Yesterday I should have posted this article but finally couldn't because on top of my daily life some unexpected events came on the way but here it is !
Since a long time I've been wanting to ask you something. I assume that if you are reading that blog, somehow you have an interest in fashion and style. Before starting Incognito I did love dressing up and style, but I must admit that I didn't know anything about fashion which means that my knowledge about it was equal to zero or better said I knew about characters like Coco Chanel, Paul Poiret, Christian Dior, Madame Grès or Yves Saint-Laurent thanks to my dad's books but I didn't know a thing about the ones that are making fashion now and all the fuss that surrounds this phenomenon. Strange right ?
While I am writing this I am realizing that what I knew was History of fashion but the strangest thing is that I didn't make any connection between its past and its present. I think my first approach to this world was identical to how we are teached History from primary school to secondary school in France : we are only learning the facts, not making any connection between the past and its influence on the society we are living in nowadays. I was making a mental note on how fashion started, who were its first heroes, how the modelling industry started etc..in brief I was nothing less than a recorder. I started analyzing fashion as a social and cultural phenomenon only when I arrived in Italy four years ago.
I guess I began to make such a noticing because in this country wherever you are walking, you are breathing History. And I am not exaggerating when I say breathing, see I am living in a flat where each day I have the chance to admire a 15th century affresco when lifting my head. Something unthinkable for a student in France where History is in museums and books and not part of our daily life. I have the feeling that in Italy more than in any other places I have ever been in Europe people really feel the influence of History on their daily life hence an easier way to connect to past and present, hence an easier way to understand fashion for its lovers (since fashion is both part of History and art), and consequently considering buying a fashion designer piece more easily than in France.
All this blabbering to say that because of such a conception of fashion I never thought about wanting a piece of a designer. It was and still is something inaccessible economically to me given my student status, but at the same time I don't consider anymore unthinkable the fact to buy a designer piece if for you it is not only beautiful but also represents a cultural heritage.
Hence the following question, what would be the first fashion designer piece you'll want to buy ?
As for me, it would definitely be this pair of Alexander Wang shoes.
ps: After writing that piece, just wondering if I am clear at all, the more I am seeing it, the more I feel I have a strange conception of fasion!
pps : These are my personal thoughts, you obviously have the right to think differently :).
You have put the whole context of history so well in words. Actually yes, we sometimes only learn facts and do not connect any significance of it to the present.
ReplyDeleteLoved this line because it puts your comparison of two places just in one single thought "France where History is in museums and books and not part of our daily life" and while you say opposite is true for Italy.
Maybe you could also post about what you wake up to each day :) I don't know about other readers but personally I would love to see that.
And as for the designer piece, so strange but I never really thought about it.... If I could then what would I want. You've set me thinking now. :)
Swati @ The Creative Bent
Hello Swati,
DeleteI am really glad you found my explanation of the whole History context clear, I was actually afraid it wouldn't be.
Actually that line was pretty hard for me to write knowing that us, French, are very proud about our History. But nonetheless I had to tell the truth. In my humble opinion, our approach to History is totally different from the italian one. To give you an example, all italian that went to high school, at the end of it, know the History of their country and this indipendently of if they were in a literary section or a scientific one. In France if you have done a literary section you are likely to know more about the History of France because of the number of hours you have, whereas someone who is in the scientific section won't unless he/she has a particular interest in History. To put it bluntly in Italy from their taxi drivers to their most renowned writers, all of them can perfectly tell you about their great painters, writers, the story of their town etc...in France well, it depends.
I thought about doing it but unfortunately the room I am mentioning have no window, and since I don't have a good camera I can't succeed in taking pictures which can show well the affresco. To tell you the truth I tried a lot of times to send some pictures to my family, as my dad is fond of History and art. But now you got me thinking that I may have some pictures of the huge affresco I had in my room in the first flat I came to live in 4 years ago, so I'll have to go through my computer's files ;) !
Let me know if you ever know which designer you would like to own a piece of clothing !
Always happy to read your comments !
Thank you and have a nice day!