Monday Madness: What Statement Are You Making?

MONDAY MADNESS!

I scheduled an appointment with an eye doctor after performing a less than stellar job on reading the chart at the doctor's office (I swear there is a "7" on line 5).  Anyway, I realized that because I have been spoiled rotten over the years by not needing them, and I really haven't paid attention to the fashion of glasses.  I always loved my Mom's reading glasses that she is continually losing (though she will find them later on top of her head along with 2 other pairs).  She buys the fun ones with bold colors and fun patterns. My best friend always bought great pairs of eyeglasses as well that look amazing on her.  They reveal her fun-loving, and bold personality as they frame her blue eyes perfectly.

I feel like a pre-teen decorating my room.  I remember asking myself - what do I want my room to say about me?  How can I translate me into an enviroment and/or products?  It seems like it's a habit of living in a consumer driven culture.  We express ourselves through products, clothes, home decor, hair styles, purses, and cars.  It's shallow, and isn't my ideal situation, but it's true whether we like it or not.

I have never been much of a fashionista.  At all.  I don't really have that clothing thing down and on most days those people would probably describe me as a "hot mess".  "Hot" meaning "urgently horrible".  So now to pick out glasses essentially means that I am chosing one outfit to wear everyday.  It demands a commitment.  It is something people will immediately see when they meet you.  I don't want to accidently pick out the pair that says "My favorite pants are sweats", just as I don't want another to say, "I only have time for business."

So if you wear glasses, what made you choose the pair that you did besides price?  How did you make the decision or what did you want your glasses to say about you?

In the spirit of this, the following pictures of glasses are for your viewing pleasure.

Glasses say:  He's the mole.

Glasses say:  Senile, but conventional...if the moon were made out of cheese would you eat it?

Glasses say:  I will severely crush you.

Glasses say:  I am a Reverend.

Glasses say:  We still love MC Hammer and will go to great lengths to search for him.

Glasses SCREAM:  Elton John - The King of Glasses

 

   

What Not To Wear

This is the day before my Portland debute- "The Tribute Gallery" group show themed "Transition" is tomorrow night from 6-9pm. After watching quality programming such as "America's Next Top Model" and "Plain Jane", my mind is swarming around my wardrobe with the frantic question of what I am going to wear tomorrow night. It seems so shallow to be honestly consumed by this. Of all the things to be thinking about, I am concerned with what I will look like. Part of me has the disdainful attitude of Janeane Garofalo by equating my clothes with tea party members and not giving a damn, while the other half is feeling like some sort of fashionista trying to convince me that my image is everything. Sell my image, and then I'll sell my art. What crap.

But honestly, I am well versed on books for emerging artists and I am always surprised to find the topic of what to wear to openings in them. They always seem to say the same thing- look the part. Want to be taken seriously in the art world? Then look like an artist- be outrageous if necessary. Stand out from the onlookers. Do not look like "Joe Public" but instead create an image for yourself as "The Artist".

So, when I read this- someone who does not have much fashion sense since I have never really thought it to be of extreme importance- I see "wear clown shoes, a scarf, red lipstick for eyeshadow, and a tutu. Look as senile as possible. The crazier the better. Be as loud as Chuck Connelly is drunk with your wardrobe. Let's buy into the stereotype that all artists are crazy, unstable, and socially dysfunctional."

Anyway, I find this advice lame and dishonest. It seems fraudulent, and disgusting. I want people to look at my art, not me, and I want to be approachable- not a freak of nature. All fashion is a projection of image to present to others. Every piece of cloth we put on our bodies is a costume. A disguise. An advertisement. Though I want to be myself and honest in who I am to the public, I do not want to show up naked and have my 15 minutes of fame (one of which was spent already by my appearance on Happy's Place) spent behind bars for public indecency. So again, I ask myself, what am I going to wear?