Fashion Undercover
View the stories in Fashion Undercover where we have fun with fashion. Allow us to present some fashion do’s and don’ts:
Wear trash
Watch Katrina Drabkin’s film “Wrappings” where she wears a dress of recycled food packaging to as she calls attention to our increasingly “to-go” culture.
Wear your hair outside your hijab
See Waheeda Malullah’s playful images in “Cover” as she explores new ways to clear up misconceptions about the hijab.
Use self as dining table
In “The perfect housewife’s closet” Maria Ezcurra Lucotti sees clothes as an extension of ourselves. Her playful installations make a poignant point about women’s roles.
No room here for the fashion police! What is fashion today and how tied are we to our high-heels or hand-me-downs? Join us as we reclaim what fashion means to us!
Join the conversation!
|
 |
|
|
I have been on many worst dress lists and frankly I don’t really care.
Recently I went to a black tie function in jeans and a T-shirt. I’m not into sparkly spike heels; I’m very much about my clogs. I don’t really want to go to a make up artist or get my hair done: because that’s not who I am and not what my message is about. How much do you care what your clothes say about you?
|
| Post a Comment |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted on Friday, July 20, 2007 4:34 PM
In regards to Susannah's comment, it is true that Western standards of beauty have been reached all over the world. From the desire to be skinny to the purchase of skin whitening/lightening creams, women have been trying to conform to Western ideals of beauty and the body. Women should feel comfortable in their own body and skin and embrace what makes them so unique. Only then, I believe, will women facing these issues of conformity be able to carry themselves with confidence. It doesn't matter what you wear but how you wear it. The ability for women to carry themselves with confidence is fashion at its best.
Also, I really enjoyed "The Real Story of Superheroes" by Dulce Pinzon. I think that the idea to combine superhero attire, the question of the value of heroes, and the acknowledgement of those who sacrifice so much for their families and for their countries is creative. It gives voice to these marginalized people, provides a medium for immigrants to participate in a work of art, and makes their presence known to society. I agree with Dulce, that America should acknowledge individuals who often leave their families and homeland behind to sacrifice for their families in hopes they will attain a better future. It is amazing how remittances constitute one of the largest financial inflows to developing countries. What is even more amazing is the love and sacrifice behind each of their stories. I think it's wonderful that Dulce and IMOW gave this issue the attention it deserves. These individuals are truly the "modern heroes" of society. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted on Friday, July 20, 2007 2:57 PM
I agree with you, Susannah, that globally, beauty standards are being more and more influenced by a Western ideal. However, “thin” doesn’t seem to be spreading everywhere. I recently read Sharon LaFraniere’s article “In Mauritania, Seeking to End an Overfed Ideal” in the New York Times.
I was amazed to learn that in Mauritania, the vision of female beauty is the opposite of the “skinny menace.” Actually, obesity is lauded in this culture and women and girls go to dangerous extremes to achieve just that…
“Girls as young as 5 and as old as 19 had to drink up to five gallons of fat-rich camel’s or cow’s milk daily, aiming for silvery stretch marks on their upper arms. If a girl refused or vomited, the village weight-gain specialist might squeeze her foot between sticks, pull her ear, pinch her inner thigh, bend her finger backward or force her to drink her own vomit. In extreme cases, girls died.”
Sound familiar? Quite the opposite of the West’s obsession with thin yet familiar in the practices people adopt to achieve these unrealistic standards. For both ideals, thin or obese, it what women do to attain it that is worrisome.
You can read the rest of the article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/04/world/africa/04mauritania.html?ex=1185076800&en=0816b0dfa3763ef7&ei=5070
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted on Friday, July 20, 2007 12:21 PM
Dunno, Sus, my understanding is that light skin and eyes have been considered attractive in India for a long time. At least longer than Avril. Anyway, beauty standards change all the time due to lots of factors, not just neoimperialist cultural stuff. One often-cited example of this is the way that tanned (white) skin has become so popular in the US in the 20th century, to the point that people will actually stain their skin brownish orange as an alternative to natural tanning, now that we know that sunlight causes cancer. Meanwhile, our ancestors looking on are shocked and amused that we all look like peasants. So it may be that economic development and industrialization tend to lead to these big reversals in beauty standards. I mean, it may be that being fat in India is one of the old fashioned values that young people are going to reject as they go off to lead very different lives than their parents. Certainly MTV and Avril are playing a role in this, as they sell this "new beauty" to teenagers who consider themselves young and modern and are looking for a way to express themselves as such. So in summary, I think that the creeping blonde skinny menace has as much to do with internal changes in Indian society as it does with India's relationship with America. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted on Friday, July 20, 2007 10:40 AM
When I was in India I noticed that there were a lot of posters of Avril Levigne and other blond singers and actresses in the bazaar. People kept telling me that I was beautiful because I had such light skin and eyes, and I didn't know what to say. It seemed that Western (or just American) standards of beauty were spreading there. One woman explained to me that in Indian culture it was OK to be fat (that was the word she used), but in America people wanted to be skinny. Now, she explained, people in India wanted to be skinny too. Do you think that, around the world, people are beginning to conform to an Avril Levigne standard of beauty? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted on Thursday, July 19, 2007 11:32 PM
I wanted to tell you about a really great book I recently heard about. It is called “Working IX to V in Ancient Rome and Greece” by Vicki Leon. I heard that it’s hilarious and chock-full of interesting facts for all you fact aficionados. For example, it describes in minutiae details ancient Romans’ obsession with fashion. Romans wanted their bodies to be absolutely perfect so they invented a ridiculous vocation—one poor person’s job was to polish their conceited masters’ bodies with a pumice rock until their flesh achieved perfect shine and color. They also had slaves whose only task was to diligently pluck their masters’ armpit hair. Ouch! Their hairdressers (called ornatrix) had to use decomposed leeches, urine and pigeon droppings to fashion their masters’ hair into most perfect and fashionable do's.
These factoids surprise me as much as they entertain me: I knew fashion went back as far as the Greeks and Romans, but I did not know just how important it was even back then. Seems that there is not much difference between then and now…
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted on Thursday, July 19, 2007 2:42 PM
My philosophy about clothes has always been: It’s not about what you wear, it’s why you wear it. Clothes serve many functions; so to me, a person who is “well-dressed” is someone who is truly aware of all the functions his/her clothes are serving (whatever those clothes may be). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted on Thursday, July 19, 2007 11:59 AM
It is very interesting to read these stories about how women are wearing clothes in different ways, to conform, to rebel, or just to have a little fun. I believe that what we wear makes a statement about who we are and wear we come from. It tells a story...certainly not the whole story, but a piece of the story.
People who spout, "don't judge a book by it's cover" have a point but in this fast paced world driven by first impressions, fashion matters. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Login to Post a Comment | Not a member? Join Now! |
|
| |
|
|
