Monday, April 21, 2014
Who Knows Where Or When?
It seems we've stood and talked like this, before.
We looked at each other in the same way then.
But I can't remember where, or when.
The clothes you're wearing are the clothes, you wore.
The smile you are smiling you were smiling then.
But I can't remember where, or when.
The lyrics of this song, brought back to me by seeing Diana Krall sing it, made me start musing on the role of Attire in our memory. We all have memories attached to clothes we have, or have had; a favorite shirt, or a particularly uncomfortable pair of shoes takes us back to high school, or our first big dance. The suit we had on when we landed a first real adult job, and the singular shape of a certain sundress, all these and many more can and do evoke deeply held emotional and intellectual memories.
-Redfern visiting dress-1907-
Since what we put on our bodies affects us on so many levels, it stands at a unique place in its ability to convey our personal history back to our conscious mind. Almost all our senses are engaged by the wearing of clothes. Our sense of touch comes into use as a textile moves over the body, or how it feels when we run our hands across it. Our vision gets engaged constantly as we see not only the colors and patterns, but how the shapes shift continually as we move and express ourselves. Our hearing plays a smaller but significant role, since some fabrics have a unique sound as they move and rub against themselves; the rustle of taffeta, or the subtle wooshing sound of silk against silk. And lastly our sense of smell gets engaged too, and informs how and why memory surfaces.
-Ralph Lauren F/W 2011-
In my own life, sartorial memory has played a significant role. I had, for many years a WWII army issue jacket that was my favorite thing, and when years later I had it copied in leather, and had the sargent stripes moved from the original to it, the new jacket became an icon piece, and imbued with history and meaning for me. That piece of clothing, though I haven't possessed it for years now, is one I still recall with complete clarity. I can feel it on my body, and I note the smell of the leather when it got damp from rain, or the sound it made when it moved as I wore it. There are other clothes that have come into my life that I remember with equal, or greater completeness. My very first 3 piece suit, bought for me for my high school graduation by my parents, was one. It was very much of its time and place since it was mint green embossed polyester, with dark green top stitching, and lapels out to THERE. But I can see it, and feel it still.
I believe that this memorecall we have about our prior clothes is one of the significant parts that makes Attire important in our lives. It functions as a hook to our past that, because of the number of ways we engage with it, is more facile in its ability to create and maintain those connections, than other things we remember may be.
And this connection to memory is another reason why coming to understand the language of Attire more fully is so important. The more we know and understand of this sartorial tongue, the better we can understand our own memories that are connected to it.
Returning to that jacket of mine, it was then, though I didn't know it at the time, a significant part of my growing understanding of myself as an adult person. The original jacket of wool I know now was a signal I was giving to others about my sense of my maleness and my desire to be a sexually active person. Connected to the military, and to expressions of both belonging to a larger cultural group, and also to male power and aggression, that jacket said far more than I knew at the time. As my understanding of those things grew the jacket changed. When I had it remade in leather it became a stronger, more assertive message of those things for me, and for those who saw me in it, ( at least, so I thought). And in retrospect it has become a symbol of my own sexual explorations, and of my youth.
-yep, this is me back in the day-
This same recall connection functions as more than a doorway to our own personal history; it also gives us an opportunity to connect with others, by sharing these stories, and so seeing our similarities, our often shared past.
That, of course, only addresses what we feel for ourselves; how our memories of our own clothing invest our present and give added texture to our days. What is of greater significance is how other people's choices in dress affect our memories of them, and of our relations to them.
My dear Hungarian grandmother will partly be alive in my memory for the eternal presence of print house dresses, and sensible orthopedic shoes.
-not my grandmother, but you get the idea-
My first partner is connected in my mind to his predilection for wearing clothes from his college years that he could still put on. A now departed co-worker lives on, in small part because his perpetually worn, baggy khaki's are still in my head. And an old friend will be forever alive in my mind for the time we were on a bus and he started stomping his foot on the bus floor declaring that his foot had fallen asleep cause his Calvins were too tight.
As an exercise I made myself try to draw up as many of these connections as I could, and I quickly lost track of them in their sheer number and variety. Sure, I'm a person who thinks of these things, and still, I suspect this is something that would well repay the trial to anyone who gave it a shot.
Our shared history is in play here. We can and do invoke our association to others, and bring it right to the fore of our mind's eye, by thinking of what they wore at such a time, or in such a place.
We looked at each other in the same way then.
But I can't remember where, or when.
The clothes you're wearing are the clothes, you wore.
The smile you are smiling you were smiling then.
But I can't remember where, or when.
The lyrics of this song, brought back to me by seeing Diana Krall sing it, made me start musing on the role of Attire in our memory. We all have memories attached to clothes we have, or have had; a favorite shirt, or a particularly uncomfortable pair of shoes takes us back to high school, or our first big dance. The suit we had on when we landed a first real adult job, and the singular shape of a certain sundress, all these and many more can and do evoke deeply held emotional and intellectual memories.
Since what we put on our bodies affects us on so many levels, it stands at a unique place in its ability to convey our personal history back to our conscious mind. Almost all our senses are engaged by the wearing of clothes. Our sense of touch comes into use as a textile moves over the body, or how it feels when we run our hands across it. Our vision gets engaged constantly as we see not only the colors and patterns, but how the shapes shift continually as we move and express ourselves. Our hearing plays a smaller but significant role, since some fabrics have a unique sound as they move and rub against themselves; the rustle of taffeta, or the subtle wooshing sound of silk against silk. And lastly our sense of smell gets engaged too, and informs how and why memory surfaces.
In my own life, sartorial memory has played a significant role. I had, for many years a WWII army issue jacket that was my favorite thing, and when years later I had it copied in leather, and had the sargent stripes moved from the original to it, the new jacket became an icon piece, and imbued with history and meaning for me. That piece of clothing, though I haven't possessed it for years now, is one I still recall with complete clarity. I can feel it on my body, and I note the smell of the leather when it got damp from rain, or the sound it made when it moved as I wore it. There are other clothes that have come into my life that I remember with equal, or greater completeness. My very first 3 piece suit, bought for me for my high school graduation by my parents, was one. It was very much of its time and place since it was mint green embossed polyester, with dark green top stitching, and lapels out to THERE. But I can see it, and feel it still.
And this connection to memory is another reason why coming to understand the language of Attire more fully is so important. The more we know and understand of this sartorial tongue, the better we can understand our own memories that are connected to it.
Returning to that jacket of mine, it was then, though I didn't know it at the time, a significant part of my growing understanding of myself as an adult person. The original jacket of wool I know now was a signal I was giving to others about my sense of my maleness and my desire to be a sexually active person. Connected to the military, and to expressions of both belonging to a larger cultural group, and also to male power and aggression, that jacket said far more than I knew at the time. As my understanding of those things grew the jacket changed. When I had it remade in leather it became a stronger, more assertive message of those things for me, and for those who saw me in it, ( at least, so I thought). And in retrospect it has become a symbol of my own sexual explorations, and of my youth.
This same recall connection functions as more than a doorway to our own personal history; it also gives us an opportunity to connect with others, by sharing these stories, and so seeing our similarities, our often shared past.
That, of course, only addresses what we feel for ourselves; how our memories of our own clothing invest our present and give added texture to our days. What is of greater significance is how other people's choices in dress affect our memories of them, and of our relations to them.
My dear Hungarian grandmother will partly be alive in my memory for the eternal presence of print house dresses, and sensible orthopedic shoes.
My first partner is connected in my mind to his predilection for wearing clothes from his college years that he could still put on. A now departed co-worker lives on, in small part because his perpetually worn, baggy khaki's are still in my head. And an old friend will be forever alive in my mind for the time we were on a bus and he started stomping his foot on the bus floor declaring that his foot had fallen asleep cause his Calvins were too tight.
As an exercise I made myself try to draw up as many of these connections as I could, and I quickly lost track of them in their sheer number and variety. Sure, I'm a person who thinks of these things, and still, I suspect this is something that would well repay the trial to anyone who gave it a shot.
Our shared history is in play here. We can and do invoke our association to others, and bring it right to the fore of our mind's eye, by thinking of what they wore at such a time, or in such a place.
Friday, April 11, 2014
A Short Vay Kay
Hey All,
I just wanted to post this note that I will be out of town from the 13th through the 20th, so I may not get to posting here during that time. But who knows? Inspiration may strike.
I just wanted to let you know why things had gone quiet.
Be Well,
Paul
I just wanted to post this note that I will be out of town from the 13th through the 20th, so I may not get to posting here during that time. But who knows? Inspiration may strike.
I just wanted to let you know why things had gone quiet.
Be Well,
Paul
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Scatter #2
There are so many different things that get my attention, and so many reasons that they do, that this is really the only way I have to share a lot of it with you all.
For the first image, this pair of fellows from Ashir. What I like about this is not just the whole men is skirts thing of which I have spoken so often, but the interaction of garments of different cultures. Both men are wearing traditional clothes of their region from the waist down, but from the waist up, excepting their head gear they are wearing modern western clothing.
Next up, from the design mind of Paco Rabanne this mini-dress made entirely of iridescent plastic discs, held together with chain links. I love the play of light over the discs, and the reference to chain mail armor that was at the time a brand new thing in women's wear.
George Barbier is one of my favorite illustrators. This image is one he did to advertize a 1914 Ballet Russes' production of Salome with dancer Tamara Karsavina in the title role. I love the graphic qualities of the image, the sparing use of color, and the frankly desirous look on the servant on the far left.
These Oliver Sweeney shoes. Shoe lust, pure and simple. Me wants them.
You know me and old Mr Worth. I can't resist his stuff. This is a court dress made for the Russian court, and it is a flat out stunner. The under-skirt is of silk moire done in a very large scale repeat of the moire pattern. The over-dress is in an amazingly deep shade of green silk velvet with a border of silk plush in the same color and abundant silver thread and bullion embroidery. Do I even need to tell you why I love it? Its magnificent in every detail.
This is a coat design by avant garde designer Kay Kwok. I have no idea what the material is, but the way light moves over it is hypnotic. Only a very few people would have the moxie for this one. Its very nearly devouring the model; but love it, I do.
From Yohji Yamamoto's Fall 2014 collection, this look. which I find amusing and interesting. The coat is held together along the major structural seams with cording, recalling the garments of the Renaissance, though in shape it owes more to the American west. I also like the tunic coat underneath, and the general proportions of the whole ensemble. Okay, so I could live without the hat, but that's a quibble.
Finally, this detail shot of a Robe al Anglaise in butter yellow silk, and silver thread brocade, heavily decorated with silver lace and silver guimp. This dress would have been used for the highest of court functions, and no doubt cost a small fortune. I wonder if the dressmaker was ever actually paid for their work? So often they weren't.
So that's it for this edition of Scatter. Have a Grand Day Out!
For the first image, this pair of fellows from Ashir. What I like about this is not just the whole men is skirts thing of which I have spoken so often, but the interaction of garments of different cultures. Both men are wearing traditional clothes of their region from the waist down, but from the waist up, excepting their head gear they are wearing modern western clothing.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Left, Right, Left
Other than hats and headgear, only shoes and footwear have had such a long history of being so very often, pretty crazy. Frequently ignoring both the shape of human feet, and the intended function of them for us, shoes have repeatedly left the realm of the usable and comfortable; and thrown themselves wildly into zones what artfulness, potential hazard to limb and significant pain exist as constants.
So what happened? Why did we seem, rather suddenly at that, to decide that wearing shoes needed to mean discomfort and potentially injury? The answer, as it so very often is in Attire, was fashionability and class distinction. Among the first silly notions we got into our heads was a low slipper style shoe called the poulaine. As the spelling of its name implies, it was first devised in France in the 1300s. This type of shoe had a long point on the front that varied considerably in size, depending on the dash of the wearer. Some were, according to text from the period, so long that they required a string to be attached to the point and then taken up to the knee where it was tied, so that the point of the shoe would stay out straight, and not fall under the foot as the wearer walked. The potential hazards are obvious. Navigating stairs must have been a slow and delicate operation.
Oh and by the way, more extreme poulaines were pretty much only worn by men. Women couldn't use them, not wearing skirts that were already so long they dragged on the ground.
The next innovations to hit the streets were chopines and pattens. First devised as a way for ladies to walk the streets without getting their clothes mucked up, chopines eventually became footgear in their own right, while pattens remained something one attached to shoes. In the case of chopines, they permitted a lady to soar skyward, sometimes reaching over 20 inches in height, and during the Renaissance prostitutes routinely wore them, as it made them more visible on the crowded streets, increasing the possibility of paying customers.
Through all this time, though there were significant hazards and inconveniences to to wearing such fashionable shoes, they were not actually uncomfortable. That came later.
For some time shoes had been getting produced with very low heels and flat soles, hence the need for pattens in the first place, but over time heel height grew. It happened slowly at first but by the time of the English Restoration in 1660, shoes for both men and women were sporting 2 inch heels, and sometimes a bit higher.
From this time on, with a few short periods where flat slippers reigned again, heeled shoes became the norm for women, and sometimes the province of men as well. Along with this came a mania for women's feet to be perceived as tiny. During the second half of the 1700's when a woman's under skirt came to the bottom of the ankle, and that was viewable since the dress parted in the middle, the sight of a lady's foot and potentially her ankle became of great erotic interest. So along with that came the desire at all times to look as though one's feet were minute. Women increasingly caved in to the need for small feet by pressuring themselves into too small shoes. You see where this is all going, no?
There were natural limitations to heel height since heels were all made of wood and could snap if made too tall. Enter technology. The insertion of a metal post into the heel meant that greater height could be achieved, with the concomitant increase in discomfort. Now to be fair, heeled shoes continued to be mostly benign through the end of the 19th century. It was only the 20th that brought truly skyscraper shoes into being, and into fashion. Interestingly, after the French revolution, men's shoes lost their heels, and never really regained them till we get to the 1960s.
At the end of the 1930s we saw the emergence of the platform shoe, which though not uncomfortable in itself was mighty dangerous on a cobbled city street.There must have been more than a few twisted ankles and other injuries from these.
With the advent of the metal center to the ladies shoe the needle-like heels of the 50s came into being, and with that the compression of the toes into a small triangular space, eventually deforming the feet by pushing the toes permanently into that shape.
From that day to this shoes for women have been increasingly creative in design, occasionaly witty, and daring in execution.
Shoes also continue to be inspiring to sometimes wildly sexual fantasies, and insanely restrictive of motion; (which is I gather, the point).
As a final note, I find it interesting that the two places on the human body where unbridled creativity is given voice are the extreme ends of it. I'll have to think about that, and why that might be so. (grin) Who knows? There may be a post about it some other day.
It was not ever thus though, at least, not in the western world. Prior to the AD era shoes and other footgear like sandals were no nonsense, and paid complete attention to the requirements of locomotion in a sensible way. Even these sandals from the later dynastic period of Egypt are, apart from the level of decoration applied to them, essentially practical footwear.
The next innovations to hit the streets were chopines and pattens. First devised as a way for ladies to walk the streets without getting their clothes mucked up, chopines eventually became footgear in their own right, while pattens remained something one attached to shoes. In the case of chopines, they permitted a lady to soar skyward, sometimes reaching over 20 inches in height, and during the Renaissance prostitutes routinely wore them, as it made them more visible on the crowded streets, increasing the possibility of paying customers.
For some time shoes had been getting produced with very low heels and flat soles, hence the need for pattens in the first place, but over time heel height grew. It happened slowly at first but by the time of the English Restoration in 1660, shoes for both men and women were sporting 2 inch heels, and sometimes a bit higher.
At the end of the 1930s we saw the emergence of the platform shoe, which though not uncomfortable in itself was mighty dangerous on a cobbled city street.There must have been more than a few twisted ankles and other injuries from these.
Shoes also continue to be inspiring to sometimes wildly sexual fantasies, and insanely restrictive of motion; (which is I gather, the point).
As a final note, I find it interesting that the two places on the human body where unbridled creativity is given voice are the extreme ends of it. I'll have to think about that, and why that might be so. (grin) Who knows? There may be a post about it some other day.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Fashion In Black & White
Every language requires syntax to survive and grow. The Attire language requires this no less than any other. Where do we begin with Attire language, and how will we begin to understand its layers of meaning?
Friday, April 4, 2014
Scatter #1
I'm going to do something different for me here and inaugurate a post style I will call Scatter. This is going to be an ongoing thing. Every once in a while I am going to just post a mess of images of things that intrigue me for one reason or another, rather in the tumblr style of things. In each case I will tell you my thoughts about it, why it appeals to me. Feel free to add your commentary!
Here Goes!
Mkay, so I love the hat. I really do. Something about the slight declination of the crown towards the back, plus its reference to a cloche hat I find very appealing. Second, Though we have toyed with skirts for men, full length skirts have stayed off the table. This one is perfectly suited to the model, hat and pose. In my youth, when I collected antique clothes I had in my collection a gunmetal silk taffeta skirt and bustle from an 1890s dress, and I occasionally put that skirt on in the apartment. The feel of it, and the line it created, I will never forget. Also, the model is a babe. (at least to me he is)
This is a court dress from the 1860s. I love this garment unreservedly. The proportions, decorations and workmanship are without flaw in any respect. And as an image of untrammeled romance, it is perfect. The princess heroine of some forgotten Victorian novel would have worn this. Yep. I am waxing ridiculously romantic. Sue me.
I love this cause its a perfect example of two things. First the totally weird fashion for codpieces that existed for over a century in Europe. Men must have felt threatened in some way if they needed to assert their masculinity so much in what was already a male dominated society. I also love this for the example of slashing it presents. Not only are the velvet panes of the trunk hose slashed, but there are tiny slashes even on the codpiece. And the sheer complexity of the garment itself is amazing. This was only ONE piece of a man's clothing. Whew.
Iman. Certainly one of the singularly most lovely women, pretty much ever. Also, smart, classy and married to one of the arguably most brilliant performers of our time. I post her because she reminds me of a woman named Claire I used to wait on where I work. She was also Somalian, and was/is married to a handsome red headed Irish fella named Ian who shopped there too. They had eventually, a son named Ben, who was without question the most exotic child I've clapped eyes on. Mom's stunning perfect complexion, and Dad's red hair and green eyes.
Richard Burton costumed as Petruchhio in Zeffirelli's production of "The Taming of the Shrew". Rarely has a film costumer gotten every detail right. In the play there is a long description of Petruchhio's pictured outfit, and this costume recreates every single aspect of it. Bravo to Danilo Donati! Elizabeth Taylor's costumes in the film are also some of the best things done for her in terms of presenting character. Only her role in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" was better costumed.
And last up for now,...
This 1899 ball gown from the House of Worth. I love this because at a time when over-indulgences of every sort were being lavished sartorially all over women, this Worth gown stands out in its real simplicity of line and execution. The over-scaled brocade fabric does most of the lifting here, with only the asymmetrical bodice and small amount of re-embroidered lace to give it extra appeal. Surprisingly lean and mean for its day.
So that's all for this edition of Scatter.
Let me know what you think!
Here Goes!
Mathu Andersen is a sometime model, cross dresser, actor and general bon vivant. He frequently lets his amazing features be morphed in the most startling ways by make up artists. These two images are particularly intriguing to me for the juxtaposition they create between beauty and horror. Plus the sheer technical skill of the make up artists is just plain jaw dropping.
Serkan Cura loves, just plain LOVES working with feathers. This strange branched cape/cowl garment is an amazing piece of sculpture and allows the wearers face to be framed beautifully. Real world adaptable? Nope, not a chance. Wonderful fantasy? Sure thing.So that's all for this edition of Scatter.
Let me know what you think!
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