questioning assumptions

Lisa sent me a link to The Brown Dress Project, which I found very interesting. Alex Martin, an artist/dancer/mother in Seattle, made a brown denim dress that she has been wearing every day for nearly a year.

Her artist's statement says that the project is "one small, personal attempt to confront consumerism by refusing to change my dress for 365 days." And, in her FAQ, she says:

But on a feminist note, let's stop agreeing that the best way for women (in particular) to "express themselves" is by purchasing new wardrobe items and putting together daily outfits.

Whoa! When did I miss the memo that the best way for women to express themselves is through their outfits? Because, really, I should have been on the distribution list for that one, right? You'd think I'd be right up near the top! Dress is ONE way for women to express themselves, certainly, but I feel you'd be hard pressed to find consensus that it's the BEST way. Even *I* don't believe that and I write a blog about dresses.

It's confusing to me that an artist who has spent a year living a project that involves clothing (in other words, expressing herself through dress) could make a statement like that. Perhaps the key word in her statement is supposed to be "purchasing", but, if so, it could have been clearer. And what's with the "feminist note"? I am proud to call myself a feminist, as I believe in equal opportunities for women and men. Last time I checked, feminism didn't have a dress code, and, in fact, now that we're on the subject, I am fed up with people who claim that women who enjoy wearing dresses can't be "real feminists". Yes, dresses are traditionally feminine, but really, part of being a feminist, in my opinion, is finally internalizing that "feminine" does not equal "bad" or "weak" or "unworthy."

Elsewhere, in her blog, Ms. Martin says:

Since I am continuously engaging in conversations about my attire this year, I have become really sensitized to our cultural slant towards giving "compliments" on each others' daily outfit. "Oh, I just love your (fill in the blank - bag, hair, shoes, socks, sweater, dress, earrings, jacket, bracelet, hat, scarf)" - and tragically often, this is the intro to a conversation about where the item in question was purchased, a perfect segue back into our place as consumers in this economy. These conversations are not out-and-out evil, but I do think they are a symptom of the insidious fashion culture that keep us, and here I mean ESPECIALLY girls/women/ladies, so ridiculously busy consuming. waxing, accessorizing, and beautifying to perfect our wardrobes and fashion alignments that we can't possibly find the time to accomplish anything more revolutionary or important.

The scare quotes around "compliments" are odd -- does she think such remarks are insincere? Not actually compliments? I just don't get it. I think she's cavalierly dismissing the communal, aesthetic, human pleasure of creating something beautiful and finding it appreciated. What artist doesn't want to be asked about their process of creation? If we consider that we all have the daily opportunity to create sartorial art (even if we don't always take it), why begrudge us a few simple responses?

As for dressing and accessorizing interfering with "real" accomplishment -- this is a strawman argument, I'm afraid. When I think of the women I know who are interested in clothes, they're not people whose accomplishments tend to the lighter end of the scale. They're not bubbleheaded dilettantes brainwashed by the glossy magazines, unable to lift anything heavier than a charge card; they're writers (novelists, journalists), they work in public policy, they are doctors and lawyers and artists and mothers; they run their own businesses and they work for causes they believe in. (And I have to say that I don't see male activists calling each other out for being under the sway of the consumerist sports industry.) Sure, there are things in life more important than clothes, but to say that an interest in clothes is irreconcilable with achievement is both ridiculous and wrong.

The Brown Dress project is interesting (although I have to say I'm more intrigued with Martin's nebulous plan to spend next year wearing only things she's made herself) but I feel the artist's assumptions as to what are valid and invalid ways to express oneself through clothing need to be questioned as strenuously as she herself is questioning consumerist culture.

Ms. Martin is right to have problems with unbridled consumerism; I do myself. But a blanket condemnation of taking pleasure in one's appearance does nothing to further anti-consumerist agendas--if anything, it sets them back. She's painting with too broad a brush. People who feel fast food is soul-killing and planet-damaging don't say "don't eat"; people opposed to throwaway fashion and consumerist culture shouldn't say "don't buy clothes." The appropriate, more nuanced tack would be to discuss how to fully enjoy what you wear, where it came from, the story behind it; a kind of slow food movement for clothing, but one that allows for joy and creativity and yes, even has room for fashion.

Comments

[Tailypo]

I have managed to restrain myself from emailing the artist and asking: "Nice pattern -- wheredja you get it?"

[Diane]

PREACH IT SISTER! I get very tired of feminists telling me what and who I should be for the "common good".Common sense like this just makes me feel like all is right in the world.Even Camille Paglia is smiling on you.Diane

[peg]

I think it's interesting that the best way she's found to express herself (and promote herself) is through an outfit.

[gina]

Didn't Mao already do this experiment? The impulse to adorn/decorate one's body is as old as humanity. Seems pretty ridiculous to say it comes only from today's consumerist culture. I think the "refashioning" movement gets the "do more with less" point across in a much more real and less intentionally provocative way.

[Anonymous]

..dress must be a little whiffy by now surely?..

[Jesse]

Brava! Thanks for this. My brand of feminism is all about choices, you know? A woman shouldn't have to look a certain way to be accepted, but neither should she be written off as a reactionary sell-out for wearing pretty clothes.

[Kate]

I wonder how old this woman is... I went through this extremist phase myself, throwing the baby out with the bath water, then you realize that aesthetic pleasure and self expression are gifts that are rare enough in this world that you need to do your part, both for yourself and for other human beings. The most creative dressers I know are not slaves to the fashion industry and care little for what is "in" or "out", but combine vintage, homemade, thrift, Target and rare special retail-price purchases to leave Vogue and W pages in the dust!

[Braidwood]

Interesting. I agree with both you and the brown dress lady. Thanks for some good commentary.

[msbelle]

I find it most interesting that she chose a brown dress. And is it really temperate enough in Seattle to wear one style year-round?

[kerry lynn]

well said.

[Bunny Z]

I have been lurking on your blog for some time, charmed by your sense of style and dazzled by your writing. Your eye for fashion and range of references fascinates me. (I felt a positive thrill when I read your reference to "Zip," and got it). I felt I had to respond to today's post. I love it when someone deconstructs a facile argument and exposes its logical fallacies. I, too, am a feminist, and I am concerned about both rampant consumerism and the unhealthy emphasis that modern culture places on physical appearance. Sometimes it's hard to reconcile these concerns with my bone-deep love of clothes. In the end, I have reached a comfort level by distinguishing between admiration and acquisition, and realizing that the clothes don't make the woman. Which, come to think of it, might have been better points for Martin to make with her brown dress project. I echo some of your other posts when I confess it just irritates the starch out of me when any traditional aspect of womanliness is considered anti-feminist. I'm not quite ready to adopt a buzzcut-and-overalls uniform with the assumption that the boys will forget I'm a woman and let me join the club. Anyway, thanks for your wonderful blog and especially your post today.

[Mrs. Pankhurst]

For someone who wants to deconstruct consumer culture, she finds an awful lot of ways to accessorize that dress. I love the idea, but I don't quite think she makes the point she's going for.

[talk]

hello..really curious of the site...as being featured as "blog of note" in blogger :-)

[Anonymous]

why wear a dress why not wear a potato sack it would be a better talking point?

[Kate]

I don't know what more I can add-- you said this so well. As another feminist, it's nice to know I'm not the only one ashamed to like girly things!

[Erica B.]

Feminism has nothing to do with the way you dress and whether or not you choose to wear a dress, nor does it mean that you have to be a Femi-Nazi Hairy Lesbian (there's nothing wrong with being a Femi-Nazi Hair Lesbian if that's what you like, so don't email me or start a flaming war on my blog). Feminism is about choices and I choose to care about what I wear.

[christopher higgs]

I'm new here, but I really like the concept of your blog, thought I'd leave a fingerprint.

[Stereoette]

didnt andrea zittel already do the "wearing-the-same-dress-for-a-year" thing? not that that would make it any less interesting, but you know...

[Anonymous]

Sing out, Sister!"although I have to say I'm more intrigued with Martin's nebulous plan to spend next year wearing only things she's made herself"--has she spent this year growing cotton or flax or hemp or sheep and spinning the fiber herself?I'm not sure her entire project is any more than a vacuous attempt at self-aggrandizement.

[Anonymous]

Yes, Andrea Zittel. Been there, done that. Very original.-another person named Andrea (not Zittel, though)

[Anonymous]

Here's a description of Andrea Zittel's project...http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/zittel/card2.html

[demondoll]

Thank you for expressing you opinion so well! I too always thought feminism was about choices.

[Zoltar Panaflex]

How I love, love, love reading your blog! I cringe a little when people start thinking most Seattleites are like this (we aren't, *I* am not anyway)What I want to know is -- what are "Guerilla Alterations?"I take a long time creating my wardrobe, and once I have them, I alter them myself so they fit perfectly and I don't want some brown-dressed 'artiste' touching me!(To quote Le Robe Brune Blog - ) ""I'll be doing guerilla alterations to the clothing of audience members, and I'll be dancing a solo based on my Brown Dress research, with original music composed by Mark Clem and lighting design by Ben Zamora.""(Or as my stylish yet very practical yet fashionable yet independent late grandmother would say "Someone needs some therapy!")

[Becky O.]

Well put. Some still confuse femine and feminism. We all have a choice ...My choices always includes lipstick.

[Ummu Ummati]

Hi, I was randomly blog hopping and stumble across your interesting blog. I am quite taken with your latest post. Being a feminist does not mean one has to deny oneself of simple luxuries. Well said =)