fashion

6 March 20166 March 2016

I’ve spent the last couple of years taking a greater interest in dressing well — which has morphed into a greater interest in style — which has morphed into a greater interest in fashion — which is something I’ve never understood. Though, finally, I’m beginning to. I think.

There have been scattered moments in my life where I had a well-defined personal style, my curated EDM-hippy vibe in high school (neon-printed rayon shirts that glowed under blacklight and vintage pants), proto-Zuckerbergian basic neutral normcore for post-collegiate office work (khakis, grey t‑shirts, blue button-downs), to my current urban yuppie professor dad steez (ubiquitous corduroy jacket, flat-brimmed hat, worn-in selvedge, high tops).

If I had to assign three major qualities to clothes they would be material utility (what’s it used for?), quality (how well is it made?), and communication (what does it mean to wear it?). Traditionally, I barely cared about any of these — although utility would be the closest, which is the status quo for most folks (men especially). I would buy the cheapest clothes that would serve the greatest number of purposes and cared nothing about fit, provenance, appearance or style. So the world of high fashion seemed completely ludicrous to me. I never consciously considered that clothing could be art.

I am a person who appreciates the well-crafted. I eventually grew tired of buying cheap clothes that don’t fit my proportions and disintegrated after a wash or two. I’ve sought well-crafted, American-made clothing for the last 2 years, and through the research in and appreciation of that craft, I’ve been able to look to the next step to see fashion as art. The utility might be non-existent — but there’s no utility to visual art, music, or creative writing either. I’m talking material utility, not social utility.

So now I pay attention to my own dress, to the dress of others’, and to some extent what’s abuzz in fashion because I took the time to learn the language & what I say by the way I dress. A lot of it still seems like nonsense to me, but I’m willing to attribute that to my ignorance. Here’s to further learning.