Wear it like you talk it!

[imomus]

You know, sometimes when you're posting about some terribly abstract subject like globalisation, and everything just becomes a maelstrom of words, concepts and abstract models of the world, you forget that you're a physically embodied person. So today I thought I'd give you pictures of the kinds of clothes I've been wearing during my last six days of Click Opera posts. Just for fun, I added descriptions of where I'd bought the clothes and how much they'd cost. Then suddenly these silly outfits became a great visual metaphor for the very same global processes we'd been talking about, with their bizarre and paradoxical impacts on culture and identity.



1. June 1st: "2D's a spiky fucker... he stood up on the balcony throwing tinfoil ashtrays in my direction." Striped nylon shirt from Osaka street market, 1000 yen. Red scarf (by Slow and Steady Wins The Race) from Selfridges, London, £15. Pink headband from Chinese store, Alcobaca, Portugal, €1. Spectacles from secondhand store, Fukuoka, Kyushu, 5000 yen.

2. June 2nd: "Clearly if I title my next album Donald, Where's Yer Troosers I'll make a killing in the Scottish diaspora." Sunglasses La Foret, Harajuku, Tokyo, expensive in 1998. Fake Burberry shirt €2.50 at Humana, Lisbon. Blue Chinese workwear jacket from Humana, Berlin, €10.

3. June 3rd: "Did I tell you that I hate Van Morrison?" Blue headband from Chinese store, Alcobaca, Portugal, €1. Black cashmere poloneck sweater gift from model's mother.

4. June 4th: "Is it okay to be a nipposexual?" Red Discom T shirt bought from band, Tokyo, 2500 yen. One-shoulder brown sweater €2 at Boxhagener Platz market, Berlin.

5. June 5th: "Um, porridge? Turnips? Fish and chips? Edinburgh rock candy?..." Pink shorts from Domsey's, Brooklyn, $2.

6. June 6th: "You know, scientifically speaking there's no evidence to say that a businessman is different from any other human being." Japanese carpenter's hat from uniform store, Osaka, 2000 yen. Senegalese robe from Humana, Berlin, €14.

Comments

Re: ...one more...

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

Nick's stubble is likely inspired in part by Brecht. A few years back, during the Miami Vice years, there were clippers designed to give one's whiskers that lived-in look. Perhaps Nick came across one during his thrifting jaunts.

I for one enjoy Nick's style explorations, and seeing what he comes up with next, much like I would a collage artist. He uses overtly synthetic materials and bold, flat colors (something I would rarely do myself), but the underlying aesthetic is one in which he has given much thought and has integrated into his everyday life. He knows that one should be a dandy/, but not a dandy: that is to say, archetypes are better synthesized than inhabited.

He also understands that there is an element of self-directed humor in dandyism, and that playing with the slightly ridiculous and pulling it off holds a strong appeal.

W

Re: ...one more...

[imomus.livejournal.com]

I'm encouraged and humbled to hear such kind words from the king of the dandies himself!

The permastubble thing is easily explained. I have an American electric shaver which I bought in New York in 2000 to shave my head. Over the years its blades have lost some of their acuity, but if I dribble some extra virgin olive oil across them they're just sharp enough to cut an incipient beard down to a peachskin fuzz of uniform stubble.

Re: ...one more...

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

Sounds to be something of a painful process!

Well, I think your explorations are more in line with my own notions of dandyism than the silly, boring people who seem intent on living in a previous age (continuity vs. nostalgia and all that). I mean to say that using old forms is good fun, but they must be remade into something new.

I'm more like the court fool, thank goodness--mushrooms probably have more fun than roses.

W

Re: ...one more...

[cerulicante.livejournal.com]

He certainly looks eccentric enough to impress art students.

Re: ...one more...

[thetemplekeeper.livejournal.com]

That's extraordinary. I'm off to buy an American electric shaver immediately. Do you think it's possible to use any oil (e.g., sunflower, sesame seed - maybe even palm tree oil) or should I only bathe my face in that from extra virgin olives. A fourth question: when does a virgin olive become extra virgin? It sounds like an annointing to me. All in, thanks for the style tips - and I've just remembered your tapes, which are surely cluttering up some floorspace somewhere. I will find them and post tomorrow: perhaps you will find some place in a voluminous hood in which to keep them.