Sunday, September 26, 2010

DON'T LOOK AT ME...

I feel slightly as if I'm supposed to come in here and post a load of looks from the SS11 shows. I'm all for inspiration, but what I'm interested in at the moment is what I want to wear now and why. And maybe what you want to wear now and why. It has to be in context otherwise I'm prone to snoozing. What you wear depends on all sorts of things: where you're going, how you feel, the weather, what's clean, what the last film you saw was. I seem to veer further and further away from **Fashion** in and of its existence in a vacuum with every season, until this time round the bombardment of fashion week related emails and tweets has had the reverse effect - of making me blank it all out. Until Paris maybe.

What I want to wear is the same as it's always been. Well made, plain, almost nondescript, good quality clothes that don't scream look at me. Basically, I don't want people to look at me, then it's easier for me to look at them. I've talked about this same thing of feeling comfortable dressing in a quietly androgynous way so many times over the years. The funny thing about it is, sometimes people are really disturbed if you don't dress the way they think you should. They really want you to wear a foufy red dress, or even to know that you wore a foufy red dress to something they didn't even attend. I find it a bit strange, since other than when it was my job to tell people what to wear (which involved them feeling comfortable and happy in what they were wearing), I'd never dream of telling anyone how they should dress.  Especially if that person clearly had a strong idea of their own style, I'd kind of assume they knew what they were doing. I can wear clothes that are very beautifully constructed, made of fabric that feels good on me and it's my little secret. It's not for anyone else and I feel comfortable wherever I go. I'm not advertising to the world how much I love clothes, most people wouldn't even notice if they saw me. But then, those that do notice, those are the keepers. 

In a recent article Sally Singer said that people who dress in a pared back minimal way have to constantly update their wardrobes as proportions change so fast. "The fastest things to date are those classics, cause it's just proportions laid bare. There's nothing else going on." I worship Sally Singer but I totally disagree with her on this. A classic Crombie coat is a Crombie coat, otherwise it's something different. The line doesn't change. I see what she's saying though: people who get obsessed with the perfect shirt are going to end up with a wardrobe full of shirts that look almost exactly the same but have minutely different details.

Because I dress in such a low key way, I don't really need anything much for this winter (thanks Phoebe Philo and The New Minimalism). I could do with replacing a couple of things that I've literally worn to death, and I still haven't got on top of the dealer boot situation. But if I had to buy a few things, A.P.C. Madras has killed it as always with the winter collection, which is weird as you'd think Madras would lend itself more to summer. And either of these two looks from Steven Alan would have me sorted for the winter months.














{**Fashion** = said with jazz hands}

16 comments:

Ally said...

I totally agree with just wanting clothes that allow you to work and live and have fun without getting in the way or attracting lots of attention. I've always preferred being an observer rather than the observed.

ephemerette said...

Jazz hands **Fashion!** (I'm thinking of a Gok Wan jingle) the seasonal major industry fed version of it I sometimes think is for the very young or those with a lot of time and money on their hands. I really admire your asthetic and I'd say probably share the requirement for clothes which allow you to live freely but at the same time I can't help but include touches my own brand/idea of glamour to the way I dress too, it's just part of who I am.

RD said...

A breath of sanity in a crazy world... They should put your post up in Times Square or Oxford Circus... It seems as though the everyone in the US (and UK I gather is even more trendy, i.e., trend following, in this sense) has gone mad, trying to find cheap (and by this I mean low quality, not inexpensive - nothing wrong with the latter necessarily) ways to look like celebrities. And even that word makes my skin crawl just a little, as though I've seen a cockroach. My celebs are the ones who do their jobs, magnificently and quietly. That could be an actor or model, or could be the woman behind the counter at the cheese monger's. And I don't want to look like someone else. I want to find and look like myself. Of course, a good piece of clothing does that - helps to accentuate or underline who you are. But alas our society has come to believe that clothing can make up for who you are not... This is beginning to sound like a rant, but it was really meant to be a "right on" kind of cheer... xo bb

Camille said...

To me, androgynous dressing translates more to being interested in clothing (the quality, the cut, the fabrics) as you don't have to hide behind trends to be comfortable with what you are wearing, the way you are presenting yourself to others. I believe you have to be more knowledgeable regarding everything that comes into consideration when you purchase a piece, as it is, all in all, what makes it beutiful and what makes it last. I'm very happy you wrote about the pretty much non-sensical way fashion works... although I do enjoy getting inspired by Australian labels that are presenting their Fall collections at the moment.

Unknown said...

fun post!
well...i am bit put off when magazines or now internet media ,tell you what's in or out and what one should wear....
"sheep" i want to scream..."sheep" heheh. ok kidding aside...
yes i think comfort is important and knowing what suits you is ridiclously important!
that said, there's no harm in actually following fashion or wanting to be stylish etc but of course i must tisk tisk when someone allows themselves to be a fashion victim.

Anonymous said...

I'm 100% with bb!
xxx
Mia

marie said...

i am exactly the same when it comes to what i wear. recently i've been feeling a bit confused about how i want to look vs. how ppl see me. it's a tricky balance either way. but to hell with them, i will dress for me. thanks, i needed to hear that;)

Claire said...

Thanks yall! I am inspired by the collections too, but when there are so many it becomes a big blur. I think Tom Ford was very clever to separate his collection so that there was a buzz but the images will be released after all the hoopla of all the others has died down and when the clothes are actually available (regardless of the actual clothes). Clever man.

Alexandra said...

Agreed. At the end of the day it's all about simple elegant clothes that you feel comfortable regardless of trends.

http://herribbonsandherbows.blogspot.com/

Ingrid Holm / The Showmanship said...

I agree... completely...

xx the showmanship

Ginta said...

Looking through all these lookbooks, style.com, magazines, etc. I want to shop less and less as actually I have already everything in my closet.
It's usually said that style and fashion are 2 totally different things. But if suddenly your style is in fashion?
Fashion shows excites me less and less too. Like you I'm more interested what to wear at the moment, how I want to look now.
And I agree Tom Ford is a clever man, he does it old school style. In this era thanks to all media magic and anticipation has been lost, so, he gives us that back. Besides he avoids high-street copies :)

Anonymous said...

This is a great post. (My sister and I never say "shopping" without jazz hands.) XX Elisabeth (coquette) ps. I am just obsessed with silk shirts tucked into low rise jeans right now. And long black tank dresses. It's so funny our simple fixations. pps. Also I want clogs but it isn't the right season, but those ones in the Steven Alan pic are pretty perfect for winter... But they don't seem to be on the site?

Claire said...

Elisabeth - you always need the jazz hands and I can envisage you doing it right now! Our simple fixations do remind me of the 70s - that easy streamlined thing. I'm not sure if those shoes were just for the lookbook. I've seen some pretty good heeled clog boots though - maybe Hasbeens? Anyone?

nina said...

I am sure you WILL wear a foufy red dress when I see you in Paris!?

Claire said...

Nina - I will wear an invisible foufy red dress over the top of my nondescript clothes so you can recognise me easily/!

nina said...

will you also hold a red rose?? I will do the same.