Samantha Harden | Scarlette Magazine

Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve: How Tattoos Have Become a Fashion Statement

by Samantha Harden | Jan 20, 2024 | Riley Thomas

Individuals have adorned tattoos for thousands of years, often getting them to showcase beliefs, honor someone or something or allow their personality to shine through art.

In the past, perfectly qualified candidates would be turned away because of the ink covering their skin. Employers often associated tattoos with their long history on sailors, bikers and criminals. Now, employers less often look upon tattoos as an act of rebellion, but rather as an art form. What was once considered trashy is now classy and unique.

Although tattooing has a long and rich history, many people still judge the act. Whether it’s your parents asking you why you would do that to yourself or a classmate saying you’ll regret it when you’re older, people can still be judgemental of the art of inking.

Tattoos have a controversial history in the world of fashion too. Many models were forbidden from having tattoos and were required to be “a blank canvas” to walk down the runway. Models in the high fashion world now showcase their tattoos with the fashion they wear, allowing their individuality to shine through.

In recent years, tattoos have become a sort of permanent accessory in the fashion world. More people are choosing to express their individuality through permanent ink. Tattoos seem to take on their trends, similar to the ebb and flow of fashion fads.

Certain styles of tattoos have become popularized in recent years. Rather than hiding small tattoos where people couldn’t see them, people are choosing to let their tattoos be shown. Full sleeves becoming more and more common, allowing people to wear their hearts on their sleeves.

Patchwork tattoos have become more widespread. Also known as sticker sleeves, the patchwork style contains smaller individual tattoos that work together to create one cohesive piece of artwork.

Although it is within current trends to sport permanent ink, it is easy to still show individuality with tattoos that have special meaning to you. Each tattoo artist has a different style and every person with tattoos has something different they choose to permanently display on their body.

The permanency of tattoos is a factor that stops many from going through with the tattoo they want. They wonder if they’ll regret it later in life, if it will age well, if the color will fade or if it will go out of style. With the accessory of tattoos. Yes, you may grow to regret your tattoos, but you may also look upon them as a permanent time capsule, showcasing who you were when you got them, adding to your skin as you grow and change.

Egyptomania in Fashion

by Samantha Harden | Jan 18, 2024 | Ella Dipold

Cyra (Gown and Cape), “L’Ascension” Fall 2022 (detail), 2022. Maison Yeya (Emirati, est. 2006). Yasmine Yeya (Egyptian, b. 1981). Tulle, crepe, horsehair, metal. Image courtesy of Maison Yeya. © Maison Yeya. Photo: Ziga Mihelcic

Following the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922 came an explosion of archeological findings, which generated a massive impact on the world of fashion.

Many major fashion houses including Dior, Chanel and Balmain found inspiration in Egyptian imagery or fused certain motifs with contemporary concepts.

The Cleveland Museum of Art currently highlights Egyptian-inspired fashion in its limited exhibit, Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession, which will be on view until Jan. 28.

The term “Egyptomania” refers to the influence of Egyptian culture—but are European and American societies appreciating or appropriating this culture by using it in the fashion world?

It is typical in art and fashion to reference past works or to reimagine motifs. However, appropriation results from “using a pre-existing item—most commonly, a found object, commercial image or someone else’s art—to make something new,” according to Suzanne Hudson in her book, “Contemporary Painting.”

Hank Willis Thomas, Da’ Nile 1956/2015. Photo Courtesy: Hank Willis Thomas and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

Artist Hank Willis Thomas is noted in the Cleveland Museum of Art’s special exhibit for his “Unbranded” series, which evaluates representations in advertisements from past decades. In an advertisement from 1956, Thomas removes the text to allow the viewer to focus on what is being shown—white women imitating ancient Egyptian representations of people, clothed in bathing suits and headdresses.

“It’s the European adaptation of Egypt,” Thomas said in a Chicago Reader article. “There’s an erasure of the African-ness. A hand is coming out of the sarcophagus, but the skin color of the person who’s supposed to be in it is totally different.”

This advertisement is nonetheless controversial as critics argue that it is an example of exploiting another culture for profit. On the other hand, some designers seek to unite culture under fashion, maintaining a level of respect and admiration.

Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Photo Courtesy: Ella Dipold

This dress, from the Balmain Spring 2018-19 collection by Olivier Rousteing, draws inspiration from a traditional Nemes headdress, which incorporates striped linen with flaps that cover the shoulders. The polyamide, piping and sequins of the dress create a striped pattern while the fringed sleeves mimic the flaps of the Nemes.

Gold mask of the pharaoh Tutankhamun. Ca. 1327 BCE. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Photo Courtesy: Ella Dipold

This white Chanel gown, designed by Karl Lagerfeld for the “Paris-New-York” Métiers d’art Collection 2018-19, incorporates linen texture as a direct call to the commonly undyed and bleached linen clothing of ancient Egyptians, as well as the column-like silhouette.

Throughout the history of Egypt, women wore garments called kalasiris, which are long dresses held up by two knitted straps inspired by a typical ancient bead-net gown.

Relief of the wife of Amenhotep wearing a kalasiris next to a gown designed by Karl Lagerfeld

While Egyptomania took the West by storm, there can be a fine line between appropriating another culture and drawing inspiration from it. It is our duty as consumers and creators to familiarize ourselves with the world around us out of respect for one another. Today’s Egyptian designers are gaining prominence in the fashion industry, bringing forth a new surge of diversity that will expand the community for the better.

“Balqees” from Utopia, a Maison Yeya bridal collection. Hand embroidered straight cut gown with a moulage of Silk Gaza and train.