Frivolity, Vanity, Luxury…Art?
“Depending on who is doing the talking,” writes NY Times Fashion & Style columnist Guy Trebay, “fashion is bourgeois, girly, unfeminist, conformist, elitist, frivolous, anti-intellectual and a cultural stepchild barely worth the attention paid to even the most minor arts.” It is a subject so patently superficial that most people overlook it as anything other than an indulgence, a luxury. But most people forget that they are saying something about themselves every time they get dressed. Whether you choose to wear cute boots and patterned tights or a baggy college sweatshirt with some jeans, you are making the conscious decision to present yourself to the world in that attire. No one is exempt from the art of dressing.
I understand that the idea that fashion is art can be somewhat controversial and obscure. But I also think one of the best arguments supporting this conviction comes from the understanding that clothing wasn’t always art; instead, clothing “evolved” into an art form, into fashion. Clothing is obviously necessary to human existence. It shelters our bodies from the elements and protects us everyday from the harsh sun and winter cold. As time progressed, clothes evolved from mere utilitarian uniforms and took on more meaning: clothes, in some instances, protect a sense of modesty; they are “civilizing masks,” as the French novelist Colette believed, symbolic of religious beliefs, family affiliations, age, and community status. Clothes are ideas that communicate something about the wearers and are, as such, tools to analyze culture, history, and politics. Most recently, clothing has become the primary tool to embellish the body it, to enhance and glorify its beauty and disguise its flaws. This facet of its usage is what is most closely associated with fashion, but there is no clear point at which clothing becomes art. What’s more important, though, is that fashion applies the distinctive characteristics of art to what was once mere body coverings.
The reality is that, through our dress, we communicate something about ourselves that is deeper than what is on the surface. Using color, line, form, texture, and the like, we have the opportunity to express our thoughts, our values, and our feelings just the way an artist does on a canvas. We are using something tangible to express something that is intangible: is that not what art is? Today’s fashions, it seems, use these elements to communicate what our society values and what most people are, consequently, eager to achieve: youth, wealth, beauty, and power. Our current emphasis on these values, however, should not take away from fashion as art; it is an ever-evolving social commentary and outlet for human creativity.
To all those critics who deride fashion as bourgeois, girly, unfeminist, conformist, elitist, frivolous, and anti-intellectual, Mr. Trebay has some words of advice: “Admit it. You love it. It matters.” I have no doubt that fashion will continue to remain one of the most culturally potent avenues for expression in this age and all those to come.
– Gia