doing fashion wrong

[anotheranon]

For all my love of clothes and dressing up, I never really got the hang of "fashion". Indeed, I think it's taken most of my dressing-myself life to figure out that the way I defined "fashion" is rather different from the way others do.

I started dreaming about working in the fashion industry when I was 14 or so. In my mind it was a glamorous alternative to the same ol', same ol' everyday wear I saw where I grew up in the suburbs, a place where not only would my versions of goth/punk/new wave/indie (and I use the slashes purposefully - I've danced around with many subcultures but never got the uniform for a single one "correct") fashion would be appropriate but also welcome, where I'd be surrounded by kindred spirits who saw clothes as toys, and the latest trends as a list of possibilities rather than mandates.

College was a welcome respite from trying to keep up with either the mainstream or alternate fashion worlds, and the fact that I didn't mind that should have been a clue that maybe I didn't need to be in the fashion industry. Starting my fashion merchandising major didn't clue me in either - I read fashion history and the like as "5000 years of MORE toys, oh my!"

It wasn't still I started working retail that I realized that many (if not most) people define "fashion" as "keeping up with the Joneses" or "telling the Joneses what to wear next".

Even most subcultural styles are about uniformity - goths don't wear white; ravers don't wear skinny jeans :P

Reading of the snarks over Amanda Palmer's hairy pits or Something Out of Nothing's complaint that most fashion blogs dwell on mainstream feminine looks and little else highlights that fashion is also about enforcing conventional (thin, straight, white, hairless) femininity.

And while I recognize that the fashion industry is in the business of selling stuff, and stuff wouldn't sell if everyone was happy with what they had, it still all comes off as junior high-style snobbiness in a way :P

That it took me this long to figure it out is no surprise because it the only alternative to keeping up seems to be not caring at all: casual sweats forever, or wearing the same stuff you wore in your 20s until it falls apart and then bitching that you can't find it anymore :P Whereas I like change and new things but am leaning more towards additive gender dandy than anything else.

This is why I love costume :)

Comments

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

It's only been the last few years that I've felt comfortable enough in my skin to wear the clothes I really want to wear. Plus, I can finally afford them.

I like stompy boots, fishnets, and miniskirts and for about a month in the spring and fall I can actually even wear them to work. (Then the office gets too cold and I have to bundle up again.)

I'm still perfecting my non-office look. In some ways that's harder because that is truly just dressing for myself. It feels weird to pull on fishnets for a trip to the grocery store but I really like how I look in a baby doll T, stompy boots, and one of my flouncy minis.

I'm so glad I found steampunk as it gives me an outlet for some of my creativity!

[ellid.livejournal.com]

I wish I had half your nerve...then again, I actually *like* a tailored blazer, jeans, and a t-shirt or knitted shell. Makes me wonder if Mum was scared by a Talbot's catalog.....

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

You've never seen the truly bad days! I keep a pair of shoes at the office because one day I went into work wearing two different shoes. They were both loafers but one was navy and one brown. I'd put them on with the light off as S. was still sleeping so as not to disturb him.

Not to mention the crazy and/or mismatched sock days! Or the outfits whose sole purpose is to keep me from freezing. ;-p

I really put forth an effort at SCA and fan events because I know people will be paying attention. At work, not so much. I've been the only person to notice co-workers who wore the same outfit on consecutive days. (It was to see if anyone was paying attention. I was it! ;-p)

Tailored stuff is nice! You should've seen me as a teen. I had a whole row of pencil skirts with matching jackets and pumps. I mostly wore them to church but would've worn them to school if anyone at all had been wearing anything other than jeans and t-shirts. Gotta love farm/military communities for complete lack of fashion sense! ;-p

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

See, one of my "to make" items is a quality pencil skirt. I love the look but was always scared of it (how to walk in it, nowhere to wear it, etc.), but branching out is good :)

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Makes me wonder if Mum was scared by a Talbot's catalog..... :D

Hey, there's nothing wrong with liking the classics! Or fringe/subcultural styles, or not being interested in fashion at all. I just think there's no need to restrict oneself if you don't want to!

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Affordability is a big factor - even "ordinary" clothes aren't cheap, so trying something different is more than just sartorially risky.

I hear you re: the days off look. I got inspired to branch out more with my work wardrobe by Fashion for Nerds (http://geekthreads.blogspot.com/), but on weekends where I'm not going anywhere more special than the grocery I wear the same pair of sweats for 2 days :P

[ellid.livejournal.com]

I'm not a big fan of the Dresden Dolls, but if not shaving one's armpits lands a fiancee as talented and good looking as Neil Gaiman, then clearly Amanda Palmer is doing something right.

Just saying.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

I had never heard of Palmer until she and Gaiman were an item, but having read her blog post I admire her for sticking to her own style. Personally I think that flapper-esque dress is fantastic!

[semmie17.livejournal.com]

Thanks for introducing me to Amanda Palmer! She rocks!

I like black jeans, stompy boots, and purple shirts and I tend to wear some combination of that except in the summer when it's really hot. Then, it's a skort, Vans, and... a purple shirt. I wore Prada and Armani in the late 80's early 90's until I was liberated by the poverty of graduate school.

That's one great thing about being a professor... once you have tenure, you can wear just about whatever you fucking well want. :ppppppppp

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I read a few fashion blogs geared towards academics and more than one fears that their interest in fashion might cause them to be taken less seriously (http://fashionableacademics.blogspot.com/2009/12/open-forum-on-perils-of-fashion.html). Mind, I know anecdote != data and I don't know whether they're tenured or not and it might vary by school, discipline etc. so YMMV.

[semmie17.livejournal.com]

It does vary by school and discipline, even by department. In Canada, at Lethbridge, all the professors wore suits to teach, regardless of gender. Suits and ties for the men, and business blouses and suits with professional heels for the women.

At Michigan State, it totally varied, but I saw more of jeans-n-polo shirts being worn, with a very casual atmosphere.

Here at Northern, it's sort of in the middle -- Dockers and button-up shirts, but not too many ties. I wear black jeans and shirts, reserving blue jeans for Fridays, but I know other profs who wear suits all day long (both genders) and others who wear only blue jeans and t-shirts. I think it depends on how much authority you are trying to exude -- I have a very aggressive, powerful personality, so I try to dress down and a bit more feminine to buffer my classroom impression. My friend Lys, who is all of 4'11"... dresses in high heels and business suits, because she says otherwise students think she's a child and don't take her seriously.

I think the Wondering-how-fellow-faculty-take-you is more for the first couple of years, until you've proven yourself and/or get tenure. Then it's all about reaching out to the students, and creating your impression with them. IMHO, YMMV, etc.

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

One thing I love about only reading magazines aimed at sewers and knitters, instead of the mainstream so-called "women's" magazines, is that they're all over the map ... more concerned with the joy of creation than what's supposedly in fashion. Quite frankly, I haven't a clue what's actually supposed to be "in" these days, other than being in love with the current trend among knitters for fraternal twin socks (as opposed to the identical twins sold in shops). :-)

[glitter-femme.livejournal.com]

Mmm additive gender dandy.