Judas & Halloween

For the past week or so, I have had Lady Gaga's Judas on repeat. I literally cannot stop watching this music video. When possible, I have to see it when listening to it. This video gives me chills. Something about the Christian imagery really hits us westerners in the gut I think. I'm totally fixated on Jesus and the Twelve Apostles styled as a biker gang:

As I've been watching it, I've realized that there are a lot of great costume ideas in here:

However, I'm finding that I really just want to dress up as Judas himself. It's cool, easy, and a great excuse to buy a leather jacket and motorcycle boots if, you know, you're in the money.

You could even do the lipstick smudge!

The Power of Composition, via Don't Shoot The Messengers

This morning comes with the gift of finding a gem of a fashion house, Don't Shoot The Messengers (DSTM). Not only is 99% of their work black and exactly my style, but the composition of the website is strong, strange, beautiful and entirely refreshing.

DSTM offers beautiful, modern basics as well as unique items such as catsuits, gauntlets and leather harnesses. I would be perfectly happy owning a wardrobe comprised entirely of their work.

These guys have definitely made my list of people to give money to someday.

Considerations

I, like all humans, am very susceptible to the ideas of others. I get into a groove of reading blogs, getting addicted to my favorites, rereading the old posts and absorbing the perceptions of the writer. I get into this head space where I feel I need to approach fashion and shopping in the same manner as these writers. My two favorite, perception-altering blogs? Into The Gloss and Dead Fleurette. After awhile, I'll come down from my head space and say to myself, "Wait, I'm not a well-off Norwegian or a rich, hoity-toity New Yorker." I realize I'm being crazy, buying things I don't need and that don't fit my paycheck-to-paycheck, grad student lifestyle. Then I purge; I stop reading blogs, stop following fashion people on Instagram... Until I get back into the blog groove.

All that being said, I still live in a world where clothes break down, skincare concerns remain, and I end up in situations where I need to look decent. So I still must find a way to approach the very theme of this traffic-less blog, How to Consume. At the moment, I am stuck on the apparent method with which French women approach clothing.

Via deadfleurette:

"One of the earliest lessons a French girl learns is to invest well in her clothes. “Chic is knowing how to buy something that will last,” Pascale told me. “My basics must last for at least five, and often ten or fifteen, years. By basics, I mean clothes that I can wear from morning through the night. Maybe in the evening I’ll add a special necklace and bracelet, or a dressy belt — the accessories make the difference...

Second, the French are basically conservative but without the sense of practicality that Americans have. Most American women are too practical to buy a wardrobe of different stockings to accessorize their basic clothes...

 A British woman who has made Paris home for four years explained that the price of clothes affects how you wear them. “You can buy cheap French clothes, but they give out right away,” Evelyn said. “So you have no real choice but to spend more initially, knowing it will cost less in the long run. French women never keep their good clothes in the closet. They don’t wear clothes they don’t like in order to ‘save’ their favorite things for special occasions — they simply can’t afford to!
“Two years ago I bought a pair of St. Laurent pants on sale,” Evelyn continued. “Even then, they cost a bundle but I knew I could wear them for years. This winter I had them altered so the legs would be more in style; otherwise, they would hang in the closet. That’s what you have to do with your clothes here — make them last.”

-Ellen Wallace

So there you have it. Yes, I may be a poor graduate student, but buying an expensive pair of pants once and not having to worry about it for a number of years? That sounds worth it to me. Not to mention that I am absolutely sick of places like H&M and Forever 21. Every time I buy a garment from this sort of establishment, I swear never to do it again, but then I find myself later, justifying this habit with my financial situation. Let's face it: $25 is a lot to pay for a piece of crap that has a life of 1-6 months. It's also a lot to give to the ethically questionable factories out of which this clothing comes.

So here are all these considerations, running through my head as I spend days analyzing this pair of slacks by Ann Demeulemeester, on sale for $218:

 

via totokaelo

Alas, should I decide to get them, they will probably be sold out at such point. Especially because I have promised to put $415 in my savings account before any nice clothing purchases, for grad school and all.. Sigh.

Tom Waits

Welcome to my first post that will not be on the subject of fashion. This time, I am meditating on music and voice, a subject I am entirely removed from knowing anything about. Still, I have my opinions...

Here is one thing I do know, however: for me, some of the most comforting music is the work of Tom Waits. His voice is so earthy and grounding. When I listen to so many of his songs, I feel like I am receiving a warm embrace from a best friend. Sure, the subject matter of many of his songs are gritty, disturbing even, but there is some spirit of wisdom and genuine connection with the dark manifestations of life conveyed in Waits' vocals that, for me (again), is incredibly comforting. At the same time, it is incredibly provocative, pulling that realness out of you, daring you to get out of your head and have an honest look at life on this earth. I feel so human when I listen to Waits, like a little animal in the mud just trying to get through life.

Look at this guy. I'm pretty sure he is the coolest person on the planet.

When I am feeling down, there are two voices I can listen to to make me feel better:

-Tom Waits'
-Carl Sagan's

Enough of this silly attempt to explain. Below are the two songs that sum up these feelings for me perfectly:

Hold On



Dirt In The Ground

Interpretation of Feeling

I am a very emotionally and intuitively driven woman. I am almost unable to think of my wardrobe in a practical way. My feelings must always get involved. And my feelings? They are dreamers.

It is thought in hinduism that if we interpret oneself as a charioteer, the emotions would be the reins, the communicative device between the driver and his bodily powers (the horses). I am locked to objects. They enter my orbit even without my effort. They inspire me, they drive me, as though the physical world were a lover that I pursue. The emotions want everything, but the mind has to separate, bearing the responsibility of determining that which is worthy. How to interpret the feelings I project onto an object? Determining something's necessity is useless; philosophically, no object is necessary--particularly when we speak of fashion.

I do my best to seek clothing that feels like a home, a place to channel my natural creativity. The tricky part is suppressing an overbearing impulsive tendency. This is where the mind comes in, questioning my feelings. And how it hurts!

Meditations on Black and Draped

images via totokaelo

During all of my style identity crises and wardrobe overhauls, black and draped pieces have always stuck, always stayed true. I always felt comfortable in black, and I think this originates in my flirtation with the "other side", with darkness, with soul, with depth. I am invested in the power that lies there. I always wanted to be a sorcerer or a seer, magical, intuitive, a holder of the keys to life's secrets. Those desires remain, and I think they are somehow translated by this personal wardrobe essential. It's almost as if the mystical and unseen are hiding in the folds. If it makes me feel like I hold a great secret, it is a garment for me. 

My most loved and long-treasured wardrobe pieces speak to this essential truth of my person. I make the best wardrobe decisions when I follow it. 

Wardrobe Building Rule #1: Don't doubt that which is black, flowing and comfortable. 

Hello

image via polyvore

Here I am, in what is hopefully to be a map of consumption--what I choose to put into my life and how I choose those items. It seems base. But I hope this map will not only come to show what it is I want and have, but the meaning of the desire behind those acquisitions, too.

Desire has become a strong word for me through my struggle to know myself. I've always had challenges with consumption, whether if be of food, clothing, dubious substances, video games, sex, friendships... I've been learning to temper my behaviour surrounding these desires. My attitude has changed, but the challenge remains.

I strive for quality at a price that makes me comfortable. I try to respect the images of those things which I desire. I see the interplay between one's view of items and one's view of the self... There is so much to think about. How, then, to consume?

All this reminds me of some wisdom from a favourite author of mine:

From Henry Miller's, The World of Sex: "For some sex leads to sainthood; for others it is the road to hell. In this respect it is like everything else in life--a person, a thing, an event, a relationship. All depends on one's point of view. To make life more beautiful, more deep and satisfying, we must gaze with fresh, clear vision upon every contributing element of life. If there is something wrong about our attitude toward sex then there is something wrong about our attitude toward bread, toward money, toward work, toward play, toward everything..."