More thoughts on deconstructed fashion and "art-to-wear"

[cupcake_goth]

As I was waiting to fall asleep last night, I was thinking about trystbat's comment that "art-to-wear" is a legitimate form, and not always twee. She's right, of course. I think my quibble with the the phrase is that the items Altered Couture seem to think of as "art-to-wear" are, to me, not impressive enough in their design and execution to be called art. Another friend of mine commented in a mail to me that the garments in Altered Couture seem to be undergoing "alteration for the sake of alteration, instead of a specific result".

One of the "Thrift Store Transformations" in the issue of Altered Couture I picked up is where the person altered a skirt suit by adding various ribbon and lace trims, a couple of iron-on transfers they made, and altering the straight kick pleat of the skirt to a curved one. Oh, and they decorated a pair of shoes with some paper scrapbook flowers in similar colors to the suit. I guess that to me that's not ... interesting or creative enough to call "art-to-wear". And I'll admit, my opinion is definitely colored by the fact that I do that level of altering to just about every jacket I get at a thrift store. Changing the buttons, adding various trims, tailoring it so the fit is better, changing the hemline, adding pink hearts with black bats: all of that doesn't seem like "art" to me, but merely making the jacket more in line with my personal aesthetic.

My quibbles with deconstructed fashion are similar. If it looks like the deconstructed elements of something were a conscious decision, that they were thought out as part of the overall design and look of an item, then I'm all for it. But so many things that are labeled "deconstructed" look clumsy, or done as an afterthought. jola re-created a corset by cutting up a Bauhaus t-shirt and safety-pinning it in strips along the boning seams; THAT is something I would call "art to wear", and a fantastic example of deconstructed fashion. In a similar vein, I've seen jackets where they've been taken apart along certain seams, with lots of safety pins used to secure the edges together. I love that look, and keep pondering trying it a version of it myself. (I've yet to find the right jacket for this project.)

Maybe my being dismissive about the things in Altered Couture is because I know amazingly talented people who do these sorts of projects all the time, and with a better level of execution than what was shown in the magazine. For people who aren't already part of a vibrant and creative group of artists and designers, maybe this magazine is a glowing beacon. I don't know. What do you people think?

Comments

[tzaddi-93.livejournal.com]

For people who aren't already part of a vibrant and creative group of artists and designers, maybe this magazine is a glowing beacon.

So would that make Alterd Couture a gateway drug?

[kijjohnson.livejournal.com]

Like lace-making or carpentry, altered couture can be either an art or a craft, most often the latter, alas.

[icprncs.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I see this sort of thing as representative of the blurring of lines between art and craft. Exactly why that blurring has happened requires way more time to ponder and expound on than I have right now, but I've seen it happening progressively over the past decade.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

I think it's been happening ever since someone could convince people they'd spent 20 years painting (or more accurately ~contemplating~ painting) a white egg shape on a black background and therefore call it massively expensive fine art :P

[icprncs.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's definitely been going on in the "fine art" world for much longer. :) But it's been mostly in the past decade that I've seen a real upswing in it in lower-level fields. For example, at science fiction/fantasy conventions, the art show used to consist solely of visual art and occasionally sculpture. Over the past decade or so, I've seen a lot more handcrafts creeping in: etched glass, beadwork, embellished clothing, stuff that *can* rise to the level of art but most of the time is very firmly in the "craft" realm. That's not a denigration of good craft, not at all, but I don't see the two as being interchangeable. As the lines blur, though, I think other people do, and I think that's where Jilli's issue with the definition of "art-to-wear" comes in. As the lines blur, there's a much less clear idea of what "art" really means.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

That's not a denigration of good craft, not at all, but I don't see the two as being interchangeable. As the lines blur, though, I think other people do, and I think that's where Jilli's issue with the definition of "art-to-wear" comes in.

::nods::

Art is in the eye of the beholder and all that, but in MY eyes, a pair of white Keds that have been doodled on with fabric markers (one of the items featured in this issue of Altered Couture) are not art. Nor are a pair of kid's denim overalls that have been decorated with paint hand-prints and flowers.

There is a line (in my head, at least) between "art" and "craft" Both are admirable, but different, things.

just a ramble here...

[trystbat.livejournal.com]

For people who aren't already part of a vibrant and creative group of artists and designers, maybe this magazine is a glowing beacon.

Perhaps that's it. I often think & remind myself that everyone is on a continuum -- someone will always be more advanced than me in a particular art form, but someone will always be just starting out & think I'm more advanced than them.

Because nobody sews anymore, adding a patch to a jacket is special. Home economics isn't taught today -- I think I was one of the last to have it in my school (& it was pretty weak then). Clothing is so cheap that it's affordable to throw something out when a button falls off, instead of replace the button.

That handmade stuff is becoming at all trendy or cool, the rise of Martha Stewart's brand of domesticity, the popularity of Food Network, all of this is a little backlash against mass-production. (At the same time, it plays into an anti-feminist "get back into the kitchen, be barefoot & pregnant" thing too, which is the disheartening dark side.) Still, it's small, & it's on the low end of that continuum.

Re: just a ramble here...

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Wow, way back machine! I didn't even realize they weren't teaching Home Ec in schools anymore (though when I took it they called it the more "politically correct" Personal Resource Development which my twelve year old mind thought was an incredibly lame name for a class. I guess that makes us sound like dinosaurs talking about it?

I knew music classes were always on the chopping block, but I guess I didn't even consider that... makes a sad kind of sense though.

Re: just a ramble here...

[trystbat.livejournal.com]

A lot of my friends are 5ish years younger, & they boggle that I had Home Ec & Woodshop classes in jr. high. I live in the same area again & have heard that those classes are long closed now at my old school, thanks to budget cuts. Those kind of things don't count in today's standardized test mentality :-/

I think that anything that start creativity is good

[maiaarts.livejournal.com]

I think the magazine sounds like a way to make people with little exposure to changing or adding/subtracting things from clothes to stretch themselves more and more.

And, I have painted shoes and t-shirts in ways that do make them art. So I think that you, Jilli are just too advanced already.

Gateway drug is a good way to say it.

And sewing is harder than painting on something for some of us :)

[silverhawthorn.livejournal.com]

Your description of the magazine reminds me of a similar publication, dedicated to doll-making, called Art Doll Quarterly. It's largely filled with gorgeous photography of the works of enthusiastic amateurs, inspiring more for their energy than their output. Not to disparage their efforts, but the magazine seemed to promise a higher level, and so was ultimately a disppointment.

But, it always did make me want to make dolls (if only because I knew I could do better *grin*), so perhaps Altered Couture serves a similar function?