Vote for Pedro (or me)

So Fashion156 put out a call for someone to take over their blog for a week. I entered with my nerdy Sulpicia stuff, and I just received word that I'm one of the 7 finalists chosen by the Fashion156 people. Now, it's up to Fashion156's readers and Facebook fans to decide who the winner is. If you're interested in voting, go here or here and leave a comment/like for my entry...if you can guess which one is mine (hint: it's under my top secret name). Thanks!

(Photo from Florent Tosi, which you've already seen here and which I used in my submission to illustrate my Sulpicia-themed posts)

Third gender dressing

These two pieces from the graduate (from London College of Fashion) collection of Alexis Housden do two things. First, they illustrate how the runway can act as a bad change room for even the most beautiful of pieces, as I don't think these photographed well at all in the catwalk show, yet incredibly well in the editorial shots. Second, they provide a couple costume options for Sulpicia, as the mixture of tailored masculine shapes with feminine detailed fabrics and neutral colours create an androgynous aesthetic that is, as Alexis says, fashion for a 'third gender'. I.e. a portrait of a poet as a young (wo)(man). Perfect.

(Runway photos via UK Vogue, others via here)

Mimesis

Yesterday I sat down to officially begin writing my Masters thesis, and instead I came up with a topic for a PhD thesis. I don't even know if I'll be able to do a PhD in the near future. Sigh. Also, I can't seem to come up with a first sentence other than "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...", so the writing has come to an abrupt halt before it even began. I keep kicking around this idea in my head that I'd prefer to curate an exhibit on various designers' takes on Sulpicia: who they think she is, if she's a he, how would he dress to perform the poetry, etc. Of course, though my program is pretty awesome in that I can take any course I want and take a totally interdisciplinary approach to my topic, I do not think it allows for a creative project such as a costume exhibit. Also, I doubt anyone outside of those I've talked to about my thesis and the select few that also write about her know who Sulpicia is (warning: don't believe everything Wikipedia tells you). Aside from those two obstacles, such a project would be so much fun! If anyone is interested in sketching/sewing something up based on a few poems that may or may not be written by someone who may or may not have existed 2000 years ago, let me know and we can put something together here to post. In the meantime, here is a poem (by Sulpicia or 'Sulpicia', translated by me), as well as some looks by Portuguese designer Lara Torres, looks which represent what's going on in my head in various largely unexplainable ways.

At last love has come, of such a kind that the reputation of having hidden it 

   would be more a cause for shame to me than would that of having laid it bare to someone. 

Venus, having been won over by my Muses, 

   has brought him and deposited him into my lap. 

Venus has fulfilled her promises: let one recount my joys,  

   if someone is said to have not had his own. 

I do not wish to entrust anything to stamped pages, 

   so that no one reads me before my love,  

but it delights me to make a slip of the tongue, it irks me to put on false 

   appearances of tradition: may I be reported worthy to have been with a worthy man. 

Pictures, or it didn't happen*

I just decided, just now, that I prefer fashion editorials to videos. Yes, I've complained about editorials before, as I'd prefer to see every detail of a piece first and foremost to figure out how it would work for me, and then see how others see it. And yes, I've posted fashion videos before if I think they're cool or am a huge fan of the designer. Heck, I even look forward to seeing new videos when I know they're coming (such as Alexandra Groover's newest, premiering at London Fashion Week on Friday). But really, if I'm being honest, if I have to choose between an editorial and a video, I'd rather see an editorial with no music or story line or blatant subtext attached so that I can make up my own interpretation of what is going on. Maybe it's that anti-technology aspect of me rearing its head, but fashion is much more relatable if I'm allowed to relate to it on my own terms. Seems obvious, but whatever. The same goes for me and music too - I'd prefer not being told what obscure lyrics mean (insert shout out to Davey Havok here), and sometimes I even wish I had never seen a music video that creates a narrative or image that was never (in my mind, at least) inherent in the lyrics. 

Anyway, this came up because I came home to InAisce's S/S 13 editorial lookbook, and all I could think of was Latin poetry, both the reading and translating of. For instance, the first photo captures in an InAisce-framed way my secret Latin translating spot that I was babbling on about the other day, with me in black, looking through time to what Catullus (whom I'm translating) was saying. And in the second photo, the ghost-like figure in black represents, to me, Catullus (or any other dead poet/writer/artist, for that matter), looking on at what the world has become and what we've made of him, himself being unable to follow us and yet still being here. And in the third photo (below), the figure hidden on the cliff brings to mind my Sulpicia, the focal point of my Masters, waiting to pounce on me in retribution for my erasure of her existence (though, at the same time, her ghost-ness symbolizes her non-existence...). I'm sorry, Sulpicia, but someone's got to do it.

Thoughts/feelings/impressions?

(Photos by Jeff P. Elstone II)

*Written while enjoying Theatre is Evil, Amanda Palmer's new album with The Grand Theft Orchestra (yes, that album); one of my favorite songs from it is called "Smile (Pictures or It Didn't Happen)".

Ce qui est beau est toujours bizarre

Swiss fashion grad Florent Tosi's collection, titled the same as this post (and found via NJAL), at first piqued my interest for the same styling reasons as Ilaria Nistri's newest offerings, with the extended bib collar, harnessed jackets, and one-armed coats. But the fact that Florent's work revolves around the male body both literally and figuratively causes me to take a second look and question whether I'm even entitled to picture his brilliant deconstructed pieces on myself (see below). As Florent says regarding his aesthetic: 

The shown parts of the body (arms, legs) are not particularly erotic, but linked with the easily identifiable universe of men suit gives it a different reading. It exacerbes its animal side, showing a hairy leg next to a pant with a fold leg.

Though my answer to my question (of whether I'm allowed to want these pieces) is obviously yes, I feel that Florent would say otherwise. And to that, Florent, I ask: how would you reconcile or amend the idea behind your collection if the man who wants to wear your work is a cyclist, and thus does not have hairy legs? And then, if the Florent Tosi man can be a cyclist, can the Florent Tosi man be a woman? If so, or at least if your answer is 'maybe', we should talk. Sulpicia needs a couple more outfits. If not, however, you still have a fan.

(Photos via Florent's Tumblr)

VOID

I was hoping that when I started typing in this young designer's name as a label, Blogger would auto-suggest it, meaning I had an earlier post on her. It just seems like Yvonne Laufer belongs on kOs, and should've been here since the beginning. This is already her MA graduate collection, for goodness' sakes. And with such perfection, you know that her BA one must've knocked more than a few socks off. But all is well, my friends, because Yvonne and kOs have now been united (thanks to NJAL). This collection is inspired by negative space, and looks like the perfect marriage (well, technically a three-way) between Julian Roberts' subtraction cutting method, Lilly Heine's lasered layers, and science.

Yvonne, do you have any interest in creating one additional piece for this collection, specifically inspired by Sulpicia (or who you think Sulpicia was)? I suddenly think it would be a vital part of my research, particularly as it all boils down to negative space, really. Let me know. Alternatively, if I were to become involved in a play/modern dance routine based on my interpretation of Sulpicia, as Canadian classicists are wont to do, I may need to borrow either/both of the below looks for Sulpicia's wardrobe.

(Photos via NJAL)