This week all the news in fashion is about fashion shows. Big shake-ups have been announced by Burberry, Tom Ford, Paul Smith and Vetements. These brands have decided to show their clothing twice a year and aim to be ready to sell immediately after. Vetements will be producing clothes first and showing them later. Burberry willl be showing men’s and women’s collections together and Paul Smith is merging his men’s and women’s design teams. These brands are adapting to the “unsustainable” pace of the current system and addressing concerns expressed by consumers and creators. Consumers do not want to wait months to buy clothes they see in shows and creators want time to be creative. These decisions have been announced in the same breath as the utterance “the fashion system is broken”. It’s over, it’s done, it’s just not sustainable as it currently exists. Such statements are never as simple as they sound.
I facilitated a fashion show at my University this week. It’s over, it’s done, for me its not sustainable. Somehow it became too much like the work I do in the academy each week. The kind of work I was seeking some refuge from. Like my academic life, the best part of the event for me was watching and interacting with the students: the models, the ones in my classes who came in support, the make-up artists-to-be, the thoughtful undergrad journalists and my very smart and self-contained intern. Their young, restless energy seems to match mine since I have been in this period of reinvention and second adolescence so to speak.
When something is over that you have spent more than a few days investing in there is an inevitable feeling of the “blues” even when the outcome is a success and you are ready to move ahead. The blues came on when my daughter left for college, after her wedding and when I finished my Ph.D. I have the blues today. I thought perhaps if I found a way to combine Accidental Icon with my other life it would somehow become more sustainable. It is clear to me now this is not so. The big events in my life that were followed by a bout of the blues always resulted in something entirely exciting and different to fill the space left behind. Not a new configuration of what had been before, not just an easy substitute.
Some very smart fashion pundits are putting forth the view the instead of saying the fashion system is broken that one could say that the destabilization of the system is offering many new opportunities. I think this is true for me as Accidental Icon and I should not make the mistake of thinking it is a substitute for anything. Tim Blanks, a highly respected fashion writer and commentator said, “There’s never been a better time to be in fashion…” Somehow I feel this is right and somehow I feel there has never been a better time for Accidental Icon to be in fashion. Let’s keep seeing where she goes when she’s not at school.
I know the feeling you describe. I used to organize some fairly large events (on a voluntary basis, not related to my job) and always felt a need immediately afterward to withdraw and regroup emotionally and mentally. I agree that fashion and many other industries are in a period of rapid transition, and it’s both disconcerting and exciting to see where opportunities might arise. Balance, it’s easier said than done. 😉
My blog has involved hard work but has not felt like work. The event at my school,felt very much like work!
My husband and I have recently relocated to a farm, and so my fashion "arm" has been hindered. He refers to my "Farmagamos". I love textures of fabric, and resort to my deep drawer of scarves to cheer myself when I have a bout of the blues.
Your husband sounds like he has a good sense of humor but also like he knows something about fashion!
What you wrote is like reading a poem, I will cherish it.
My husband and I have recently relocated to a farm, and so my fashion "arm" has been hindered. He refers to my "Farmagamos". I love textures of fabric, and resort to my deep drawer of scarves to cheer myself when I have a bout of the blues.
Your husband sounds like he has a good sense of humor but also like he knows something about fashion!
I don’t focus on anything in particular, even clothes, when I get the "blues." What I do is go into the wave and ride it with wonderment. Then I see where it takes me,with no expectations or belief in another memes.
I’ve found that the high and low waves are all apart of the oceanic experience. What I do is seek to investigate and "create" something in that space .
Sometimes I journal more, read something from a different field or toy with making something like a piece of jewelry or collage. But as you say, I don’t look for these things as a "substitute, " but as a way to express the feelings of the field of potential. Through emptiness, I came to know what was, truly, meant by the "field of potential."
Loved ones venturing off to find their new identity leaves what feels initially like a piece of identity being taken away. Ride the wave and explore the feelings, the spaces and the stillness. Let the journey begin of finding what author, Shel Silverstein, calls "The missing piece" (a symbolic read)
What you wrote is like reading a poem, I will cherish it.
Love your modeling some pretty looks on your blog!
Yes to all of this. I get it. All in. xx
Love your modeling some pretty looks on your blog!
I was just there for work and it really did feel like something new is buzzing there. I went to Shinola and had lunch in a very cool restaurant. I felt a spark and energy there.
They say the same thing about Detroit (where I live) there is no better time to start as business, because it is in such a disarray that it needs all the help it can get and everyone gets behind you
I was just there for work and it really did feel like something new is buzzing there. I went to Shinola and had lunch in a very cool restaurant. I felt a spark and energy there.
I so very much agree that a time of great change in our life path can bring on the blues. Sometimes, things are obvious, at other times changes reveal themselves at a later time. For me I always tend to bring out my special pieces and go for broke, I always feel better then. Hope Accidental Icon finds her true path .
She will! And she will look very fierce while doing so.
I so very much agree that a time of great change in our life path can bring on the blues. Sometimes, things are obvious, at other times changes reveal themselves at a later time. For me I always tend to bring out my special pieces and go for broke, I always feel better then. Hope Accidental Icon finds her true path .
She will! And she will look very fierce while doing so.
I get it too! On a more superficial note, I love your earrings.
Thanks they are from Dawn’s Vintage Jewelry. She gets them from a designer in Paris.
I get it too! On a more superficial note, I love your earrings.
Thanks they are from Dawn’s Vintage Jewelry. She gets them from a designer in Paris.
I would hang out on your blog for hours, if time permitted. So much depth and information to ponder.
I’d say the same for you Madam!
I would hang out on your blog for hours, if time permitted. So much depth and information to ponder.
I’d say the same for you Madam!
So sharp! I love the denim.
<3
katsfashionfix.blogspot.com
I am in my jammies writing this now and the blues have passed. I feel clear and do have some creative ideas and a couple of interesting new projects! You were so cool and the best show opening model ever!
My dear Lyn, I take to my jammies when I’m blue. I am an introvert and a homebody at heart and always have to recoil back into my shell after a lot of stimulation. I always find that when I complete something that I have poured my heart and soul into I have that dip, but then I spend time contemplating and recharging and something new always comes around the corner. A new blossom appears. I have no doubt that you will be doing something fabulous very soon!! Enjoyed so, so much being able to strut down the aisles of your very successful fashion show!
You are the Bees Knees…
Cherie
STYLE NUDGE
http://www.stylenudge.com
I am in my jammies writing this now and the blues have passed. I feel clear and do have some creative ideas and a couple of interesting new projects! You were so cool and the best show opening model ever!