Candice and I swapped clothes. How did I feel wearing somebody else's clothes? I felt like I was being invasive; I felt a little uncomfortable. I didn't put Candice's pants on, so I wore only her jacket, but in a different way. The new way, surpirsingly, felt more me. Was this because I had customised it? Emotionally connected with it? I could see too, that my clothes looked different on Candice's body. Somehow, they didn't look like my clothes so much. Well, not like they usually did.
Others in the class seemed awkward too - like they had been robbed of something or stripped. Natalie blogged that her clothes are predominantly an expression of her taste in music or her lifestyle - not only now, but also her past. They bring back memories, in just the same way that an old Alanis Morrisette song (Ohhh the Jagged Little Pill album!) does for me.
I had an epiphany once. That sometimes I'm drawn to particular items of clothing; colours; styles; eras; because they remind me of something familiar. Like how some days I feel like looking biker-ish. I probably don't - well hopefully not - but these personal associations remind me of my Dad. And my love for muted colour palettes and the 70's in general makes me think of my hippy Stepmum. Actually, I could go on... The bullets around my neck, the cowhide on my floor, my stripey shirt, my orange blazer... Alot of what we chose to surround ourselves by, (or in) is about memory.
Touching a piece of cloth, opening a clothes closet or smelling a specific fragrance opens a world of personal memories, stories and intimate emotions. We are attached to clothes.
- JOSE TEUNISSEN, Fashion and Art.
No comments:
Post a Comment