Windows

Giving Props to the Window Dressers @ Housing Works on 23rd Street, NYC:

Revolutionist in Pakistan

We found it striking when Buddhist monks marched in saffron hued droves throughout Mayanmar (Burma) in protest. It was a sight we found beautiful and inspiring, a group of people that have renounced the daily drama so many feed off of, taking it to the streets (sometimes barefoot) in the name of justice. And it looked hot! But at the same time we realised, their clothing wasn’t necessarily a choice. Forgive us if we are being ignorant, or naive or just plain wrong, but we imagine a Buddhist monks’ closet to look more like a linen closet rather than a boutique.

The recent protests by lawyers fitted in suits and ties in Pakistan really had us thinking though. Was it pre-meditated to wear a suit, like the protesters that orchestrated wearing all black in support of the Jena 6 recently? Or are they just so used to wearing a suit that they didn’t give it much thought. And if it was something coordinated by leaders of the protest, did they feel that their dress would impact how the world saw them and their cause? Media outlets all over the world couldn’t seem to mention the protests without noting the attire of the lawyers.

Washington Post Staff Writer, Philip Kennicott wrote:
“Men in suits don't throw things. If they confront police, they do it politely, in letters, in words spoken softly, reasonably, between reasonable men. Brooks Brothers doesn't tailor the revolution.”

We would put our bets on the leaders (the beautiful Bhutto being one of them), being media savvy enough to know that how they presented themselves and handled their opposition would aid turning the world either for or against them.

Perhaps by wearing western suits and speaking to reporters without needing a translator the people of the world’s superpowers would not immediately cast their cries aside as a foreign problem. Just maybe the other side of the globe would see that they are a more similar than dissimilar. And if that is the case, then maybe a Pakistani problem is a US problem. And maybe imagining how one would feel if the US constitution were stripped away wouldn’t be so foreign.

Marley Dude

In case you were wondering, you’re looking at it. The
next trend. No nonsense denim. Yep, three hundred
dollar “luxury” jeans are about to go the way of the
real estate market, friends. Looks similar to
Kilungee’s, the forward thinker from Brooklyn who taps
Bob Marley as his biggest influence, will be back like
black. Especially worn like this, relaxed and
unconcerned about the denim matching perfectly like we
did in the past. Oh, and the answer to the other
thing you were wondering about? He’s been growing the
beard for 4 years. He says, it “suits his inner self.”
The photo doesn't do it much justice, but it definitely suits
his outer self too.

Painting Street Style

This painting entitled Street, Dresden by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is currently on view at MOMA. We just had to bring it Origin of Style. This is what the museum has said about it:

"The street—Dresden's fashionable Königstrasse—is crowded, even claustrophobically so, yet everyone seems alone. The women at the right, one clutching her purse, the other her skirt, are holding themselves in, and their faces are expressionless, almost masklike. A little girl is dwarfed by her hat, one in a network of eddying, whorling shapes that entwine and enmesh the human figures."

"Street, Dresden is a bold expression of the intensity, dissonance, and anxiety of the modern city. Kirchner later wrote, "The more I mixed with people the more I felt my loneliness."

The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised 2004, originally published 1999, p. 60

{AfroBettye}

“I start my day off with people magazine every day,” confesses Sassy when asked what magazines she reads. I’m obsessed with [reading] everything. I know it sounds pathetic because I’m supposed to be a writer; I should be reading bell hooks or something important.” But don’t merely write this New York transplant off as a sciolist. Sassy is a poet pursuing her master’s, that loves Bettye Davis and 50’s movies. She classifies her style as “the Bettey Davis: afrocentric approach, whatever that means.” With its shapes and creeks of color, we think this outfit is quite poetic.