Fun in West SoHo

West SoHo Fashion

            Fashion within the London area is always changing. London fashion can be dramatic and have a pop factor to it or there are some styles that are very mellowed down. Overall the fashion within the London area is very diverse and interesting in a sense of seeing the styles all around different areas. In West SoHo, specifically Covent Garden’s there was an extremely diverse group of individuals within the area. Since the Covent Garden’s area of SoHo was a very touristy area there was not just a specific type of individual dressed in a certain type of way. People ranging from a very young age to the older population was surrounding the area of West SoHo. Not only were there different diversities of age but of gender and style.

In general West SoHo was predominantly full of street performers. As seen in the picture below it is clear there is a very wide spread area of just empty space for pedestrians to walk in. when there are street performers this would be the area they would prominently take over. This area was very nice to walk through because seeing the diverse performers and their many different styles made it very entertaining and enjoyable due to the extreme diversities and shows of entertainment. All in all I would say this specific area of West SoHo is an extreme example of fashion due to the many different street performers. Along with that, the acts being performed are designed to catch the attention of random individuals. As tying into the class discussions in general this London area is filled with artistic styles. These styles would not normally be worn in an everyday outfit but are statements from the designer or street performer. More in depth to our class discussions, these artistic styles are there in order to send a message and tell a story rather than make a trend of copy cats to an extent. The picture below does the area no justice on how much empty space there actually is. Extending to the right and farther back to the left there is a ton of empty space that can fit roughly eight street performers. As I mentioned earlier, each street performer had its very own unique act along with a very diverse sense of style that went hand and hand with the act.  

Since the West SoHo area is filled with tourists the many street performers took advantage of the area in the way of putting on the talked about previously shows and putting buckets down for people to throw their spare change into when the show is over. With this the small area of Covent Gardens was filled with five street performers all at once. Each performance was different and each street performer had their own sense of style as well. As I observed the area of each performance I noticed the outfits were very connected to the type of act the street performer was putting on. As a result different act attracted different people. In connecting more to the street performances these senses of styles would not be found on a normal basis. As talked about in previous class discussions a lot of the street performers including the men had a very flamboyant style in order to catch the eye of the people walking by.

To the left is a picture of one of the many street performers who made the impression of a very flamboyant appearance. In this gentleman’s performance he vocalized an extent of
sexualized jokes and references while he danced and shook his butt. Not only did he dance and make sexually related jokes but he also took his jacket off and threw it at a younger gentlemen who was standing in the crowd. To emphasize more on his style, it is clear he went above and beyond to caption the essence of a dramatic show. He is wearing a full matching tuxedo with a hint of red throughout including his shoes. I felt as if this was the perfect outfit for his performance due to the black being perfect for a magic show and the red being perfect for his sexual references. In style and fashion I feel as if red is a sexy color and is taken as a sexy luring color.   

Also there was a gentlemen who was a magician at the bottom of the hill who was in an all red very tight dress suit with a blue dress shirt underneath. I feel as if he decided to wear this outfit in order to draw attention to himself as a performer.  As in the example with the previous magician the red suit magician was also using his color of the suit in order to draw attention to his act. All of these street performers were a great example for the night life within the area of the West End of SoHo. To go into more depth within the night life in the area of West SoHo it consisted of a fun atmosphere with some bars and the joy of street performers.

            Along with street performers the bars in this area were filled with upper class gentlemen. As seen in the photo, the main focus is of the three men standing off to the left. I would describe these men as wealthy, upper class, older gentlemen who decided to get all dressed up and go out for a drink with one another. From what I observed in this bar was that it was mostly filled with men and they seemed to all be in there upper forties, early fifties. What I appreciated about the group of three men standing off to the side was that they were very masculine but were not afraid to wear either the pink shirt under the black jacket; or the middle gentlemen who was in ripped jeans and a pin stripped, light gray jacket. Relating this to our class discussion I appreciated the fact that these men were not afraid to go out together as a group of just men and then dress up in what would typically be considered a feminine color or look. So as far as night life goes in the area of West SoHo I would consider it to be much milder than other areas within the London area.

 The pros to this fashion within the area of West SoHo would include many positive factors. From this picture shown I encountered a very positive experience of this older group of very sweet lady’s. I approached them because I could tell there was something special about them due to the fact they were all in red hats. As said in my previous statements this area was a very touristy area so the people were very open and easy to talk to. Once I approached these lady’s they were very open and willing to tell me all about their story. It turns out these sweet older lady’s decided to get together to go on an outing of the town a couple times a year just for fun. As for the red hats they wear, they wanted to stand out in a sense of proof they are all together enjoying their time out and about within the city. I enjoyed hearing this style reasoning because I found it to be an inspirational story for me being something I could potentially do when I am older with my friends.

In all I would say there are not negatives to the fashion sense within the area. As a tourist myself I felt very normal and was not uncomfortable in any way what so ever. I enjoyed all the street performers and the fun that the environment had to bring.The style of the street performers was a very dramatic style but in my eyes this was not a negative way of portraying the area but another positive way this area could be preserved. So with that this area was filled with nothing but a positive atmosphere along with a very playful one. I would gladly come back to this area and feel very confident that I would enjoy the area just as much as I did the previous time I went.

Going into depth on the connections of social reasoning’s for these specific styles it can be connected to reasons from a philosophical perspective. The two philosophers that can be connected to this area can include Karle Marx and Georg Simmel. Looking at this area from Marx’s perspective it is clear there was a social divide on the streets based on what people were wearing. From looking at it in a tourist point of view I could tell the street performers were dressed in the bold outfits due to their job description. The tourists were dressed in a specific moderate style sense and then the gentlemen at the bar were dressed up and drinking at the bar watching the street performers as if they do that on a typical night away from home. For Simmel there was a clear group identification split within the people. Even though the area made people feel welcome this group identification split was very obvious. It was clear to tell the difference between the street performers, tourists and the common people who lived there and were just visiting for fun. In all the two philosophers who were most easily identified for this area were Karl Marx and George Simmel.