Hannah Yu: Jimi Hendrix

I clearly recall a recent trip to the EMP Museum in Seattle. I was very excited to see Michael Jackson’s famous white glove and Kurt Cobain’s guitars, but what struck me was seeing an exhibit which prominently displayed one of Jimi Hendrix’s most wild flamboyant costumes. At first I thought it was for a ballerina, but then I read the description and saw it was for Hendrix, the famous American musician from the 70’s. From the exhibit I could tell that Hendrix was very counter culture—a rebel persona. I immediately enjoyed the brightness of the costumes, and I could really see a connection between them and the music of that era. Literally, Jimi’s clothes seemed to capture the essence of the 60’s and 70’s music and counter-culture.

After finding Jimi’s extremely dynamic fashion so interesting I came upon the idea for my final project: I would make a paper doll of Jimi Hendrix with several interchangeable outfits! I had experience making paper doll’s when I was in 3rd grade and I knew I could create something that would allow an audience to actually interact and become involved in imagining and styling Jimi.

Since there are many books showing images of Jimi and his various outfits and fashions (of which I personally read seventeen books myself) I was able to identify his main styles as well as the accessories that he used to vary them! For example, I found that Jimi used scarves to add flair to his typical outfits. This way he was able to quickly and easily make his own variations on his style every day; and also this way I would be able capture some of his diversity by creating some pieces he would have used as accents. Often times, Jimi would put a scarf on his hat, head, neck, on his thigh or leg, or even as a belt. In one picture I counted he was wearing seven scarves on his leg. He also had only one hat, but by using many different scarves he was able to create a steady but ever-changing variety of outfits. He always wore his clothes in layers; shirts inside, then vests, and coats outside. It was common to see him wearing jackets with ruffled shirring, lace, or flower print. Over all his fashion could have been seen as very feminine if not for his incredible, powerful, masculine character.

Fortunately, by choosing paper dolls as my project, I was able to make as many clothes as I could within the time. I was able to create Jimi’s paper doll as an 11 inch by 30.5 inch tall man, with 9 shirts, 10 pants, 6 jackets, 2 vests, 4 pairs of shoes, 1 necklace, 1 fether, and 13 scarves! This also meant that I could provide the audience a greater number of combinations that could be made from Jimi’s various clothes and accessories. Indeed, while making Jimi’s clothes I myself had great fun playing with different jackets, adding pants here, or scarves there, and even a feather for his hat! Because all of Jimi’s paper clothes are based on the actual clothes he wore in real life, anyone can enjoy changing and playing with his outfits as if they themselves where 60’s rock stars, choosing what to wear that day.