Archive for December, 2011
When I’m out looking for people to photograph I’m actually searching for personalities. When I saw Jordan on Walton Street I instantly had that zing like “yes! this girl is amazing!” Some people have this really intoxicating energy where I feel happy just being in their presence. I hope I captured that with my camera because Jordan definitely had that magical aura. We chatted for a while and it turns out that she’s a huge fan of my blog, which is always the biggest compliment a stranger can give me.
She explained to me how she likes to mix vintage (her earrings) with new (Zara shirt, American Apparel shoes) for an updated, modern interpretation of the 1940s. Even her hair is coiffed like Rosie The Riveter. A lot of girls who are into vintage style stick to gorgeous day dresses and the Betty Draper look, which always looks stylish. It intrigued me to see how Jordan drew upon a different element of the era, namely that World War II and the 1940s was the first time in American History when pants-wearing by women became really widespread.
Click here to view the original post on Refinery29.
There seems to be a definite trend amongst stylish men of wearing jackets that are just a tad bit too small. Is this really happening or is that pesky second X chromosome leading me to hallucinate?
I adore this profound oddness of the dress. This is my first Junya Watanabe purchase so I was surprised at how difficult it was to actually put on the dress. Challenging traditional methods of garment construction is at the heart of the Comme Des Garcons spirit. The experience of wearing such a piece out in the real world of Chicago revealed to me just how subversive a piece like this can be, especially to American men. I wore it out to a nightclub (long story and subject of an upcoming post) and let’s just say they call fashion “man-repelling” for a reason. Although the upper half of my body is obscured by draped jersey in this dress, I was stared at as though I was walking around topless with bared breasts. I can imagine all these straight men were looking at me and thinking – “What the f*ck is she wearing?”
“Conceptual Japanese fashion, that’s what,” I thought as I imagined myself answering all these confused dudes staring at me. Granted, I stuck out like a sore thumb next to my gorgeous blonde best friend Maryhelen who donned my sexy Suno minidress for the evening. The idea of obscuring the silhouette of the human body, by adding fabric or lumps (as Watanabe’s mentor Rei Kawakubo is known to do), is perhaps the antithesis of Western fashion. Western designers usually seek to accentuate a woman’s shape even though they may too obscure it, as Prada’s bulky coats recently did in the Fall ’11 and Spring ’12 collections. Yet how is it that the absence of a defined shape, which requires the viewer search for the female form, can actually sexualize clothing?
Either you appreciate weird Japanese fashion or you don’t. And thank God for the existence of eDrop-Off so women around the world (like me) can obtain legendary runway pieces seasons after they were produced. Now, I just have to keep checking back for that Rodarte dress I had my eye on…
