<< To you, who hesitate to be free in choosing what to wear from your wardrobe >>
What were your initial thoughts when you were choosing what to wear earlier?
My plan was to, first, catch up with my best friend, Cassie. And, second, it was to go to a magazine launch of my dear colleague Luiza, along with another dear colleague Charlotte. It was a grey sky and damp air in Paris, I wanted to add lightness to my outfit. In the end, I ended up wearing a brown wind-breaker top from Joanna Parv, a silver bangle from BV and black windbreaker trousers with silver trainers from YSL (I am in the brown + silver combo era!).
In the book “DRESSED” by Janneke van der Hagen, Monika Tatalovic & Saskia de Brauw, you will find,
“To dress is to change, to combine, to alter and finish in a way that brings about a
transformation. It’s about making something feel more yours, more alive, more visible and
through care and attention giving it more meaning by”.
It could be interpreted as we should be able to find a look that presents more about ourselves - getting dressed that goes beyond trends.
Choosing what to wear gives freedom; it’s the first liberal practice we do each day. We even choose what to wear before going to bed. Fashion designer Alessandro Michele once said, “We are the Dr. Frankensteins of our lives: we invent, we assemble, we experiment” - especially with the identity expressed through dressing. A person can stick to one style forever if the style convinces them. On the other hand, someone else’s style can be different from one day to another and styles can be continued for a few months, for a few years then evolve after.
Gaetano Pesce, an Italian architect and designer, claimed:
“I am incoherent. From the time I was 18, I understood that to be incoherent is a form of freedom -
free from yourself. Free from what you were thinking yesterday.”
‘Incoherent’ might sound debatable, but, in this context, it can be interpreted as – layering. There is value in performance and pretending; not as deception – rather, it is a creative act that unlocks potential. Below are two quotes that support this idea.
I personally believe that being incoherent and trying out different aesthetics will lead you to going through different various experiences, like you let yourself to face the uncertainty. That is special. Kim Gordon once said, “It’s amazing how many things you can do when you are just pretending.” And Roland Barthes emphasised “Freedom to choose who to be.” Fashion enables us to “act as if” and allow us to be different versions of ourselves.
Dressing will enhance changing attitudes.” On the other hand, dressing can be protection, which allows us to do what we want, to perform in certain ways.
As Judith Butler suggested, dressing isn’t just about style, it’s a daily rehearsal of who we are becoming. It’s the small ritual of getting dressed, we are always in the process of becoming.
Do you have some ideas how you would dress tomorrow? Or even for the whole week?
Have a look at your wardrobe and see how you put it together. Perhaps the process gifts you joy - you have become an artist who’s created something new about this new version of yourself?
Stephen Jones Chapeaux D’artiste, 2024 at Palais Gallliera, review
There are many fashion exhibitions about designers, yet, I believe we can count exhibitions about milliners with our fingers. Demographically, there are incomparably more fashion designers, but the concept of a milliner still doesn't ring with people.
Palais Galliera delightfully tells us about the career of milliner Stephen Jones and his relationship with Paris: a city of close friendships and dynamic inspiration.
On my way to Palais Galliera was special, thanks to the playlist Stephen Jones curated. Soft Cell, Roxy Music, David Bowie and Joy Division - punk icons representing his peculiar youth and friendships at Blitz in London.
Indeed, the second part of the exhibition, Le Blitz club, welcomes us with the 80s punk musics and disco lights. It's the culture he used to be soaked in and spread his wings as a unique, singular milliner. You can see the Scarlett hat, shining like crystal, and other hats such as the one created for Boy George. In the room, I saw endearing mother-daughter pairs, with mothers leading conversations, and other visitors of diverse age groups as well, chatting in front of Jones' works under the music. At the same time, I think this exhibition is particularly valuable in a way that a fashion exhibition enables people to share their experiences across generations, making me a mom smile as an observer.
This autobiographical exhibition celebrating the milliner's 45th career, shares his early life and nationality as a British. From the union jack hat to the one worn by princess Diana's are displayed as vivid evidence of British history. Juxtaposition of his collection invite cards breathe like book covers of his creative journey.
Jones' works are placed in vitrines or on mannequins remotely that visitors could feel slight distance, there's a sense of separation. The hats seemed like paintings, as we could see them in front of it. If the hats were displayed without vitrines and mannequins were a bit closer, we might feel his works more theatrically, correspond to his imagination.
Stephen Jones has created distinctive hats, which declare "I'm from Stephen Jones". - you can wear hat of Eiffel tower, a jellyfish and a feather a helmet attached peacock feathers - literally from any materials we see and dream of. That's how he has been the top-tier milliner that designers want to put his name in their collections.
The cultured, punk boy received woos for collaboration from legendary fashion designers such as Thierry Mugler, Raf Simons, John Galliano, Rei Kawakubo, Walter Van Beirendonck, Azzedine Alaïa, Schiaparelli and many more.
I found from an interview that once he said that not every collaborations was easy, but we can clearly tell he has done speechless jobs embodying the punk spirit " You are capable of doing what you want, you just have to believe in it".
The haute couture hatter's creativity has enriched each hat's identity and embellished the English punk culture regardless of sizes of hats.
After the exhibition, in the shop, we can find the newspaper, Bolovision, second issue. It features photos of Stephen Jones, his work process and behind the scenes taken by his close photographer friend, Koto Bolofo. I could not pass it without purchasing it. We may less reading newspapers, but the information in printed newspaper is reliable than what we find on screens, doesn't it?
E/MOTION. Fashion in Transition, 2021 at Momu, review
Topics that seem obvious now may not have been so in the past, and they may not be taken for granted in the future. Therefore, it’s essential to stay aware of what’s happening around us.
The fashion museum, MoMu in Antwerp, hosted the exhibition E/MOTION: Fashion in Transition, addressing themes that have shaped discourse for decades.
The exhibition was divided into several thematic rooms, each focusing on subjects like the body, camouflage, home, drugs, the internet et cetera. These topics are friendly topics that appears frequently.
It's reciprocal for both brands and consumers when fashion labels have social and political voices. It gives an intellectual value, i.e. Prada's press release, and authentic personality, i.e. GMBH's speech (2024). And for consumers, they end up wearing intellectual values.
In the last room, a screen played interviews with designers and fashion students, many of which deeply resonated with me. The interviewees came from diverse sectors and age groups within the fashion industry. Without a singular protagonist or the glorification of one’s work and skill, the exhibition felt refreshingly democratic.
The exhibition stayed for long inside my head that it presented clothes as a medium to throw questions. The exhibition conducted contemporary curatorial practices by using fashion as cultural production.
Furthermore, speaking of emotions, in the current society, where emotion causes consumption, such as revenge shopping, or buying clothes, foods or cigarettes, this exhibition made me to reflect on my emotions in personal level.