The Clothes Maiden Feature

I was recently approached by The Clothes Maiden, an independent British magazine, to do an Outfit of the Day feature and interview. Such an exciting and flattering opportunity. Thank you to all at The Clothes Maiden - I feel honored.

If you'd like to take a look and read the full interview, the magazine's website is here: http://www.theclothesmaiden.com
And- here's a direct link to my feature in the latest publication: http://issuu.com/theclothesmaiden/docs/tcm12/15

I've been a baaaad lady when it comes to updating - but I sense that I will be getting better at tending this blog in the upcoming months. To whomever visits this space: thank you for your patience.

a myth

lipstick (lipstick queen in medieval), sunglasses (spitfire), choker (repurposed tory burch wraparound bracelet; borrowed from mom), top (thrifted), jeans (madewell), shoes (topshop), bag (gift; old)

Today's outfit is built on tension: the tug of war between a studded choker and an ornate, antiquated collar, or the fleshy gap between cuffed, light-washed denim and heeled ankle booties. Combining pieces that embody conflicting demands feels right to me- almost as if the outfit becomes more productive in doing so. Productive in the sense that I feel as though the aforementioned details are in conversation with one another to some sort of transformative end. When I put on these clothes, it's not that I become someone else, but that I am now the kind of the person who wears this outfit. 

I used to get so down on myself because I didn't feel as though I had any discernible and unified 'style.' I don't value that as much anymore.

being as playing a role

blouse (h&m), tie (etsy), cardigan (anthropologie), skirt (j.crew - old), shoes (doc martens)

I felt like it was only appropriate that after taking a month off of posting that I return anew on the first day of 2013. I'm done with school for the moment, which means that I've been doing a lot of thinking without any outlet. As such, I started something resembling a journal so that I can empty out my head, get back into sketching, and have somewhat of a written record of where I'm at.

 And since I'm an integrated being and what goes on in my head is no different from what I put on my body, I figured it completes the experience to get back into posting outfit pictures. I love clothes and I love fashion, but I've found myself pulled away from that passion recently (no big surprise as I'm always posting about that on again/off again relationship here). BUT I love constructing and I love building personas, which brings me to my title: "being as playing a role." 

I've been trying to actively engage with camp since re-reading Sontag's "Notes on Camp" and subsequently reminiscing about movies I grew up on like But I'm A Cheerleader. We perform ourselves everyday, and given that we are constantly performing, it seems like a shame to not perform something delightful. I am a character so I want to be a character. I want to be entertained by myself. And I want to harbor "the exaggerated, the 'off,' of things-being-what-they-are-not" (Sontag). I want my Doc Martens to be a sign- a signifier of the working boot variety and signifying some schema of toughness- yet I want this sign to be "off" - pink instead of black, oxfords instead of the classic high-top boot. 

And to pull away from the clothes to a greater notion of aesthetic within the images above- I feel more and more drawn to a sense of the magical. Or maybe I mean something more along the lines of the fantastic - two levels of reality - one recognizable and one unexplainable by our natural understanding of how the world works - superimposed on one another. Lens flares and overexposure distort and create a world that we aren't used to seeing. As such, we can complete the story of this outfit by factoring in the added construction of the lens. 

no offense

shoes (doc martens), camper socks, denim dress (thrifted)

I've been struggling with a less than great mood, and I'm all mixed up in my presentation.