Re: men and clothes, makeup....

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: : : : : I love the beautiful embroidered saris and also kimonos. Wearable art. Seems like the blue-jean generation tries to wear the most boring clothes possible--even I like the Gap, but you know what I mean. Reminds me of the poem, "When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple." Does anyone have a copy of that poem? : : : : : I do like the variety we have here, though. I enjoy matching, or changing, my mood with my clothing. If I am having one of those PMS days, the ones where I feel fat and ugly and pimply and wrinkly and old, I wear silk, or a sleek business suit. And full makeup. Changes my mood instantly. When I feel a little wild, I wear red, or my black zip-up shirt. When I feel at peace, or just want to be pretty, I wear blue. : : : : : I feel sorry for men. I was at Disney on Ice today, and in the grand finale, each "Prince" wore a completely different style from history. They wore white embroidered with gold, and they were all so classy and lovely. Modern men don't have much choice. It makes me happy to see people like Dave Smith wearing color and texture. Go Dave! : : : : yeah! clothing, makeup, hairstyles absolutely should relect outwardly what's going on inside. (i'm not referring to a daily mood, necessarily, as much as i mean a reflection of the personality.) i have to agree with your comment about men's clothing, quequel. it seems they get shorted a lot of the time. but it doesn't have to be that way...throughout history men have enjoyed a large variety of very beautiful fashions as well as headwear. hey, maybe some of you guys could start a new trend! : : : I totally agree about men's clothes. There is very little variety in the commercial fashions. That's why I'm fortunate to have family that are skilled at making clothes. I design, they create. Great deal. I think clothing should reflect the personality first, but also the environment, both naturally and practically (leather in August-- forget it), and I also think we should use clothing to represent who we are as a group/clutural/sub-cultural identity. Like it or not people judge us according to our clothes and we should be conscious of this. It can definitely make a difference in how you relate to people who don't know you, and it could save your life one day. I'm not saying change clothes to try to fit in, but exactly the opposite, be conscious of what your dress identifies with and make sure you want to make that statement. : : : For example, as a young country boy, I wore a custom designed denim jacket with a large confederate flag surmounted by an eagle, it had nothing to do with racism, and I proved that with harsh words and fists from time to time. But eventually I began to see that it wasn't worth fighting over and figured if i was going to make a statement it better be something worth defending. Now the jacket bears a large red cross. : : : Also, a pet peeve of mine, why do we make trademarks into fashion symbols? All you do is become walking advertising to line some already over-rich guy's pocket. : : *********my own thoughts on men and fashion*********** : : <img src="http://www.widemedia.com/fashionuk/news/2000/08/10/buff.jpg"> : : : : <b>I like this guy's liptick and band-aid, although I think the scarf is sort of odd...</b> : : I am all for men dressing differently. And I don't necessarily mean immodestly either. I think men, just as much as women should feel free to wear creative and expressive clothes. It does not necessarily have to mean 'feminine'. For instance, in India (sorry to run this in to the ground, but it's fresh in my mind) the guys wore very attractive shirts that still had a very masculine feeling to them. They were not women's shirts although they were attractive. Also, their bathing suits and shorts had flowers all over them, but there was no question of femininity in the floral prints. It was just standard male fare. Anyway, I say all this to go into my theory of what we wear. I think that men (just as women) have an opportunity to show something about themselves in what they wear. This is one thing I love about the 80's. I feel that in the 80's people were open to that. I really dig that. I think that our homes (we wear our homes) and our clothing can express something about who we are.....not superficial constructed realities, but the real US, the ones who are being transformed into God's image....the ones that we say are being given a secret name, or whatever, those people God truly intends us to be. Or for those who don't believe in God the self we most truly are beyond illusion. Now, I'm not trying to get too weird or deep here. But for me, I sure do like the idea of 'showing forth' that image. It's a way of trying to share, or communicate, and I think fashion is a good way to convey that sort of like sending out pigeons w notes attatched or smoke signals. Anyway, I think men need to think outside the standard, accepted boxes. I think that men can be more daring and dynamic about what they wear, and I see this in our circle of friends. And I don't mean daring in the sense that we simply adopt the 'orthodox unorthodox' fashions, but daring in the sense that we are getting to know WHO WE REALLY ARE and that we want to bring that inner reality into the waking world. It's less about shock, or originality or posing, and it's more about being who we truly are. It's almost like a dissolution of ego. Some of my best shirts for instance, are ones that others 'discovered' as I wore them. I never had a huge ego trip about them. On the other hands, certain outfits that I put together that I thought worked, simply did not resonate w who I truly was. Also, I want to take this discussion of men's fashion to makeup. I think that men need to realize that they can also wear makeup. I don't think makeup has to be thought of as the sole territory of women. Rock stars and actors know this....but the average man on the street...well, I think he's waking up. I'm not saying that makeup is a necessity (for men or women) but I am saying that it's not exclusive to women. I don't think makeup has to be worn in a way to make a man look feminine either. I think a man wearing makeup can wear it in ways that complement his masculinity. Also, I wear a little lipstick now and again. Anyway, for what it's worth these are my views. For more things I like fashion wise check out Sandy Dalal and the Buffalo stuff by Ray Petri. : : See ya, Bill : I agree Bill. And I too have worn makeup from time to time, and not just to clubs and all. It just has to fit the look. I am pretty utilitarian about fashion, I don't like useless trappings, but makeup is an easy way to show off more style than endless accessories. That's why i wear nail designs on my fingers, symbols of things that have great meaning to who I am. Also I would say that we can think outside the box with how makeup is used. We can go wild with it. I once saw a guy in the mall dressed in Rave clothes but he had large blue diamonds painted around both eyes. It was cool. I also saw an ad in a magazine where the girl was wearing this metallic blue bar painted across one eye. Many cultures across the globe use makeup to express ferocity, or happiness, or simply tribal identity. We can too. Our society is opening up to these things more and more. You see piercings on mainstream athletes and stars. The taboos on this stuff are starting to thin. : Also, the orthodox unorthodox. Great phrase.

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