Wednesday, 31stOctober 2018
Bridge 3
The Lower East Side, a neighborhood in the southern part of Manhattan in New York City, is the most historic and fascinating neighborhoods in New York. It is recognized as the iconic neighborhood to which thousands of Americans can trace their roots as wave after wave of immigrants have arrived hoping to start a new life. The streets of this area are infused with the same energy and diversity with vivid embodiment of the historical sense of the place.
Bridge Project 3 for studio required me to create a piece of clothing individually and work with a team to create a cohesive outfit representing the Lower East Side.
Lower East Side gave birth to Corlears Hook under Dutch and British rule, also known as Crown Point during the British occupation. On February 25, 1643, volunteers from Amsterdam colony murdered 30 Wiechquaesgecks, a native African tribe, at Corlears Hook, due to the issues between colonists and the natives. Later, after becoming the Red-Light district, men and women selling themselves became known as hookers. Due to this particular reason I distressed the white t shirt to represent its past while also giving the taste of punk.
The 20thCentury brought changes to this neighborhood. It became known for being a place where famous performers had grown up, like the Marx Brothers, Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson, Jimmy Durante and Irving Berlin. Music plays an important role in the flavor of the Lower East Side. To represent this, I embroidered music notes with black wool on the lower front side of the shirt.
It soon started attracting students, artists and middle-class people as well as immigrants from countries like India, Japan, Bangladesh, China, Dominican Republic, Korea, Philippines, and Poland. The lower east side was also home to the Jewish Community and immigrants. I reincorporated graffiti that I saw on the street of LES and different colors to represent these communities on the white shirt. White represents the Jews. Red for Native Americans, India and China, black for the Germans and the Dutch community and lastly blue for Korea and Puerto Rico. LES is also home to the punk culture and that’s what I wanted to make my shirt look like.
The demographics changed gradually as hipsters, musicians, and artists started settling in. Real estate brokers spread the East Village name and the term was picked up by the mid 1960s media. With the economic development of a culture separate from the Lower East Side, the two areas got independent recognition. To represent this division, I cut the shirt in two parts and joined them together with safety pins to create a look.
Since the past two decades, it is the neighborhood that rules night life in Manhattan. It has all the staple elements: lively crowds to jam packed bars on every block. I could see that it has a balance of the high and the low culture, with shabby bars close to cocktail dens. True to its musical roots, this neighborhood has plenty of concerts featuring local bands. To represent the nightlife, I cut the back side of the shirt and made a “backbone” with glitter on it. The Lower East Side has the best bars, clubs etc. and acts like a backbone for Manhattan’s nightlife.
Also, at the back of the shirt I wrote down names of the most renowned attractions, bars, parks and restaurants like a map to emphasis on their importance on making the Lower East Side so unique. These included the Tenement Museum, Corlears Hook Park, Bowery Ballroom, Dirty French etc to name a few.
