Author Archives: Stella Kong

Looking Glass Self

 

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It would be weird to draw a self portrait.

At the Rox gallery, this group of mirrors do the work for you. Designed by Ultra Violet to describe selfhood and trapping, their message is clear: this is you. No enhancements, no brush marks- just the regular and present you.

It reminded me a lot about sociology. In this field a man named … Cooley conceptualized the idea of the “looking glass self”. It is the idea that your sense of self, your thoughts and feelings when you view yourself as an object, is attributed to how you see yourself through another persons eyes. First, you  view yourself through another persons shoes, then you imagine them making a judgment about you, and finally you experience a feeling based on that judgement. Those feelings contribute to how you feel about yourself. When looking at these mirrors, you see yourself as how others see you on a daily basis. Through them, you experience a myriad of feelings. You may feel that your eyes are too small, your nose is too big, your bags too prominent, or maybe the contrary: your face is absolutely perfect. Whatever the case is, you add onto your sense of self with these thoughts.

These mirrors also represent change. Nobody stays the same throughout their years of living. People change and evolve and their outward appearance goes along with them. A self portrait when you were 18 years old cannot accurately display what you are like when you are 50 years old. All your experiences will shape who you are and what you look like. Years of experiences can add dimension to yourself and it would show on your face.

Ultimately, these simple mirrors can display everything about yourself without even having to pick up a pencil.

NYFW- Street Style

 

 “Fashion is the most powerful art there is. It’s movement, design and architecture all in one. It shows the world who we are and who we’d like to be. Just like your scarf suggests that you’d like to sell used cars.”

–       Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl)

Perhaps it could do without the last condescending line, but the Queen Bee has the fundamentals right: Fashion is art. The last week epitomized this fact with Mercedes-Benz hosting the bi-annual New York Fashion Week where designers from all over the world showcased their latest collections for Spring 2014. Famous designers like Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang, and others unleashed into the world their eccentric designs and trends for 2014. While Lincoln Center hosted a plethora of these interesting outfits, the streets around it also became a runway.

Celebrities, magazine editors, bloggers, and just regular fashion fiends plagued the streets with their own unique outfits—their own unique work of art. Some of them incorporated trends seen on the runway (black and white and retro prints) and many took it as a chance to showcase their own creativity. After all, art is what one makes of it.

From bold prints to detailed jewelry, all NYFW goers were dressed impeccably.  I think that it is interesting to see absurd but definitive outfits not just reserved for the runway. Many people are taking that leap and defining fashion for themselves. Fashion is all about self-confidence and being able to express one’s self or creativity, not through a piece of paper, but through wearable fabrics, silhouettes, and textures. Showcasing your sense of style is a work of art in itself. That is why I believe that New York Fashion Week and just fashion in general, is critical to sustaining the art in our lives.