Would I Wear This?
How would you describe how you dress? I think I'd have to say that I dress in a classical bohemian manner, but I guess you could also describe my style as baroque preppy or aberrant traditional. I enjoy getting dressed every day. I dress for my mood. But sometimes you just feel like changing, and you shave or cut your hair, or you go out and buy something new. The great thing about clothes is their ability to transform us.
Last night I was watching Turner Classic Movies… William Powell in one of his Philo Vance films… basically he's playing himself, or Nick Charles, the Thin Man, as a bachelor… and I was admiring his style. Then I caught a very strange The Shadow, with Alec Baldwin playing Lamont Cranston, aka The Shadow, the noir hero of the 1930s radio drama of the same name. Alec does some pretty flamboyant costume turns in this weird film, and it started giving me ideas.
What if I suddenly changed my style? What if I suddenly started wearing nothing but John Galliano? I mean, I am not into fashion victim clothes. I don't like things that will look like last season next season. Most forward design leaves me cold; but to me John Galliano transcends the idea of fashion victim and takes extravagance into the territory of genius.
I have long considered the swashbuckling, amusing Mr. Galliano an extraordinary genius when it comes to women's clothes, and I invite you to visit style.com to see the fantastic voyage he put on for Christian Dior, but now I am a convert to his berserk vision of maleness.
The savvy, measured Tim Blanks wrote of Galliano's fall collection: "…confronted by fashion tribalism this savage, the only sensible option was to suspend all critical faculties and savor the ride." And what a ride! Ninja punk shamans, Chinese operatic road warriors, cubist camouflage stormtroopers, Rauschenberg cargo cult witch doctors, leather pirates, intergalactic headhunters…it was a mardi gras for the imagination, a true tour de force extravaganza that made you think differently about what clothes are. Galliano connects with the magic. He approaches garments the way a naked savage from the Amazon might approach Maxfield or Barneys. He puts things together in a way that is entirely dramatic and original. There are so many ideas here—including Rick Moranis's Dark Helmet from Mel Brooks's Spaceballs—that you don't know where to begin.
I want these clothes because I want to walk down the street and amaze people. My only fear is that once I got some I wouldn't be able to go back. I wonder if Galliano would give me a full scholarship. Would I wear this? You bet I would! Well, maybe not the nylon stocking on my head with the smeared lipstick, but I'm ready for the codpiece and the Attila the Hun pants right now. Bravo!
If all men dressed like this there would be no war in Iraq. (Maybe just some ritual rumbling in the neighborhood.)
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Yes, like huge accents, you mean? Wild. Maybe the makeup accents too. The white lines under the eyes look trııs prııtes-ıı-porter. And it's an angry look, besides. Maybe in clothes as these one would feel safe and ready for anything.
astronauticalism
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Yes,Galliano is a true artist in the field of fashion. What I was getting at is that we could all use a little more art in the way we put ourselves together. To use a creative approach. I actually think a lot of these pieces could be incorporated into a person's wardrobe. Even the crazy headgear...well how different is it from what you see Minnesota Viking fans wearing in the stands at NFL games. A little tribalism might do us all good.
gqstyleguy
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Yay! I had such a hard time signing in. Ok, what I waanted to say is something I thought since I saw Galiano's runway pics, and it is that simply enough, this is NOT fashion. At least not all of it. It has transcended it, as you said, and moved into the realm of Art- beyond function towards aesthetics and concepts. I love it. I love both Galianos, the Artist and the designer. It's not something to wear, it's something to revel in.
astronauticalism
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Glenn, please bring back the Bald Ego online broadcasts.
coelho
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just wondering how you do wear clothes like that? obviously no one is going to walk down the street looking like chewbacca so what does galliano expect from us when he presents clothes like this? how can one put together an outfit using those threads?
cmv50
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