Christian Louboutin Vs. Guido Mocafico

Happy New Year: Bonne Année 2010!

This year, in the tradition of the French, I am going to make a wish or two {a voeu} instead of the usual stringent resolutions I have made...and often broken...in years past. Doesn't it just seem more romantic and less puritan to send a wish out into the universe, rather than setting yourself up for punishment when you fail? Author Debra Ollivier says:

"...a wish is a mutable thing that can be blown away by the wind. A wish is like a cloud that might drift your way but cannot be forced to do so. It is langurous and fanciful and who knows where it will end up. A resolution, on the other hand, is a firm, concise obligation. It's a contract between you and your conscious that is deep-fried in moral values. A resolution has edges and they will menace you forever if you don't pay attention to them. A resolution, in short, can become one of those deadly virtues if it conspires too radically against the Gods of Pleasure."

This year, despite loads of work and obligations, I wish for the "Gods of Pleasure" to stay front and center in my life...good food, good drink, good books, good love, good adventures, good growth, good living.

** Happy New Year, Mes Amies!!! May pleasure visit you often this year...

Dead fashion, living art

See more, the photos of Brian Ulrich

Fashion is Art

Balenciaga scarf, Vogue Nippon, 2005

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday with friends and family! I will be leaving tomorrow for Tennessee, and posting will probably be spotty for a week or so...hope you'll stick with me.

I look forward to the upcoming year, and I'm already pondering new posts and projects for this blog. I have one particular project in the works that I'm excited about...more info soon.

Have a beautiful holiday, my wonderful readers!!!

Fur the Love of Bundling Up...

Screw the Snuggie! Women in the 20's knew how to stay warm. Baby, it's cold...

::Images from The Roaring Twenties.

The Uniform

Slim Aarons, 1957

Whenever a subculture willingly agrees to dress alike it is simply an accepted group style. But when a pre-fromed identity is thrust upon individuals unwillingly, it is a uniform. All uniforms suppress individuality. By wearing the uniform, the wearer enters into the an overdetermined form. The values expressed by the uniform are neutral, standard and submissive, pleasing to the establishment.

Fred Wilson, Guarded View, 1991: Wilson dressed black male mannequins in the uniforms worn by the museum guards at four preeminent New York City museums, commenting on the selective African American presence in the museums.

Longchamp F 2009

Vanessa Beecroft, VB 39, 1999

The uniform is a direct association with power which can bring status to the powerless. This is the case with military uniforms, which are worn with pride. Historically drafted soldiers were too poor to afford the best clothing. The uniform not only unified the soldiers but gave them a sense of personal esteem.

Galliano, S 2009

Warhol, Camouflage Double, 1987

"V-Bay" editorial, V magazine 42

Steven Meisel, "State of Emergency," Italian Vogue, 2005

Ellen Von Unwerth, Italian Vogue

Hussein Chalayan, S 1998

Rick Owens, S 2009

Steven Meisel, Lanvin, F 2007

Valentino, S 2008

Matthew Barney, Cremaster 1, 1995

Helmut Newton, Playboy Bunny, 1979

Jean Charles de Castlebajac, F 2008

Ralph Lauren for Wimbeldon, top 2009 and bottom 2008

Martin Margiela's lab coat uniform for shop employees

Burberry, F 2009

By contrast to the unique, exaggerated forms that characterize both art and couture, most mass produced ready-to-wear apparel functions like uniforms. H&M, American Apparel, Gap and Uniqlo are the uniforms of the working class. While they are not forced to wear these mass brands they are economically restricted to unadorned options.

The worker's uniform is a sign of submission. The worker must submit all desire and individuality to less than attractive clothing. It aims to make them invisible, as if to hide their work from the leisure class. But the uniformed worker is a moment of truth of capitalism, the dark shadow of self-directed desire fulfillment as contingent on the oppression of others.

Jeff Wall, Cleaning Man at Barcelona Pavilion, 1999

Design Find: Website Book Covers

French graphic designer Retrofuturs imagines the past, present, and future colliding to create an uncanny-yet-familar set of images. I find his play on website "vintage book covers" intriguing...do you see these as a social/political act? What is the message here?

::Find more of his work on Flickr!