Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Appropriation and desire

Danielle went to Egypt and all she got was this galabiya:


The intricacies of fashion are a never-source of delight for me. I could happily draw different outfits all day long. It helps, too, that fashion is such a responsibility-free business. An individual can own a design, but a culture has no property beyond that which people concede to it. And as a general rule, fashion never concedes anything.

This has its downsides. Had the t-shirt remained a culturally specific garment, people all around the world would be dressed better. Or at least more interestingly. As it is, half the outfits in Athens, Georgia, are as boring as in Athens, Greece. Luckily, the other half provides more than enough subjects for me to draw.

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