The Working Girl, Esq. - A personal fashion diary: La Vie en Rose

Marc by Marc Jacobs dress and shoes

Is anyone else as excited about Mad Men starting up again? While I loved the '50s outfits the last 3 seasons, I'm really excited to see them moving towards '60s silhouettes. I feel there going to head somewhere in the direction of this dress. And I can't wait! This dress also makes me think of the recent Dior haute couture show that had a wonderfully joyous floral theme (right down to the bulb-like hair). I cannot expound enough on the virtues of haute couture and how important I think it is to the survival of fashion as an art form. No one will dispute that clothing must serve a utilitarian purpose. And there is no doubt haute couture is unattainable for the vast majority of the world's population. But these points only matter if haute couture is to be categorized as something less that art. I think this does it a massive disservice. While it may be true that in its history haute couture may have been a vestige of elitism, the fact that it is so removed from even the lives of the very rich today makes it even more artistic exercise than ever before. Perhaps it is unprofitable, perhaps it is unattainable, but so what? It is also the most exhilarating permutation of fashion that exists. The craft that must be developed to bring such exquisite creations into existence is enough to inspire even the most isolated of beings. Haute couture is now largely art for art's sake, and that notion shouldn't be looked down upon, or even worse, ignored. It should be celebrated more than ever. Just because there is or once was a practical reason for its existence shouldn't mean that it must be its only and primary reason for existence. There is nothing that necessitates haute couture be practical or profitable, except those large investment funds that go about buying what they have no business to be buying. When art must produce first and foremost some measured, quantifiable effect, it is an anathema to creativity and to the existence of the art itself. This is even more true because I think it is the unspoken and unspeakable aspects of art that contribute most to society, both on an individual and communal level. And I think that's something worth "losing" money for.