 | Chako
Street/Urban Wear Expert
The word on the street is... fashion! Our sassy Street Wear Expert Chako is the urban outfitter you need to sport serious threads, G. |
Bondage Bad Girl + Mrs. Cleaver
= Modern Womyn?
1/28/01
Has anyone taken a gander at the new Jane
magazine, the March issue? As I was casually flipping through the pages, my
mouth fell into a perfect little "O! (my gawd!!)." The fashion photography
section included a feature that displayed models sporting bondage inspired outfits.
BONDAGE!!! I mean, I'm all for womyn's' sexual liberty, but the
photographs made me a little uncomfortable; jaw dropping to say the least.
There's something alluring about the whole underground seen of bondage and
fetishism, however, to take bondage out of its context and bring it into the
mainstream and the mundane world is quite shocking to the optics. We're talking
straps over breasts, eyes, mouths and all in white if that doesn't make it all the
more surreal and odd.
It seems that a plethora of designers like Gucci and
Gaultier have been inspired by bondage. On the spring runways you'll see a lot
of black leather, strict bustiers and various nonfunctional and functional straps and
buckles. And how do why this style is emerging when we're juxtaposing it with
the bubble gum perfection of the 1950's?
Our spring pining in fashion not only goes
towards bondage but also towards the nostalgia of full skirts, white heels and bright
floral prints. However, this 1950's inspired style also brings with it a
twist-the conservative style is contrasted a bit with the bright colors, patterns,
short hemlines and colored fishnets.
Hair is seen fashioned in pseudo-pompadours
(similar to hairstyles styled for the bondage outfits, yet they are more tousled) with
dark eyeliner, catty-eyed sunglasses and pouty lips and facial expressions.
Both
the bondage inspired style and the 1950's inspired style have a certain film noir
quality about them. Perhaps these two simultaneously represent the woman of the
19th century- sexy and bold yet feminine, capable of pseudo-conforming, and always
causing a ruckus.
Chako S.
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