Medium Specificity

No matter how much I wish I could, I cannot afford a new outfit for every day of life.  So, instead of switching up my wardrobe, I switch up the outfits.  What I believe defines fashion is the necessity of looking at something familiar, pairing it with something else familiar, and making something entirely original.  I love to get dressed in the morning . . . and afternoon . . . and evening. I have a tendency to change my outfit multiple times a day.  It’s just how I function.  I’ll be totally 100% behind my outfit in the morning, but by the afternoon I’ll think of one way or another to improve it.  In the evening I’m going to be doing something different from what I was doing in the day, so I better change up my dress for that as well.  As a result of my obsessive need to recreate myself, I have a whole heck of a lot of clothes.   As a result of the whole heck of a lot of clothes I have, I find myself recreating myself a lot. 

In Glamour magazine is a feature that shows how to mix and match the same few items of clothing over and over again into different outfits. The intent of this feature is usually to show how a person can pack light for an extended vacation.  On Pinterest in the past year, there’s been an explosion of the same topic—only done for sister missionaries.  Girls will share tips on what kind of blouses and shirts sisters should bring on their mission to keep their style exciting, even though it’s limited.  I recreated this idea, focused around one accessory—a pink bow belt.  The decision to focus on the bow belt was twofold: first I needed to do this assignment and second, the belt is a new purchase and I wanted to see how I could play with it.

Focusing on the medium of fashion and then refining that focus onto just the belt and how it can function in fashion definitely speaks about the resourcefulness available in fashion.  Not resourceful in the sense that I’m saving the planet, cause I’m not.  It’s resourceful in the sense that I can use the same clothing item over and over again for years and years, and still find a new way to wear it tomorrow.  

In Show and Tell by McCloud, he talks about how the idea of comics was first introduced in ancient times.  The same goes for fashion, in the sense that what was most practical was the most fashionable.  In modern times for lots of people, fashion has moved away from the practicality of living and more towards the practicality of what looks good.  But, thankfully people are creative and have the ability to rework an item of clothing into a different outfit and still remain enamored with their own personal style and clothing choices.  

Thanks to Ryan Running for the pictures.