FASHION DESIGN / COSTUME DESIGN
Which one is real?
It exists therefore it is real…?
I believe both fashion and costume are real. In my opinion they go hand in hand, therefore if one is real the other must me. Costume design is and exagerated and accentuated version of fashion design; stereotypes become obvious, trends exagerated, elements are recognised as belonging to a certain gender, sexuality, race, social class, job… As they do in normal fashion. But in costumes, as I said before everything is exagerated, symbols become symbols of symbols.
Fashion classifies us into groups. It speaks about who we are. The choices of garments become symbols which tell the others around us what kind of person we might be, what group of people we belong to. There is a place for misinterpretation as these choices we make from the influence of what we see everyday, what is in the media, etc…
Now these symbols don’t only speak about our gender, sexuality and the kind of person we are but of our roles, i.e first lady. In that set of mind we could talk about uniforms because, for example, what is the difference between the outfit of a first lady and the uniform of an air hostess? Since they are both wearing something we are expecting and which corresponds to their role. If they weren’t they would be defying norms and roles, take a look at Michelle Obama. Now if we didn’t dress according to our roles and these symbols in fashion didn’t exist, ‘defying norms and roles’, would not exist.
They are, to a certain extent, subconscious choices as we might be subconsciously playing a role. Now with costumes it is not subconscious and I believe there is no space for misinterpretation. They are deliberate choices because you are conscious because you are conscious you are playing a role; you are representing a certain type of person. Now both of them are real. Costume design is no less real than fashion as fashion exists and costumes originate from fashion. Fashion is real as it speaks about people and depicts them, their culture, lifestyles, social status, etc… And not only who they believe to be, how they want to be perceived.
Then again, how real is the person we think we are if it is influenced by all these things? So even if fashion comes from these things which are real, does this mean it is real? Is its purplse real? I will follow this discussion in the essay version of this question which I will post on my blog once I have finished it.
SALOMÉ GAUTIER 