July 5 2023 - Fashion Alert - More than just sleeves too long

 

I haven't looked at fashion trends for a while, and took a look at Vogue's trends for Spring 2023 - what people would be wearing now.   I don't see a correlation between Vogue and real life.  There's some kind of relationship between the prices in the Vogue article and what is on the racks at our retail stores but I haven't guessed it.  What got me by surprise was the numerous excessive length-of-sleeve tops.  One might think this is a good thing for older women with arms no longer fashionably show-worthy.  This is the opposite results - where overlong sleeves "turn a person into a child".  There is much made about long sleeves looking childish. Humorous childish long sleeve t-shirts are witness to this.  And then headlines asking how to solve a three year old who refuses to wear long sleeves. Here's what this fashion magazine.com article says of the style: "Though they hint at destitution, excessive sleeves also convey its opposite, which is the hands-free existence of the ultra-leisured class. The very well heeled have never opened their own doors or carried their own shopping bags, so what does it matter if they cannot? But there is a more pernicious and, dare I say, even sinister interpretation of the trend for those who do use their hands on occasion: It hobbles the wearer. Oversized clothes and sleeves turn a person into a child. One burrows into clothes that are too big; one hides in them. Long sleeves conceal multitudes from the public eye: a knife, a con artist’s ace of spades, a self-harmer’s scars. And prolonged sleeves, which are buckled together like a straitjacket, signify helplessness—the utmost loss of control." These are the thoughts of fashion critics.  Let's turn to psychologists.  The good therapy.orgarticle on the link between clothing choices and emotional states is HERE.  Their study found that there is a strong link between clothing and mood state.  There's a lot made of jeans being an indication of a negative mood. “The study mentions that happy clothes include well-cut, figure-enhancing items made from bright and beautiful fabrics,” Heathman said. If I apply that to the fashion industry, I would conclude that its social and mental state is one of depression and anxiety. Fashion models appear to be younger than adults - teenagers who look sullen and pouty.  The clothing styles are wild and strange - perhaps like cartoons, animated movies and computer games.   Or perhaps the fashion industry manifests the current social state.  Dress scholars Mary Ellen Roach and Joanne Eicher find that dress is one of the main ways to send social signals - what we wear shows our identity. It could be that our fashion industry is signalling that there are serious social problems.  While the Atlantic has weighed saying that fashion has abandoned human taste, perhaps it isn't that simple. What got me wondering about all of this were the images in Grazia  -  some of the sleeves reach the ground and some of the outfits don't seem to be "clothes." You can click through then slide show by clicking at the first image HERE.   But then I've extracted a few for you here.  The long sleeves are particularly obviously long.    Here's a nice walk in the woods. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

The Second Day of Christmas - One Day Only!

This is the second day of Christmastide.  We know that the boxes of Boxing Day originated in the United Kingdom and were given to tradespeople and servants as a monetary acknowledgement at Christmas - they were mentioned as "Christmas boxes" in Samuel Pepys' diary in 1663. References to the "Christmas box" for the poor and needy date back to the Middle Ages.   And even earlier, in the late Roman and early Christian era, metal boxes were placed outside churches at the Feast of Saint Stephen. Today it is as though there is a north pole and a south pole for Boxing Day - the shopping and sports frenzy of the greedy and hedonistic opposing the charities raising money for their causes. So it is no surprise that our charitable organizations have Boxing Day events: Today and every year, you can run for the YMCA in Hamilton.  Race day pickup and registration opens at noon.  Or one can go on a Charity Boxing Day Dip - and then again on New Year's Day for that one.  In Scarborough Harbour there's a raft race. That's Scarborough, U.K. On the hedonistic side, the British press reports record line-ups showing pictures of people leaving shopping malls with their arms full - at 6:00am.  The U.K. article said 90% reductions were the attraction. And for the sports-minded, in Grimsby, U.K.  there's an important announcement that supporters in the Main Stand will be asked to exit the stadium via the Pontoon Stand exit von Boxing Day.  A big sports day there. We didn't ask the question "What do the Chinese do at Christmas?" There are 1.379 billion people in China.  First of all to say "Merry Christmas" the translation turns out to be "Holy-birth happy."  The top three Chinese Christmas songs: We Wish You a Merry Christmas Silent Night Jingle Bells Read the translations at chinahighlights.com - they stray from the originals making them very entertaining.  How they sing them to the melodies with know is a mystery. We see the Niagara Escarpment forest at Campbellville on Christmas Day.  It really was that dark and blue-black.

The Forest Landscape

Hi everyone,

Motion blur that's done with the camera is a lot of fun.  The first is at Balls Falls last month just as we transitioned from fall into winter.  The fallen leaves are on the ground with a little snow, but there's no leaves left on the trees.  The colours are muted and for me, speak clearly ofo the Canadian landscape.

Our second image is a winter image from last November.  It has the added effects of colour through Topaz Lens Effects.  

Of Trains and Woods

It is interesting that the late autumn Beamer Falls woodland has the same colours and tones as the Strassburg railway passenger cars in the spring.  The first image uses motion blur in the camera, and the second image has a texture overlay for the post card text.