place, fashion, and desire

My mind is bursting and it is not in ways that are coherent or organized. It is a long hallway. Not a pretty hallway. It's actually quite uninteresting in its presentation however, it does make me feel something which perhaps is the entire point. All the doors are open and thoughts, ideas, desires are pouring in. The doors have now disappeared altogether. There are no beavers to build a dam. Wading through is the only option. 

I saw my therapist Friday at 9am. Neither of us are morning people. We both have tall cups of coffee. I didn't have time to steam the wrinkles out of my dress, I say. He didn't have time to iron his new button up. It's curling a tiny bit at the bottom. This will bother me all day, he says. 

There is something powerful in perceiving and being perceived. An awareness to being part of. Is fashion only what is wearable on our bodies or is it more encompassing? Does the story of fashion also entail our bodies in a space? Is fashion the way we carry ourselves through a familiar city street; an unknown neighborhood on a road trip, or an identical strip mall in any American suburb? 

How do various spaces alter our sense of self and therefore our exploration of identity through clothing? For example, the Prada Marfa art installation that opened in 2005 by artists Elmgreen and Dradset. The fake Prada store is in the middle of the Texas desert. “We realized the power of fashion branding within the art world, and how prevalent this is in people’s minds,” the pair tells Artsy via email. “We got the idea of dislocating a luxury goods shop, totally out of its normal urban context, to a desolate location.” (Artsy)

Dislocation. Dislocation of luxury in a location where perhaps space is the luxury. Would luxury brands exist without urban living? Without a guaranteed viewer//audience? The streets acting as a walkway. What am I dislocated from in fashion? 

Touch. Today I am filled with a desire for cotton, nettle, and milkweed. I don't want polyester, nylon, spandex or other oil based goods. I want to know and gather the plants that make the clothing that touches my skin each day. Keeps me warm and cool. Protects me from the elements. There is a power in knowing. Creating. Partaking in the process of cloth and the body. 

I am thinking about fashion in its broadest sense. The way a good dress can give the impression of dancing down the street as the hem flows like waves from side to side. The way a perfume can grab ones attention when the wind picks up. The way a certain color can remind me of something I've never experienced. Making me homesick for a place entirely constructed from imagination. No latitude or longitude can be provided.