A Closet Relationship: Chapter 1

The terribly trite Passion for Fashion– its jumped straight off the glossy, magnum print and into our pages of the everyday. Its no secret that subjects of fashion and style have undergone a shift of power under the hands of social media. With a sea of internet outlets, the obscure and elitist attitude towards fashion has simmered while street style reins and bloggers become culturally relevant. Bla Bla Bla. Its been talked about.

  Within this shift, fashion has come to seem more approachable, relatable and attainable. Internet celebrities are born, as stylish urbanites upload high contrasting photographs to their personal webpages. Everyone is their own fashionista and telling the world. Journalists and writers use the internet as a platform for conversation and research. The aspiring folk, aka bloggers, break their way into the scene. Those who accumulate a big enough following end up nabbing invites to hot ticket fashion shows and special events. Book deals and endorsements to follow. On the other end of the spectrum, household names (Ahem: Rodarte, Stella McCartney, Zac Posen, the late Alexander McQueen) collaborate on affordable lines for Target. Its a smorgasbord of the fashion friendly– big and small– and everyone gets a piece.

  And so its all become a bit muddled. Online methods offer intelligent and perceptive voices of those who otherwise may not be heard, while haute couture seeks alternatives in times of economic uncertainty. None of these things are horrible. The downfall here is the blatant emphasis on fashion as commerce rather than culture and a creator. The antics of the fashion world air out like dirty laundry– right there for everyone to see. Where is the mystique? Where is the fantasy? Style and substance seem to have fallen out of symmetry. The magic of the craft is buried underneath the business side of things.

  So I ask: When does close become too close? I ask because I'm uncertain. All of this buzz. All of this hype. The blogs, the updates, the infusion of interest. (... the love poems written to clothing designs...) Is it about the art of design? Or is it about the ego, the cash-money and the name droppings. Would it drown out the empty information if we just let the insiders do their jobs. Could less talk restore some substance into the general feed of fashion? Well I don't think there'll be less talk. It looks like we'll have to do our best blocking out the extras and finding that fantasy....

*A Closet Relationship will be a reoccurring entry regarding the topics of fashion, clothes and style in relation to their place within contemporary culture.