loving him was red

by julien rodet

untitled by dr zee

i was thinking about how cool the red made everything look in this post, and then i remembered that a while ago, i started putting together a red inspiration post, but never posted it. this also made me realize that i own barely any red clothing and this is kind of weird to me, because i really associate that color with power and conversely, vulnerability- and i feel like i need that color in my closet in order to feel secure or something: a red shirt, or skirt, or pair of shorts, whatever.

hakaan f2011 rtw via

to solve this problem, i'm looking at this incredibly cool red turtleneck dress from asos.

(this post is titled as such because i lOvEddd taylor swift's Red album, and thought it was a really cool, beautiful act of assertiveness and exploration.)

the velvet underground via

for practical reasons, i guess it makes sense: red kind of upstages everything else you're wearing and doesn't fade into the background or complement what you're wearing like some other colors. but that's kind of what makes it so attractive, it's like a declaration of power, a monopoly over the complexity of your self, without even opening your mouth.

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hidden by hrabina von Tup Tup

what does it mean to wear red lipstick? my experiences with it as a woman of color are just a means of protest against the "your skin is too dark for that" or just plain old "the idea of you finding power in your beauty takes power away from me and that's too far" body-policing. sometimes when i need to psych myself up for something, i just put on a ton of makeup (red lipstick is the color of choice), look at myself in the mirror a bit, and then wipe it off and do the thing. 

rihanna via

jane wealleans

are you guys into thinking about colors? what does red mean to you, or what other colors make you feel the same way?

thank you!
-=-

kanyinsola

thinking about clothes:

as the title suggests, i've been thinking about clothing and how i present myself to tha wide world a lot lately, and trying to find new ways to change my perspectives. here are some of the things that have been helping me along with that:

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Hussein Chalayan Ready to Wear Fall 2013 Runway Show

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hussein chalayan kind of has a reputation for doing beyond cool things with clothing, and i'll probably get into how much i love him in another post-- but right now, i'm really into this last set of transforming dresses where the models give a tug and go from daywear (to something beautiful in between) to eveningwear. the entire collection is just so spectacular and deserves something more coherent than me saying smashing my keyboard to say the same thing over and over again, but i would really love to know what you guys think of this.

tilda swinton's eternity dress

Eternity Dress (teaser)

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eternity dress is a performance art piece by tilda swinton and olivier saillard that shows every step of constructing  a 50s-style dress on tilda swinton's body that (i think) is supposed to remind us that in the midst of the fast pace of fashion-- there's an art to be reclaimed in the meticulous construction of what we put on our bodies. it exhibits the mathematics involved in the measuring, the cutting, choosing collars, hand sewing, draping. 

in the trailer there is a flash of a nude oil painting, which may just be for aesthetic purposes, but i have the feeling every moment of the video was painstakinly thought out-- so maybe its meant to add something about how clothing or a lack of it as art.  there's also a section in which tilda drapes bolts of fabric across herself which just made me go ASHJKFYughhh. 

 it's no longer being performed live, and so i have to settle for a teaser trailer. my new agenda is to become befriend tilda swinton, so that i can understand eternity dress and everything else she creates a little better. 

age and beauty

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of course its not a revolutionary concept- but there's been a crop of 2015 campaigns featuring older women that seem to represent an appreciation of age as beauty: joni mitchell for saint laurent's music project, iris apfel (and tavi gevinson!) for alexis bittar, joan didion for celine (eep). these women are cool and intellectual and interesting and i love it.

as i was looking at the celine photos, i found an article for the guardian that talked about "the line between celebration and exploitation"-- and how its a little strange to see a hero used to sell you something. i think this is a really interesting perspective, and leads to a lot of questions about what celebrity even means anymore (is your value in your talent or your image?). i'd love to hear what you have to say about this over e-mail (in the sidebar) or in the comments.

my only criticism for these campaigns is that age as beauty seems to be being embraced for certain women, and i'm hoping that these ads signal a 2015 focused on the meaning of our standards of beauty for all women. 

-=-

kani

and i'm talking to myself at night, because i can't forget

[i'm not sure if i'd ever actually wear nike airs IRL, because i wouldn't be able to contain feeling ridiculous, but they still look nice]

super-duper McLovin this Julie Verbarg shoot. the color composition is so charming and cool, and obviously there's the simplicity of the clothes that's interrupted by dashes of red, and the subtlety of the fit. it reminds me of being really angry and trying to keep your composure (with a kind of obvious allusion to red as the anger and grey, muted tones as feigning calmness). what do you guys think of it?

via Pitch-Present

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kanyinsola

ps: i know this was a baby post but you know... FINAL EXAMS! I've been thinking a lot about clothes in my spare time though and I'm so ready to talk about it.