthetics are pleasing 
enough to warrant an 
additional view or two, the 
story-line never hits the 
intended mark.

- CHRISTIAN KENNEDY

C+

Colors

Halsey

By JORDAN STERN

Daily Arts Writer

If MaxMara is known for one 

thing, it’s his signature camel coat. 
As anticipated, the designer’s 
timeless item once again graced 
the Milan runways; this time, 
however, it came adorned and 
paired 
with 
unprecedented 

gilded upgrades. A change so 
dramatic, the revamped camel 
coat signaled the arrival — as 
put by W Magazine — of a “new 
MaxMara woman.”

The notion of new permeated 

the entire collection. The brand 
dubbed the collection “a wave of 
modern and progressive energy,” 
boasting a fabulous array of 
vibrant fabrics, contrasting colors 
and reinvented silhouettes. Mara 
dressed the ‘working woman’ as a 
bold go-getter, unapologetically 
decked out in lime green and 
turquoise. 
But 
what 
makes 

this season’s collection most 
fascinating, and what brings the 
oddly colored clothes to life, was 
the story behind the collection. 
Mara was not merely playing 
with color blocking, but rather 
curating a decadent fusion of 
history and fashion; modern 
energy fueled, ironically, by the 
past.

The notion of a new MaxMara 

woman is a nod to the designer’s 
unlikely muse for this season’s 
collection: the New Woman 
of Weimar Germany. Mara’s 

pieces 
embodied 
the 
free-

spirited feminism that defined 
the Weimar Republic, while also 
incorporating fixtures inspired 
by the era’s art movements. Set 
amongst a reimagined Berlin 
cabaret, MaxMara’s Fall 2016 
ready-to-wear collection revived 
the Weimar period’s cultural 
achievements in an ode to both 
Europe’s past and today’s present 
(leaving me wondering if the 
designer is secretly a student in 
my History class).

A 
time 
period 
whose 

cultural significance is easily 
overshadowed by its stereotype 
as a dismal age for the defeated 
country, the Weimar Era was 
much more than debt and inflation 
and anger; it was an age of both 
political and culture revolution. 
Weimar 
Germany 
birthed 
a 

variety of cultural changes, from 
the sexual revolution to the 
Dada movement, the Bauhaus 
to the New Woman. A symbol 
of Weimar modernity, the New 
Woman represented feminism 
and individuality during the time 
period. The New Woman was 
fabulous, and feared not when it 
came to exploring who she was 
and asserting her individuality. 
Mara encouraged his customers 
to do the same. The designer 
recreated the traditional pantsuit 
Weimar woman typically sported 
with girlish touches and feminine 
necklines. Vogue UK describes 
the collection as “clothes for the 

confident modern woman.”

Mara’s collection was also 

heavily influenced by Dadaism, 
a satirical, existentialist art form 
that came to fruition during 
the Weimar era. Dada declared 
art was dead and rejected the 
typical social order in an effort to 
create a new set of values. Mara’s 
collection reflected the basic 
principles of Dadaism in that he 
reinvented traditional silhouettes 
to forge a new order for fashion. 
Each individual look evoked the 
spirit of Dada; reimagined coats 
and pantsuits, dress and sequined 
rompers. Mara attempted to 
shatter the image of a typical work 
suit, delivering the traditional 
ensemble in lime green, bright 
yellow 
and 
soft 
pink. 
The 

designer brings versatility and 
color to a season so often tainted 
by nature’s darker colors. Elegant 
blue leather gloves are matched 
with ruby red shoes and a punchy 
orange coat; aquamarine gloves 
accompany a baby pink pantsuit, 
decorated with a random array of 
black and white stripes.

Mara’s 
use 
of 
color 
and 

reworked silhouettes evoked the 
Weimar spirit to defy fashion 
norms and create a new way of 
dressing, a new order which, in 
the words of the brand itself, 
“breaks all the rules.” It was a 
solid effort, but the designer 
could have used more than mere 
colors and shapes to make his 
point.

FASHION RECAP
MaxMara brings a 
modern twist to past

It was Friday afternoon, the 

last day of spring break. Naturally, 
it was the best weather we’d 
had all week in Destin, FL, with 
the 
wind 

brought 
down to a 
whisper 
and 
the 
sun 

scorching 
our 
pasty 

skin. 
Maybe not 
scorching 
— it was 
only about 
60 degrees, still cold enough for 
cover-ups over swimsuits — but 
it felt like summer compared to 
Ann Arbor.

I came to Florida with the 

University 
Triathlon 
Club, 

tagging along on their annual 
spring break training trip. Though 
the majority of our days were 
filled with biking and running, 
some swimming was inevitable 
in the three-leg sport, with the 
help of full-body wetsuits. The 
swimmers in our crew zipped up 
as the rest of us sat on the beach. 
We watched as they ran into the 
flat ocean, stroking in sync, their 
bodies perfectly parallel to the 
shore.

Near the water’s edge, a burly 

man with leathery skin and a 
bucket hat was staking fishing 
poles into the sand. He lumbered 
over to our towels and introduced 
himself, asked about our vacation; 
he grinned like a guy who spends 
his days with a tackle box and a 
cooler of beer.

“I want that life,” said someone 

beside me.

The fisherman had wandered 

back 
down 
shore 
and 
was 

chatting with his fishing buddies, 
tan men with wrinkly smiles. We 
unanimously agreed: we wanted 
what that guy had.

Turns out the happy beach 

dweller we met isn’t an anomaly 
in Florida. Last month, both 
Naples, FL, and the community of 
North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, 
FL, were respectively ranked the 
first and third happiest cities in 
the U.S., according to the Gallup-
Healthways Well-Being Index.

To compile the list, researchers 

collected self-reported data from 
members of 190 U.S. communities, 
asking participants to evaluate 
their health, social relationships, 
community strength, financial 
security and sense of purpose. 
The 
happiest 
communities 

reported were those with less 
reported stress, little depression, 

healthier diets and more frequent 
exercise.

They also had more fun. “Many 

(residents of Naples, FL) like 
their daily activities and enjoy 
an intellectually lively culture, 
telling interviewers they learn or 
do something interesting every 
day,” TODAY reported. Tucked 
in the Everglades on the state’s 
southwestern coast, Naples offers 
something for everybody, from 
world-class hotels to swamp 
tours, sprawling mansions to fish 
shacks. And when tourists leave, 
two mainstays linger: retirees 
and the rich.

On the surface, happiness 

seems 
to 
have 
an 
obvious 

correlation 
with 
wealth 
and 

leisure time. The two aren’t 
exclusively 
related, 
however. 

For example, take a CEO in 
Bellingham, WA, the city with the 
highest levels of stress in the list, 
with 53 percent of adults reporting 
overwhelming daily stress. The 
CEO may have a large paycheck 
to spend on fun activities (which 
would significantly decrease her 
stress), but she has no time to take 
a vacation from work.

Similarly, an unemployed man 

from Charleston, WV, which 
ranked dead last on the Well-
Being Index, may have free time 
in his day, but he is crippled 
with fear of not having food 
on the table (about a quarter of 
the population reported they 
couldn’t 
afford 
groceries 
or 

medical expenses, TODAY said). 
It makes sense, then, that the 
affluent, predominantly retired 
community of Naples is the 
happiest: they have plenty of 
money to spend, and endless time 
to do it. 

But 
something’s 
missing 

here. On the beach, we didn’t 
necessarily envy the Floridian’s 
yacht or wish our days could 
be spent fishing like his. What 
struck me the most about him 
— why I wanted that life — had 
nothing to do with money, leisure 
time, or even the beach itself, but 
everything to do with the wrinkly 
friends the man was laughing 
with.

In the rankings, Naples wasn’t 

the richest, healthiest or most 
purposeful city, but it scored first 
in perhaps the most important 
(and often overlooked) category: 
community well-being. People 
weren’t happier just because 
they could shop or spend their 
days fishing; they were happiest 
because they had others to share 
their experiences with. Being 
an active part of a community — 

whether it’s a weekend golf crew, 
book club or church congregation 
— seems to boost our health and 
happiness more than anything 
else.

When we’re not connected, 

our happiness — and health in 
general — can spiral downward 
quickly. As an article in the 
Guardian about the secrets of 
happy cities said, “As much as 
we complain about other people, 
there is nothing worse for mental 
health than a social desert. The 
more connected we are to family 
and community, the less likely we 
are to experience heart attacks, 
strokes, cancer and depression. 
Connected people sleep better 
at 
night. 
They 
live 
longer. 

They consistently report being 
happier.”

Stanford University’s wellness 

report also addressed community 
influence, saying “The problem: 
we often do not recognize the 
importance of social connection. 
Our culture values hard work, 
success, and wealth, so it’s no 
surprise some of us do not set 
aside enough time for social ties 
when we think security lies in 
material things rather than other 
people.”

For college students, these 

findings are incredibly important. 
As we dip our toes into adulthood, 
we start to realize how big the 
world is — how many cities we 
can live in, careers we can pursue, 
degrees we can accept, fitness 
goals we can achieve — and it’s 
easy to lose our social lives in the 
thick of it.

We’ll get back to our friends 

and family, we think, after the 
MCAT exam. And the marathon. 
And graduation. Because when 
the 
“important” 
things 
are 

accomplished, we’re convinced 
we’ll be happier. And we’re 
wrong.

We 
didn’t 
want 
to 
leave 

Florida on Saturday morning. Not 
because of the sun or the sand, the 
sports bra runs and 100-mile bike 
rides on snow-free roads, or even 
the poolside pina coladas. We’d 
miss them all in Ann Arbor, no 
doubt, but what we’d miss most is 
our connection with each other: 
22 people in a house, crowded and 
cramped, happily sharing every 
experience.

Let’s do that more often. 

Middlebrook is adjusting back 

to Michigan weather. To warm her 

up, email hailharp@umich.edu. 

HEALTH COLUMN

Happiness in Florida

HAILEY 

MIDDLEBROOK

