Fashion Overdone

while i believe in the old adage, "there's no new thing under the sun," i pride myself on my creativity as a stylist. in fact, as a vintage enthusiast and a person trained in theatrical costuming, i make sure i never repeat concepts or be lazy by using things overdone.
influences are great, homages can be fabulous, but overdone is overdone. copying is lame. uncreative isn't worth anyone's time. so here is my rundown of the most overdone concepts, stances, shots, and ideas in fashion. yes, some of these have been done very well a time or two- but over and over just makes poseurs.
here's what i consider the worst of the overdone worst...

HAUTE IN A HOVEL 

a dilapidated house, abandoned church, or dicey grafittied wall and a model is inexplicably there in full on couture. she just happens to be there. these shoots are meant to set up dichotomies or comment on the eventual destruction of all things, but all i can say is puh-leeese. 

  


ALICE IN WONDERLAND
seriously. how many of these shoots have you seen? this one i at least understand a bit, because the subject matter is so fascinating and there are many characters, colors, settings, and attitudes in the story. however, over and over again, what we see in AIW shoots is really that the team wants to play with one or a combination of the following: madness, petticoats, blue stripes, large vs. small, or red and black. and at the core, the Wonderland is a place where anything is possible: why not take this single most important aspect and apply it to a new and different shoot? and, for the record, circus shoots are not far behind this.

Alice AND the hunch (see below) Gahh!

THE COUTURE HUNCH 
stop. just STOP.

RUNNING MASCARA 

either a crying model or one fully clothed in a shower or bath. she's deep. she's not just a pretty face. those tears are Real. REAL! and most of these are black and white, because that's Legitimate. didn't you know? Suffering is ART. and along the water route is famous.... 

 

& underwater! ugh...

UNDERWATER PHOTO SHOOT

there is a whole site devoted to this. Seriously. http://underwaterfashion.org yes, the light play is beautiful. yes, it's flowy and pretty. but for fashion's sake, can we move on?

AND the damn hunch again!

THE "HOMAGE" TO THE GREATS- MARILYN, JAYNE, MAE...
too numerous to pick illustory photos. and i know you don't really need them. no model is any of these ladies. they are all dead. let's let these them leave the party, shall we? not to mention the fact that part of why we remember these fabulous fashion icons is they were creative, different, and their own.

don't get me wrong- inspiration is fantastic and strong artists are open to it every minute of every day. but the most powerful influenced pieces, in my opinion, are those where you cannot see the jumping off place until it is pointed out to you. at the end of the day, creativity is what truly shows your art- whether you're a stylist, musician, model, designer, whatever. and frankly, if you're not being creative, what Are you doing?

define this... identity.

Andrej Pejic

i have always been fascinated with how people define themselves- that's part of why i love fashion. no matter who you are, how you dress, how you think about clothes, or even if you don't give it much thought- how you dress tells others something about you and what you think about how you should look as the person you are. people define the person they are in different ways which relate back to how they dress- their physical gender, race, religion, areas of interest, political leanings, education, etc. and the clothes you are able to afford and choose to purchase say something about your socioeconomic background, too. Iggy Pop once said that his choice to not wear shirts was as calculated a choice as wearing button down shirts and bowties.

my ideas about style, femininity, youth, color, shape, sexuality- all of this is reflected in how i dress. but they are tied to my ideas about ME and how i myself choose to define them in a way that transfers to others.

identity is fascinating. and your physical presentation is a manifestation of your identity when it comes to choice. my goal is to make that as authentic as possible- but whether or not people get it, at one point, is up to them. because we may know what boundaries others set on how we present ourselves- but if you are being true to yourself, that is what matters.

what i love best is people who push these boundaries. i'm not talking about having loads of plastic surgery to look like a barbie doll because you have no self confidence. or wearing what you think the "cool kids" will like. i'm talking about people who challenge societal ideas about what appearance means in regards to what is usual because it is who they are. it is their identity. consequently, i love the model Andrej Pejic.

i love that he embraces his androgyny- it's part of the physical being he is. i love that, from what i've read and seen of him (having never talked to him directly), he understands that the perception of others as to his appearance says more about them than it does about him. he is comfortable with himself and how he presents himself. he knows what he means. and that is an authentic identity- translated.

people sometimes get in trouble for this idea- the amazingly talented Bill T Jones once caused a firestorm when he said he identified himself as a dancer before a man and before a person of color. DANCER was his identity, and the rest was details. later, he said...

"So authenticity, identity, love, faith- what is the idea of identity? Blackness should take a second level to the concern I have about commonality. Transcendence. In everything that I attempt, is there a level of honesty and rigor that is inflected with all that I am, and what I have gotten from the Western, modernist tradition... what I have gotten from my mother and father who where the conduits for black culture for me, what I've gotten from being a working class person. Is it all there? Is it cooking?"

Bill T Jones

THAT is what i'm talking about. THAT is why i don't care who you are, where you come from, what you like / don't like, what your gender or sexuality are, or what you wear- i care if it's cooking. if it's YOU. and you can define, present, and support it authentically. if you can be present with who you are, how you present that, and how you treat other people. and i am so glad that in writing this blog and reading the blogs and comments of others that i know i am not alone in this ideal. it is a joy to learn about you and who you are.

thank you for sharing with me.