Fashion as Art: Would You Buy/Collect Pieces Just for Its Beauty?

[Fashion Puss]

I just remembered Steven Phillip of Rellick: he's one of the biggest collectors of fashion and couture pieces, but mainly specialises in Vivienne Westwood. I found this quote on how he now sees vintage:

From Stuff.co.nz

"I'm over vintage - and I run a vintage store!" barks Steven Philip. Philip doesn't run any old vintage store - his shop, Rellik on Golborne Rd, is an institution. Come to think of it, Philip is a bit of an institution, too. Fashion editors will turn to him for advice on the latest trends. Stylists Katie England and Katie Grand turn up regularly on his doorstep looking for pieces to make their fashion shoots unique.

The rise in vintage happened, says Philip, "because celebrities were struggling to stand out. Suddenly everyone could buy the same Gucci dress as them and everyone could have the same Fendi handbag."

Today, designers are creating pieces that have a vintage quality to them, and the craze for real vintage is on the way out - which doesn't worry Philip. He'd be happy to lose the tourists and tyre-kickers, and go back to dealing only with the true vintage fanatics who come to rifle through his basement storage space, filled floor-to-ceiling with Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano, Ossie Clark and Zandra Rhodes.


I think he has a point, maybe people are treating vintage designer pieces just as something to fuel the lastest trend? I would give my back teeth for an original Ossie Clark but I would be loathed if someone said I was buying it as "everyone does vintage these days" I would say that I owned it as its a piece of fashion history, whether it fits me or not is not the point.

 

[flowerpowr]

I once found a Christian Dior suit at a thrift store and bought it, just because it was Dior, even though it was too big for me... That is a tad different from what this thread is about though.

I definitely agree with spike though. B)

I did the same exact thing! Mine fits a little tighly but I just have it in my closet to enjoy it. I found a Halston jacket too but left it at the store because I thought someone else could enjoy it. (I was really mad at myself for that later!)

 

[iluvjeisa]

Yes, I would if I had a lot of money. But - at the end of the day - fashion only comes alive when it enhances the beauty of a person, so it's a bit of a sad thing to collect. Dead items, waiting to be brought alive by those rare people who can really do it justice.

 

[Boomer]

I don't know if I would say 'as art'; but, especially when I worked for Polo, I would often buy things just because they were so beautiful, with no idea if or when I might actually wear them...now I have roller racks of things in my laundry room- I outgrew the actual closets years ago...

 

[softgrey]

Yes, I would if I had a lot of money. But - at the end of the day - fashion only comes alive when it enhances the beauty of a person, so it's a bit of a sad thing to collect. Dead items, waiting to be brought alive by those rare people who can really do it justice.

i find this incredibly sad, but even more poetic...
i had no idea you were such a romantic ilj...
...
LOVE IT!...

i guess that i do collect clothes to a certain extent...
but not as art......
for me- it's about design...
the colour, the print, the fabric, the construction, etc...

but i feel the same as you do ...
it makes me sad sometimes to see the clothes just lying/hanging there lifeless...
i feel better if the clothes get to be worn...
even if it's only once in a while...


plus- it's better for the clothes...
otherwise they just hang there...
getting all droopy and dusty and they actually look like they're sad...
....

i prefer happy, well-worn clothes...
...

but yeah...
if i see something clever or new or unusual...
i usually have to buy it just to have it cause it's cool..

 

[Boomer]

^ I just wish I had more places to wear them....I'm not really a travel around and go out to a restaurant person at the moment, and in a lot of the jobs I've had I had to wear certain things...sad really..

Wanted: Rich girl to go out to dinner with (you pay)
Apply Chateau Boomer/Attn: Gigolo.... B)

 

[softgrey]

i hear ya baby!...

 

[Spike413]

I still stand by what I said when this thread was new; I would absolutely buy certain pieces as art, assuming of course that I had the means and space to put the pieces onto a mannequin for display instead of a hanger. I guess I kind of look at it from the point of view that I'm never going to wear women's clothes anyway, and really the only way for me to enjoy them is to look at them. I'm too pragmatic about mens clothes for that though. I've never wanted to buy something just to own it.

But there are the times when I've been browsing in, say, Century 21 or Neiman Marcus Last Call, and I'll happen upon an amazing runway piece that clearly nobody wanted when it was brand new, and that will likely never be purchased in a discount store either. Instead it'll just stay on the rack, falling off the hanger every now and then until the hanging straps tear, being handled, pulled, stepped on, mangled, tried on by people who have to squeeze into it, and ending it's poor life looking like it came out of a dumpster before winding up on the final sale rack where, still, nobody will want it. When I see clothes like that I want to buy them just because I know I can give them a good home, like collecting stray/abandoned cats.

Is that sick or what?

 

[Boomer]

^ I don't think that is sick at all- I feel the same way! (Or I'm just as sick and can't admit it- another matter entirely...)
I have a spare room which is in use right now, but if I get it back for myself someday, I intend to get some nice heavy racks and fill it with my stuff that is packed away in storage now (I am a heavy user..), almost as a little display/museum of nice clothes...If I still had a wife around, she would be welcome to have a section too- I just like playing with the beautiful things... In 'The Secret World of Couture", one of the ladies has her stuff all labeled and in huge closets- when she wore them and for what event- that to me is greater than having some expensive painting in the living room...

 

[Donatello89]

maybe it was, but today it's a business. brand are sold like any clothes, there isn't any art spirit in there : Couture is hard to sell, so msot of couture house are talking baout stopping that type of activity....they make campaign, they talk about "marketable" faces... And truely, if fashion didn't bring any financial interest, wouls it still exists ? maybe yes, but it won't be the fashion we know today. so no, today, since companies invest in fashion in order to take an advantage from it, fashion is a business and not art. Karl Lagerfeld said it by the way !

 

[farou7a]

Interesting thread. i would def collect items as a collectoion - It is wearable art after all - well.. Some items arent but are worthy enough to be a part of a collection imo.

 

[Boomer]

If anyone who is intersted in this hasn't seen The Secret World of Haute Couture, it is on YouTube I believe...what a great film- it relates to all of this! Some of these women are amazing (and Daphne is in it, too!!)

 

[LeBonChic]

Always
If that piece holds concept and/or history, it's worth every penny. Sometimes revisiting such pieces is like appreciating art

 

[YoninahAliza]

In theory I think I would collect clothes as art but in reality its just not possible at the moment. I like the idea of owning a few select peices which I could never wear because eaither they are not my size or are to delicate to wear but instead displaying them in my closet (which would be HUGE) or else where in my home. Fashion is art so I see no reason not to buy into it. People spend so much time sewing these garments that they ought to be admired and appreciated.

 

[La bordélique]

i wouldn't buy clothes that are beautifully made and store them somewhere only as a collection piece... i tell myself that if it's so well-made and reflective of your own personality, then it should to be worn.

 

[mikeijames]

while i don't count myself as a collector, i've bought many a designer shirt for a great night out only to have them stored in my closet for years to come never to be worn again.

 

[Scott]

not i. as much as i treasure design,i could never imagine myself purchasing something or even holding onto to something i already own purely for the sake of having it as an art piece. that's why i was forced to sell some of my things just because i hated seeing them just hanging in my closet. for me it has to serve some sort of function as a wearer otherwise i see no purpose. i'd rather much see something take on a new life.

 

[Ives927]

Yes, I definitely do/would collect fashion as art. They are more than just clothing or simply just fabrics. It isn't about being vain or the status. I love the design and quality that goes into the garments. It's no different than someone that collect coins, stamps or Warhol paintings. I collect fashion that I love from my favorite designers. Of course, given that I have the money to afford it.

 

[luckyme]

whose to say you cant buy wearable art...i consider some of the pieces i have, artful treasures but i also wear them.

 

[fashionista-ta]

I still stand by what I said when this thread was new; I would absolutely buy certain pieces as art, assuming of course that I had the means and space to put the pieces onto a mannequin for display instead of a hanger. I guess I kind of look at it from the point of view that I'm never going to wear women's clothes anyway, and really the only way for me to enjoy them is to look at them. I'm too pragmatic about mens clothes for that though. I've never wanted to buy something just to own it.

But there are the times when I've been browsing in, say, Century 21 or Neiman Marcus Last Call, and I'll happen upon an amazing runway piece that clearly nobody wanted when it was brand new, and that will likely never be purchased in a discount store either. Instead it'll just stay on the rack, falling off the hanger every now and then until the hanging straps tear, being handled, pulled, stepped on, mangled, tried on by people who have to squeeze into it, and ending it's poor life looking like it came out of a dumpster before winding up on the final sale rack where, still, nobody will want it. When I see clothes like that I want to buy them just because I know I can give them a good home, like collecting stray/abandoned cats.

Is that sick or what?

I never feel that way about something new ... but I do feel that way about old things. Not clothes, but old houses, and the things that were in them ... and I am involved in animal rescue, so that too

Hey, you feel the way you feel ... nothing wrong with that. And you forgot the part where people get makeup on it because they don't bother undoing the fastenings properly