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