Elizabeth Bugg

The Ugly Club Sketchbook

Final video.mp4

Research Explained

Vaught's Practical Character Reader.

A book on phrenology by L.A. Vaught published in 1902.'The purpose of this book is to acquaint all with the elements of human nature and enable them to read these elements in all men, women and children in all countries' 'it is given the world to be depended on"

This was the first piece of research i came across when researching the idea of physiognomy - a person's facial features or expression, especially when regarded as indicative of character or ethnic origin. This research inspired me the most when deciding to choose this project due to its seemingly irrational thinking just one year after the Victorian era had ended. From this, i decided to research further to develop a new understanding of the Victorian beauty standards at the time- this became a huge part of my sketchbook and undoubtedly provided ideas for my final line up.

Initial research page - Understanding what men wanted in the Victorian period (1837-1901). This page presents how the men dressed and the standard of living that was most desired - having friends, wealth, handsome features and a good dress sense would see all these men to having women that desired them. They would want a lady of decorum and would be able to marry the highest stated women.

This page is an initial moodboard on how disfigured men and women would attempt to fix their problems. However, scientific advancements and equipment were not developed enough and often left individuals more impaired. The Victorian standards were so high that people would start following ridiculous measures in beauty.

I was very interested in the approach women took to fit the standards of society, often putting harmful chemicals on their face or wearing clothing such as corsets that would often make them faint due to the constraints.

Female Expectation

This page is an exploration into how women perceived themselves and their ultimate goals at the time. The main goal was to be attractive enough to land a husband that would provide - money, loyalty and interest in having a family. This imagery shows a woman using a telescope to envision her perfect ideals and also a playing card as symbolism for the phrase 'on the cards' as it usually happened down to luck or being born into a family of status.

In 1874, the 'Ugly Girl Papers' was released and it was a widely popular book for women to follow. 'The science of the toilet is well-nigh as delicate as that of medicine; and as no prescription has yet proved specific for disease, no recipe can reach all cases of complexion'. In other words, nothing is guaranteed; some of you are just too ugly to be helped. The chapters of this book include: . How to acquire sloping shoulders . Morals of paint and powder . Vanish for wrinkles . Olive oil and tar for the face . Losing flesh at the rate of a pound a week
For more information: https://thevintagetraveler.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/ugly-girl-papers-1874/

In other words, nothing is guaranteed; some of you are just too ugly to be helped'

"An Ugly Club member would be an object of ridicule on the streets, but a superstar within the sanctum of the club."

https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/healing-spas-and-ugly-clubs-how-victorians-taught-us-to-treat-people-with-disabilities/

This page represents the mockery the wealthy and attractive Victorians made against the ugly and 'unworthy' . The men in the bottom right represent the ugly men's attempts to join this society but being pulled away due to the inevitable abuse they would suffer.

This side represents the jealousy and anger that filled the unaccepted/ugly people and the desire for solace and freedom they desired and ultimately became the motivation to create their own group, much like the disciples, to find liberation together and make new guidelines to follow in their own society.

THE LIVERPOOL UGLY FACE CLUB 1887

The following are some rules:

1) That no person whatsoever shall be admitted a member of the society that is not a bachelor, a man of honour and a facetious disposition.
2) That has not something odd, remarkable, droll, or out of the way in his Phiz, as in length, breadth, or narrowness thereof, or in his complexion, the cast of his eyes or make of his mouth, lips, chin etc, of which the majority of the society are to judge and the president to have a casting vote.
3) That a large mouth, thin jaws, blubber lips, little goggling or squinting eyes shall be esteemed considerable qualifications in a candidate.
4) That a large carbuncle, potato nose, shall have preference of a Roman or King William nose, and be esteemed the most honourable of any.

The Elephant Man - Research pages

The Elephant Man is a 1980 British-American historical drama film about Joseph Merrick, a severely deformed man in late 19th century London.
This movie tells a horrific story about a man named Joseph Merrick, a man who was extremely disfigured due to the rare condition called Proteus Syndrome. This exploration particularly inspired me due to the severity of his disfigurement and supplied me with the idea to create a line up that features clothing that disfigures the body. Joseph Merrick continuously covered his face in sheets to protect himself from people on the streets that would harm him. The sheets often draped and sagged over the body giving me design ideas that would later on inspire my 3D work and final line up.

Sketchbook pages on the elephant man - idea of cages and abnormal growths/shapes to inspire design development sheets. Researching into the life of Joseph Merrick was definetly one of the more interesting topics i looked into.

“If you think something is ugly, look harder. Ugliness is just a failure of seeing.”

― Matt Haig, The Humans

THE SICK ROSE

The Sick Rose 2014

The Sick Rose is a beautifully gruesome and strangely visual tour through disease in an age before colour photography. This book was really inspiring when thinking about colours that suited my project but also textures and textiles that recreates the idea.
This book does exactly what i wanted my project to show... beauty coming from supposedly horrific and ugly things. I recreated the textures i saw using textile methods such as french knots, beading and felting.

A lot of religious individuals believed that ugly people derived from satan and that much like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde they had 2 personalities - another false message spread into society.

Sketchbook pages based on The Sick Rose and The Ugly Club

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