Your Space in my Blog: 27th of April 2009

Dear Heart,
Thanks so much for sharing with us the link to the blog on street fashion (http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com). I took a look and got quite a kick out of it. Didn’t have much time to read the text, but I will do that later.

The one thing that I did notice – that caught my eye immediately – is how stylish these people are. Maybe these aren’t runway fashions (though some of them look to be) and maybe they aren’t the most expensive couture, though a couple of pieces could be, but nonetheless, they are all very fashionable in their own way. There is a certain individuality to the styles, but there is also, in almost all of the cases, an obvious conscious intent to appear “stylish” (however that individual might define the word).

I contrast this to the clothes that I wear on a daily basis, and the picture in my own mind makes me feel very “un-stylish,” very unfashionable indeed. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Nor does it suggest that I do not know how to dress myself “properly,” in a manner that is appropriate to my environment. I have clothes in my closet that rarely see the light of day, clothes that I wear only when I go for an excursion into the city, or perhaps on a trip somewhere far away. As seldom as they may be worn, these are a necessity, as one must take into account one’s environment and attempt to fit into it to some degree – such is only good sense.

But, at the front of my closet are these clothes that get worn over and over, that are used until they become threadbare and full of holes. Sometimes even then I continue wearing them, so long as they have not outworn their usefulness. There is, for example, my favorite, and essentially only, pair of real work pants. Khaki, cotton, woven in such a way as to resist rips and tears, and yet lightweight, breathable, for hard work in extreme heat. They have many pockets, and several protruding loop-holes from which to hang such things as garden tools, or if necessary, even an axe or a machete. They are made so that they can be rolled up at the bottom and fastened with a button-closure at the knee, though I seldom do this, because, if I am wearing these pants, it is because I am doing work that requires that my legs be protected in some way. Then there is a small stack of tank tops – all the same, just different colors. Thin cotton, cool, also useful for layering in winter weather. A long sleeved, checkered flannel shirt my grandmother gave me, already well used and soft when it came to me – good for covering the arms, whether in protection from sun, cold, bug bites, or briar scratches. A huge, floppy, orange hat with a brim so big that it probably makes me look like a walking umbrella – keeps the scorching summer sun off my face as well as my neck and shoulders. A pair of silver stretch-satin, women’s formal gloves – the very long ones that come up almost to the shoulder – with the fingers cut out. Very prickled and plucked up from doing battle with briars and saw vines and underbrush. (I once aspired to buy a pair of kevlar arm protectors for this purpose, but when I looked in a forestry supply magazine and saw the price – not a lot, but money I didn’t have at the time, I decided that these would do just as well. I had only worn them once, and it was highly unlikely that I would ever find occasion to wear them again.) Then, over the top of these silver satin “arm protectors” a pair of heavy leather work gloves, well worn and so soaked with sweat and caked in dirt from digging in the earth that they hold their shape even when I take them off. Also, a green camo mosquito hood, which I seldom wear because it makes me feel like I cannot breathe, but which I sometimes don when the mosquitoes get so thick that I cannot open my mouth without catching one. I look at myself in the mirror with it on, and it reminds me of a bee keeper, especially when it is stretched out over my big orange, floppy hat and cinched down tight, tucked under the collar or my overshirt. Then, to top it all off, there are my clown shoes – that’s what I call them: a pair of bright red Crocs, those plastic gardening shoes with the holes in them. Essential around here, at least in my view, as it is simply too hot in the summer to wear closed shoes, and yet there are too many stickers and nettles and snakes to advise going barefooted very much. As well, it rains a lot – hard and heavy – and these shoes allow the water to simply drain back out the sides. No socks, of course. These are clothes whose primary attribute is function. If they function well, regardless of what they look like, I put them on and wear them. If they do not, I get rid of them and try something else.

So that is my ensemble. I try to imagine myself walking through the Place Vendome in Paris wearing this, and it makes me laugh. I wonder if someone might snap my photo on the sly and upload it to a blog? I wonder, if I held my head high enough and walked purposefully enough, might I start some new trend, some new fad of hats with mosquito-net veils and shabby, shoulder-length, silver gloves with the fingers cut out? Might I become the next thing in fashion for next spring?

All in good fun, of course. I realize that there are appropriate ways of dress depending on the place and the society in which one finds oneself. Thus, those other clothes that wait patiently at the back of my closet, though they are seldom worn. It is doubtful that I would chance to cross the Place Vendome wearing the clothes that I use when I work in my yard, but I should think it would be interesting to see the looks on peoples faces if, by chance, I did.

I agree, to a certain extent, that the diversity of fashions available these days gives us freedom to express our individuality, but I would also add that there is a fine line between expressing one’s individuality and becoming a slave to the very object which claims to give you freedom. This freedom also, to a great extent, is a luxury afforded only to those who live in affluent societies. Many are the people in the world – many more than are “fashionable” are those who have no other option but to choose their clothes, if they can choose at all, solely in accordance with function. They have no options, no chance to express their “individuality.” Clothing, for them, is a matter of survival. Even decency is expendable – they dress in what they dress in (clean or dirty, ragged or not) because they have no options.

I know – I’m preaching, and I did not set out to do this, so I will stop. I like fashion just as much as the next person, let me not pretend that I don’t. I love wearing my very best clothes and feeling that I look quite “spiffy.” Even if not exactly a trendsetter, I enjoy looking nice. I enjoy feeling like I can express a bit of who I am through the clothes that I choose to wear. Still, I try to keep myself in check. There is “individuality,” and then there is “excess.” I try to draw a line between the two, though it is not always easy.

Thank you again, Heart, for sharing this blog with us. Exploring it, as well as exploring the ideas that it brings up, has been much fun.

Sincerely,
Savita

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Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love. Everything is united by it alone. (Leo Tolstoy)

Quotation of the day!

Love,
Beeba
http://misanthropist-gurl.blogspot.com/

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Thank you Heart for the .. fashion link!! I am fascinated.. Beautiful photos, fashion, clothes.. Being a Libra I love … beauty in every aspect!! Fashion .. victim. ;]
LOVE,
Thelma
p.s. My email is : thelma.tryfonidou[ad]hotmail.com
I am sure our Paulo Coelho does not mind saying it.. I am .. faithful to our BLOG here!!

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Deedee.I like your poem.Thanks

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Clary Lopez,

Many many happy returns of the day,, may your days will be filled with love and joy, forever !

Wishes and Hugs…

God blesses you !

and

God bless you all !

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Mr. Paulo writes about fashion in his recent novel; ‘The Winner Stands Alone’, explaining it as a primal need to dress/appear a certain way to show we belong to a ‘tribe’. Modern fashion as presented for instance on fashion runway shows, has gone beyond what can be found in any ethnic group to be expressions of individuality. As an alternative to mainstream and high end fashion, here is a web site looking at fashion the way people present it on the street. I visit this blog at least once every week and find it very entertaining.

http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com

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Dear all,

Have a good weekdays !

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2894169.Santosh_Kalwar

God bless you all !

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