“If you are sensitive, cultured and intelligent you cannot dress badly. ”
One of the joys of being on semester break is that I get to read and hold magazines and books in my hands. I can take in information at a more leisurely pace than my usual fast skim of the digital platforms that come into my inbox and from the apps on my phone that curate information for me. I can sit with a single photo and appreciate the talent that went into creating it. I can feel the sharpness of an intake of breath because I am moved by what I see. I now see the studio where it was taken and the many people in the room from photographer to stylist to the production assistants, talent, make-up and styling that make it all happen. I have become privy to the complexity behind the production of a single photo. I can hear the music that plays in the background.
This morning I am obsessed with a pair of photos of Miuccia Prada’s feet clad in her fabulous giant pearl adorned furry mules. The photos, taken by Jurgen Teller and featured in System Magazine, are beyond beautiful in a million different ways. Her toes are simple and unvarnished. The nails closely cut and the tendons in her ankles are in stark relief. Everything about the two photos makes me feel real. They make me feel like working.
In the midst of Miuccia Prada’s designs I can always find a powerful truth and a delicious fantasy. Her secret is that she can say important things about women and their lives without being overtly political or so provocative that some turn away. Yet about many things she remains fiercely unapologetic.
In this new year after angry post truth 2016, we need fashion that can engage us with emotion and give perspectives that are not spoken overtly yet are still revealed. We need fashion that is more personal and more human. I believe that clothing can give us the tactile reassurance we need to create reparative mindsets and cultures. So this year I embark on a study of designers who have reliably demonstrated this capacity and keep my eye open for those emerging designers who understand the enormous power clothing has to disrupt, to stimulate desire and to make the world more beautiful.
Can you think of a designer who makes you feel real?
I have to say that feeling real is more something I would associate with writers rather than designers, but maybe that is just a big gap in my cultural education. Looking forward to seeing who you discover. Happy 2017!
I read somewhere, years ago, that in the 1940s the women of occupied France wore their beautiful fashion innovations up and down the streets of Paris to flaunt their freedom -a freedom that was not only fantasy- taunting the forces that deemed themselves to be in charge. Powerful truth and delicious fantasy, oh yes. As a former professor who now designs dresses and such I want to recall, resurrect, wear, and watch for that sort of power and joy. "Clothing can give us the tactile reassurance we need to create reparative mindsets and cultures.” Indeed. Thank you, Professor!
I read somewhere, years ago, that in the 1940s the women of occupied France wore their beautiful fashion innovations up and down the streets of Paris to flaunt their freedom -a freedom that was not only fantasy- taunting the forces that deemed themselves to be in charge. Powerful truth and delicious fantasy, oh yes. As a former professor who now designs dresses and such I want to recall, resurrect, wear, and watch for that sort of power and joy. "Clothing can give us the tactile reassurance we need to create reparative mindsets and cultures.” Indeed. Thank you, Professor!
You write elegantly what I often wear chaotically, if that makes sense. The goal is the same: to make a world more beautiful in mind and vision. And to repair. Repair. And heal. And stand our ground. LOVE those shoes!
You write elegantly what I often wear chaotically, if that makes sense. The goal is the same: to make a world more beautiful in mind and vision. And to repair. Repair. And heal. And stand our ground. LOVE those shoes!
Who makes me feel real is who taps into who I am. Isabel Marant is a designer whose clothes I would love to wear. She taps into the feminine and the wearable with a little hippie free spirit tossed in. I’m hanging onto that hope. But I foresee rebellion in the future and therefore Punk making a revival. The dark forces of Alexander McQueen mixed with the artful black of Ann Demeulemeester. What is the zeitgeist of our time? A new Dark Ages, Dystopia, a Warrior Spirit of Resistance?
Who makes me feel real is who taps into who I am. Isabel Marant is a designer whose clothes I would love to wear. She taps into the feminine and the wearable with a little hippie free spirit tossed in. I’m hanging onto that hope. But I foresee rebellion in the future and therefore Punk making a revival. The dark forces of Alexander McQueen mixed with the artful black of Ann Demeulemeester. What is the zeitgeist of our time? A new Dark Ages, Dystopia, a Warrior Spirit of Resistance?
Not only a designer but the photographer, make-up artist, the light guy and everyone who contribute to a perfect photo or article makes me feel real. A visit at a photo studio is an wonderful experience!
Not only a designer but the photographer, make-up artist, the light guy and everyone who contribute to a perfect photo or article makes me feel real. A visit at a photo studio is an wonderful experience!
I keep pondering your question, Lyn–and of course, pondering is a good thing! In the end, my answer is this: I enjoy greatly looking at the work of a number of designers (including all the ones you wear!) but there is nothing "real" about it for me, other than my own very real pleasure in seeing these beautiful images of well designed and made clothes. I will never have the monetary means to buy any of these things; nor do I live where I even have access to them (other than online), and much of what I love so dearly to see in pictures would stick out like a sore thumb if I actually was wearing it here, in my small southwestern city. It is an act of imagination for me to think of really experiencing designer clothing; just like it might be an act of imagination for others to experience my life! But isn’t this one of our most important human tasks–imagining the inner life and outer circumstances of other human beings?! That is very real.
I keep pondering your question, Lyn–and of course, pondering is a good thing! In the end, my answer is this: I enjoy greatly looking at the work of a number of designers (including all the ones you wear!) but there is nothing "real" about it for me, other than my own very real pleasure in seeing these beautiful images of well designed and made clothes. I will never have the monetary means to buy any of these things; nor do I live where I even have access to them (other than online), and much of what I love so dearly to see in pictures would stick out like a sore thumb if I actually was wearing it here, in my small southwestern city. It is an act of imagination for me to think of really experiencing designer clothing; just like it might be an act of imagination for others to experience my life! But isn’t this one of our most important human tasks–imagining the inner life and outer circumstances of other human beings?! That is very real.
MY GO TO DESIGNER is here on the WEST COAST.
BRYN WALKER.
She makes clothes that are affordable and VERY ME!!!!!
COMFORT IS KEY and they are COMFORTABLE.
LINEN and VELVET…….long tunics and long pants that are not too short on my 5 foot 11 inch frame!
MY GO TO DESIGNER is here on the WEST COAST.
BRYN WALKER.
She makes clothes that are affordable and VERY ME!!!!!
COMFORT IS KEY and they are COMFORTABLE.
LINEN and VELVET…….long tunics and long pants that are not too short on my 5 foot 11 inch frame!
I used to design and make many of my clothes years ago. You have inspired me to go down that path again. I appreciate your bringing attention to the lesser known but amazing people out there designing sustainable clothing and accessories. Designers I’m consistently drawn to are Yohji Yamamoto, Rundholz, Commes days Garcons, and vintage Chanel.
I used to design and make many of my clothes years ago. You have inspired me to go down that path again. I appreciate your bringing attention to the lesser known but amazing people out there designing sustainable clothing and accessories. Designers I’m consistently drawn to are Yohji Yamamoto, Rundholz, Commes days Garcons, and vintage Chanel.
I am with Linda B (below) in that I live a very simple life in the Pacific Northwest. It is rare to see anyone on the street who obviously puts great thought into their attire, and my own means and immediate resources are limiting. The joy and challenge, therefore, is in scavenging thrifted pieces, making idiosyncratic knits and occasionally repurposing currently available fashion. What makes me feel real is taking the time and care to construct an ensemble that is more than the sum of its parts, that says something about me — primarily to myself, so that instead of being stifling, my anonymity is interesting.
I am with Linda B (below) in that I live a very simple life in the Pacific Northwest. It is rare to see anyone on the street who obviously puts great thought into their attire, and my own means and immediate resources are limiting. The joy and challenge, therefore, is in scavenging thrifted pieces, making idiosyncratic knits and occasionally repurposing currently available fashion. What makes me feel real is taking the time and care to construct an ensemble that is more than the sum of its parts, that says something about me — primarily to myself, so that instead of being stifling, my anonymity is interesting.