Years and years ago I used to read Harper's Bazaar magazine all the time, but once I moved out of home it started to make me angry and I stopped buying it.
When you're on a tight budget just to make the rent every month, seeing those glossy photos of $300 t-shirts and $4,000 shoes really grates on you. I was livid to think that not only were people buying these things, they were tossing them in the back of the closet the following month and going out to get new ones. Lousy rich bastards. Couldn't they live without one more sterling silver Tiffany paperweight and pay my rent for a couple weeks?
But I just got my hands on a copy of the American Bazaar and it made me remember why I liked it in the beginning. Fashion at the haute couture level is like art. We're talking about a sculptural, hand-carved heel or a full-length gown encrusted with tiny Swarovski crystals. You just can't haggle over price at that level. If those designers were worried about keeping costs down they'd never be able to produce the exuberant, over-the-top craziness that they do.
A dress that uses a football field worth of lace and took eighteen Spanish grandmothers six weeks to make by hand is never going to be cheap and I will never be able to afford it, but when I look at a picture of it in a glossy magazine it makes me happy because I have witnessed beauty. It feeds my soul in the same way that a beautiful oil painting, photograph or poem can.
numer darowizny: SRTF/067/SWD .
1 month ago
25 comments:
I've never read it. I'm not a fashion mag kind of girl.
But I have a subscription to Entertainment Weekly - does that count?
;-)
It’s easier if you’re a bloke. You just get porn magazines. They make us happy because we have witnessed beauty too. Of course we have rather lower criteria of aesthetic appeal compared to you, but we aren’t proud.
You are right, don't think about the money involved. It's art.
I never really paid much attention to fashion until the last couple years and you are right, it is art. While I dress fairly simply, I do love to look at it.
Cora - Hehe, I'm not sure you could class it as art, but it's pretty funny.
Simon - Yeeeeaaahhhhh. Not sure "beauty" is the word I'd use there.
; )
Eric - Thanks, enabler!!!
Gwen - Yeah I don't know that I would wear a lot of it given the chance, but looking at it is nice.
I am a fashion train wreck. Flood victims have better sense than me.
OH yeah it's absolutely art. Most of those things, if you wore them in the street, would get you stared at for hours. They're not designed to WEAR, except to fashion parties etc. :)
I occasionallly buy the more downscale "In-Style" and get a perverse thrill out of looking at the stuff in there. Even that's out of my price range mostly. I can't pay $600 for a shirt, I'm sorry. I always see bags I like then find out they're $1300. Eff that! :)
Although I prefer people without clothes than with them, perhaps clothing them in unbelievably expensive clothes can shift my bias.
I was never into fashion magazines, but I can understand your fascination with them as you liken them to art.
I'm too cheap to buy any magz... BUT I love looking at them at the dr.s office or wherever lobby I happen to be stuck at. And I have to agree about the beauty. I definitely have no use for a 100k dollar ball gown but damn... it's sure nice to look at!
I'm like a kid in a candy store when it comes to shoes. When I decided to move to Denver I had a HUGE shoe sale on my front lawn and made PENNIES on the dollar for my shoe collection. It broke my heart but I couldn't take them all with me :(
I have a late/ hate relationship with the real estate magazine. I look at all the breathtakingly beautiful expanded ranches that sit atop a hill overlooking the ocean, with their own private dock and I want to weep. Because I will never have those things. But it is so so very nice to look at them.
I love fashion magazines because I love fashion. I know I'll never wear most of it but I can still lust.
SkyDad - Oh, flood pants are sooo five minutes ago!
Veggie - I like InStyle too, they always have really good photographs that show off dresses & stuff.
Sandy - Hahaha, what if they just wear diamonds & a bit of gold leaf?
Twinkie - Agreed, free mags are the best kind.
Nikki - I feel your pain, I had to do that. But shoes can always be bought in the new location.
; )
Lola - I KNOW, I do that with interior design mags too.
Peach Tart - Exactly.
Hold up... so, an American football field's worth of lace? Or an Australian Rules Football field's worth of lace?
Child, please. You say that like you expect me to know the difference!
; )
Art is art is art. I used to get annoyed looking at couture fashion as well, but I realized that even if I had the sort of money to fling at things like that, I'd probably never buy or use them anyway. They're just there to be looked at, whether you're fascinated or disgusted.
By the way, there's an award for you on my blog. Enjoy!
This is how I feel about Vogue (actually, Vogue kind of drives me insane because more than half the time I feel like it's geared towards the 40+ crowd. I mean really, a Chanel suit?!? I know it's a classic, but it also totally ages you by about 50 years.)
When I read that Anna Wintour was trying to make Vogue "recession-friendly" I almost choked. I read it for the fantasy, not the style ideas! High-end fashion mags are like style pornography... I don't really need or want it in my everyday life.
Wow, this comment was endless.
Well-Fed - Well said! Good to hear it from a designer ; )
Cora - Thank you my dear!
Racquel - I would wear the crap out of a Chanel suit, I don't care how old I look.
blogger totally ate my comment. grr.
Well I totally agree its art, and people will always have ridiculous amounts of money and spend it on ridiculous things. Might as well go to an artist!
Me too, lovely lady! Although I'm too poor to even afford Harper's! HAHAHA. I will never, ever get tired of looking at all the pretty. It's totally art. Keep enjoying it!
Oh, and just for you, here is my favourite, super budget-friendly Aussie fashion- and style-porn read: frankie magazine. It's all about the vintage, the DIY, the recycled and the freakin' gorgeous - fashion and home wise. *sigh*
Valerie - Yes! Can I consider myself an artist? Hmmmm.
; )
Teacup - Thank you my dear! Sounds awesome. I will have to check it out!!!
PS, it was someone else's copy of Harper's ; )
OMG! I'm the same way. I hate looking at all the rich people and how they spend money on such useless things, but i cant help but be fascinated too. I have a lovehatelove relationship with VOGUE.
The way you described fashion as art made me see it as something less than awful for the first time. That's quite something.
CA - See, don't feel bad. You're just aesthetically inclined!
WWW - I'm practically a public service. But seriously, I'm glad I made you think differently.
: )
Post a Comment