what circumstances really irk you? dropping litter is the height of arrogance, i think. i do let people know if i think they have perhaps 'dropped something'. and i do tend to judge people by the absence or arrival of a thank-you card. i know they are perhaps considered rather quaint and out-moded, but i really do stand by the sending of a handwritten, rather than an emailed, thanks for a meal or a gift. we are so spoilt in this industry that we should acknowledge gratitude when fitting. i know it's pretty severe and i don't like myself for doing it, but my views on people definitely become tainted by the lack of thanks on paper.
..my manners are getting more exaggerated as i get older. i see myself getting annoyed at the most ridiculous things: sniffing, chewing gum, slow hand-claps, sour faces. it's definitely getting worse. i'm morphing into my parents.
- Julie Verhoeven, p28
i have so many friends that are single - really intelligent women that are attractive in every single way - who are unable to commit to men. i worry that women are becoming so independent and dominant that they are losing any sense of softness or acceptance. i sometimes have to ask myself: 'what do i want to be, right or happy?' our expectations of men are becoming supersonic. these women expect someone that looks like Brad Pitt, with the brains and creativity of Lucian Freud, and they think these qualities will merge together into someone who will love them and be totally accepting of all of their weaknesses. it's just not going to fucking happen! the one thing i learnt from my mother, who is lucky to still be with the love of her life, is just not to ask for too much.
- Phoebe Philo, p53
i picked works by artists that were influential to me, pieces that are radical, strong, scary and minimal. i love Minimalism, so Malevich is my man. and because there never are women in exhibitions, i chose two gian Giacometti females. these sculptures stand guard by the entrance to the exhibition. and i picked a crying Picasso woman and a raped Picasso woman, because rape always is around.
rape, and violence to women in general, is also one of your major subjects. where does that come from? from some personal history and from horrible general knowledge. people talk about rape, but little is done. rape as a weapon of war is routine, as is domestic criminal assault.
some of your Truisms were sadly prophetic. like PEOPLE ARE NUTS IF THEY THINK THEY ARE IMPORTANT. yes, funny, i wish more bloggers would remember it.
- Jenny Holzer, p109
via issue no.1 - Spring Summer 2010, The Gentlewoman magazine
'what is neo-camouflage?'
the camouflage hysteria of the 90s was intimately linked to the symbols of street culture. when the pattern shows up on the catwalks of the new decade, it serves quite another function. the camouflage at Prada's pre-autumn show was never threatening; it was more of a psychedleic pattern on skirts and 60s-influenced suits pared with knit jumpers. Junya Watanabe's autumn collection was full of boots and military references, balanced by the romanticism of tulle skirts, feminine dresses made of slinky materials and light, frizzy hair. Dries Van Noten put camouflage on smart pantsuits and coats, mixing it with leopard-skin patterns and sweatshirt material. take a closer look at his silk camouflage prints: they are made up of floewrs.
in much the same way as the conservative, suit-wearing woman who dominates this autumn's fashion is only apparently traditional, camouflage has shifted into new contexts and become something brand new.
camouflage patterns are said to have been inspired by artistic movements like Cubism and Vorticism. many artists, including Grant Wood, were put to work camouflaging military vehicles during World War 1. the pattern did not appear on uniforms until World War 2.
- p32
'is there sex in unisex?'
there's a sensualism in the clothes themselves which has nothing to do with the body of the person wearing them, says designer Rad Hourani. when i'm designing, i try to work around the class ready-to-wear rules that tell us men and women should have different approaches to clothes. ..Rad Hourani breathes new life into the concept of unisex: his clothes don't make men look feminine, nor is he trying to make boys out of women. he designs for people, not a specific gender. in his own words, a Rad Hourani person is someone who, like him, 'doesn't see themself as a man or a woman, and looks beyond all demographic categories.'
- p34
she has been a chambermaid who documented hotel guest's possessions. she was followed by a private detective, hired by her mother upon her request. Paul Auster immortalised her in a novel. most recently, she asked a variety of women to interpret a break-up email she received from her ex-lover. Sophie Calle personifies voyeurism; her practice for the past 30 years explores the traces we create in our daily lives. obsessed by relationships - the ones we have with others and with ourselves - Calle puts the social customs we develop over time under the microscope. blurring the line between truth and fiction, private and public, she presents her photographs and accompanying text formulaically, like criminal evidence for us, the jurors, to decipher.
i wanted a love letter, but he would not write one to me. one day, i saw the word 'Sophie' written at the top of a piece of stationery. this gave me hope. two months after our wedding, i noticed the edge of a piece of paper sticking out from under his typewriter. i pulled it toward me. the last line of the letter apeared: 'my confession is last night, i kissed the envelope with your letter and photo.' i continued to read, in reverse: 'you asked me once if i believed in love at first sight. did i ever answer you?' at the top of the page i noticed these words were not addressed to me but to a letter 'H'. i crossed out the 'H' and replaced it with an 'S'. this became the letter i had never received.
- 142
i was thirty, and my father thought i had bad breath. he made an appointment for me with a doctor whom he assured was a general practitioner. however, when i arrived at his office, i immediately realised that he was a psychoanalyst. given the hostility my father always expressed towards this profession, i was surprised.
'there must be some mistake,' i said. 'my father is convinced i have bad breath and he sent me to a GP.'
the man replied: 'do you always do what your father tells you to do?' and so i became his patient.
- p146
via issue no.18 - Autumn Winter 2010-11, Bon magazine
'the politics of the future and the transgressions of the past'
we had a lot of illusions about the possibilities for women in the Fifties and Sixtires, and although we couldn't possibly foresee the future, the fact that we had dreams and ideas to focus on was brilliant. i am still propelled by ideas, even though it's harder now because people have become so cynical about politics, but it's so important for young women to have dreams and aspirations. it focuses you.
..i have always been quite interested in clothes, coming from Leeds. i think some feminists believe that women shouldn't be interested in fashion, but i don't think that at all. i find conventions in fashion hilarious, though. particularly men in skirts - i don't see why it's such a big deal! what about kilts? and not to mention the fact that priests walk around in floor-length dresses all day long. one thing i do worry about with the fashion industry is the anorexic models - it seems like a pretty tortuous career. i'm not sure what the actual steps are to help combat it, but i find it quite frightening.
- Sheila Rowbotham, p8
via issue no.1 - Autumn Winter 2009-10, Twin magazine
it was at university studying politics that i had my feminist light bulb moment. i had gone to a state girls school, and as soon as i got to university sexism hit me like a brick wall. i realised there were these huge issues, but no one would talk about them because we are supposedly living in a post-feminist world. there are all these questions: why are eating disorders so prevalent? why are most politicians men? why are so many women in this country being raped? yet we're told that women and men are equal now.
there have been massive gains in feminism over the last 40 years, in the workplace and in terms of legal equality, but we have still got to unpick some parts of our culutre and attitudes. we must remember how new these advances are: women have been treated as second class citizens for millenia. for example, it's only since 1991 that it has been illegal for a husband to rape his wife. so we're very early on the process of undoing all this.
- Kat Banyard, p8
via issue no.2 - Spring Summer 2010, Twin magazine
..my manners are getting more exaggerated as i get older. i see myself getting annoyed at the most ridiculous things: sniffing, chewing gum, slow hand-claps, sour faces. it's definitely getting worse. i'm morphing into my parents.
- Julie Verhoeven, p28
i have so many friends that are single - really intelligent women that are attractive in every single way - who are unable to commit to men. i worry that women are becoming so independent and dominant that they are losing any sense of softness or acceptance. i sometimes have to ask myself: 'what do i want to be, right or happy?' our expectations of men are becoming supersonic. these women expect someone that looks like Brad Pitt, with the brains and creativity of Lucian Freud, and they think these qualities will merge together into someone who will love them and be totally accepting of all of their weaknesses. it's just not going to fucking happen! the one thing i learnt from my mother, who is lucky to still be with the love of her life, is just not to ask for too much.
- Phoebe Philo, p53
i picked works by artists that were influential to me, pieces that are radical, strong, scary and minimal. i love Minimalism, so Malevich is my man. and because there never are women in exhibitions, i chose two gian Giacometti females. these sculptures stand guard by the entrance to the exhibition. and i picked a crying Picasso woman and a raped Picasso woman, because rape always is around.
rape, and violence to women in general, is also one of your major subjects. where does that come from? from some personal history and from horrible general knowledge. people talk about rape, but little is done. rape as a weapon of war is routine, as is domestic criminal assault.
some of your Truisms were sadly prophetic. like PEOPLE ARE NUTS IF THEY THINK THEY ARE IMPORTANT. yes, funny, i wish more bloggers would remember it.
- Jenny Holzer, p109
via issue no.1 - Spring Summer 2010, The Gentlewoman magazine
'what is neo-camouflage?'
the camouflage hysteria of the 90s was intimately linked to the symbols of street culture. when the pattern shows up on the catwalks of the new decade, it serves quite another function. the camouflage at Prada's pre-autumn show was never threatening; it was more of a psychedleic pattern on skirts and 60s-influenced suits pared with knit jumpers. Junya Watanabe's autumn collection was full of boots and military references, balanced by the romanticism of tulle skirts, feminine dresses made of slinky materials and light, frizzy hair. Dries Van Noten put camouflage on smart pantsuits and coats, mixing it with leopard-skin patterns and sweatshirt material. take a closer look at his silk camouflage prints: they are made up of floewrs.
in much the same way as the conservative, suit-wearing woman who dominates this autumn's fashion is only apparently traditional, camouflage has shifted into new contexts and become something brand new.
camouflage patterns are said to have been inspired by artistic movements like Cubism and Vorticism. many artists, including Grant Wood, were put to work camouflaging military vehicles during World War 1. the pattern did not appear on uniforms until World War 2.
- p32
'is there sex in unisex?'
there's a sensualism in the clothes themselves which has nothing to do with the body of the person wearing them, says designer Rad Hourani. when i'm designing, i try to work around the class ready-to-wear rules that tell us men and women should have different approaches to clothes. ..Rad Hourani breathes new life into the concept of unisex: his clothes don't make men look feminine, nor is he trying to make boys out of women. he designs for people, not a specific gender. in his own words, a Rad Hourani person is someone who, like him, 'doesn't see themself as a man or a woman, and looks beyond all demographic categories.'
- p34
she has been a chambermaid who documented hotel guest's possessions. she was followed by a private detective, hired by her mother upon her request. Paul Auster immortalised her in a novel. most recently, she asked a variety of women to interpret a break-up email she received from her ex-lover. Sophie Calle personifies voyeurism; her practice for the past 30 years explores the traces we create in our daily lives. obsessed by relationships - the ones we have with others and with ourselves - Calle puts the social customs we develop over time under the microscope. blurring the line between truth and fiction, private and public, she presents her photographs and accompanying text formulaically, like criminal evidence for us, the jurors, to decipher.
i wanted a love letter, but he would not write one to me. one day, i saw the word 'Sophie' written at the top of a piece of stationery. this gave me hope. two months after our wedding, i noticed the edge of a piece of paper sticking out from under his typewriter. i pulled it toward me. the last line of the letter apeared: 'my confession is last night, i kissed the envelope with your letter and photo.' i continued to read, in reverse: 'you asked me once if i believed in love at first sight. did i ever answer you?' at the top of the page i noticed these words were not addressed to me but to a letter 'H'. i crossed out the 'H' and replaced it with an 'S'. this became the letter i had never received.
- 142
i was thirty, and my father thought i had bad breath. he made an appointment for me with a doctor whom he assured was a general practitioner. however, when i arrived at his office, i immediately realised that he was a psychoanalyst. given the hostility my father always expressed towards this profession, i was surprised.
'there must be some mistake,' i said. 'my father is convinced i have bad breath and he sent me to a GP.'
the man replied: 'do you always do what your father tells you to do?' and so i became his patient.
- p146
via issue no.18 - Autumn Winter 2010-11, Bon magazine
'the politics of the future and the transgressions of the past'
we had a lot of illusions about the possibilities for women in the Fifties and Sixtires, and although we couldn't possibly foresee the future, the fact that we had dreams and ideas to focus on was brilliant. i am still propelled by ideas, even though it's harder now because people have become so cynical about politics, but it's so important for young women to have dreams and aspirations. it focuses you.
..i have always been quite interested in clothes, coming from Leeds. i think some feminists believe that women shouldn't be interested in fashion, but i don't think that at all. i find conventions in fashion hilarious, though. particularly men in skirts - i don't see why it's such a big deal! what about kilts? and not to mention the fact that priests walk around in floor-length dresses all day long. one thing i do worry about with the fashion industry is the anorexic models - it seems like a pretty tortuous career. i'm not sure what the actual steps are to help combat it, but i find it quite frightening.
- Sheila Rowbotham, p8
via issue no.1 - Autumn Winter 2009-10, Twin magazine
it was at university studying politics that i had my feminist light bulb moment. i had gone to a state girls school, and as soon as i got to university sexism hit me like a brick wall. i realised there were these huge issues, but no one would talk about them because we are supposedly living in a post-feminist world. there are all these questions: why are eating disorders so prevalent? why are most politicians men? why are so many women in this country being raped? yet we're told that women and men are equal now.
there have been massive gains in feminism over the last 40 years, in the workplace and in terms of legal equality, but we have still got to unpick some parts of our culutre and attitudes. we must remember how new these advances are: women have been treated as second class citizens for millenia. for example, it's only since 1991 that it has been illegal for a husband to rape his wife. so we're very early on the process of undoing all this.
- Kat Banyard, p8
via issue no.2 - Spring Summer 2010, Twin magazine
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