How I Digest My Runway Sandwich.

Last Tuesday's post was 110% less interesting than the comments that followed.

The general consensus seemed to be that 
the clothing itself is less artistic than the way in which it's styled.

The real artistic outlet is the re-appropriation of a seemingly static sartorial piece for unintended purposes.

It's not about the Wang shoe, per say, but what the Wang shoe can do for an otherwise ordinary ensemble.

And I agree. 

Well,
almost. 

My caveat arises when I flash back to watching my first runway shows (8 times removed, obviously) and feeling so overwhelmed by every single look. 
There was so much to see - too much - that it essentially registered as nothing.

Sort of like the peanut butter aisle at Whole Foods.

With time, though, I learned to take in each piece separately, - waiting until the end to digest the look as a whole. 
This way, instead of being blinded by the busyness, I learned to appreciate the motivations behind the unique pairings of individual items.

I saw each model as a building block for several extraordinary pieces, rather than an over-dressed blob of confusion.

Topshop

Basically, my newfound appreciation for 'runway art' stems from a recently-acquired ability to separate and appreciate the looks as more than just, well, looks. 
They're thought-processes. 
Complex coordinations.

When the only thing I saw was the outfit as a whole, I was unimpressed. Only by disassembling it into it's individual components, was I able to see the beauty and creativity - the human factor behind the material.

So this whole buy-right-off-the-runway thing seems like it could really revolutionize how the average consumer views the runway. 
Because there's cause to pay closer attention to each individual item, 
they will.
 It's unlikely that they'll buy everything shown in a look at once, so dissecting the ensembles into individual components will become de rigeur, don't you think?

Peter Pilotto

Whether this detracts from the artistic value of the show, 
or simply puts more creativity into the hands of the consumer, I'm not sure.

Probably both.

But it seems to me that if the power of fashion is it's ability to be re-interpreted, this could mean exciting and empowering changes for the public at large.

I still enjoy a good mismatched, over-sized, strangely-silhouetted runway aesthetic, don't get me wrong, but this appreciation has been years in the making. For the average, non-obsessive observer lacking the time and energy to attain such acceptance, 
this consumerist shift in runway digestion may actually incite creativity.

More weird people in the making?
I'm in.

Cheers.