WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR

Some children grew up watching science fiction with their dads, some grew up with Warner Brothers & Looney Tunes and some grew up with Disney. I am probably one of the biggest Disney fans ever, and I am 20 years old. I admit that most of my valuable lessons I've learnt so far in life are what I have been taught from Disney films. My favourite film of all time is Beauty & The Beast. Despite the fact most original classic Disney films have subliminal messages in them and are generally aimed at adults, and negative rumours about Walt Disney, each and every film is so uniquely influential. I can recite word for word most Disney films and my ipod is full of Disney songs. If I could choose one place to live in the world it would be Disneyland Paris, probably in Minnie Mouse's house. My subject on Matermind would be Disney movies. I cry every time they show the promotional 'Walt Disney Pictures' scene at the beginning of every film with the Sleeping Beauty castle. I cry every time I listen to When You Wish Upon A Star on my ipod. I play Epic Mickey over & over again on the wii just so I can pretend I am walking around Main Street USA all day long. It's all so emotional. I will love Disney until the day I die and one day in my life I will definitely live happily ever after in Disneyland Paris. The End.

Miami Swimwear Fashion Week 2010 - A Mini-Review

(Lisa Blue 2011 Collection. Miami Fashion Week. Photo: Getty Images for IMG)

The Mercedes-Benz Miami Fashion Week Swim 2010 is running amok with cultural appropriation.

I guess with a swimsuit, you don’t have a lot of material to work with, and it’s probably difficult to get super creative with such limited expectations of swimwear. So, evidently, designers have turned to accessorizing in order to convey ‘themes’ that will set their collections apart from other swimwear lines. This trend, then, creates a situation ripe for cultural appropriation.

At the Miami Fashion Swim Week, designers look to the Middle East (for a Genie in a bottle feel – with harem pants, belly-dancer garb, and glimmering gold coins), to Hawaii (for a luau vibe – with beating drums, shells as instruments, and contrasting black detailing), and to ‘Aboriginals’ (for an eco-friendly, save the whales feel – with feathers, body paint, and swirling tribal prints). These lines, interestingly, were presented alongside one designer’s Little Mermaid-inspired collection.

Which begs the question – are cartoons a main inspiration point for these designers? or, has Disney’s renditions of various world cultures (which are drawn from popular stereotypes) seeped into our minds and tainted the perceptions we have of them?

Swimwear, it seems, with its need to accessorize to convey artistic creativity, highlights how stereotypes influence fashion, which in turn influences our everyday lives and our perceptions of other cultures.

Swimwear designers: surely you can find another point of inspiration rather than Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Lilo and Stitch.