Charlize Week 1: Talk to me in "Dressing Well"
I was watching a video made by CJ the X about Jordan Peterson’s trashy suits, specifically the “Heaven and Hell” suit that just looked ridiculous despite a seemingly large amount of effort put into it, and came to the realization of how entwined dress and culture is.
Credits to @jordan.b.peterson on Instagram
"JBP in his custom Heaven and Hell suit. The blue fabric is made from sheep wool and the red fabric is made from goat wool."
In the video, professional menswear critic Derek Guy addresses people who put on slapdash outfits with a quote that completely changed my views on fashion: “You have to form a sentence to communicate something, and you can be creative with the way that you compose that sentence, but it still has to be somewhat culturally legible.” The way people dress is often associated with their passions and social identity, and those who have a "good taste" are able to clearly articulate who they are culturally.
As someone who never understood how my friends effortlessly put on good outfits, it was enlightening to come to this understanding. Looking for one or two articles of clothing that appeals to me won’t help me in creating an outfit that “looks good” when I’m practically wandering around aimlessly. Instead of focusing on clothes I like, it would be easier for me to focus on who I am socially and culturally, then emulating those styles in my dress. In the Bay Area, athleisure and jeans are the basics for most people, demonstrating the laid-back culture as compared with fashion capitals New York and Paris. Yet, as someone who is pretty entangled with East-Asian media, I’ve grown a preference for the dainty and feminine styles that many women wear on the opposite end of the globe—the way I dress outside of school is reflective of my background and aesthetic preference.
Of course, not every outfit needs to be meticulously selected or that you can’t just wear things you like. However, even though “art is subjective”, dress being so deeply tied with community means there are still societal standards that need to be followed. You can dress for yourself however you’d like, but you can’t claim to be “dressed well” when others don’t share the same sentiment. CJ the X explains how Peterson’s two-toned suit was based on his book 12 Rules For Life which made it special to him, but he looks like “Batman Villain” rather than an educator, proving the suit as socially illegible and making Peterson look quite...foolish.
Credits to super-villain.fandom.com
"Batman Villain" is a reference to Harvey Dent or "Two Face" from the DC Comics franchise.
Hi Charlize! I love the idea of dressing style as a different kind of language; I have to admit that while I’ve known that how you dress is representative of your own personal style and preferences, I’ve never actively thought of clothing as a form of cultural communication. I also agree with the idea that an outfit isn’t automatically considered “good” just because the wearer themselves likes it—it also matters how others perceive that outfit. This actually connects to something I heard recently: in some cultures, revealing clothing is considered to be shameful, while in other cultures, it is perfectly acceptable. No one culture is the “right” one, it’s just a matter of perspective and how each individual perceives that outfit within the context of their own preferences.
ReplyDeleteFor this reason, I believe that as long as you feel comfortable in your choice of clothing (provided that the outfit isn’t discriminatory towards anyone or totally inappropriate for the current situation), others’ opinions don’t have to dictate your choices, but they can have an impact on how your style is understood. Our personal style is exactly that—ours, and it’s important that we keep it that way by expressing ourselves in whatever way that we feel most confident.
I love this! I feel like a lot of people disregard fashion as a medium when considering the arts in general. In reality, fashion and couture is actually a beautiful form of self-expression. What is displayed on the runway often distills into pop culture and everyday wear. Even someone's atrocious fashion (see: Jordan Peterson) says something about them and how they want to present themselves to the world. Fashion changes with the times, from traditional sundresses and suits of the 1950s to the y2k fashion of the early 2000s. They're all indicative of cultural, political, and social shifts. There's a creator on Instagram that makes content about fashion and how it relates to the economy, like how an increase in trendiness of office/work wear has historically been a recession indicator.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's not to mention how fashion changes as you cross borders: from France to America to Vietnam, every country has their own history, which affects their culture, which in turn affects their clothing. But with an increasing amount of globalization following the advent of social media, I'd like to believe we've formed a kind of "global culture." Whether a designer implements a Japanese design adopted from China or modernizes traditional wear from their own culture, fashion has become a veritable melting pot. It's become easier than ever to express yourself in an infinite number of ways, and I personally love to see so many cultures represented in a single garment.
Hey Charlize! Yes!! I agree that fashion is such a great way not only to express oneself, but to also learn more about anybody's interests, whether it be a character from a novel, or a random color they like. I can totally relate to you, and a lot of us potentially do, because there's such a wide variety of styles that it can even be challenging to stick to one temporarily. Though, it's kind of saddening to see how some people solely follow clothing styles because it's mainstream at the moment (no hate to anyone who does this! I just want to address people who feel obligated to dress in a certain type of way because they believe that's the only acceptable way to express themselves) without taking into consideration what THEY want to wear. Fashion used to be an expression, a hint at someone's personal tastes. But now, young teenagers are caught up in being performative, which totally ruins the idea of fashion and expression in the first place!
ReplyDeleteI completely relate to you in the struggle of finding your own style; I used to expand my horizons by scrolling through Pinterest and finding cute outfits that appealed to me, yet it created another problem for me because of money and body variability (How was your journey in finding your style? What were the challenges you faced? Did u relate to any of my issues?) All in all, this is not me arguing for anyone to find a style asap, and certainly not for anyone to stick to one style if they don't choose to. Clothing style can also be ever-changing! Thank you Charlize for your blog, and I hope we can discuss about our interests in fashion together!