“Fashion is not necessarily spectacular (though it often conforms to the theory of the society of the spectacle), it can also be domotic, ordinary, mundane, routine and humble. It is the stuff of the ethnographer and the anthropologist”
I chose these two quotes mainly because I could relate to them the most. I related to the first quote immensely. My personal style isn’t outlandish and my design aesthetic isn’t as well. Because of this sometime I have conflicts with design professors about what to make and how to make them. It feels like there is such an emphases on outlandish designs and who can make the weirdest garment. Yes there’s a need to change and growth, however sometime the minimalist and more realistic designs make more sense. More is not more. Thought I also believe that less is not more either, i think there has to be a balance for a good design. But there is always beauty in the more simple, wearable garment. What we see simple and ordinary clothes, in a sense, is a trend of what people are wearing and it will be referenced later on. Like the mom jeans, they were considered the most ordinary of garments and now they are trending. There are blogs and YouTube videos dedicated to finding the “best pair of mom jeans.” I think there’s beauty in what we call, “ordinary clothes” it’s what people choose to wear. I find the ratty t shirt and the naturally worn out jeans more interesting and more informative to someone’s style than that 1500 dollar shirt, with 7 thousand crystals and embroidery, no one dares to drink coffee in. Along with someone’s style it says a lot about the owners living habits and lifestyle.
“Fashion is intensely personal, in the same way that poetry is intensely personal. It is a medium through which personal stories can be told, memories re-lived and futures foretold.”
The second quote I chose because it reminded me of moving to NYC. When I moved to NYC I had to clean out my closet and basically arrived here with just the bare minimum of clothes. It made me aware of what clothes I had to take because, well, I can’t run around naked, and what clothes I couldn’t let go of because of sentimental reasons. Particularly, I had this pair of combat boots that were vintage. They weight about a good five pounds per shoe and in the long run were highly impractical, they were: too big, too long, too slippery, weren’t water proof…etc. But I brought them anyways. They reminded me of the brunch we had that day. The warm summer light and the plate of calamari the waitress dropped on me. I got them from a vintage shop a couple of streets down from that restaurant from a woman cleaning out her closet because she didn’t have enough space anymore. When I told her about the calamari she said “as long as you keep your head high and smile like it’s meant to be, no one will ever notice.” Though I’m sure people did because it was red sauce on a white button down, that anecdote has stayed with me all this time. That boot isn’t just a boot to me anymore it became a story for me. It was stylish but it was also an item that makes me smile, and no Saint Laurent boot can replace that.