Couples Wearing Each Other's Clothes

My best friend just made me aware of the following photographs by sincerelyhana.com showcasing gender performance in the sartorial confines of quotidianity. The photographs proved distracting as I navigate fatigue. As I was perusing the site, I got to thinking of a sort-of-similar exercise in my own life.

The exercise was most curious as it went beyond fabric choice, situational layering, and gender performance. The semiotics of fashion is something I've long concerned myself with as I've always deemed presentation to be much more than just unsubstantiated form. The first time I was asked to give up an item of clothing for the purpose of swapping was in my first long-term relationship. Apparently, it was some sort of a rite of passage. I was asked for a t-shirt so that the other party could wear it when being away for a week.
I found the request strange.

As much as I'm keen on tropes, my brain is a tad too enamored with literalness. I'm attached to the words' literal meaning. This propensity is what made me excel in academic pursuits. It's mostly a challenge when dealing with people who don't view words as a melange of primary, secondary, and tertiary meanings, but I'm getting off topic.

I suppose, it's hard to shake linguistic conditioning and having grown up with lexical diversity, getting attached to primary meanings meant clearer communication and easier living.

The question was: "Can I take one of your shirts with me?"
My answer was something akin to, "Oh, do you need to get a new one for the trip? We can go and buy you one." Instantaneously, I went through my inventory of shirts and I started thinking which shirt the other party had in mind. "Which one was goes went well with your travel pants and shoes?"

"What do you mean?"
"I mean, which color?"
"Why does that matter?"
"Well, you want it to go with your other stuff, ja?"
"The color doesn't matter. Just any shirt will do."

I remember finding the request most bizarre at that point. And, just like I tend to do with topics I'm not fully satisfied with and/or finished with, I got to work.

I missed the point of the request. The request came from a place of intimacy and olfactory closeness. I saw it as one of travelling need. I was fretting about it. "Well, I can give you this, or that, or the other one. I mean, I like green. You don't care for green. I like form-fitting, you'll have a hard time with that. Unless you wear it as an undergarment type thing and then you wear a shirt of your own that fits on top of it. Should we go shopping? Let's go shopping and we'll find something like the one I have but in your size. Then we can be twins."

"Just pick one, really. The one you have on will do, actually."

At that point I distinctly remember thinking, "but I wear this Tuesdays. It's my comfort Tuesday shirt. I write in this. Why would you want this one?! What would I be wearing on Tuesday then?"

I actually, left my office in the middle of the day, went to a department store, and actually bought the exact same favorite shirt of mine but in another size. I was proud of myself for having found it. Eureka! But then when I got home, my beaming vanished when my shirt was met with: "you got me a new one?! [Grunt] It's fine really. I meant one of your own. You know, a used one."
I was still dense.
I still didn't get it. "Should I have gone to a vintage store, you know, I don't like the smell in places like that but we can go and see if we can find a second-hand shirt that looks like mine." As soon as I said it, we both started laughing as I became aware of my having completely missed the point of the exercise. In an effort to appear more of a caring person, I said, "how about this? How about you pick one of mine and I'll pick one of yours. You don't have anything green, do you?"

My literal self still found it bizarre that we had to swap shirts. My figurative self found the exercise interesting, however. And there we went. We swapped shirts and lied to each other. We did what was expected of a shirt-swapping couple. We lied about what a good fit the other's shirt was and how it went well with our respective complexions. And yada, yada, yada.

You can see the rest of the couples' switcheroo project here.

Equality Shoes?

These shoes are courtesy of Berlin-based artist Hans Hemmert who threw a party where guests wore shoe-extenders to make them all the same height of 2 meters. Height equality is going a bit lost on me as I tend to enjoy height hierarchy but here is more about the reasoning behind this art choice.

Personally, I don't think all closets are made equal. Some people just can't match a blue heel.





Via MR.

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Tom Ford's A Single Man: A Review

Tom Ford's film A Single Man impressed me. This is the fashion expert's directorial debut and he does indeed deliver. Ford not only directed the picture but he also adapted Michael Isherwood's book and co-wrote the screenplay. It appears that this hands-on approach to film-making worked for him. The visual poetry was something sharp you'd expect out of a Ridley Scott or a Fellini a-la 8 1/5. A Single Man is a beautiful and beautifully filmed film. Actually, it is so good and succinct that it's bound to confuse the senses. Seeing it only once might not be enough to process it fully as it has a bit of a Totalkunstwerk feel.

I've thought for a while now that what makes Tom Ford fascinating to me is not his ability to be privy to people's fashion tendencies, and most importantly, their purchase inclinations, but rather how well he translates and adapts straight lines to the human form. Ford gets human form. More specifically, he gets the masculine form. An underwater Firth, for instance, might just make one think of Michaelangelo's David. I cannot think of more poetic clothing than Ford's beautifully and minimalistically cut slim pants and fitted white shirts. And Colin Firth proves to be a good model for Ford's fitted suits, body-fitting white shirts, and black Oxfords. As a matter of fact, Colin Firth's character of George is very much reminiscent of a black-and-white wearing Marcello Mastroiani in Fellini's 8 1/5. Even their spectacles match almost perfectly. I was much amused by the overall aesthetic similarity, as a matter of fact. But then again, it's only natural that Ford would tip the hat to Fellini a bit after having worked in Italy for a while.

In this film Ford creates an arena for the treatment of social minorities in the Los Angeles of the 1960's. He manages to translate the climate of subversive homophobia and the pre-Civil Rights movement almost too effortlessly. He manages to say much for economizing on speech and splurging on gazing and body language. Another plus of the film is the cast. Matthew Goode, who has made some good cinematic decisions in his career, plays the character of confident Jim who lives life on his own terms not because he can necessarily but because he chooses to. Another most suitable supplement to this film is Julianne Moore's character of Charlie whose sort-of-marginal aesthetics situate her well as a kind of visual minority in the film.

Ford's managed to capture Colin Firth's heteronormative sex appeal and apply to a wider all-gendered context. Colin Firth in a white shirt is as appealing in A Single Man as he is in the pond-swimming scene in BBC's Pride and Prejudice. And herein lies the director's actual cachet. He gets visual appeal and he most certainly gets perception. It is no coincidence, after all, that Ford headed successfully Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent for a long time. I liked this film very well. I was expecting to be distracted and instead I found we had enough talking points for dinner. And that's always a plus on a Friday night.

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graph per google image

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Oxfords of the '09

Based on my observations this year on the text of fashion, I've noticed that the Oxford shoe seems to serve as a 'fusing' item, i.e., one that signifies purposeful walk and simple quotidianity. I posted earlier about my Frye Oxfords and I was pleased to see this photograph on the Sartorialist page. I find the Oxfords to be a good representative of the current urban vibe. Sartorialist seems to concur.
So, the tip of the hat today goes to Sartorialist for the photo of the day.

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Fake Merchandize and Cheating?

If you are what you buy and what you buy is fake then are you more likely to cheat than those who only buy authentic goods?

Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational addresses it here:



Tip of the hat to MR for the pointer

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Beauty

Apparently one of my high-frequency cluster of lexemes is something that goes like this: 'beauty/aesthetics is never inconsequential.'
As it is the case more often than not, we tend to repeat that which we consider the most and spend much time masticating. Philosophically, the study of aesthetics is as fecund as it could be. But philosophy is not the only discipline where aesthetics enters with a splash. It is also a permanent inhabitant of literature, religion and so forth.

I just recorded two new episodes for both of my podcast series, Gendering the Media and De Amore and in both episodes I mention the concept of beauty from a philosophical as well as literary perspective. Obviously, our understanding of and attitudes towards beauty and aesthetics have shifted dramatically from the times of the Greeks, Romans, St. Augustine, Early Christianity and so on.

In earlier times, aesthetic beauty was code for inner goodness. The more beautiful a person, the better the soul/nature of that person. In this regard, the form was, in many ways, that which clarified the weight/importance of content.

Might I recommend this article from the Times which appears on today's issue?

A paragraph says:

"Are models perhaps the last silent film stars? A preview of “The Model as Muse” suggests they are. A model’s face on a magazine cover may sell fewer issues than that of the latest hot actress, but they are ultimately a lot more compelling to look at and this is because we hardly ever have to hear about their private lives or be burdened with their thoughts.

It cannot be accidental that Kate Moss, the most persuasive contemporary example of a model as an artistic catalyst, has assiduously guarded what she says throughout her career. Ms. Moss is no dummy. She knows that the basic requirement of her particular job is silence. A model is a muse to the precise extent that a model is mute."

Yes, a shift has definitely occurred but one thing is certain: aesthetics is so consequential.

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Androgyny: From Australia, With Love

This photo comes at a good time. As it is the case with many things in life, the theory behind a social text and/or behavior is not always congruent with its actual manifestation in life. I explain, a theoretical discussion of gender generally and androgyny specifically is one thing but how a gendered expression of identity presents itself might be another.

Theory aside, I quite liked this Australia-based photo that sartorialist just posted.

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Michelle Obama's Sleevelessness

I find that Michelle Obama performs her gender quite interestingly. I might even suggest an adverb I've rarely verbalized to my folk and that is: exquisitely.
Some people are having a hard time dealing with her sleeveless tops. Experientially, I do not get this. Cognitively, (and sadly) I do.

There is even a new term that explains her fashion choices: Sleevegate.

I wish I were joking.

Let's, for a moment, consider her clothing choices. Well-sculpted arms are code for something: disciplined self-respect. Good genes only take one so far, I find.

I admire her corporeal presentation because, as a bit of a gym rat myself, I experientially get how much of a time and effort investment it is to present one's self a certain way aesthetically.

So those who are bothered by her sleevelessness, might I respectfully suggest that they transform their intolerance of well-sculpted arms into, well, an intolerance of unhealthy habits that eventually lead to a lack of 'well-sculptedness'?

Now, I was not around when Jackie O sported a lack of sleeves. I was a teenager in the 90's, so what do I know, (experientially that is!) about Jackie O. But I suppose I could comment about sleevegate.

I have long maintained that form and aesthetics at large are code for rich content. I find nothing inconsequential or trivial about the kind of fitness that is rooted in healthy moderation. It's after all a beautiful thing to observe and, more importantly, experience.

Tip of the hat to well-sculpted arms, I say.

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graphs per huffpo

Balenciaga Logic

This top goes for $50.000. Yes, 50 K.

Now, what could the 'text' of such a top be?
-The wearer is recession-proof.
-The wearer is not recession-proof but this is her/his effort to laugh in recession's face.
-The wearer needs to have Balenciaga becase, to her/him, Balenciaga is about all the right social codes.
And many other textual reasons.

Obviously, information like this is more than just about post-Fashion Week, the new lines of the year, and how much the prices are. I am also one of those individuals who finds information like this to be about the economics of exclusivity.

Just how much is one willing to buy for exclusivity?
Well, apparently at least 50K.

Read more here.

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Podcast on Clothing: Well-Clothed Friend

And posting this podcast today is quite apropos, I find.

To listen to my piece on the Text of Clothing, click here.

This podcast will be added to my iTunes series, Gendering the Media with Brikena Ribaj on the 18th of March.

I often write and podcast about the boredom bug which is so easily caught in Heteronormative-landia where one is bound to drown one’s self in curls of tweed, polyester, and high-priced leather.

Such bug, however, had no business in my space this weekend.

I was in the presence of rich textuality this weekend.

Certain kinds of clothing and color coordinations are so effective in grabbing my attention that I am utterly powerless when it comes to resisting my verbal need to address them.

I saw a friend of mine this weekend. I had not seen my friend in well over a decade. She looked like a whole decade had forgotten to pay her a personal visit.

I felt proud. Proud that my friend's aesthetics seemed so ignoring of time.

The memory I had of my friend was one of sophistication.

I revisited a memory of sophistication when she appeared in a tailored light green coat, an orange shirt, and urban pants cut in a timeless a-la-Katherine Hepburn style.

The cornucopia of colors was accompanied by the warm brown of her city purse.

“Wow!” I think to myself.

Nothing says ‘welcome’ the way a warm palette of colors does.

My sociality filters kicked in and I resisted doing what the good half says is what I tend to do naturally: look at things I react to aesthetically the way I do a Rembrandt at the Portland Museum of Arts.

My friend is now a formally trained designer.

In her case the professional choice makes full sense as she has married what she can do instinctually well with formal training.

As she is telling me about her professional pursuits, a thought comes to mind and I remember having an urge to write said thought down. It would be rude, however, to do what I generally do in my environment, i.e., write whenever the writing instinct wants to be sated. I tell myself to remember the thought. It basically said:

Eat your heart out, Rachel Zoe.

So, today, I write proudly yet again. I'm proud and grateful to have been in the presence of the kind of style where form is solid because it's rooted in healthy content.

As I am about to depart I ask:

"So, how can you gauge which colors are 'in' for which year?"

"I don't pay attention to time. What looks good, looks good." Says my friend.

"How Jackie O. meets modernity" I say.

And what made the experience so enjoyable was the fact that its fecundity gave me such productive food for thought.
Thank you for the creative space, friend.

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The Text of Pink

This is what I saw last time I was up in Chicago.
It begged for attention and I had to give in. The text of pink, I call it.

The preponderance of pink is code for something here, I find.

This is a color/textile/aesthetic choice which this particular wearer finds apropos for quotidianity.
Mesmerizing.

How would you read this?

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The Maled Femme Outfit

I approve of this.
Colloquially, I'd be heard using language like, 'yes, that is so 2009.' I have noticed that androgyny in clothing is becoming more and more visible.
And winter is the best season to allow it to shine.
There's something interesting happening with the androgynous preppie look. It oozes a kind of urban compromise that I find not only aesthetically appealing but also functional.
I give the following an a-ok.
How would you read it?

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graph per sartorialist

Anna Wintour's New Year's Resolution?

I like Vogue. I just find it too predictable. Moreover, I get annoyed sometimes by all the praise that's thrown Anna Wintour's way as if she is the only one with any understanding of the text of clothing.
Granted, Wintour is insightful. Brilliant, actually. Vogue's editor par excellence has been leading American Vogue with an almost Thatcher-esque hand. What I have been observing is that the magazine keeps featuring the same celebrity faces on the cover. There's Gwyneth. There's Reese. There's Rachel. And then we start from the top again. Wait, what about the fluidity of fashion and most importantly the versatility of beauty?
I am also a fan of constancy and that's where I get sold on Wintour's choices. As much as I'm thrilled by novelty, I also love and appreciate well constructed routines and patterns. And Wintour's been providing the latter with Swish watch-like precision.

However, I do feel that the magazine could innovate more and bore me less.

Like I mentioned, I enjoy Vogue and I want to continue to support it but in order for me and people who feel like me to do so, a faster speed and active awareness to quotidianity is needed.

I just saw this on the Times this morning. I'm not the only one who's been feeling that Vogue is not being too daring and explorative. This is a very well-written piece. And no, it's not just about fashion. It just never was.

"Many do not seem to know how to relate to women in their 20s, except to throw celebrity pictures and clothes at them. Although the median age of its readers has hovered around 34 since Ms. Wintour became editor, in 1988, you don’t feel that the magazine has considered how changes like social networks and Web-based subcultures have influenced women’s ideas about themselves. This lack of awareness is reflected in Vogue’s pages."

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The Killers' Official Tour Dates Photograph

Per Spin, this is the band's official picture for their new tour date announcement.
I give it my vote as picture of the week. Yet another example of the band's mastermind rocking to his own tune.
Flowers' ensemble suggests that he cares to couple his own creativity with informed textile choices. I cannot say the same for the cave-echoing combinations, however.

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Plaid is Back?

Tip of the hat to Jenny for the pointer.
She insists that plaid is here to stay. I thought it landed solidly back in 2003 when it trickled down to operations like American Eagle, J Crew and A&F.
A marginal acquaintance noted that plaid is to a day outfit what coffee is to breakfast.I don't concur fully but I appreciate the point.

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graph per sartorialist

Is Clothing Text?

As per some of your requests, here is my piece on Clothing as Text.
Feedback is welcome.
Enjoy.
Pictured here: One of my favorite artists while visiting in Europe.

graph per torsten hempelt

Layering Democracy

I find layering to be a truly democratic textile move. Layering is all about choices. If choice A is a no-go, choice B is but a layer away. A favorite, current look is the formal/informal clash as represented by such examples as tailored jackets with sporty hoodies, or tailored jackets with an assortment of t-shirts. The idea that the look translates is one of an effortless dialog between different registers, sort of like a Ben, the Tailor meets Urban, the Professional.

The Times has a piece on layering today which has some interesting socio-political layers as well. A bit says:
"IF you’ve been nagged by a vague late-1970s feeling lately, you are not alone. It is not just that, with the economy cratering, there are scary parallels between the Bush and Carter administrations. The men’s wear scene is feeling it, too. Flip through the pages of a GQ from 30 years ago and you come across eerily familiar trends.

The magazine proclaimed 1978 “The Year of the Short.” On the May cover a model wore a “summer scarf,” and in November the men’s pants were all tucked into tall outdoorsy boots. For fall, the magazine celebrated a clash of layers, textures and colors that folded a European sense of sophistication into a sporty all-American look. In case you don’t have your checklist handy, all are current fashion trends."
Read more here.
graph per ny times

Text Behind Clothing: Substantial

Every news program I have marginally or solely seen/listened to from yesterday to today has not only mentioned but also analyzed the GOP's decision to give Sarah Palin a substantial makeover.
And people are having strong reactions to the $150.000 makeover. Some are even pointing out that the attention the Palin camp is getting on the matter is a sign of sexism and that male candidates spend thousands on designer suits all the time.

Personally, I don't know any hockey moms so I can't rely on personal experience to comment on this. Cognitively, there are a number of ways to interpret this, of course.

The thing I'm thinking about is the fact that the hockey/soccer mom image, at least the one that stereotypes inform, does not, for the most part, reside in a 'Prada-informed niche'. Prada does not come cheap.
When John Edwards' $400.00 haircut bill was made public many people commented on it and presented it as a sign of elitism. I don't tend to think that there is a direct correlation between wardrobe choices and elitism but I can see why certain clothing items could make some equate the wearer of such things with elitism. And this brings me to the whole 'hockey mom' notion as one that's [apparently?] antithetical to elitism.

Hockey moms and Prada items are not mutually exclusive.

Bottom line: The text behind clothing is a strong one. And aesthetics will not be irrelevant anytime soon. It never was in the first place.
The NY Times article points out:

"Such an image is unhelpful at this late stage of the general election, Republicans said, especially when many families are experiencing economic pain, and when the image applies to a candidate, like Ms. Palin, who has run for office in part on her appeal as an outdoors enthusiast and former small-town mayor who scorns pretensions.

“It looks like nobody with a political antenna was working on this,” said Ed Rollins, a Republican political consultant who ran President Ronald Reagan’s re-election campaign in 1984. “It just undercuts Palin’s whole image as a hockey mom, a ‘one-of-us’ kind of candidate.”

Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, have been described as elitist by both Republicans and Democrats at times, and so much was made when she appeared on “The View” in June in a black-and-white patterned dress. Turns out it sold for $148 at an off-the-rack store.

Few Republican operatives or politicians, even those critical of the McCain-Palin campaign, were publicly criticizing the ticket on Wednesday over the clothing purchases. Some said privately that doing so would be akin to kicking a campaign while it was down.

Others said the issue was tainted with sexism, given that male politicians often spend thousands of dollars on suits.

“She had a legitimate need to purchase clothing to get her through three months of grueling campaigning in the constant spotlight of television cameras,” said William F. B. O’Reilly, a Republican consultant in New York. “No one would blink if this was a male candidate buying Brooks Brothers suits.”
Read more here.

Is Clothing Text: The Palin Wardrobe

Paul and I were discussing Palin's wardrobe choices earlier today so it's only apropos I link this after I just encountered it via Brian Williams. Clothing is textual, indeed. And not only per the sartorialist.

"The Republican National Committee spent about $150,000 on clothing, hair styling, makeup and other "campaign accessories" in September for the McCain campaign after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin joined the ticket as his running mate.

The McCain campaign now says the clothing will go to a "charitable purpose" after the campaign.

The expenses include $75,062 spent at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis and $41,850 in St. Louis in early September. The committee also reported spending $4,100 for makeup and hair consulting."
The red leather jacket is, indeed, superb and it has gotten much air time.
Btw, this is the picture I included in the entry from months ago about the Argentinian president de Kirchner.

Bringing leather back?