Mannequin: To Be or Not To Be?

From Merriam Webster

1 : an artist's, tailor's, or dressmaker's lay figure; also : a form representing the human figure used especially for displaying clothes
2 : one employed to model clothing

from left to right: Barbie, Mannequin, Eugenia Mandzhieva

While I don't want to resign myself to the thought that my mind does not have the artistic caliber to interpret fashion and all I can do is think of the social issues, really - as of the moment - it's hard for me to ignore the social issues surrounding fashion.

If you observe the definitions given above, I wonder if designers would prefer the brain functioning of one def along with the living convenience of the other. It's occurred to me that designers could just use mannequins (non-english definition) but, 1.) it takes a lot of time to change the clothes and reposition a mannequin. 2.) As showcased by Old Navy, campaigns attempting to personify mannequins kind of...are not fun.

not fun

At the same time, it would be nice to have a medium that didn't complain about low BMIs and self starvation. Something's gotta give, seriously.

I grew up in a time where if you were a supermodel, you were either featured or mentioned in a music video by either Ru Paul or George Michael. Yes. The awesome glamazon models of the 90s!

I don't know what is was that made those models bigger than their 5' 10" frames, but I feel that the quality of being "untouchable" worked in everyone's favor. I'm thinking that trends were a bigger deal then as well, and skinny was not quite as trendy then as it is today. These days, I think most people have figured out that proportion is the name of the game and if you're not tall, you can always be skinny. And this is where all hell breaks loose.

About a week ago, I was intrigued by a few articles (NY Daily News, New York Times) claiming that Coco Rocha had become a part of fashion's fat camp of models. Though at first incensed (hey, I'm a size 2-4 and about 8 inches short than her), I decided to resort to a more reliable source for the real breakdown: Coco Rocha's blog - O H S O C O C O: My Uncensored Point of View

- aside -
It's times like these that I truly appreciate blogs. Where else could I get an uncensored version of a models opinion other than her blog? On an even more far fetching note - I happen to like a Korean band called SHINee that I wouldn't be able to keep up with if it wasn't for blogs writing about them given that everything else is in Korean - a deep thank you - keep on blogging!
- end -

Needless to say, I much preferred Coco's version to the articles embedded with the elements to make someone angry at the fashion world. I'll admit, it brought me back to 2006 where Italy banned size zero models and Spain required a healthy 18 BMI for their models after the deaths of Ana Carolina Reston and Luisel Ramos. And now the sample size is at zero (0) again. Guilt is never in vogue for that long.

While talking with Pumpkin about it, he commented that he feels some of the things in the fashion world are f***ed up, but that his friend (who was a design major) commented that models may look the way the do so as to not distract from the clothes. Really? Walking hangers essentially. A designer could send down their clothes on hangers and perhaps a conveyor belt of mannequins, it would be cheaper and cost effective, but they don't. The only reason I can think of is that it takes away from the art. I think, in my idealism, I'm trying to get across that there is value in fashion models. That they're not there just to be hangers, but part of the overall artwork. Maybe a model will only be around for one season, but they had a part in completing someone's piece that otherwise would have been substandard. The world already respects the art, but we should also respect the aspects that make it possible.

fashion: the minority opinion

As a precaution to my largely imaginary audience, my teaching nature may diverge into a lot of analogies as well as a few references to history and science. My logical reasoning is also highly mathematical - as reasoning should be.

I've been stumbling across a lot of fashion commentary (via Tavi Gevinson's blog) concerning the opinions of the factions that fashion tends to create. Pro-fashion, anti-fashion, and some mild commentary on things in between, I've found to be interesting in their own ways with distinct messages to offer. There is still one thing that escapes me and it's not due to any unresolved issues within each respective article as much as it is... a more permanent enigma: What is fashion?

It may come off as odd that someone who likes reading fashion blogs and opinions, who has their favorite models and favorite designers, doesn't really have an idea of what fashion is - but seriously, there are times when I have to wonder where a lot of this commentary is being derived from and while they all may have a foundation in fashion, fashion in itself is quicksand.

Fashion, as defined by Webster, is a prevailing style during a particular time. Fashion, being defined by time, essentially makes it a function and with time constantly changing - fashion changes as well. Fashion is a variable in an environment searching for a constant. As a matter of fact, it is quite obvious that fashion trends are predicted through calculus and this manifests itself as:

1997: baggy jeans
2000: boho
2005: metallics
2008: bug sunglasses
2009: big waist defining belts

To add less of a method to the madness is the opinions of designers, who I am quite sure do not come to a hard consensus on the style of the time, also contributing to this unstable, ever changing view of fashion. Thus, fashion is generally an environment where anything goes, but only the best stays. It's the theory of evolution on crack. Hence, the elusiveness of the concept of fashion.

In my own experience, I've never found myself in an environment where I felt the need to alter my style to fit in. I spent the first 9 years of my life in a rather unsexy catholic school girl uniform and that did not change social distinctions at all. I've been regarded as a little off or odd for almost all of my life and since changing a personality is rather hard - especially a personality I like, I embraced this outside perception of me as an opportunity to do whatever I wanted - even wear a stained sweater with ducks on it to picture day. I accepted that, regardless of what I wore, I was always going to be a little odd - because of the way I looked, thought, talked...etc. There was no point in trying to "fit in" with any group and this train of thought was only supported by my having, what one would call, friends. Anyway - this is turning into an aside on my style development, I'll get back to the biz.

I generally go for the nondescript "fashion is a mode for self expression" route. To those who complain about clothes, do you ever look in the mirror naked and find yourself completely content being out of the confines of fashion? Truthfully, I'm quite comfortable either way - though I prefer the clothed route for the sake of being lawful. Laws dictate that we be clothed in most public areas, but that opens some to the larger problems of letting the fashionable general public dress them versus trying to dress themselves. It's a match between the development of personal style versus going with the flow of the fashionable time.

When it comes to fashion, I can't analyze it as concretely as other things. I find it far more abstract - inspiring, interesting, and fun, but nothing that I feel I can supply relevant commentary on. Always adjectives, but never nouns. Maybe social commentary, but fashion commentary? I need words for that.

It wouldn't be out of line to say that I don't really follow fashion, I just like looking at the pictures.

"Do you think that fashion is oppressive to women – and men – or should we celebrate it as a source of fun and self-expression?" (Tanya Gold's Article)

Seriously, it's both.

the name game

I felt that a name change was in order. The last one felt more like a working name (pun), I also realized that no one watches me work as much as they just see the results because that's what gets posted. I got inspired some to make a new image and along with that, I just decided to change the name to something a little more fitting. I think this one will stay for a while longer. The title is a little more typical, but then again, every snowflake is made of water.

culture is an odd thing

Happy Lunar New Year! On the 14th, I (Ox) passed the torch of good luck onto the Tiger. Personally, I would've preferred to muscle a few more days, but what would be the odds of an ox taking out a tiger? Best of luck you bloody 86ers!

A few days ago, I was contemplating my luck for the year. Traditionally, one should not clean on the day of the Lunar New Year or you will be sweeping out your luck for the year. Girls shouldn't wash their hair for the next 3 days or you'll wash out your knowledge. And my all time favorite: parents and elders given their young'uns ang pows - red envelopes with money.

The holiday is wrought with superstition. I find myself a rational person, yet I always have the urge to clean my room and eat long noodles around the Lunar New Year. It's not just superstition, it's my culture. Of course, being one in favor of fusion, this is also the opportunity for more New Years Resolutions.

Just like that cultural based impulse that makes me clean my room around the Lunar New Year, there is also the hard wired impulse that tells me a cheongsam is a wardrobe staple I need.

Perhaps if I wasn't part Chinese, I wouldn't care as much about my need for a cheongsam. Given that I am part Chinese, I can't help but think that the cheongsam not only emphasizes that, but was made to look good on people of the region. To top that off, the thing is so ethnic looking, it can sometimes look like a costume, a wicked costume, but costume no less. There's nothing like owning a piece of clothing and thinking 'damn, this looks really really good on me.' Culture is an odd, but awesome thing. I'd feel so out of place in an Aodai, a Kimono, or Hanbok given my lack of exposure to any of those cultures - those would all be costumes on me, but I feel quite at home rocking a cheongsam.

this is my attempt to do it all

Notice the contrast?


To the left is how I look on occasion. I don't own a pair of black tights, so I just always wear my blue ones, and if you've noticed, I did buy the leopard lace Rodarte dress from Target - yep, it went on sale and sizing up makes a world of difference for getting the thing on.

To the right is how I look 90% of the time. Did I mention that, to some degree, I'm a hip hop dancer? There are my dunks that I've been meaning to post on for some time. That tiger shirt is my favorite, I wear it as often as I can and would probably be in it 90% of the time if I could be.

My boyfriend would much prefer the left and I personally like looking good from time to time, but I don't feel I look bad in my hip hop garb. For a while I was a little conflicted on my need to leave certain "younger" styles of clothing given that I'm 24 and only getting older, but in hip hop, I've found that anything goes, especially if it's colorful. Sometimes dressing on the left conflicts with my wanting to maintain my ability to "break it down" wherever I am. Conveniently, whenever I'm with my boyfriend, I usually don't dance so dressing nice could actually work out.

No need to limit myself when it comes to things that make me happy.

Among other things, my sister is getting married in June and I need to learn to dance in heels without blowing out my knee.