April, 2013 - The Seventh Sphinx

Finally a day nice enough to wear my new Bass oxfords. Yes, I got shoes with flowers on them. Yellow ones. I fear it is a slippery slope.

When it’s not slung over my shoulder messenger bag style, I often carry my bag in this strange, inefficient way, bunching up the short strap.

These leggings are a little tighter and a little more high-waisted than anything else I have…but I’m getting into that look. Or, I can get into it, with conditions.

This is the loose, haphazard bun I throw my hair into most days. This hairstyle has the excellent virtue of taking less than a minute to execute.

Oh, this watch is new. From the sleek Danish brand Skagen, known for their extremely thin movements. I love this simple, clean gold design (and a two-toned watch wherein both tones are gold is me all over). It’s settling in nicely.

Bass Thea oxfords, green envelope top, Topshop Baxter leggings, American Apparel braided belt (I have this belt in so many colors), Lucky Brand bag, Ray-Ban aviators, Skagen watch, Scotch & Soda leather wrap bracelet, vintage earrings. On the lips: Maybelline Color Sensational Vivid lipstick in Shocking Coral.

CPL was quick to recommend Alan Moore’s recent offering from Avatar Press, Fashion Beast, and lent me the first 8 of 10 issues. A graphic novel all about the power of fashion? Spot on with that recommendation. Opening issues: Mysterious designer auditioning humans as living mannequins with nuclear winter on the horizon. Yes thanks.

Fashion Beast is so my new epithet.

This text gets into the philosophy of fashion, the power of appearance and therefore of transformation. In this case (for the designer), clothes are king, and appearance trumps all. I don’t think fashion has to be viewed from a serious or philosophical standpoint but it certainly can be (yet another lens through which to survey existence, yours, mine, and ours), and when it is, some very interesting things begin to happen. At least, to me. Namely, I pay more attention, I become more careful in my choices, I become that which I am always striving to be: a creature who does things on purpose.

That is not to say I know why exactly, or know what I am doing*, just…that I chose it, from an array of other choices I deemed inferior or less appealing.

*DEFinitely not saying that.

“Our clothes are bigger than we are, are beyond the petty lusts and difficulties of the creatures that inhabit them.”

Yes, clothes can inspire us, like a beautiful environment they can motivate us to live up to them and be worthy of them. They can reflect the best of us. They can help us to belong in a chosen environment or a chosen persona. They can Do Stuff.