Response to Misty's "Social Restraints."

Response #12

In Misty Elliott's blog, she responded to Marek's post about the stereotypical image of a man who spends his life contemplating and analyzing art. She talks about how everyone looks at art differently because it is always changing. She asks, "Are there social restraints put on us as to what clothes we can wear in public? Can we wear whatever we feel like and what kind of consequences would there be for wearing something ridiculous?"

I think there are definitely social restraints on what we can and can't wear. For example, if someone walked down the street in their underwear or even in the nude, this would obviously not be accepted by our society. I think people are always getting judged by how they look. Just browse through a magazine. Celebrities are always being judged by their outfits. There are pages stating fashion do's and don'ts. Of course there are people out there who don't care what others think. They will wear whatever they want but they will still get judged even if they ignore it. We can technically wear whatever we want, as long as we're covered in public, but if something is ridiculous, people will react negatively towards you. First impressions are also really important and if a person meets someone wearing something not so aesthetically appealing or something extremely crazy, people may get the wrong impressions. We spend so much time caring about what we look like and buying clothes that are "in" even though it should not matter. To me, fashion is about self expression and not conforming to what everyone else wears or what is "in" at the time. If you like it, wear it.

I want to talk a little bit about fashion designers and models pertaining to art. I'm not going to lie, I'm a closeted America's Next Top Model fan (don't tell anyone) and I think some of the designer's outfits are ridiculous. I would never wear some of the outfits the models wear because they are just so not appealing. I do think fashion design is another type of art form because it does take talent to create and design clothes that are attractive and would get people to buy them. But what about models, is modeling a form of art? What determines a great fashion designer from a not so good one? Many of the outfits I find in magazines or on these fashion shows are nothing I would ever wear nor would want to but they cost so much money. I don't get why people would want to wear them.

My question to you is: In your opinion, is modeling a form of art? The purpose of a model is to look beautiful on the runway and work their outfits so the crowd will buy them so there is some aesthetic aspects to modeling. Or do you think designers are the true artists since models just walk in what they create?