Can hard times and their associated misery ever be an acceptable theme for a fashion show? And if the clothes don’t really attempt to explore legitimate modes of American dress, and instead remain on the surface—a little faded and ripped denim with rhinestone sandals—isn’t that somehow worse?
–Cathy Horyn on Ralph Lauren’s dust bowl and Depression-era inspired “work wear” for Spring 2010.
See also Threadbared’s excellent examination of a related subject, Scott Schumann’s (aka The Sartorialist) controversial photo of a man in front of the Bowery Mission, who he deemed was “someone who, while down on his luck, hasn’t lost his need to communicate and express himself through style.”
What factors determine antagonism (or violence) between communities in different regions? Race is major one, of course, with varying levels tension depending on how segregated a city is. In other places, religion is the most important distinction. Then there is economic class. But in homogenous locales, opposition between factions is practically invented. Dissimilarities in dress, for example: Mods vs. rockers. Punks vs. hippies. People who wear black trench coats vs. people who wear puffy parkas.
At a dinner party last night, the discussion turned to Denmark. One of the hosts lived there for a year in the second largest city, Aarhus. Denmark has an extremely homogenous and well-adjusted population. It is illegal to be homeless there. People from Aarhus and Copenhagen, our host told us, differentiate themselves as the practical ones (Aarhus) vs. the dreamers (Copenhagen). What would a rumble consist of? Hammer vs. paintbrush. Carpenter vs. philosopher. Cash vs. credit. Dogme 95, then, would appear to be the synthesis of the two: An establishment of rules that fuel creativity.
“Sometimes I think half the reason Obama ran for president is so Michelle would have a platform to show off her biceps.” -David Brooks, speaking to Maureen Dowd about how Michelle Obama “should not be known for her physical presence, for one body part.”
Thanks for the sartorial advice, Brooks. In even being quoted in this NY Times article, Brooks makes a bigger deal of her arms than any dress she wore ever could. The above remark is perhaps the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, even in jest. This is basically akin to saying that a girl who wears something sexy is asking to be raped or that a women who dresses stylishly is too intimidating to take seriously. [Please see item #7 in Julie Klausner's 2007 enemies of the year for further elaboration on this point.] It makes no sense. And while Ms. Dowd essentially defends her arms in the end, it’s hard to believe that she’s using her New York Times platform to discuss Obama’s anatomy to basically say let’s stop focusing on her anatomy.
“Her arms, and her complete confidence in her skin, are a reminder that Americans can do anything if they put their minds to it,” says Dowd, in what is meant to be a compliment, but it irks me because it implies that she’s just so hardworking when it comes to her body, as though it’s the same thing as working hard for a law degree. Does Michelle Obama give her arms much thought? I really doubt it, because exercising is just what you do.
The topic was the “remix” and the discussion was led by author Steven Johnson (The Invention of Air: A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America), Lawrence Lessig, a law professor at Stanford and current legal representation for Shephard Fairey, also a participant at the NYPL talk. Fairey, of course, is the artist of Andre the Giant and Obama fame, who is now being sued by the AP (big surprise) for using one of their images as the basis of his infamous “Hope” poster. (An aside…initially it was thought that the image…similar to one many, many agencies also have, was a Reuters photo. And Reuters told Fairey that they were “proud and honored.”)
Largely, the discussion focused on the issue of copyright infringement and who or what copyright protects, and does the regulation of intellectual property in the end just stifle free thought and the generation of ideas…i.e. as Johnson put it, “Are we protecting or connecting ideas.” Examples throughout history of appropriation/sampling/remixing were given via Powerpoint and Youtube projected on a large screen next to the stage. Hello, visual aid literacy at work.
Generally, the consensus was, Continue reading ‘“remix” is the cool new word for “appropriation”’
I don’t know if it’s the Obama connection or what, but Jason Wu’s show last Friday certainly gave this jaded reporter some Obama-style hope that good things can happen to nice people, and that talent can get paid.
While it’s great that he’s getting so much buzz and attention this season, thanks to Michelle Obama, keep in mind, Wu’s been hitting the right notes with his customers for a while now, and as far as high profile (read: celebrity) supporters, he’s already had a small group who have been “consistently supportive,” he told me after the show.
“All of this has been amazing,” said the exceedingly calm and gracious Wu, “but I have to stay grounded.” And to his credit, he really has done just that—he is as sweet, polite and most importantly—sincere about it—as he was when I first met him after his first show in 2006. Continue reading ‘jason wu, boy wonder’
This contains the funniest bit of info regarding some of the mysterious receipts recorded by the Federal Election Commission for the Palin makeover: a $4,902.45 charge at Atelier New York, which “carries expensive cut-up T-shirts and tricky suits from avant-garde designers, like Raf Simons, Yohji Yamamoto and Ann Demeulemeester, none of whom typically create beltway-appropriate attire.”
However, calls by the NYT to the store owner to verify this purchase produced only confusion. There were no records of purchases totalling that amount; furthermore, the store’s clientele is so small and specialized, the owner of the store pretty much knows who most of his customers are. Could be a mistake, but I’d like to imagine that there’s some sneaky RNC aide buying stuff for a beau.
Continue reading ‘Amusing Puzzle’
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