So last week at uni there was a lecture being given by Aynouk Tan I won’t say I knew she existed before this night although many people seemed to I just thought I’d go along because it sounded interesting and it beat sitting at home alone for another night of the week.
I was waiting with a bunch of people outside the lecture theater (if you can call it that) when someone pretty tall walked past me in red heels and a big brightly coloured coat which resembled a dressing gown. I didn’t see their face but I assumed it was some weirdo or a man in drag… Harsh but true.
We get inside and Aynouk then reveals that she deliberately dresses in this way because she gets attention and wants to make people aware of the difference between a person and your appearance. Aynouk Tan went on to tell the listeners that when she was young she started to realize the attention she would receive online and became some what of an ‘it’ girl. Eventually magazines got her to write for them and then she started blogging… As time went by she said she began to dress for the outside world.
“clothes are a bridge between inner and out”
This is when she said she was confronted with the power of appearances and wanted to address this, her magazine articles became her research to help her answer questions like: Why does gender matter? Why are we intimidated by some people? Who decides what beauty is?
Aynouk then brought up a interview with Dustin Hoffman on the projector which was filmed after making ‘Tootsie‘, he says “There are too many interesting women I’ve not had the experience to know in this life because I have been brainwashed.” This emphasises the negative impact the construction of beauty has on the world, on both women and men. Adding to this idea of ‘brainwashing’ that Dustin Hoffman brought up is how we behave as a group… When someone dresses differently we think they are nuts – I certainly did when I caught a mere glimpse of what Aynouk was wearing. Now Aynouk Tan is trying to find out where these notions (which appear to be common sense or innate) come from.
The lecture went on to discuss how fashion brands create “air-castles” which ultimately means untrue stories. In order to get us to want a product they have to give it meaning that makes it worth buying, that makes it eye catching and unique; so they put some skinny, beautiful model in the dress or a celebrity and sell you the idea that if you dress this like you will be liked… Adverts make you feel like you aren’t good enough but if you buy our product then you will be good enough and feel worthy again.
Everything in the fashion industry is constructed even authenticity is fake these days… Whether it a pair of ‘old’ jeans or a rugged beard which can be made convincingly for both men and women.
Although I found this all very interesting I didn’t understand what she was planning to do with the information she had gained… I think it’s good to go around and let people know but advertising and the fashion industry aren’t going to stop what they are doing because it’s making them money and we as human beings need to wear clothes, unfortunately the days of everyone walking around naked without a care in the world are practically over and now we want to cover ourselves and clothes only last so long before you need to buy more… There was also part of me that found this speak slightly hypocritical – she was there in some fancy clothes and if you type her into Google she’s always dressing like it and although she may be doing it for a reaction so she can educate people isn’t that just helping the fashion industry? Maybe she makes her own clothes, I don’t know…
In a sentence it was interesting but I was left without any real resolution or idea what I was meant to do with this “new found knowledge” that I think we are all aware of anyway.
Lucaldenaux Scaravolt 