[lbo-talk] RE: Fashion

[joanna bujes]

"In high fashion, the dominant trend of recent years has been the so-called
new simplicity; clothes are unpretentious in style, colours are dark and the
designer's name is not displayed on the outside of the garment. The goal of
this style is to accentuate the individual's inner qualities; the dress just
helps the individual express what he or she is. Thus it does not try to
change the individual into someone else or crate an image in which the
individual would like to see him- or herself; it merely enhances his or her
already existing individuality. Today, the individual is not supposed to buy
high fashion in order to follow some imposed ideal of beauty, but rather to
aid perception of him- or herself as an ideal." Renata Salecl, (Per)Versions
of Love and Hate, pg. 1.

I have been sewing for forty years. I can make anything. What is happening to fashion overall is very simple: the simpler the cut, the less labor involved in constructing a garment and the easier it is for the garment to "fit" -- since it eschews all curves, waistlines, etc.

Of course, the wealthy can afford any amount of labor, therefore if high fashion is "simplyfing" itself for the wealthy, I can only conclude that it is to satisfy their unsconscious need for protective coloring as well as to reassure them that they, as "individuals," are still worth something. Ha, ha, ha.

Joanna