Dilemmas & Criticisms of a Christian Fashion Student
Today I got my first retail rejection from the H&M at the Promenade. Well it really wasn't a rejection- it was just that they didn't hire summer students and only permanent positions. Boo. I feel the pressure to get into the Vaughan Mills one. I like the store atmosphere and structure more anyhow- the one at Promenade is quite dead and quiet. We'll see how the interview goes.
I'm very tired of Christians putting down clothes/bags/anything that's labeled as 'girly/feminine/materialistic' as the epitome of greedy sinfulness. Oh please. I received my monthly subscription of the magazine 'Brio and Beyond' for Christian women in university. There was this one article called 'Foggy Castles and Designer Bags' and the writer wrote about a classical painting depicting a castle that she saw and fell in love with because it also reminded her of how real eternity is and how when the veil is lifted and we see Him face to face, we'd be glad that we didn't buy 'that cute skirt [she] saw on sale'. Another thing- she only mentions designer bags once in her article something that seemed so totally off within the context of the devo itself "On that day, the stuff I waste my time thinking about, the piles of stuff I want- the funky designer bags that look like something right off the shoulder of Sienna Miller...". Titles capture the essence and the most important points in articles and should draw the reader in. I just think the 'designer bag' part was a bit of an afterthought. Sorry, after taking grade 12 english with The Schiffer, I'm really anal about these things.
Anyway I really like to read the Reader's comments sections of every magazine to get a jist of how all the other Christian women out there think about Brio. One person mentioned that her friends would be more drawn to a Christian magazine if they added more fashion/trend related articles in. So guess what they did? They wrote an article called 'The Bare Facts on Baring It All' focusing on modesty and how a girl should dress modestly ("When you emphasize your figure with clingy tops, tight jeans, plunging necklines or bare bellies, you're not being considerate to guys"). That line sounded so cheesy the first time I read it and I was slightly miffed by the 'not being considerate to guys'. Notice how they used the word 'or' rather than 'and'. Are they implying that we should wear loose tops, baggy jeans, shallow necklines and long t shirts all in one go? That we should not wear a loose top with tight jeans? They even dedicated a page called 'Fashion Challenge: how do you know if an outfit is modest or not?'
Kill me now.
Before you go on arguing about how true this is and how wrong I am to think that modesty should not be an issue when deciding on what to wear in the morning, I can vouch for what I wear to be completely appropriate for church. However I do own some things that are considered 'unappropriate' (ie cuffed shorts) which I like to wear on every other day besides Sunday. And now you may say, "ugh how unchristian-like of you... remember the real service begins AFTER church service. How two-faced: how hypocritical." All I can say is that when I'm not hanging out with church guys, I'm free to wear what I like especially on those steaming days we keep getting in toronto. No it doesn't mean walking around in a bikini but I like to hang out with my female friends and be comfortable wearing shorts. You know what the model is wearing on the Brio magazine as the example that all christian women should follow? A blazer with a long sleeve underneath and a long skirt. You're going to be sweating bullets, woman. Let me remind you it's summer.
On the other hand I like having the challenge of dressing to accomodate Christian beliefs although it can get a tad expensive with all the layering involved. I am absolutely in love with the cheongsam- not your cheesy touristy ones in gaudy shiny red polyester and glitter, but back in the day when every woman had their dresses tailored in silks with hand embroidered details. Ah the art. I actually wrote a seven page paper on the evolution of the cheongsam/qi pao. After watching 'Flowers of Shanghai' and '2046' I was just taken away by the beauty these women portrayed. Then again although the cheongsam covers pretty much the entire body, it hugs the body and defines the figure. Honestly I don't think the statement Brio wrote that I mentioned above is quite accurate. It sounds like you can't wear anything that's low cut or tight or clingy. Period. Of course my favourite actress, Gong Li (which reminds me 'Miami vice' is coming out soon!) was incredibly sexy in '2046'. Click on the picture. She just looks so refined and elegant. The first movie I mentioned was set probably around the 1800's when the loose qi pao was worn with wide trousers. Though everything was loose, the women were perfectly coiffed and made up and the details in their clothes were incredible.
So is it wrong to dress to please yourself? What if your goal was not to dress for the guys but for yourself? I know one day I'll grow old and I'll have to cover up anyway. And that is not saying I'm wearing revealing clothes. I just feel a bit stifled in what I personally want to wear in fear of being mistaken as someone who seeks male attention.
So in the end I very much disagree with what Brio had to say on these matters. Either they were just too rigid in their thinking or they're being too loose with their choice of diction.
When I got home today, I saw the newest InStyle magazine sitting on the stairs for me. Apparently my mom went to Walmart and bought me a copy (magazines are marked 10% off) since she knew I wanted one. I was just flipping through it and saw the prettiest strapless (oh scandalous!) dress in pink with a sprinkle of white polka dots (haha tania your greatest hate. You're lucky it's $458- something I can't afford) and the first thing I thought was 'who made it?' and answerd my own question: 'Marc Jacobs' and went searching for the designer's name. Lo and behold, I guessed right and was very pleased. I get really excited when I can connect an item with the name it's designer. It's like how graphic designers have to memorize fonts. I suck with connecting singers to their albums or songs. I suck at recognizing faces. I suck at recognizing celebrities (even though I walked passed Drew Barrymore and the Green Goblin guy from Spiderman and had no idea until roomie told me). So it's a big accomplishment for me to have studied and read up things in magazines and be able to recognize a Marc Jacobs dress.
Going back to the issue of modesty, I actually saw the very same dress in a Teen Vogue issue a few months ago where the model was wearing a thin yellow t shirt underneath and I thought it looked very different and fresh by injecting a dose of modesty. In this, I applaud. I've taken this idea up and have been wearing tank tops under every dress I have.
I'm also very big into the art of suggestion. Why reveal what's more fun to conceal? I find that more interesting than a bare expanse of skin anyway. A woman who chooses to merely suggest what is underneath I personally find more mysterious and endearing.
I'm very tired of Christians putting down clothes/bags/anything that's labeled as 'girly/feminine/materialistic' as the epitome of greedy sinfulness. Oh please. I received my monthly subscription of the magazine 'Brio and Beyond' for Christian women in university. There was this one article called 'Foggy Castles and Designer Bags' and the writer wrote about a classical painting depicting a castle that she saw and fell in love with because it also reminded her of how real eternity is and how when the veil is lifted and we see Him face to face, we'd be glad that we didn't buy 'that cute skirt [she] saw on sale'. Another thing- she only mentions designer bags once in her article something that seemed so totally off within the context of the devo itself "On that day, the stuff I waste my time thinking about, the piles of stuff I want- the funky designer bags that look like something right off the shoulder of Sienna Miller...". Titles capture the essence and the most important points in articles and should draw the reader in. I just think the 'designer bag' part was a bit of an afterthought. Sorry, after taking grade 12 english with The Schiffer, I'm really anal about these things.
Anyway I really like to read the Reader's comments sections of every magazine to get a jist of how all the other Christian women out there think about Brio. One person mentioned that her friends would be more drawn to a Christian magazine if they added more fashion/trend related articles in. So guess what they did? They wrote an article called 'The Bare Facts on Baring It All' focusing on modesty and how a girl should dress modestly ("When you emphasize your figure with clingy tops, tight jeans, plunging necklines or bare bellies, you're not being considerate to guys"). That line sounded so cheesy the first time I read it and I was slightly miffed by the 'not being considerate to guys'. Notice how they used the word 'or' rather than 'and'. Are they implying that we should wear loose tops, baggy jeans, shallow necklines and long t shirts all in one go? That we should not wear a loose top with tight jeans? They even dedicated a page called 'Fashion Challenge: how do you know if an outfit is modest or not?'
Kill me now.
Before you go on arguing about how true this is and how wrong I am to think that modesty should not be an issue when deciding on what to wear in the morning, I can vouch for what I wear to be completely appropriate for church. However I do own some things that are considered 'unappropriate' (ie cuffed shorts) which I like to wear on every other day besides Sunday. And now you may say, "ugh how unchristian-like of you... remember the real service begins AFTER church service. How two-faced: how hypocritical." All I can say is that when I'm not hanging out with church guys, I'm free to wear what I like especially on those steaming days we keep getting in toronto. No it doesn't mean walking around in a bikini but I like to hang out with my female friends and be comfortable wearing shorts. You know what the model is wearing on the Brio magazine as the example that all christian women should follow? A blazer with a long sleeve underneath and a long skirt. You're going to be sweating bullets, woman. Let me remind you it's summer.
On the other hand I like having the challenge of dressing to accomodate Christian beliefs although it can get a tad expensive with all the layering involved. I am absolutely in love with the cheongsam- not your cheesy touristy ones in gaudy shiny red polyester and glitter, but back in the day when every woman had their dresses tailored in silks with hand embroidered details. Ah the art. I actually wrote a seven page paper on the evolution of the cheongsam/qi pao. After watching 'Flowers of Shanghai' and '2046' I was just taken away by the beauty these women portrayed. Then again although the cheongsam covers pretty much the entire body, it hugs the body and defines the figure. Honestly I don't think the statement Brio wrote that I mentioned above is quite accurate. It sounds like you can't wear anything that's low cut or tight or clingy. Period. Of course my favourite actress, Gong Li (which reminds me 'Miami vice' is coming out soon!) was incredibly sexy in '2046'. Click on the picture. She just looks so refined and elegant. The first movie I mentioned was set probably around the 1800's when the loose qi pao was worn with wide trousers. Though everything was loose, the women were perfectly coiffed and made up and the details in their clothes were incredible.
So is it wrong to dress to please yourself? What if your goal was not to dress for the guys but for yourself? I know one day I'll grow old and I'll have to cover up anyway. And that is not saying I'm wearing revealing clothes. I just feel a bit stifled in what I personally want to wear in fear of being mistaken as someone who seeks male attention.
So in the end I very much disagree with what Brio had to say on these matters. Either they were just too rigid in their thinking or they're being too loose with their choice of diction.
When I got home today, I saw the newest InStyle magazine sitting on the stairs for me. Apparently my mom went to Walmart and bought me a copy (magazines are marked 10% off) since she knew I wanted one. I was just flipping through it and saw the prettiest strapless (oh scandalous!) dress in pink with a sprinkle of white polka dots (haha tania your greatest hate. You're lucky it's $458- something I can't afford) and the first thing I thought was 'who made it?' and answerd my own question: 'Marc Jacobs' and went searching for the designer's name. Lo and behold, I guessed right and was very pleased. I get really excited when I can connect an item with the name it's designer. It's like how graphic designers have to memorize fonts. I suck with connecting singers to their albums or songs. I suck at recognizing faces. I suck at recognizing celebrities (even though I walked passed Drew Barrymore and the Green Goblin guy from Spiderman and had no idea until roomie told me). So it's a big accomplishment for me to have studied and read up things in magazines and be able to recognize a Marc Jacobs dress.
Going back to the issue of modesty, I actually saw the very same dress in a Teen Vogue issue a few months ago where the model was wearing a thin yellow t shirt underneath and I thought it looked very different and fresh by injecting a dose of modesty. In this, I applaud. I've taken this idea up and have been wearing tank tops under every dress I have.
I'm also very big into the art of suggestion. Why reveal what's more fun to conceal? I find that more interesting than a bare expanse of skin anyway. A woman who chooses to merely suggest what is underneath I personally find more mysterious and endearing.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home