December 12, 2009
Vintage vs. Postmodern
Vintage and postmodern, two words that 5 years ago we didn't even know how to pronounce and now they are in our vocabulary more often than "thank you" or "please."
The "total bad vibe" look is also very postmodern.
Bad vibe look and studs
Hey, I like your cape, I don't know if it's postmodern but I'm making one for myself.
Graffiti culture adopted by fashion, even graffiti artists are no longer postmodern.
The word vintage came into my life through my stepsister M who lives in San Francisco. One day, a long, long time ago, she brought us clothes from a "vintage" store, and my other stepsister and I looked at her with disgust for bringing us clothes that were, for all intents and purposes, "second-hand." I remember when we read vintage on the labels, we didn't know if it was pronounced the English way, "vintech," or the French way, "vintaschh." I insist, it was a long, long time ago.
The thing is that vintage has settled into our lives like a homeless friend and no longer refers to old-fashioned clothes but to a style of dressing in itself. One that I personally quite like, although personally I prefer a more ornate, more rococo style, but anything that refers to old things always attracts me, a family inheritance from my mother, a furniture restorer. Although without overdoing it, please, because now even something you bought 3 years ago at Zara is considered vintage, and honestly, that doesn't apply; what's old-fashioned is old-fashioned, and there's no need to try to dress it up with foreign words.
The thing is that vintage has settled into our lives like a homeless friend and no longer refers to old-fashioned clothes but to a style of dressing in itself. One that I personally quite like, although personally I prefer a more ornate, more rococo style, but anything that refers to old things always attracts me, a family inheritance from my mother, a furniture restorer. Although without overdoing it, please, because now even something you bought 3 years ago at Zara is considered vintage, and honestly, that doesn't apply; what's old-fashioned is old-fashioned, and there's no need to try to dress it up with foreign words.
Headpieces are something that has recently become part of our lives, and I would say it has a lot to do with the vintage craze, because they instantly give you a touch of another era. This particular girl looks perfect with her facial features; she seems straight out of a black and white portrait.
I love how this woman is dressed, the colors of her clothes, the print of her shirt, her shoes; in my opinion, perfect.
Some brands are directly focused on achieving that modern vintage touch, such as Chloé.
The frame of the glasses can help you look like you're from another era, and I think eccentric use of color in shoes also helps.
Suit jackets and thick-rimmed glasses, give me a MadMen-style man, and you'll have my picture.
Thick-rimmed glasses, a headpiece, and eccentric colors, an ideal all-in-one to add a few decades to your look.
I don't think she particularly has a very vintage look if it weren't for the secretary glasses.
And as always, any aesthetic trend that the Japanese adopt, they do it in their own way and better than anyone. That pink bolero with printed pearls just makes my eyes spin. I must go to Japan; I think they would understand me better there than anywhere else, except for the language, of course. But with the universal language of fashion... what else matters? There are no barriers, no limits, no borders for extravagantly dressed people. Where we see each other, we recognize each other!
And speaking of the language of fashion, that language that "someone" (WHO?!) invented to create false barriers between the "initiated" and the "newcomers," there is no word I hate more in this jargon than FASHION. ARGGGGHHH!!! "Oh, honey, how cute your dress is, you look very fashion, don't you?" (meaning bad) "Those jackets you make are very fashion, aren't they?" (meaning ugly) "She's a very fashion girl." (meaning loose). There's no word I hate more because I believe it intrinsically harbors an evil meaning; to my taste, it's a word of a wicked, rarefied woman (meaning fake).
But in any case, I'm more used to it now, and I'm less surprised than when someone tells me something "is very postmodern." The truth is, this word, unlike fashion, makes me laugh immediately. Postmodern... say what? The term is supposed to refer to cultural, artistic, and other movements from the late 20th century, after the industrial era, i.e., more or less from the 70s onwards. But I ask myself, how long are we going to continue being postmodern then? We've changed centuries, but we're still in the same boat.
I was dumbfounded the other day when someone told me that "Ray-Ban Wayfarers are very postmodern." In discussions, if a fashion topic comes up, people look at me as if expecting me to express an opinion. Big mistake; I have no intention of getting into trouble, much less pontificating about something I don't know, and of course, if it's about postmodernism, all I can do is laugh non-stop.
And speaking of the language of fashion, that language that "someone" (WHO?!) invented to create false barriers between the "initiated" and the "newcomers," there is no word I hate more in this jargon than FASHION. ARGGGGHHH!!! "Oh, honey, how cute your dress is, you look very fashion, don't you?" (meaning bad) "Those jackets you make are very fashion, aren't they?" (meaning ugly) "She's a very fashion girl." (meaning loose). There's no word I hate more because I believe it intrinsically harbors an evil meaning; to my taste, it's a word of a wicked, rarefied woman (meaning fake).
But in any case, I'm more used to it now, and I'm less surprised than when someone tells me something "is very postmodern." The truth is, this word, unlike fashion, makes me laugh immediately. Postmodern... say what? The term is supposed to refer to cultural, artistic, and other movements from the late 20th century, after the industrial era, i.e., more or less from the 70s onwards. But I ask myself, how long are we going to continue being postmodern then? We've changed centuries, but we're still in the same boat.
I was dumbfounded the other day when someone told me that "Ray-Ban Wayfarers are very postmodern." In discussions, if a fashion topic comes up, people look at me as if expecting me to express an opinion. Big mistake; I have no intention of getting into trouble, much less pontificating about something I don't know, and of course, if it's about postmodernism, all I can do is laugh non-stop.
In our postmodernism of today, Lady Gaga is doing a lot of damage among young women. A lot. Although they are delighted with themselves. Well, there you go, of course!
The "total bad vibe" look is also very postmodern.
Bad vibe look and studs
Hey, I like your cape, I don't know if it's postmodern but I'm making one for myself.
Graffiti culture adopted by fashion, even graffiti artists are no longer postmodern.
Well, I'm going to shut up now and leave you to it, as I'm writing this on a Saturday night and I have to dress up as Vicky Pollard to go to Chico's birthday. Slovenliness is our form of postmodernism.
A thousand kisses,
The Post-millennium Countess
A thousand kisses,
The Post-millennium Countess