Within the fashion blog community, several of us have signed on with event leaders Fashiontribes to share our thoughts and feelings on the current State of the Fashion Union. Below are StyleChronicles' musings on the subject.
“Clothes, the ones that make their way into our closets as impulse buys, gifts or obligatory purchases for compulsory events, are about ourselves. If we bought Gucci leather trousers and a sheer shirt last season, it says we saw something of ourselves in those tarty trappings. But what we actually decide to put on our backs each day and venture out into the world in has nothing to do with trends or marketing. It has to do with who we want to show the world we are. Or who we want to convince ourselves we could be.” –Amy M. Spindler, “What Your Clothes Make of You.” New York Times. November 14, 1999
“Clothes, the ones that make their way into our closets as impulse buys, gifts or obligatory purchases for compulsory events, are about ourselves. If we bought Gucci leather trousers and a sheer shirt last season, it says we saw something of ourselves in those tarty trappings. But what we actually decide to put on our backs each day and venture out into the world in has nothing to do with trends or marketing. It has to do with who we want to show the world we are. Or who we want to convince ourselves we could be.” –Amy M. Spindler, “What Your Clothes Make of You.” New York Times. November 14, 1999
This quotation from Amy Spindler speaks to the eery intersection of two forces that have become inextricably linked: fashion and marketing. Perhaps what clothing we eventually choose is in fact a reflection of ourselves--but why then do we allow designers and the fashion industry to supply us with all of the tools from which to select our "image"? The State of the Fashion Union as it stands right now is one that speaks from both sides of its mouth: be yourself, they say, but only from the images and insignia we supply you with. Fashion has got to be way more experimental to stay relevant, and it is quite possible that we should rely less on what the masses think, and pay more attention to what we think.
While design houses have always influenced what's fashionable (but perhaps more so in the past), the increasingly cyclical nature of fashion design has forced many into the not-so-enviable position of finding clothing they love, and discarding it once it is "over" according to fashion authorities. On fashion sites, people ponder the life expectancy of cowboy boots, Balenciaga bags, and skinny jeans because fashion has taught us that what's hot one day isn't always the next. Fashion is not quite as full of self-expression nowadays as it is indicative of how well we as consumers can gauge trends, and obtain the most coveted purse or shoe. It's a competition to see who can demonstrate with their clothes that they carry the cultural competency to uncover the subtle meaning of fashion.
Any State of the Fashion Union address must include an acknowledgment that fashion needs to become more focused on the individual, and not the masses, big business, or marketing goals of a multinational conglomerate. Scrambling to get one's hands on the latest piece says nothing about the person behind the garment except that she or he accepts the dominating effect fashion can have on people. Instead of trendy logos, designer names, and hefty price tags just for the sake of them, perhaps our union should go forward and once again recognize the power of the individual to make their own statement, steer clear from wearing company advertising on their body, and instead bow to their own internal sentiment.
Perhaps fashion should acquiesce to style, which as a less fleeting phenomenon, indicates the core of what we'd like to present to others about ourselves through clothes. Style is about preference, but it is also about not giving into the cyclical nature of the modern fashion world--it is enduring. This doesn't mean the decline of fashion institutions; we observe fashion shows in order to know what work a designer has accomplished for a particular season, but must we deem our garb obsolete simply because something new has come our way? Cast away our fashion acquisitions and banish them every season simply because they don't fit on some list of what's "hot" and what's "not"? Our answer is a resounding "no."
We hear a lot about "being yourself" lately, but part of being oneself is acknowledging that we're never going to look good in every style, we're never going to conform to one perfect "look," and we're not meant to devour fashion's latest shiny productions simply because they are there. Construct the message you want to convey to others through whatever means necessary, and go outside the limits of what's available. This State of the Fashion Union address is meant to share the idea that perhaps true fashion is having style, knowing what trends to skip, and what pieces to incorporate into our repertoire as further expression of ourselves. So hold tight to style and to self-expression, and don't be swayed by any temptation to be anything but yourself.
