So lately I've been wondering (danger danger) a lot about
what's next?
what's next?
Until the day that runway collections become more than just "new" strangely draped iterations of basic shirts and pants,
(and maybe stop solely existing on narrow unidirectional runways),
Have we maybe pigeon-holed ourselves into a genre that holds no future?
Is "Fashion" alone, as an independent entity, becoming . . . irrelevant?
Is "Fashion" alone, as an independent entity, becoming . . . irrelevant?
Maybe "Fashion" with a capital F can't subsist as an art form apart from all others. Though I know it's always been tied to society in some sense, maybe the days of "clothes" as a distinctly external entities from all others is over. Maybe it's time for a merging of genres.
A change.
A change.
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I don't know.
I mean, I still get dressed every morning. I still struggle with what to wear for various occasions, and I still use clothes to stand out from a crowd.
But I do feel a sort of apathy invading my usual chronic curiosity.
What once seemed (out of naivety?) like a world of mysterious shapes and textures, now seems to be overwrought with oblique unoriginal "references", phony idolizations, and effort-heavy "effortless" cool.
The runway's been devoured and over-analyzed. The undiscovered world of street style's been . . . discovered ((and exploited)). Bloggers have been homogenized and judged. Editors have largely retreated.
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So what's next?
How do we continue to converse about a topic that's been so overly discussed?
Do we need something entirely new? (i.e. invisible clothes, etc)
Or do we maybe just need a new way to think about it?
Because I still wonder: why the disconnect between runway and reality?
or as a friend recently said, "why do we still make clothes for 'half of a person'"??
Because I still wonder: why the disconnect between runway and reality?
or as a friend recently said, "why do we still make clothes for 'half of a person'"??
Clothes are a part of us, after all. So maybe we stop looking at them like stoic works of art and start to figure out what makes them come to life.
Maybe we need to look at them as extensions of ourselves, rather than throwback vehicles and status symbols.
...
Maybe I'm just being obnoxiously melodramatic.
Or maybe this is all me rationalizing the fact that I talk to my shoes.
But I'm weird.
You knew that.
Maybe we need to look at them as extensions of ourselves, rather than throwback vehicles and status symbols.
...
Maybe I'm just being obnoxiously melodramatic.
Or maybe this is all me rationalizing the fact that I talk to my shoes.
But I'm weird.
You knew that.
Cheers.
Photos (of me) by Matt Engelhart
what IS next? it's always something, but will we go there? it does feel a bit like this topic of fashion and blogging and street style has been over discussed, but i don't know if that means anything. i love that you talk to your shoes, actually. i think that perhaps what may be next, since i'm seeing it emerge in a major way in hong kong, is a wave of consciousness about sustainability. there is a whole big NGO centered around creating awareness for the amount of clothes dumped in bins over the course of the year and the wastefulness of fashion (given that every season there's a new trend)....it's called redress hong kong. i follow it on instagram @getredressed...check it out!
ReplyDeleteI hate to bring it up again (no, I don't) but, this is why I love vintage clothing. I can always figure out new and different ways to style them with pieces of different eras. The more I style them the more they have to offer in terms of brain food. Looking through glasses of the past to reanalyze the present and future type of stuff, ya heard?
ReplyDeleteYour posts are always so thought provoking, G. Wish you lived closer, I'm sure we could endlessly ramble on over alcoholic beverages of some sort.
xo
ashley
www.thephotogramps.blogspot.com
i couldn't agree more with singing vintage's praise. plus it pretty much guarantees that no one else is wearing what you're wearing, which is only sometimes the case with high fashion and never the case with fast fashion. more importantly though i want dibs on that hang out sesh over alcoholic beverages.
Deleteabigail
www.farandwildjewelry.com
vintage certainly does offer another layer to an outfit. it's got meaning beyond its meaning.
Deletelove the suggestion - and certainly love my thrift stores. and wearing vintage wedding dresses unironically.
And yes, folks. let's get drunk.
yes, yes. girls. i whole heartedly agree....vintage is eco-friendly, and it helps keep your look fresh and unique. LOVE vintage. i get lost in thrift shores.....seriouly.
Deletexo
n
I think you raise a lot of interesting questions. The frenzy surrounding fashion feels over and done with, but I do not think fashion can die. It must evolve, but how...?
ReplyDeleteSomeone, once asked, why Pink Floyd has remained so popular, replied, "because there will always be 16 year old boys." I think it's a fascinating phenomena, the sort of college town effect, or like a tourist trap, where some sort of establishment, neither needs loyalty, nor even needs to evolve because population turns over so often. Like at summer camp, we can repeat campfire skits every other year because 80% of campers are 1st or 2nd year scouts. I'm not saying that is what happens in fashion, undoubtedly there are people that stick around, but perhaps fashion doesn't "evolve" because it doesn't need to, it just has to keep periodically changing until the next batch of fashion forward 20-somethings comes along to replace the more contented, aging 30-somethings that have more or less settled into a fashion identity after growing tired of waiting for fashion to evolve. Not saying that is the way it is, just a thought.
ReplyDeleteWhen you think about it, why those types of things seem so peculiar to us is that unlike most other social or cultural institutions, they allow us to witness our own aging and evolving since they stand in sharp relief against it. It's like the difference between Toy Story 3 and Looney Tunes. One evolved with us, and the other just found a newer, younger audience.
this is BRILLIANT.
DeleteDon't know how this didn't occur to me, but this is truly fascinating. You may be onto something.
Some people DO stick around, but I feel as if they get into different aspects of the industry. The flashy, narcissistic portion does seem largely targeted at my generation.
It would make perfect sense, too. It's why fashion never changes, just repeats. it doesn't need to really change, because the memory for what was in style doesn't last past a generation.
Brilliant comment. Brilliant, but sad.
-gab
There's actually an article on how to get shot by a street style photographer?!:D That's hilarious. And you know what else is funny? Those long lists of tips and fashion advice on how to reach that effort-heavy "effortless" cool look.:) If you have to read about how it's done, you then spend 3 hours getting dressed and change your outfit 7 times, what's so effortless about that?:) I think fashion is overrated and all this chaos that's been recently surrounding it is sort of spitting in the face of women's emancipation. I like clothes, don't get me wrong, but at the end of the day, they're just something I wear, the content is what's important, all that other stuff's just for fun.
ReplyDeletemaybe i'm niave, but i make and buy clothes for that spark.
ReplyDeletethat feeling in your chest that makes you wake up and feel excited, like you couldn't imagine your life without it!
as long as there is something out there that stillmakes people feel alive then there is still hope for fashion.
My mind is blown. Bookmarking your blog. I'll be back...
ReplyDeleteyou rock !!
ReplyDelete:D
I'm happy that I found your blog ;)
ReplyDelete