Panel Summary: ReFashioning Race, Gender, and Economy
Presented by the Asian / Pacific / American Institute at NYU and Museum of Chinese in America June 25, 2013 Accompanying the concurrent fashion exhibitions at the Museum of Chinese in America, “Front Row: Chinese American Designers†and “Shanghai Glamour: New Women 1910-40s,†the Museum hosted an ethnically and professionally diverse panel of fashion...
Must Disaster Fashion Photoshoots be Disastrous?
I’m frankly bored by a lot of blogosphere outrage about insensitive fashion magazine spreads, Photoshopping (see my thoughts on this here), etc., but recent Huffington Post article Vogue’s Hurricane Sandy Spread: Crossing The Line? sparked my interest in spite of its typically incendiary headline. Shot by Annie Leibovitz, the “Storm Troupers” shoot from February’s Vogue...
The Buzz About Insect Fashion
The recent announcement of MoMA’s website devoted to Louise Bourgeois: The Complete Prints & Books, got me thinking about insects. I adore Ms. Bourgeois’ sculptures and installations, and her continued use of spider imagery over her long career (she died at age 98 in 2010) to explore issues of the feminine experience never ceased to...
Manipulations of Images & The Body
I recently came upon a light news item that caught my eye: following a partnership between Disney and Barneys department store, beloved Disney cartoon characters have been augmented to resemble fashion sketches: Though many of us in the fashion world are used to seeing these hyper-elongated bodies, impossibly willowy limbs, bodies whose legs consume 3/4...
Subversive Knitting
In preparation for the upcoming Textile Association of America symposium I’m presenting at later this week — “Textiles & Politics” symposium — I’ve been doing a lot of research on our country’s history of using yarn crafts — specifically knitting — as a political act rather than merely a domestic or social one. Primarily a...
Book Review: Boom! A Baby Boomer Memoir
Boom! A Baby Boomer Memoir, 1947-2022 by Ted Polhemus Lulu.com (January 2012) An anthropologist by degree, Ted Polhemus has written numerous books on style and/or subculture including Streetstyle (2010), Style Surfing: What to Wear in the 3rd Millennium (1996), The Body As a Medium of Expression (1975), Social Aspects of the Human Body (1978), among...
Poverty and Power: Secondhand Clothes as Protest
Later this week I will be giving an extended lecture on the secondhand fashion market and countercultures that adopted thrifted clothes as political statements — focusing on Yippies, but touching upon the Beats — at this year’s Pop Culture Association symposium in Boston, MA. My panel will be on Thursday at 4:45pm, and there will...
The Authentic Artist Myth
My Godmother sent me this brief article on David Hockney‘s withering opinion on artists such as Damien Hirst who rely upon assistants to “do the work” — Hirst has only painted five of the 1,300+ “spot paintings” in existence, and he was quoted as saying that many of his spot paintings are produced by others...
APEC “Silly Shirts” – Inappropriate or Awesome?
I read with some interest the Times article Obama Says Forum’s Costume Photo Is Unnecessary. This refers to the tradition of the 21 members of the annual APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) forum participating in what has unfortunately been dubbed “the silly shirts photo.” Past photo-ops “have included ponchos and what looked like gowns for pregnant...
Detectives and Gumshoes
Even with all the terrific, stylish, contemporary dramas out there, sometimes you just need to pick up an old favorite (there’s a metaphor for a comfy pair of beat up jeans somewhere in there). To wit, I’ve recently revived my Columbo viewing. Peter Falk as Columbo (1971 – 78; 1989 – 2003) is always deliberately...
Steal this Style: Yippies and Political Fashions!
I assume readers will agree that apparel can be a powerful tool of political and social dissent, such as the Communist / anarchistic subtext of Surreal fashions (see my earlier post). Costume has likewise been leveraged in political upheavals many times; for example Caroline Weber recently illuminated fashion politics in the 18th century with her...
The Vulnerable Neck
In trolling through all the mountains of Fashion Week photos several seasons ago now, I stumbled upon Todd Lynn‘s Spring and Fall ready-to-wear collections for 2011. They caught my attention because, unlike the standard erogenous zones, these focused on the neck — that is, the neck was almost always covered or partially obscured. Stiff collars...
Collecting Clothes with a Conscience
Earlier this summer I watched the tremendous documentary Herb & Dorothy (2008) which follows a ridiculously adorable, now elderly, couple (Herb and Dorothy Vogel) who started collecting art in the ’60s and amassed one of the finest and most extensive of modern and contemporary art in the world. The twist here is this: Dorothy was...
Lucille Ball, Style Icon… In Spite of Herself
This recent August 6 would have been Lucille Ball’s 100th birthday (1911 – 1989), and crowds of impersonators showed up to celebrate in her hometown, Buffalo, NY. There were polka dot dresses, garish red curly wigs, and red lipsticked lips galore in attempts to emulate the comedienne: Though this ensemble became iconic for the...
Codes of Dress: Inclusionary or Exclusionary?
As most fashion historians (and, I would wager, even most non-fashion historians) accept, clothing is a clear way of identifying oneself as part of a culture, a sub-culture, a tribe. Most of the time, we think of these tribes as unifying, identifying people who listen to similar music, hang out in similar venues, perhaps come...
Hair Textiles and Gaga
We all know Gaga loves her wigs, but she also dabbles with clothes that resemble wigs, as with this LaVer dress she recently wore to a taping of The View: Gaga on The View, May 2011 LaVer couture hair dress, 2010 collection Since medieval times, locks of hair have been given to lovers as amulets,...
Mixing and Matching Men
A couple months ago I found myself in Phillie for a family event and I was delighted, not only to spend time with my awesome extended family, but to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Always a favorite of mine (I think they’ve corned the Duchamp market), they also happened to have multiple fashion exhibits...
Book Review: On Fashion Criticism