Wednesday, 27 January 2010

"huh, the irony..."

Ok, I admit that this is just confusing!

This week, I started reading 2 books;

The Culture of Fashion by Christopher Breward - which is actually part of the "Essential Reading" list that I got as a part of my new module, and...

Dematerializing: Taming the Power of Possessions by Jane Hamm
erslough - which I just got from my Dad (I asked him to bring it along when we met up in Holland).

Just to be clear, even before I held these books in my hands, I knew that I am interested in the subjects given by both books. BUT, what I didn't rea
lise until now is that each book contradicts the other. I realised that I am now living in a materialistic world, and I wont deny it that I can be very materialistic at times :p Thus, came my interest in reading a book to 'tame the power of possessions'; starting from my own. Before finished with the first book, I moved on to the second book - which the list I've just received recently. Laid out chronologically, this book brings the readers through the history of fashion throughout the centuries - including the external factors like the socio-cultural aspects. I started with the last chapter in the book, about the late-twentieth century; the present day. This chapter talks about how quickly the concept of fashion changes, and how the so-called contemporary fashion doesn't necessarily mean 'meeting the costumers' demands and needs'; even some are simply forms of aesthetics.

Reading these two books at around the same time, made me think; am I betraying my own values here? Not only as an observant, I am actually involved in the concept of "materialism". I am studying FASHION for God's sake! Even these 3 magazi
nes are becoming my most dominant periodical resource!
Yeah, so... I'm a little lost here...

Help

1 comment:

mirkocrocop_ironman28 said...

good insights. i guess this kind of contradictory-two-sides of-the-coins-things is what everyone needs. more stuffs, details and analysis you know, better decisions you make. you are not in anyway lost, you r more like a uk gps in a middle of jakarta's slums.

awesome blog.