I Sing The Body Electric

[Above photos © Kevin Van Aelst]

The nerd inside me was squealing with joy when I saw this on Flavorwire.

I’m absolutely loving the work of Kevin Van Aelst, who turns ordinary household objects like laundry and chewed-up gum into photographic representations of things like organs, cell mitosis, and the Sierpinski Triangle.  The laundry-pile heart model shown above is adorable but the cherry pie fingerprint is absolutely phenomenal.

THE WOMAN WARRIOR: PART II

[Following story originally written for Signature9]
[Above photo: Gareth Pugh SS 2010]

Jeanne d’Arc would be pleased.

Not since the 1980s have there been so many urban warrioresses power-stomping down the runways in marked defiance to the frilly sex slave/baby incubator version of femininity that has been expected of women since — well, forever, really.

Reigning now is, of course, rampant Balmania with that ubiquitous strong shoulder-line so popular during the fight in the 1980s for gender equality, as well as the androgynous look last seen in the 1920s when women taped down their bosoms and declared their right to become something other than playthings for men.

Yet this modern 2000s breed of the woman warrior differs from both the 1920s and the 1980s, because with the crash of the economy and the uncertainty of the days ahead comes a more somber outlook on life in general. There is a metaphorical war going on, and because of the multiplicity of the female job description, women now wear a veritable army of hats — mother, lover, workhorse, battle strategist — and, despite the advances of the women’s lib. movement (bra-burning, anyone?), many still feel the societal expectation to stretch themselves even further and maintain that sense of pretty, “feminine” helplessness expected of them: the “feminine mystique,” if you will.

But then entering stage left come designers like Gareth Pugh and Ann Demuelemeester, who present a woman warrior whose power is utterly terrifying because she has absolutely no regard for the male gaze, instead patrolling the streets in something other than six-inch Loubs, because dammit there’s a job to be done and to hell with anyone who stands in the way.

The fact that even starlets like Beyoncé Knowles, regarded internationally for her rather standard sex appeal (hourglass figure, long hair, shapely legs), have begun adopting warrioress personas and asserting themselves as powerful females says much about the changing climate of gender relations. Notice that Beyoncé’s Sasha Fierce personality, though “sexy” with its barelegged aggression, addresses a female power completely devoid of the need for male intervention. She is no typical femme fetale, then, because she can still win her own battles without resorting to selling off her sexuality. No man is necessary to give her what she wants.

This overt show of feminine power wholly independent of men brings us back to the legendry of girl warrior Jeanne d’Arc, whose strength of purpose led her to don men’s clothing and adopt androgyny in order to take her job seriously. After centuries of male-driven fashion, it seems the true fighting spirit has returned.

But don’t start firing up your whetstone just yet; although the tough-girl trend is still in full force, remember also the prevalence of this runway season’s trend of hyperfemininity. Fashion has taken cues from the boudoir yet again, with this season’s crop of sexy underwear-as-outerwear being a new addition to our wardrobes in (seemingly) stark contrast to the woman warrior.

Or are they so different after all?

There is a difference between wearing lingerie to please a man, and wearing lingerie to assert one’s own power as Woman independent of anyone else. Perhaps the next step in the journey of the woman warrior, then, is to aggressively recognize her own femininity and acknowledge that, yes, she is strong enough to take on the world, but also that her power is linked inextricably with her inherent muliebrity.

Whether you chose to strap on studded leather harnesses or a cut-down-to-there lace corset, one thing is certain: the battle is on.

Karl and the Importance of Being Earnest

[Following story originally written for Signature9]

In response to German magazine Brigitte’s decision last week to completely replace cover models with “real women” (interpret that as you may), Lagerfeld insisted that only “fat mummies sitting with their bags of crisps in front of the television” are the ones objecting to thin fashion models, insisting also that the size issue is something inherent in society, rather than something brought on by Photoshopped magazine covers.

Now we at Signature9 believe beauty is beauty no matter the size or shape or colour, and we certainly don’t agree with Karl’s prognosis — but we can understand his reluctance to accept Brigitte’s strategy as an “answer” to the question of weight in the fashion industry. Although the attempt of the magazine is commendable, to blame fashion is not the answer: at the end of the day, consumers — not fashion professionals — are the ones in control.

Read the full story [Guardian UK]

WHAT/THE/FONT

I’m a self-proclaimed bibliophile, to the point where I literally inhale books for their smell at the first possible moment and stare at the pages for minutes on end admiring the typefaces.

What, you mean that’s not normal behaviour?

Well in any case, to all of you  likewise obsessive lovers of book and type, I present WhatTheFont, an online compendium of downloadable typefaces (not fonts – there is a difference!), which has had me mesmerised for the past fifteen minutes at least.  There are the standard established ones like Helvetica Neue and whatnot, but it’s interesting to go through and check out those created by site users (see image above).

I’m slightly peeved that the typefaces categorised under the Chinese language have Japanese type as samples, and there is a fair number of purely display typefaces that are really too specialised to work in a general design context, and I’d like to see some brave Korean souls attempt to design Hangeul typefaces — but beyond that, WTF (tee hee) is still a good way to pass the time, at least if you’re a book/type/graphic art nerd like myself.

Geez.  I think I need to get out more.

the pen is mightier

[Photo © Gabrielle Hennessey// All Rights Reserved]

I’m up on SHUTTER CRACK again!  But that’s not the point of this post.

As some of you may know, I’ve begun a writing internship with Signature9, a lifestyle news platform which recently launched last month.  [You may have seen your favourite blogs mentioning Signature9's list of the 99 most influential style blogs.]

Over the course of this internship I’ll be posting links to my daily pieces once they’re live on the Signature9 website, so you can keep track of all the random thoughts in my pretty little head, and I won’t have to worry about breach of contract!

>>> Shake What Your Mama Gave You
>>> Wintour-ise Your Wardrobe
>>> Kick Up Your Heels… Or Not?

EDIT//
You see that pretty little section over to the right? >>>
I finally joined the dark side and set up a Twitter account, so I’ll be posting the links there instead.