Fashion Backwards.

Today is my last class of the semester! And while sculpture could sometimes be a pain in the ass, it was cathartic to at least be making something, I am so glad I can go back to working on my own artwork.  I can paint again!  I am so energized by the thought of it!!

I couldn’t decide what to wear. And after looking at some fabulous fashion blogs the other day, I thought longingly about my vintage crazy clothes that are totally impractical for sculpture class where everything in the room is dirty and nasty. And I have to install my artwork prior to my critique today.

Messy hair and no make-up… I’m almost like Hilary Clinton (only I’m not.)

I’d say I am “fashion forward” today but really I’m more “fashion backwards” in my high-waisted jeans, David Bowie t-shirt, and pompadour-like hair style.

The after-effects of shopping.

I am seriously thinking of starting a movement against the fashion industry’s insistence on seductive, body-conscious clothing. I want to look fashionable and not like my grandmother. I need to look professional — I can’t show too much skin, cleavage and the like. Yet, all I can find is see-through and/or low-cut shirts — a small-chested woman shouldn’t have to worry about cleavage! Not to mention if I’m spending $20-30 on a shirt, I don’t wish to have to buy another shirt to wear under the shirt I just bought! That is stupid. And see-through T-shirts are dumb. If I’m wearing a T-shirt it means I just want to wear one shirt, not two.

As for dresses, don’t get me started on 25 inch dresses for young women! Who wears?! When your 5’9″ do you know where the seam of a 25″ dress goes?! Let’s put it this way, I’d be arrested for indecent exposure. Sure I can wear leggings under my shirt, eh dress, but do I want to have to wear leggings in August?

Can someone in the fashion industry get a clue?!

Maybe I should just start my *own* fashion line called “not a whore by Melanie Ducharme.”

When the Past is Present.

Last night was yet another podcasting extravaganza at the Cocktail club Studios. I rehearsed in the afternoon my, eh, lines, started to lose my voice before I even got to the recording, so I had some tea beforehand. The podcast recording was hot and sweaty and dirty and 80′s. Oh yes, I said 80′s… at least I didn’t have to dress the part. Of course, I hear that some of it is back in fashion: the leggings, the shirt-dresses, those stupid plastic wayfarer sunglasses.

I’m a fashionable gal. I do love the high waisted skirts, they sell for too much money at all the “hip” stores and you see all the fashionable chics strutting down the street in them. I managed to snag two at a reasonable price so that I too can feel fashionably superior. Also, I enjoy those crazy looking open-toed shoe boot things. I just wish the heels were slightly more manageable. I have leggings, which I wear under a dress. I can’t seem to latch on to the trend of wearing them as regular pants with a regular length shirt. Maybe its because they are tight and make me feel like the pants advertise: “Hey everyone look at my ass!”

In fashion everything old is new again!  I keep wondering when someone will come up with something that is truly uniquely year 2010 and not something that is ripped off from a previous decade. If I had to chose a decade to recreate fashion-wise, the 80′s wouldn’t have been my first or second choice.

Some of my favorite fashion decades: the 1920′s with the invention of sportswear for women with cute pleated skirts and long sweaters. Or flapper dresses. The then, radical short hair cuts for women. And there was that 19th amendment of 1920 ( if you don’t know what it is, you’ll have to look it up). The fashion was feminine, yet frisky and fun. The clothing wasn’t really body conscious and it was loose. I wear my cloche, whenever its cold enough to wear one, as it is wool and angora… it looks good with jeans and boots or a dress.

Another decade I enjoy fashion wise: the 50′s. I just can’t help it, it goes against the feminist in me. The women’s fashions were ridiculously girly, which I am not, but they were also so ridiculous that it was almost like a caricature of oneself. I have loved 50′s style since I was a kid. I used to love the poodle skirts and owned one when I was about 7. It was red wool, it was cut as a circle skirt, just the real ones of the 50′s. And I’ve been known to rock a rockabilly hair-do just because…

I end this with a link to the fashion exhibit at the Metropolitan of womens’ fashion from the 1800′s to present… go look at the collection and drool because you’ll never dress that fabulously.

Exhibitionism

My girlfriend lent me the book “Exhibitionism for the Shy” by Carol Queen. I’ve decided to document my findings. My girlfriend did demand a ‘book report…’

Today’s lesson started with what the term “exhibitionism” is and isn’t. It was once labeled an illness by psychologists who found it to be ‘deviant’ behavior. It got the bad rap from people who do things such as open their trench coat to expose themselves to unsuspecting passers-by. Another behavior that was once labeled ‘deviant’ is voyeurism because of those who perhaps didn’t realize there are those who enjoy being watched. Healthy exhibitionism (and voyeurism) is about it being consensual where you know the behavior is appropriate: at a sex party, in your home, with your lover, with a group of other exhibitionists. It is also defined as “deliberately presenting yourself in an erotic way.” (pg.25)

I think the book also brought up a good point about how mainstream showing off one’s sexual self really is. No one stops to think about it, but some of the examples that were used were things such as a fashion show—my first thought was Victoria’s Secret fashion shows, which are aired on television. Watching a fashion show or flipping through Vogue seems perfectly acceptable whether or not the models are half dressed. Its fashion.. and sex sells. Another example was visual art. Art inspired by sex and sexuality takes exhibitionism and voyeurism to a socially acceptable and cultured level. While talking about sex in public may not always be culturally and socially acceptable, walking into an erotic art exhibit and being the voyeur to these pieces is perfectly acceptable. Well to some — some may still object to sexual art.. I did receive hate mail for the “Sex at the X” show I curated at Gallery X. I find art to be cathartic, and sexual art to be a perfectly healthy way to express one’s feelings, even if not everyone agrees with me.

fashionability

I admit it, I love clothes. When I was in fourth grade I told everyone that I was going to be a fashion designer when I grew up. I outgrew the desire for my designs to be shown at fashion week, but I still have a love of clothes, and accessories—I’m not a big shoe person, its usually the last thing I think of. I have my favorites and they work well with everything I own. I hate high heels, they’re bad for your feet and typically hurt like hell unless their a wedge or have a low heel.

Unfortunately, I am not independently wealthy, or even wealthy enough to buy an entire wardrobe every season when all the new and exciting things arrive in a department store or mall near you. That is where thrifts stores and the clearance aisles come in. The down side of thrifty fashion is there may not be your size or even another one there of that special piece that you like, so you have to go with the flow. Its like a mini adventure: go to the store and buy something that is $20 or under and doesn’t look it. $20-25 is my typical clothes budget when shopping, no joke, so obviously it may take some creativity to put together an outfit… this entire outfit cost roughly $32 dollars:

The skirt and shoes are from Savers about $15 between the two, the cardigan I found in the kid’s department (its an XL) at Target about $9, the t-shirt was last season’s on clearance for $2 at Old Navy, the belt was my Dad’s from the 60′s (I don’t think he plans on wearing it anymore), and the sweater thigh-highs were about $6 at Target.

Opening Reception!

This is it, the moment has arrived… Sex at the X:our erotic show officially opened to the public on Wednesday and the opening reception is tomorrow night at Gallery X, located at 169 William St. New Bedford, MA from 7-10pm.

The cold, and threat of snow will not stop me from being excited and happy and a bit proud of myself (and my helpers and Robert Seigelman) for getting the show put together.  Even the diagnosis of some weird fucking ailment, Raynauds to be exact. Its motto should be: Raynauds, your stuck with it… but Sex at X doesn’t happen every day, I’ll dress in layers and use my gf as a blanket. The only seemingly sexy part about my diagnosis is my ability, eh, necessity to wear gloves, gloves outdoors, gloves while indoors, right now… I’m rocking hello kitty fingerless ones that I made myself, seriously, who sells them at an affordable price? I’m going to need to wash these from time to time and $24 at Newbury Comics is a bit much for something I need more than one pair of.

Beauty Processes

I am currently reading “Look at My Ugly Face” by  Sara Halprin. It makes me think back to many things… My mother worrying (more than me) about my appearance. She feared ridicule from my classmates, if I didn’t look a certain way, like she experienced due to her overbite. My classmates still picked on what they thought “easy prey,” the skinny (read frail), big eyed, quiet/shy girl. Yet I had boyfriend after boyfriend, while my Mother’s obsession with how I looked reached manic proportions. I recall her once vigorously brushing out my curls after a mud hair treatment to make my hair, I don’t know, less frizzy, less curly? She claimed my hair “was in knots.” I think the “knots” where just my curls. The result of her brushing my curly hair was that it frizzed out. She proclaimed the product a failure to make my hair “normal.” What was “normal” I couldn’t have told you. She made me try hair product after hair product in hopes of a miracle cure to my wild curls.  Nothing short of shaving my head will cure them.  Along with her obsession with my hair, my mother also became concerned about skin care regime. She would buy skin product after skin product claiming the few pimples I did get as a tween/teen were due to the fact I washed my face with Noxema. One of the products she made me try, burnt my skin so that it was red and blotchy for a few days.

I learnt early on what a hoax/joke the beauty process was. I think somewhere around 15, I rebelled against it all. I found grunge/alternative music that made it appear that it was okay to look like crap if even your a girl. The girls in the Nirvana’s “Smells like Teen Spirit” video looked perfectly accepting of how they looked. I wore men’s clothing, I ditched the make-up, I wore mismatched clothes on purpose (that drove my now ex-boyfriend insane). I made the most of my long frizzy curls in barrettes, braids, splitting my hair into sections and making a bunch of knots on top of my head like Bjork in the ‘Big Time Sensuality’ video.

bjork

I began emulating male artists as much as females. No one scoffed at Eddy Vedder with his unkempt hair – maybe his mother did, but I didn’t hear about it. People, for the most part, thought he was cool back in the 90′s. My ex-boyfriend wanted to be him, and I kind of did as well. I had reached the point where I didn’t want to simply just attract men or women. I wanted them to like me for my beauty and brains.  And most importantly, I wanted to be on equal footing with men and boys. I could ask boys out – a concept that nearly drove my female family members insane, while my female friends cheered me on. One would think that my family knew right then, I was never going to grow up to be a stereotypical woman. Yet… it took years for my grandmother to stop telling me about places I could go to meet nice guys.  And my mother has finally stopped encouraging me to wear the eye make-up that makes my eyes itch. I suppose itchy eyes are just part of the female ritual I was supposed to be part of… I wanted to be beautiful, there’s a part that still does, but sometimes its such a pain in the ass, and not always worth it.

DIY Fashion.

In these tough economic times what is a fashionable artist to do, especially if your a starving one?! One of my two jobs is at the mall, so I look longingly at the fashion displays in the store windows as I pass by to make $7.25 an hour. Most times I think the fashions in stores look pretty much the same, but there’s always that one thing that I wish I could splurge on. Since I wear a uniform at both of my jobs its tough to rationalize buying more clothes. I try to tell myself I don’t need those clothes, the ones I have are perfectly acceptable. I know I’m lucky, I do appreciate the things I have. I know there are people who don’t have one pair of flip flops never mind seven, in seven different colors! Yet every week, I stare in disbelief at my paycheck: how am I to pay bills, put gas in my car (so I can drive to work), buy necessities and still keep up my art, music and fashion habits?!

Lately I’ve become quite the seamstress. Reconstructing old clothes mostly.. though I have gotten ambitious a few times and started from scratch. I don’t even use a pattern when I start from scratch. I once tried to use a pattern to make a circle skirt and ended up throwing the pattern to the side and figuring out the skirt myself. When I was about 9 years old, I told the popular girl in school that I was going to be a fashion designer – who knew I’d do it out of the sheer desire to have something ‘cool’ to wear to my art openings, a hot date, or just a lazy day doing errands?!

A few months back my best friend had given me this dress that used to belong to his sister. He claimed the pattern was ‘crazy’ and that he thought I could make something with it. The pattern reminds me of Gustave Klimt’s work. Originally the dress was a basic sundress. It was longer than I would normally wear in the summer, but I loved the ruffle that was in a contrasting pattern on the hem of the dress. I threw the dress at the bottom of my closet while I contemplated what to do with it. I was thinking of doing a total overhaul of the dress, which I knew would be totally time consuming.

As I was wondering around the mall the other week, I noticed that the dresses that were out for spring/summer had very similar qualities to the one residing at the bottom of my closet. I also recalled that in British Vogue they were proclaiming that asymmetry was totally in. I love making asymmetrical wears. That is when the idea for the dress came into focus for me. I still thought about cutting it shorter and reattaching the ruffle, but I knew it would ruin the pattern, so I left it as is. Though I did cut off a strap on the dress, leaving only one strap for that asymmetrical look.
Turns out my breasts are big enough to hold it up, and the material is kind of heavy for such a thing. So it was on to plan B: which was to make the second strap a spaghetti strap that crosses over my chest. I used a black shoe lace, that I just happen to have, for the spaghetti strap.


It took about four hours, now I have to wait for the weather to get warm enough to wear it…

good news!

I got the day off from work!
I’m going to be a contributor to http://lezgetreal.com/ – so psyched about this one.
I just got a photo gig!
I’m almost finished with a fab dress that I’m redesigning (photos coming soon, I promise!)

Dressing to the beat of the dollar

I walk down the streets of Providence, I pass a guy in a sweatshirt with cowboy boots over his way too tight pants. I see a girl at the coffee shop in a turquoise jacket, purple tights, purple dress. We are assaulted with images of others perception of self through clothing. Some say women are the only ones obsessed with it, I know differently. I think of it as an expression of ones’ personality.

I love clothes, I love making my own, I love not looking like everyone else and having someone commend my fashion sense. Knowing full well, they themselves won’t ever be wearing the same outfit because I bought it second hand or made it. Okay sometimes I buy clothes, at real stores not just second hand. I indulge in Charlotte Russe or Target or some other anti-christ, consumerist store at the mall. I try to keep those purchases to a minimum, what with my minimum pay as a female artist (I won’t even go down that road right now).

I remember when I was younger just ogling fashion spreads in Vogue or watching the show “House of Style” on MTV. (I so love you Told Olman! and I want all your clothes!) My parents couldn’t afford to buy me anything more expensive or couture than what was available through the JCPenny catolgue. I made do. Though, I dreamt of the day I could own something that looked haute couture… or at least something that looked half as cool as what my favorite musicians were wearing. Given some of bands I listen to, they probably shop the same places I do.

When Kim Gordon came out with X-Girl, holy crap! I wanted it all – the whole line! They featured it on “House of Style.” I totally wanted to be the first girl in school wearing something from this collection that was clearly not available in any store on the mall where my parents bought my clothes, nor was it available in Salvation Army. So I was S.O.L. Some stuck-up, girl in my art class ended up being the first to wear the almighty “X-Girl” t-shirt along with Doc Martins that my parents wouldn’t buy me. I still don’t own any, I bought my army boots at Aldo for half the price, so there!

Today, I went pursuing my favorite local thrift store, and came home to find an article on the internets: Kim Gordon coming out with a new fashion line … and where can you get it?! oh the irony! Fucking Urban Outfitters! Sure they have cute stuff, if I won the lottery, or was completely stupid with my money. The only thing I can afford there is maybe some socks and lipgloss. Hey, in this economy, I guess we all have to pay the bills somehow… if selling your designs to an over-priced store that most of your fans couldn’t dream of affording unless their parents or they are loaded… then so be it. Its the end punk kids.