Friday, July 19, 2013

By Way of Introduction

the mannequin theory: the idea that fashion is about the people under the clothes


In an attempt to argue that fashion = humanity, it may seem naive to equate mannequins and people; the mannequin has no identity other than that thrust upon it by indifferent stylists and bears only superficial resemblance to the breathing body after which it was modeled. Intrinsically, however, a mannequin can become anything. Like us, who, in the words of Miuccia Prada, "compose ourselves every day" through how we dress, the mannequin is a canvas of infinite possibilities. Instead of uniformity, then, I think mannequins manifest the opportunity for creativity, change, and self-actualization that fashion provides to people; that they approximate real clothes-wearers in their inexhaustible metamorphic potential.

I also know, though, that humans don't have the whole "blank slate" thing going on that allows a mannequin to adopt myriad identities. People tote around preexisting memories, values, and cultural expectations that consistently influence their personal style, and that's worth looking at, too.

This blog will endeavor to appreciate all this; to pay tribute not only to clothing, but to how it informs and reflects human experience. This blog is for the fashionista that refuses to believe that his or her obsession with people watching and outfit composition is shallow; that admires outfits for how they transform a person; that admires people for how they transform an outfit.

This blog is for anyone that looks at, and then beyond, clothing.

Welcome to Mannequin.

<3 Marin

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