> A lot has been said about the power of clothes, especially by young starlets with fledgling fashion lines who always give the requisite “I just love how clothes can transform you!” kind of speech in interviews, which is so cliché, but also true (I guess all clichés start out as truths?). It’s easy to dismiss fashion as frivolous and blah blah, especially if you’re only thinking about it in terms of “Models! Designers! Vogue!” But there’s so much more to it than that. In a world where–for better and worse–we are instantly judged by our appearance, clothes can be an armour or maybe even a traffic light, letting other people know whether they can approach you, or if they should proceed with caution or just stay the hell away.
> This is especially true when life gets hard. Not necessarily bad hard, just difficult—like looking for a new job or giving a presentation at school or going to a party where you know your ex AND their new significant other will be present. We all have our tricks for dealing with this stuff—meditation, exercise, junk food and reruns of Parks and Rec all work, sure, but when we have to leave our solitary fortresses and deal with other human people there is one last line of defense, the clothes we put on.
> And this is where POWER DRESSING comes in. For some of you, “power dressing” might conjure images of businesswomen in the 1980s wearing their gray skirt suits with football-player-size shoulder pads, nude stockings, and white sneakers (because they change into their POWER PUMPS at the office), but that’s only because we’ve been reading too many fashion magazines and watching too many ’80s girl-power movies (not that this is a bad thing). POWER dressing is really just the way we seek/express confidence, protection, or whatever through the things we choose to wear. Sort of in the same way that you’ll listen to Fiona Apple if you’re bummed on life and listen to Beyoncé when you’re getting ready to go out with your friends; they’re all extensions of the self you are creating right at that moment.
> Think of whatever your favorite garment or accessory is. Why is it your favourite? Whether it’s because it’s a hand-me-down from your grandmother or because something awesome happened one time while you were wearing it, you are deriving a certain kind of energy from it and therefore it gives you power. The first time I saw Interpol live, I went with this boy that I really liked, and I was really excited ’cause I thought maybe the date meant that he liked me too. It snowed the whole day, and when we were walking to the venue we were basically falling every three steps because it was so slippery, and then we were laughing so hard, which wasn’t helping with the falling. The show was totally magic, and at the end of the night the boy drove me home and said something off-hand about how he had told his aunt he was “seeing someone” (this would be me). We went back to my house and just fell asleep on the couch watching Iron Chef reruns, and I was the happiest I had ever been. I bought a shirt at that show, a red muscle tee that said INTERPOL in big block letters. I wore the shirt every day for like a week with black skinny jeans and my Converse because I wanted to hold on to the magic of that night—but also because something about that T-shirt symbolized this new powerful person that I had always wanted to be and that I was slowly becoming. OK, and also I was basically dressing like a member of the Strokes. I loved the Strokes.
> Different situations call for different solutions, and some of them require more drastic solutions than others. The gathering of energy starts with your very first layer, aka underwear. I have a red lace bra that I bought mostly because Deb wears one in Empire Records, and she is super badass. So now any time I need a little extra sass, the red bra goes on. I mean if Deb just shaved her head at work like it was no big deal, then what wonders will it do for me?
> Your actual clothes are the second layer. There are basic-level “foolproof” pieces for different occasions: e.g., the super-fitted blazer I wear to job interviews, the platform oxfords I wear when I’m channeling Robyn to tell the world “Don’t fucking tell me what to do,” and the long dresses I wear when I play with my band because for some reason I feel safe in them.These are my safety nets, though they might not seem like “safe choices” to everyone else. That’s another way I used clothes to give me that last li’l bit of a power push—I feel stronger when I know that I’m wearing exactly what I want without giving in to the whole “but what would people say?” voice that clouds so much of our decision making (in clothes, yes, but also life). Although so often “omg I could NEVER wear what you wear” is undermine-y and totally gross, there is a certain satisfaction to be derived from knowing that you are 100% confident and comfortable in yourself and your tastes.
- Laia Garcia
xxxxx x x xxxxx
> The thing is, fashion is a rotten, rotten business. Tough. Full of compromises and shallow values. Designers complain, rightly, that they don’t have enough time to design. The world is awash in goods.
> Psychologically, then, couture is necessary, maybe more than ever. In the 1970s and ’80s, its relevance was challenged by one hostile or indifferent group after another, though mainly working women who didn’t have time for all that froufrou.
> Now, though, couture seems like paradise — a think tank but way more fun. Best of all, it’s not for everyone.
> Last week, when Mr. Lagerfeld admitted that it was difficult for him to describe couture, I was surprised. Mr. Lagerfeld at a loss for words? But then I appreciated that he didn’t try. The fashion world suffers from a twin compulsion to define a thing (as “modern,” etc.) and then to rave about it idiotically. And couture resists the tight clothes that people want to give it.
> Of course such work is incredibly costly, but in a way that’s beside the point. Because what you’re buying is a sensibility, and that’s truly scarce.
- via
x x xxxxx x x
> Both the digital era and a renewed reverence for the work of human hands have undermined the original Modernist stand. And now that the paintings of Italian futurists are hanging on the walls of the Museo del Novecento in Milan, artists have to find a new way of proclaiming that the future is now.
> Mr. Lagerfeld’s offhand minimalism was summed up by a black top and skirt where inserts of white cloth, shadowed by yellow and by tan leather, nonchalantly spelled “F” for Fendi. No logo mania here — just an example of über-craftsmanship.
> This was stealth wealth presented in the most tasteful and imaginative way. For Mr. Maier long ago understood that bling-bling was for the nouveau riche and that quality, perfection and detail were the real luxury in the modern era.
- via
> This is especially true when life gets hard. Not necessarily bad hard, just difficult—like looking for a new job or giving a presentation at school or going to a party where you know your ex AND their new significant other will be present. We all have our tricks for dealing with this stuff—meditation, exercise, junk food and reruns of Parks and Rec all work, sure, but when we have to leave our solitary fortresses and deal with other human people there is one last line of defense, the clothes we put on.
> And this is where POWER DRESSING comes in. For some of you, “power dressing” might conjure images of businesswomen in the 1980s wearing their gray skirt suits with football-player-size shoulder pads, nude stockings, and white sneakers (because they change into their POWER PUMPS at the office), but that’s only because we’ve been reading too many fashion magazines and watching too many ’80s girl-power movies (not that this is a bad thing). POWER dressing is really just the way we seek/express confidence, protection, or whatever through the things we choose to wear. Sort of in the same way that you’ll listen to Fiona Apple if you’re bummed on life and listen to Beyoncé when you’re getting ready to go out with your friends; they’re all extensions of the self you are creating right at that moment.
> Think of whatever your favorite garment or accessory is. Why is it your favourite? Whether it’s because it’s a hand-me-down from your grandmother or because something awesome happened one time while you were wearing it, you are deriving a certain kind of energy from it and therefore it gives you power. The first time I saw Interpol live, I went with this boy that I really liked, and I was really excited ’cause I thought maybe the date meant that he liked me too. It snowed the whole day, and when we were walking to the venue we were basically falling every three steps because it was so slippery, and then we were laughing so hard, which wasn’t helping with the falling. The show was totally magic, and at the end of the night the boy drove me home and said something off-hand about how he had told his aunt he was “seeing someone” (this would be me). We went back to my house and just fell asleep on the couch watching Iron Chef reruns, and I was the happiest I had ever been. I bought a shirt at that show, a red muscle tee that said INTERPOL in big block letters. I wore the shirt every day for like a week with black skinny jeans and my Converse because I wanted to hold on to the magic of that night—but also because something about that T-shirt symbolized this new powerful person that I had always wanted to be and that I was slowly becoming. OK, and also I was basically dressing like a member of the Strokes. I loved the Strokes.
> Different situations call for different solutions, and some of them require more drastic solutions than others. The gathering of energy starts with your very first layer, aka underwear. I have a red lace bra that I bought mostly because Deb wears one in Empire Records, and she is super badass. So now any time I need a little extra sass, the red bra goes on. I mean if Deb just shaved her head at work like it was no big deal, then what wonders will it do for me?
> Your actual clothes are the second layer. There are basic-level “foolproof” pieces for different occasions: e.g., the super-fitted blazer I wear to job interviews, the platform oxfords I wear when I’m channeling Robyn to tell the world “Don’t fucking tell me what to do,” and the long dresses I wear when I play with my band because for some reason I feel safe in them.These are my safety nets, though they might not seem like “safe choices” to everyone else. That’s another way I used clothes to give me that last li’l bit of a power push—I feel stronger when I know that I’m wearing exactly what I want without giving in to the whole “but what would people say?” voice that clouds so much of our decision making (in clothes, yes, but also life). Although so often “omg I could NEVER wear what you wear” is undermine-y and totally gross, there is a certain satisfaction to be derived from knowing that you are 100% confident and comfortable in yourself and your tastes.
- Laia Garcia
xxxxx x x xxxxx
> The thing is, fashion is a rotten, rotten business. Tough. Full of compromises and shallow values. Designers complain, rightly, that they don’t have enough time to design. The world is awash in goods.
> Psychologically, then, couture is necessary, maybe more than ever. In the 1970s and ’80s, its relevance was challenged by one hostile or indifferent group after another, though mainly working women who didn’t have time for all that froufrou.
> Now, though, couture seems like paradise — a think tank but way more fun. Best of all, it’s not for everyone.
> Last week, when Mr. Lagerfeld admitted that it was difficult for him to describe couture, I was surprised. Mr. Lagerfeld at a loss for words? But then I appreciated that he didn’t try. The fashion world suffers from a twin compulsion to define a thing (as “modern,” etc.) and then to rave about it idiotically. And couture resists the tight clothes that people want to give it.
> Of course such work is incredibly costly, but in a way that’s beside the point. Because what you’re buying is a sensibility, and that’s truly scarce.
- via
x x xxxxx x x
> Both the digital era and a renewed reverence for the work of human hands have undermined the original Modernist stand. And now that the paintings of Italian futurists are hanging on the walls of the Museo del Novecento in Milan, artists have to find a new way of proclaiming that the future is now.
> Mr. Lagerfeld’s offhand minimalism was summed up by a black top and skirt where inserts of white cloth, shadowed by yellow and by tan leather, nonchalantly spelled “F” for Fendi. No logo mania here — just an example of über-craftsmanship.
> This was stealth wealth presented in the most tasteful and imaginative way. For Mr. Maier long ago understood that bling-bling was for the nouveau riche and that quality, perfection and detail were the real luxury in the modern era.
- via
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