Men's fashions....
Jul. 7th, 2003 08:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fajrdrakoAfter the bog people, we went to the other exhibit at the museum: on men's fashion.
The bog exhibit was dark and spooky and intense. The men's fashion was given a light, frothy tone. It wasn't billed as Canadian fashion, but it was all fashion since the time of European colonization of Canada.
The oldest clothing was the most beautiful. Coats intricately embroidered with flowers like they might have worn at Versailles in Champlain's time. Waistcoats that were even fancier than the coats.
My favourite item was a cloak worn by Pierre Eliot Trudeau about 1970. Absolutely gorgeous! Warm looking, warm enough for a Canadian winter, and excruciating to look at on a hot July day.
There was an amusing article blown up from an item in the Montreal Gazette, about a man in the 1880s who sued another man for calling him a 'dude' in public. A dude was a "a vulgarly dressed man who dresses well and tries to be a gentleman, but can't.'
Huh. I thought it was just Americans who sued each other a lot. I guess I was wrong. (No offense to Americans intended....)
There were drawings from about 1790 of dandies of the time. One of them, a thin, rakish, over-fashionable man had his hand in his pocket in a certain way - it looked as if he was fondling his genitals. Lynne said to me, "What do you think he's doing with that hand?"
"I don't know, but it looks improper," said I.
The gentleman standing beside us cracked up.
There was an item on the Canadian Papal Zouaves, with their rather fancified uniforms - 400 French-Canadians who went to defend the Vatican against the Italians in the 1870s. I'd never heard about them - I wonder what became of them?
I liked the description beside a black leather jacket: "Though the garment's original appeal was practical, offering a barrier of protection against earth, wind and gun-fire, over time it came to have a risque allure."
The item that excited me most was trousers from 1800 or so, with a display of fly openings. It showed clearly how the fly was styled on the kind of trousers Horatio Hornblower would have worn - something I was researching desperately when I was writing Hornblower slash.
There was the Montreal Snowshoe Club Uniform, which was a very fancy and very Canadian-looking coat covered with badges.
There was a copy of "Details" magazine with Ewan McGregor on the cover. He was wearing something described in the display of 'evening dress'- an evening jacket with jeans and workboots. Cool. Mind you, anything looks good on Ewan McGregor - if he wants it to.
There was a section of photographs that had historical photos of men in various fashions of the past century and a half mixed with photos of men who came to the opening of this exhibit in 2003. It was lots of fun to peruse, especially since the men at the exhibit had worn every style of clothing fashionable today - from a teenager in T-short and loose jeans, to a guy in a denim jacket, another in a dress shirt, another in a golf shirt, another (a fashion designer himself) in a very natty suit.
At the end of the exhibit was a series of questions that reminded me of the questions you see as memes in livejournals. These were (with my answers):
How do you judge what clothing is 'masculine' from 'feminine'?
My answer: Why would I want to judge? The masculinity or femininity (or androgyny) is in the person, not the clothing, in my opinion - and there are no value judgements involved - androgyny is great, too. I also like fashions that mix gender-styles (for people of either gender).
But I think the question here isn't really meant to be about fashon, it's meant to make the viewer question his/her assumptions about masculinity and femininity, which is good. I believe that masculinity and femininity and androgyny lie in the personal style of the individual concerned, and it has to do with self-image and self-confidence and the image people want to project of themselves, which is in turn related to their inner self.
Do you prefer the shelter of a power shirt or the ease of casual Fridays?
Me, I like the casual stuff. I live in t-shirt and jeans as much as I can and always have. (My mother despaired of me.)
Do you try to hide your 'figure flaws' with what you wear?
I used to. I gave up. Now I just wear what I like and I'm trying to get fit so I can wear anything and still look okay.
What is today's masculine ideal and what clothes does this ideal man wear?
Anything he wants. No, really, I think fashion should reflect the person, regardless of gender or attributes, and that a person looks best in the clothes he or she likes. I have transvestite friends who have suffered terribly from the world's rigidity in the matter of waht they 'should' wear. I know guys who look terrific in skirts and I don't see why they shouldn't wear them. (Besides, I think kilts are the sexiest garments ever invented. The exhibit hinted at this.)
My fashion ideal would be Lex Luthor in an Armani suit. Though I am told by the cognoscenti that Armani is now out of date.
Or maybe... Clark in a kilt?
How much of your day to day clothing was originally designed as athletic wear?
Well, for women, I suppose trousers were originally athletic. And jeans. And I often wear stuff to do yoga in.
How much time do you spend in front of the mirror? (Honestly?)
Honestly? Almost none. I hate mirrors. I avoid them if at all possible: sit with my back to them in restaurants, and I avoid glimpsing them in public places as much as I can. I suppose I brush my teeth in front of a mirror twice a day or more, but I focus on the process as little as possible and don't really look in the mirror. I am somewhat mirror-phobic.
~ ~ ~
The bog exhibit was dark and spooky and intense. The men's fashion was given a light, frothy tone. It wasn't billed as Canadian fashion, but it was all fashion since the time of European colonization of Canada.
The oldest clothing was the most beautiful. Coats intricately embroidered with flowers like they might have worn at Versailles in Champlain's time. Waistcoats that were even fancier than the coats.
My favourite item was a cloak worn by Pierre Eliot Trudeau about 1970. Absolutely gorgeous! Warm looking, warm enough for a Canadian winter, and excruciating to look at on a hot July day.
There was an amusing article blown up from an item in the Montreal Gazette, about a man in the 1880s who sued another man for calling him a 'dude' in public. A dude was a "a vulgarly dressed man who dresses well and tries to be a gentleman, but can't.'
Huh. I thought it was just Americans who sued each other a lot. I guess I was wrong. (No offense to Americans intended....)
There were drawings from about 1790 of dandies of the time. One of them, a thin, rakish, over-fashionable man had his hand in his pocket in a certain way - it looked as if he was fondling his genitals. Lynne said to me, "What do you think he's doing with that hand?"
"I don't know, but it looks improper," said I.
The gentleman standing beside us cracked up.
There was an item on the Canadian Papal Zouaves, with their rather fancified uniforms - 400 French-Canadians who went to defend the Vatican against the Italians in the 1870s. I'd never heard about them - I wonder what became of them?
I liked the description beside a black leather jacket: "Though the garment's original appeal was practical, offering a barrier of protection against earth, wind and gun-fire, over time it came to have a risque allure."
The item that excited me most was trousers from 1800 or so, with a display of fly openings. It showed clearly how the fly was styled on the kind of trousers Horatio Hornblower would have worn - something I was researching desperately when I was writing Hornblower slash.
There was the Montreal Snowshoe Club Uniform, which was a very fancy and very Canadian-looking coat covered with badges.
There was a copy of "Details" magazine with Ewan McGregor on the cover. He was wearing something described in the display of 'evening dress'- an evening jacket with jeans and workboots. Cool. Mind you, anything looks good on Ewan McGregor - if he wants it to.
There was a section of photographs that had historical photos of men in various fashions of the past century and a half mixed with photos of men who came to the opening of this exhibit in 2003. It was lots of fun to peruse, especially since the men at the exhibit had worn every style of clothing fashionable today - from a teenager in T-short and loose jeans, to a guy in a denim jacket, another in a dress shirt, another in a golf shirt, another (a fashion designer himself) in a very natty suit.
At the end of the exhibit was a series of questions that reminded me of the questions you see as memes in livejournals. These were (with my answers):
How do you judge what clothing is 'masculine' from 'feminine'?
My answer: Why would I want to judge? The masculinity or femininity (or androgyny) is in the person, not the clothing, in my opinion - and there are no value judgements involved - androgyny is great, too. I also like fashions that mix gender-styles (for people of either gender).
But I think the question here isn't really meant to be about fashon, it's meant to make the viewer question his/her assumptions about masculinity and femininity, which is good. I believe that masculinity and femininity and androgyny lie in the personal style of the individual concerned, and it has to do with self-image and self-confidence and the image people want to project of themselves, which is in turn related to their inner self.
Do you prefer the shelter of a power shirt or the ease of casual Fridays?
Me, I like the casual stuff. I live in t-shirt and jeans as much as I can and always have. (My mother despaired of me.)
Do you try to hide your 'figure flaws' with what you wear?
I used to. I gave up. Now I just wear what I like and I'm trying to get fit so I can wear anything and still look okay.
What is today's masculine ideal and what clothes does this ideal man wear?
Anything he wants. No, really, I think fashion should reflect the person, regardless of gender or attributes, and that a person looks best in the clothes he or she likes. I have transvestite friends who have suffered terribly from the world's rigidity in the matter of waht they 'should' wear. I know guys who look terrific in skirts and I don't see why they shouldn't wear them. (Besides, I think kilts are the sexiest garments ever invented. The exhibit hinted at this.)
My fashion ideal would be Lex Luthor in an Armani suit. Though I am told by the cognoscenti that Armani is now out of date.
Or maybe... Clark in a kilt?
How much of your day to day clothing was originally designed as athletic wear?
Well, for women, I suppose trousers were originally athletic. And jeans. And I often wear stuff to do yoga in.
How much time do you spend in front of the mirror? (Honestly?)
Honestly? Almost none. I hate mirrors. I avoid them if at all possible: sit with my back to them in restaurants, and I avoid glimpsing them in public places as much as I can. I suppose I brush my teeth in front of a mirror twice a day or more, but I focus on the process as little as possible and don't really look in the mirror. I am somewhat mirror-phobic.
~ ~ ~
