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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Idleness Looking Chic?

I tend to think that chicness and idleness can't quite inhabit the same niche. Sort of like oil and vinegar. I suppose they're fine for certain sandwich eaters but not so ok for those of us who happen to be keen on somewhat less complicated tastes. But I digress.
Rachel Zoe, the uber-stylist, is all over the place these days.
She even has a TV show on Bravo and if you happen to catch a few minutes of it, you are bound to hear her utter phrases like "I Die. D-I-E." "You look bananas." "you're shutting it down!" and other beauties of this nature in reference to shoes, accessories, clothing et al.

Zoe has big hair, big glasses, a bit venti Starbucks cup, and a very, very small frame.

I have made a few references to her in the past many of which were satire-informed. However, what I will give Rachel Zoe today is a tip of the hat for providing a consistent 'reading' of her textile choices. While as an individual I might not be moved, at all, by her styling choices, as a reader I find her overall textual presentation most worthy of attention. For sans power, she is not!

True, there are plenty of jokes one hears about her. But one also needs to give her some credit for retaining a good measure of congealed constancy in a business that's about as fickle as ..... [hint, insert the ficklest example you are individually aware of.]

So, while the big hair, big glasses, hobo-chic look, et al., isn't quite cutting it for some of us, it seems to be doing wonders for her business.

This NY Times article on her was perhaps one of the most entertaining things I read after our power and internet were given back to us.

A bit therefrom says:
"A Starbucks cup is essential to the entire gestalt. If you have seen Mary-Kate Olsen, then you can envision Rachel Zoe. The look conveys idleness, and its uncanny effect has been to make people who don’t do anything famous for doing nothing. Styling celebrities in her own strung-out ’70s glam style — Grecian tops over lean trousers, boxy miniskirts, visible clavicles, bug-eyed sunglasses, heavy gold necklaces, big rings — Ms. Zoe has landed her clients on the pages of magazines like Us with an impressive regularity."
Read more here.
Graph per wiki

Are Pants just "Pants?"

What kind of 'textile text' are the streets of New York City sponsoring these days?
Look at this link.
Could the small amount of pant fabric actually be a message of minimalism? Could the days of big and lavish hobo-chicness a la Rachel Zoe have shifted to greener and more conservative pastures?

graph per ny times