The point of Deb's message seemed to be, "Oh, you're saying you're not a
conformist, but see you are, because you read fashion magazines. And
some people on a Goth group told you they like historic styles too, and
they called you a 'Romantic Goth,' so you're a conformist to their
standards. See, you're contradicting yourself." With all those quotes
from my e-mails, and responses to them, that was not a general
discussion of costuming trends.
My point is: Everyone on this group is interested in historic costume.
Many people in this group would like to wear it places other than
special reenactment or costuming events. Many of them do, to a limited
extent. But, to most, it's a limited extent. I'd call someone a
"conformist," who conforms more than normal, to whom conformity is a
goal; which for me it is not. But, many people have to hold down jobs
in places where full historic costume is not accepted, or paint the
garage, or whatever. I don't think it's "conformity," to carefully pick
out things you like that will get you by in modern daily life, maybe
raising a few eyebrows but not harming your career, or causing you
physical discomfort, or doing other things that cause you problems. As
I said, clothing is by no means entirely about self-expression.
Since I don't like most modern styles (though this year is better than
the last several, to my relief), and since, besides, I'm an unusual size
(4'9" tall) for me this is a tricky process. It does require
research into what is in fashion, careful thought about where I can get
hold of the few things I like, where I can buy them in my size, and how
I can combine them with each other and with vintage and antique clothes
from my collection.
I spent the past several years wearing combos of T-shirts and basic
pants and jumpers and other simple styles (which sounds like what you're
doing, Katya). I did it to avoid wearing all that black and all those
miniskirts. But I got bored. I've been buying a lot of clothes
recently in reaction. Yeah, I like to look well dressed too.
I'd be curious to know how other people on the list are dealing with the
issue of compromising; with wanting to look historic, but also wanting
to look minimally acceptable and be reasonably practical in daily life.
Not in the abstract, but on the level of what styles people are wearing,
how they combine historic with modern, and so on.
Fran
Lavolta Press
http://www.lavoltapress.com
I'm not primarily into modern fashion either, but I do believe in
being dressed; and on some occasions even well dressed. Right now I'm
wearing an old t-shirt and my everything-else-is-in-the-laundry
jeans. When the laundry is done I'll put on a nicer t-shirt and some
more presentable jeans. It's entirely coincidence that other people
in the world will be wearing t-shirts and jeans today too.
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