Clothes-minded

Fashion and the way we look are a part of our human condition. It's tribal and social and personal. I don't think it's superficial; it's quite profound. - Helen Mirren

I love fashion and I love a woman with style. Some people move and are moved by a work of art or literature or music. I am moved by those things also. However, I have little to no skill in creating music, literature, or art. I do know how to put an outfit together. It's how I express myself and how I get a bit of understanding of others. I love the textures, the colors, the prints, the proportions, and disproportions. When I get dressed, I'm not just putting on clothes, I'm telling you how I feel today and who I am everyday. So, you can imagine how irritated I become when someone tries to give me attitude about my love for fashion. The other arts have a legitimate spot as art in the world, but fashion is still looked on condescendingly by many. It is often seen as excessive or silly or a waste of money, time, and care. How sad. Though, to be fair, the fashion world is demanding of society and also sometimes condescending. However, they are giving as good as they are getting. Fashion is art, except you get to live your life in it. We could spend our lives in black and wear the same things so that we can concentrate on the really, really important things like saving the children and the dolphins. But I think we can do that just as well and probably, more happily in suede platform wedges and a diaphanous blue dress with flower print. It's like John Muir once said, "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread."