shirt project

inspired by comme des garcons. cotton shirting and sheer with vintage french buttons. unpressed and unmodelled out of laziness

caught up

In the past two months, I've ironically removed myself further and further from fashion as I struggle to become an educated producer of the very art. In addition to intellectualizing it in the endless and completely unnecessary search for academic legitimacy, I have found myself intimidated by the constant fanciness of Saint Martins. What I don't immediately recognize as high fashion I either assume was expensive or write it off. This is nice to look at but when I peruse the store after a day of hating my entire wardrobe, i find myself above everything I can afford and depressed that I can't and won't ever afford the things I assume my classmates casually don. but where is my creativity! i used to assemble! After reading my friend kates blog (permission to hyperlink?) I realized that I have been thinking daily about fashion while wearing the same boring outfit every day. Partly, I blame London and its lack of sprawling Salvation Armies and/or my ignorance in knowing where they are. All I have found in terms of retail here are: overpriced H & M or worse type chains, really $$/₤₤ department stores, or (as the most appealing but not ideal option) overpriced vintage resale boutiques-- and that is nothing to work with. The quest for material continues as I daily google map "charity shop" to find some playthings and play. until then, i want these boots.

girl knows how to have fun -- photo courtesy of garancedore.fr

holding the ice together

spectacle spectacular

The Marie Antoinette Christian Louboutin. This arguably escapes economic grounding more than a minimalist garment attempting to escape the frilly world of fashion. In 2009 there were on 36 pairs made and sold in London for  £3,975. Consumption is virtually out of the question. What happens, therefore, when the spectacle is completely removed from the act of buying? In reference to my previous post: is there even a point in examining these critically or are they just an object of (arguably) beautiful splendor?

realistic disclaimer

The real reason anymore, especially me, likes fashion is because its pretty. We're attracted to things aesthetically, whether they have intense intellectual grounding or none at all.

For example, I've been reading a lot about Hussein Chalayan and his use of the mirror in conjunction with performativity (for example, in his 1998 show Panoramic) to "reverse the relationship between voyeur and subject, and challenge the way we define cultural and geographic territory in space [and explore] negative space around the body" (Caroline Evans).  I want to completely accept this objective and praise Chalayan for completely conceptualizing his work as a challenge to the naturalized codes of beauty and fashion, but that cannot be the case. Aesthetic appeal, shock value, and above all (or beneath all) economics all play the same role in every piece of fashion.
So as much as i would like to academicize fashion into theory and go back to Brown spreading the intellectual gospel of studying fashion-- that's really not the point. And i need to keep that in mind as I continue to produce.