Every year the candidates’ costumes play a huge part in catching the student voter’s eye. In the past, we have seen Harry Potter, Doctor Who, giant stars, film stars, you name it Loughborough’s done it. However, with the budget cap firmly in place, creativity was key when it came to making a memorable outfit.
So here is the first of Style’s opinions on this year’s Executive Elections campaign costumes, make sure to read part two on the section head candidates tomorrow on Label Online. All photos are courtesy of Label Photography.
President
Josh ‘Do I’ Hurrell with swoosh logos all over the outfit might make you think that it’s an overdone Nike product placement – WRONG! We here at Label Style praise you for a smart use of Nike’s trademark phrase. Sadly, the same cannot be said about your mismatched shades of orange outfit. We all know that Loughborough is the sportiest university in the UK, but those trousers should have been left in your ‘holidays in the Alps wardrobe’ rather than being worn for your election campaign. Josh can do it, but do it in style!
VP Democracy and Communications
David ‘Blaine’ Haines big satirical focus point had to be his black and white wingtip spectators. Probably the best-dressed pair of feet on the campaign trail for Exec. The classic 1940s footwear brought the abracadabra to what was otherwise a basic looking outfit: The standard magician look of a t-shirt layered with a waistcoat. A little more hocus-pocus in the form of a hat maybe? Hats are growing trend in men’s fashion and rocking a classic magicians top hat could have maybe given David the opportunity for one last trick when it came to voting…
Hannah ‘Power 2 U’ Chrisp stayed in her sporting comfort zone when designing her outfit. Using a the black clothing as a backdrop, to help make the bright blue of her T shirt, headband and leg warmers pop with attention grabbing Power 2 U effect. Hannah’s outfit could have got her confused with Jennie ‘Call On Cooper’, who also used the sporty leg warmer look. However, Hannah’s confidence in the clothing is what gave Hannah the fashion campaign edge.
VP Education
Becky ‘Bunny’ Lauder-Fletcher unleashed her inner child, wearing a sweet and girly bunny costume for this year’s election. Although the costume looked like it could rock the upcoming Easter Extravaganza, a young-minded outfit made Becky look fun and friendly. Kudos for a great mix of white and pink – that’s the way to incorporate summer trends into your election wardrobe. Definitely eye-catching for its theatrical aspect, the costume was easily memorable. And because playfulness and fun are always celebrated, Viva Becky!
VP Finance
Much like his campaign for VP Finance, there wasn’t much to comment on when it came to Chris McKenna’s costume, or the lack of one. In his campaign photo, he went for the casual look, donning a hoody, t-shirt and joggers. It’s comfortable and practical campaigning attire, perfect for the poster run, but he didn’t get much attention just looking like a member of the crowd.
Zak ‘Sparrow’ Evans won over his votes dressed as the eccentric pirate, Jack Sparrow. Stating he will ‘make your treasure go further’, he made a clever link between his manifesto, costume and job role for the position of VP Finance. He managed to pull off the distinctive ‘guyliner’ look; a tricky trend that Style most definitely approves of. His campaign team easily imitated the pirate look just by the use of a headband as seen in his campus parade video.
VP Welfare and Diversity
Running for the hotly contested position of VP Welfare and Diversity, ‘Super Maz’ Haider adopted the ‘man of steel's’ fashion style. Although Superman's outfit is often associated with the big S across his chest, his latest suit is just in line with the latest fabric blocking trends from the catwalk. Similarly, ‘Supermaz's’ outfit was in step with the latest spring/summer trend, which has dubbed yellow and red as the new black. Unfortunately his fashion cred could not overcome the curse of the costume, which has also prevented previous candidates from obtaining a place on the Union Executive?
This is probably the most elaborate and original costume we have seen this year! David ‘Pringle’ Tingle cleverly incorporated his surname into his costume choice to catch voter’s attention and ensured we remembered his name. Unlike many of the other candidates, it was highly doubtful that David’s outfit was arranged using items of clothing already in his wardrobe, highlighting the extra time, effort and money that were spent on the style element of his campaign strategy. Despite all this effort, the costume seems anything but practical, especially considering the lack of holes for his arms in the main body of the costume. Surely this is restricting and if nothing else, highly annoying, and unfortunately was nothing more than a hindrance when it came to voting.
Despite the lack of correlation between Izzy ‘Rascal’ Fords’s costume and the VP Welfare position, her outfit was both edgy and alternative, remaining current and on trend. Her costume, whilst being perfectly collaborated with the colour scheme of her campaign posters, captured the public through the use of contrast as the bright green of her jacket and peak of her cap clashed with the blue and yellow hightops. Pairing this with hugely popular disco pants with a little white crop top and long necklace created a practical campaigning outfit. By using items that she probably already owned, allowed more attention and funding to be directed towards other elements of her winning campaign strategy!
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