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#1 2014-12-01 14:56:01

Bop
Member
Posts: 7661

The Alchemy of Dressing

The more I look at art, design and clothing, the more I'm lead to think about the term alchemy. There is a special place that gets entered into when something is just right, and although the idea that these things are subjective goes to undermine the fact we have objective relationship when dealing with the plastic elements.

We've probably all recognised the feeling of witnessing something beautiful and when Ive tried to produce an image that begins to consider these elements that go together to create the well balanced there is actually a very real sensation that occurs when things start to work.

But anyway,

I was wondering how people percieve their clothes when choosing combinations. Do you consider is it gut instinct, do you rely on the old tried and tested.

When people say they just throw it together I can pretty much assure you it will never look as good as the well considered and sensitive.

Hell why even try and dress well at all?

Last edited by Bop (2014-12-01 14:58:59)

 

#2 2014-12-01 15:30:13

Incognito
Member
Posts: 347

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

Great topic.

I choose based on 'charm'. But what might be charming for me may not be charming for others...

'Charm' is beyond practicality & usefulness. It's just stuff that takes your fancy.

I find those Keydge jackets charming  - But I can't claim them to be practical or a sound wardrobe investment.... They just have a certain charm, but only if you feel that way about them.

'Dressing Well' was an interest of my youth.  Just enjoying myself soon took over.

 

#3 2014-12-01 15:32:21

TheExpandingMan
Member
Posts: 841

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

 

#4 2014-12-01 15:35:56

Bop
Member
Posts: 7661

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

I think I have to say I prefer sincerity to charm.

 

#5 2014-12-01 15:48:11

Incognito
Member
Posts: 347

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

 

#6 2014-12-01 15:51:43

Armchaired
Ivy I.V.
From: Old England
Posts: 7580

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

I don't buy all this "i just throw it on" its cobblers.

I  usually select what i am going to wear the night before
and will lay my clothes out in preparation in the spare room.

What i am going to actually wear will depend on the occasion and the weather is a big factor.

I get washed and dressed in a specific ritualistic order and i know what you are thinking
and i agree, i am definitely OCD.

nice flannels Richie Boy.


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#7 2014-12-01 15:59:25

Worried Man
Member
From: Davebrubeckistan
Posts: 15988

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

My main consideration is where I'm going and what I'll be doing, then the weather factors in, then I usually reach for something I haven't worn recently.  Then I usually don't spend too much time fretting over complimentary pieces to compose the outfit.  I mean, I put thought into it, but I often think of pieces that would have worked better after the fact.  I pay attention to pattern and color when building the outfit, but kind of rush through it.


"We close our sto' at a reasonable hour because we figure anybody who would want one of our suits has got time to stroll over here in the daytime." - VP of George Muse Clothing, Atlanta, 1955

 

#8 2014-12-01 16:48:08

Incognito
Member
Posts: 347

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

 

#9 2014-12-01 16:58:53

formby
Member
From: Wiseacre
Posts: 8359

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing


"Dressing, like painting, should have a residual stability, plus punctuation and surprise." - Richard Merkin

Souvent me Souvient

 

#10 2014-12-01 23:55:06

4F Hepcat
THE Cat
Posts: 14333

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

There's certain rules of course, but I'm essentially driven towards a mixture of silhouette, texture and colour. I have a wide spectrum I will operate in from subdued Autumnal hues when throwing a curve ball at a meeting I know everyone will be in grey OTP Italian suits, to my horn-rimmed bebop jazz look all intellectual and creative, finally bold preppy 1978-80s colour schemes when the mood takes me in a Michael Portillo railway journeys way. Sometimes a mixture of all of them!


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#11 2014-12-02 01:02:31

Tomiskinky
Member
Posts: 3228

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

Is it not called The Art of Dressing?

I have loved clothes and shoes from an early age, my mum owned a ladies clothing boutique, my sister and I were both very skinny and struggled to fit into otp gear from M&S etc so mum always got our stuff from suppliers, so it was always a little slicker than what was on the local high street.

Maybe it was this that instilled an instinct of dressing well, maybe it was the fact my mum always dressed us well and has always had great tastes herself. She also points out that her father was a very smart dresser and always obsessed over good quality clothing, especially well made quality shoes and the importance of looking after a pair.

So could there be an element of genetics about how you dress, how you put together an outfit - I always base my choices on the weather, I'll have a few ideas of what I want to wear, then on the day/morning look out the window. Obviously this isn't taking into account the finer details pointed out by Hepcat, those things I can honestly say I don't overly think, I know if a tie or jacket work together or if the trousers sit well with that combo, it's just instinctive. I've had a few fails, but those were more in the 'mod' days where I probably tried too hard to fit into a style and not go with my instinct.

 

#12 2014-12-02 01:14:49

Bop
Member
Posts: 7661

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

Throwing it together is fine when you know the ingredients work. It's a lot like cooking from what I can figure out. But what happens if you get bored of the same old thing? There's a reason those tried and tested things work. Because they are working to some fundamental principles of balance, the problem is to learn the ingredients is not always going to teach you those factors that go to create. So when you have basil, oregano, garlic and olive oil and someone gives you vanilla pods its not going to work. You're left scratching your head thinking what do I do with this? Simple answer I guess is to return the vanilla pods, but you've got them now, so what do you do?

Food and clothes serve practical purposes..yes clearly, but through the very nature of our senses we can reward ourselves in incredibly moving ways, I would say when science meets art you have magic..or alchemy in the sense I recognise it.

No one ever seems to break it down into its simplest forms. Because it's very difficult to become neutral and sensitive to the things you are trying to balance and things are relative and incorporating a new element can throw out what was previously balanced, you must work with that to understand why principles are more important than rules.

Again think of it like neutralising the pallet, anything lingering like a delusion or aspiration or a ill thought out rule that your trying to impose will taint what you see. You must learn to see clearly.

With clothes, thanks to Billax ive found tone and texture to be the most important thing in terms of balancing an outfit, that's taking for granted the clothes fit.

The goal is to not let the eye become bored. But also not to jar it to heavily, this is achieved by the journey of subtle contrasts. Good work to look at for this is in order of subtly Monet, Van Gogh, Matisse and Picasso. All are trying to maintain interest through their art work with increasing levels of drama through contrast.

With the two tones black and white you have the strongest contrast available and the simplest ingredients to work with.

They restrict you to no other variables except texture and pattern. Arguably texture is a pattern because the relief it gives to a surface is a lot like how a pattern works. It breaks up a plain with something of interest.

This means be aware of the texture first. Would you wear a corduroy shirt under a corduroy jacket? Maybe, but arguably no because of the fact that the contrast given they are the same colour is nil, and you can liken it then to being a flavour that is overpowering the outfit. In this case to much cord is like putting in too much salt.

A nice contrast to cord is a shaggy dog. Why? Because think about the attributes of cord, linear, fat, heavy looking. Shaggy shetland messy, light and airy, visuallly lighter on the eye than a heavy jumbo cord. So the contrasts there bring about excitment to the eye. Even if the tones are the same. The handle of the two fabric are contrasting, and there is a logic, but here lies the trick, you have to keep going, you need a shirt. That opposes the qualities of the jacket and the jumper. It cant have such an imposing texture to it, it can't appear heavy like cord or messy like shetland wool. So the answer really is a plain cotton maybe as heavy as an oxford, oxford is heavy compared to poplin, but relative to the jumbo cord it is light, and good un the practial terms of not letting the jumper itch .

What you are trying to achieve is communication between all elements which is why keeping it simple is the most important thing. Because if the contrast is correct then not many elements are needed, but as you consistently repeat the process you can add more and more and still everything holds together.

The communication shouldnt be over bearing or so subtle its hardly heard at all unless of course that's what you want. They're two extremes that are arguably very easy to do.

This brings us to the idea of simplicity being the key. And by simplicity I mean the logical sensitive approach.

I leave it there for now but will try to write about pattern next woth some diagrams, and then colour and tone at a later point, and what principles to keep in the mind when dealing with such an array of variables.

Last edited by Bop (2014-12-02 01:24:00)

 

#13 2014-12-02 02:07:14

Bop
Member
Posts: 7661

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

Good website for listing types of cotton including a picture of the weave.

https://www.thefabricofourlives.com/discover-cotton/types-of-cotton

 

#14 2014-12-02 03:52:43

Harpo
The Best In The West
From: West Wales
Posts: 3394

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

I think the "just throw it on" thing can work if you've been at it a long time and you've got your wardrobe just so. But, the alchemy idea is a neat analogy - there's something that happens with combinations of clothes, cut, fit colour, etc. that when it works - it works. Base metal into gold! You can have separate pieces that you love, and in your mind's eye you see them with other things you love - e.g. a shirt, jacket, trousers combo. but when you try to work them, you can't. I've got better and better at knowing what's going to work and what's not without trying things on. Occassionally though, you do just throw something on and you hit gold as a combo - and that becomes a staple in your wordrobe.


Randy lower-class trifler

 

#15 2014-12-02 07:56:55

Bop
Member
Posts: 7661

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

Last edited by Bop (2014-12-02 07:58:53)

 

#16 2014-12-02 08:08:59

Patrick
Member
Posts: 2646

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

I start with shoes.


Otter : Take it easy, I'm pre-law.
Boon : I thought you were pre-med.
Otter : What's the difference?

 

#17 2014-12-02 08:09:58

Bop
Member
Posts: 7661

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

 

#18 2014-12-02 08:14:47

Harpo
The Best In The West
From: West Wales
Posts: 3394

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

Dunno - grey herringbone, white shirt, dark navy knitted tie? It's a classic.


Randy lower-class trifler

 

#19 2014-12-02 08:46:56

Bop
Member
Posts: 7661

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

True enough mate, I think I'll leave the Al Capone look though

 

#20 2014-12-02 08:54:15

Bop
Member
Posts: 7661

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

Last edited by Bop (2014-12-02 08:54:59)

 

#21 2014-12-02 09:06:10

stanshall
Member
From: Gilligan's Island
Posts: 12991

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

Last edited by stanshall (2014-12-02 09:40:42)


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#22 2014-12-02 09:28:22

Thee Captain
Member
From: The galaxy MACS0647-JD
Posts: 6972

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

If I had to dress smart every day, I'd spend more time but I don't so there isn't much of a thought process tbh.

I've never had to be smart for any job and probably why I'm nearly always in jeans.. pretty much anything goes with jeans, eh?

I did actually enjoy having to give it some thought on the days when I made an effort and wore shirt/ties/jacket... guess that's where my inner alchemist got busy...


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#23 2014-12-02 10:37:58

Worried Man
Member
From: Davebrubeckistan
Posts: 15988

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing


"We close our sto' at a reasonable hour because we figure anybody who would want one of our suits has got time to stroll over here in the daytime." - VP of George Muse Clothing, Atlanta, 1955

 

#24 2014-12-02 10:50:47

Bop
Member
Posts: 7661

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

Dont taper them

 

#25 2014-12-02 11:11:07

heikki k
The Ivyist's Ivyist
Posts: 1442

Re: The Alchemy of Dressing

 

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