From Arkadius ss04

[purplelucrezia]

Hmm....

 

[purplelucrezia]

And the front...

 

[purplelucrezia]

Perhaps a more extreme take on Bjork's swan dress...

 

[Lena]

is this from a/w 2004 show purple?

 

[tiffany]

It's from the ss04 season, it was the last dress on the runway - I adore so much of his work, I liked the creativity behind this dress , it was as shocking as it was meant to be

 

[Belowen]

That dress would have a lot of different meanings to a lot of different people, and for that I appreciate it. I don't think it's my kind of evening wear though

 

[purplelucrezia]

For some reason I find this dress horribly fascinating.

 

[purplelucrezia]

Apparently the designers used a colour scheme of red, white and blue throughout the show. Perhaps a political commentary?

 

[Luna]

Originally posted by purplelucrezia@Feb 22nd, 2004 - 10:21 pm
Apparently the designers used a colour scheme of red, white and blue throughout the show. Perhaps a political commentary?

Or maybe bad judgement?

 

[ultramarine]

Originally posted by luna+Feb 22nd, 2004 - 10:22 pm--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(luna @ Feb 22nd, 2004 - 10:22 pm)</div><div class='quotemain'> <!--QuoteBegin-purplelucrezia@Feb 22nd, 2004 - 10:21 pm
Apparently the designers used a colour scheme of red, white and blue throughout the show. Perhaps a political commentary?

Or maybe bad judgement? [/b][/quote]
There were a lot of american flags/iraqi references (as well as stars of David)
Arkadius showed up the shortest skirts (or should I call 'em band-aids?) and he was covered on fabric head to toe (even on an interview of him i saw at FTV you could only see his eyes)

 

[Luna]

Originally posted by blumarine+Feb 22nd, 2004 - 10:27 pm--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(blumarine @ Feb 22nd, 2004 - 10:27 pm)</div><div class='quotemain'>

Originally posted by luna@Feb 22nd, 2004 - 10:22 pm
<!--QuoteBegin-purplelucrezia

@Feb 22nd, 2004 - 10:21 pm
Apparently the designers used a colour scheme of red, white and blue throughout the show. Perhaps a political commentary?

Or maybe bad judgement?

There were a lot of american flags/iraqi references (as well as stars of David)
Arkadius showed up the shortest skirts (or should I call 'em band-aids?) and he was covered on fabric head to toe (even on an interview of him i saw at FTV you could only see his eyes) [/b][/quote]

 

[purplelucrezia]

I also noticed the Hebrew stars...

 

[mode_addict]

i love the bloodshed!

 

[As You Like It]

Is that meant to be a slaughtered dove, then?

I remember when I was doing research on curses, miracle healing, Chistian mythology and late-Saxon medical texts for my MA, there's a part in the bible about curing leprosy by slaughtering a pigeon, taking a second pigeon and daubing it in the blood of the first pigeon, letting the live pigeon daub blood all over the leper, then letting the pigeon fly away across a bare field. Complimentary magic, where the fleeing bird carries away the leprotic curse, don't you know.

Before discussion of the Anglo-Saxon healing charms takes place, an inspection of the ritual detailed in Leviticus, Chapter 14 might be of profit. It contains several of the themes which recur in many of the Anglo-Saxon remedies and, above all, it certainly possessed Church approval, however superstitious some of its constituent rites may have been. This charm, for want of a better word, was intended for the cure and purification of a leper. The afflicted man was to present himself to a priest for inspection, and then the priest would acquire, for the sake of the man, two live, clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. The priest would have one of the birds killed in an earthen vessel over running water, then the live bird would be dipped, along with the scarlet, cedar, and hyssop, into the blood of the dead bird, and this blood would be sprinkled off these accoutrements onto the leper seven times, then the live bird would be released into an open field. Then the leper was cleansed, and he might return within the boundaries of society, but must stay within his own home for one week and physically cleanse himself, to the extent of shaving off his hair, beard, and eyebrows, washing his garments, and washing his clothes. Then, when he emerged from this seclusion, he was to take offerings of a male yearling lamb and a log of oil to the priest who cleansed him, and the priest was to present these gifts to God on behalf of the man. Included among these offerings would be a male lamb which would be considered a trespass offering. Once the lamb had been slain, the priest was to anoint the man on his right ear and on his right big toe with some of its blood, then after that, oil from the man’s offering was to be smeared on the same ear and toe, as well as his right thumb, and any remaining oil was to be poured over his head. Finally, the remainder of the man’s offerings were to be burnt and placed upon the altar for God.
Of the constituents of this ritual which recur in many of the Anglo-Saxon rituals, one of the most striking is the use of the birds to symbolically carry away the man’s leprous taint. The first bird was dispatched over a stream of running water. “ymbolic transference was a type of sympathetic medicine in which disease could be transferred out of the patient into a plant or animal by some kind of contact. fore example, the [Anglo-Saxon] cure for spider bite was to make three incisions near the would, let the blood run on a green hazel stick, and then throw the stick across the road¼Inherent in these practices was the underlying concept of the interconnection of all things, macrocosm and microcosm.” Additionally, running water possessed similar symbolic meaning, as things thrown into a swiftly moving stream would be carried away; also, on a more rational note, a moving stream carried the connotation of purity or cleanliness, as running water was less likely to be tainted than a stagnant pool. The live bird, after being put to the curious use as an applicator for the dead bird’s blood, being let go also acts as a symbolic bearer-away of the man’s leprous taint. Now that the man’s disease had been symbolically carried away from him, he must undergo the practical matter of physically cleaning himself. When he shaved away all of his body hair, he was creating himself as a smooth surface to which no taint can cling, though rationally he was removing all trace of dirt and/or parasites from his person. When he presented himself before the priest once again, bearing a sacrifice, he was literally thanking God and repaying Him for the service He had performed for the sick man in purifying him. That the man was smeared with residues of his sacrifices seems to put a signature on the sacrifice materials and link the man more closely to God’s favor, for, as it says in Leviticus 1:17, “the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.” The man, having been marked with traces of his sacrifice would be redolent with the “sweet savor” thereof. He was now prepared to enter into God’s favor, and be healed.

Yeah, I'm weird. So, I see the dress as being a modern reference to a nearly prehistoric cure for leprosy. Postgraduate education is one of those mixed blessings

Also, I give props to anyone who managed to read through the quote from my dissertation without falling asleep. Please don't plaigarize it...it took a mad lot of creative bullshitting to come up with that stuff!

 

[purplelucrezia]

Very interesting as you like it. I agree that the religious references were pretty clear. Here is an outfit which references Christian icons.

 

[purplelucrezia]

And just for creepiness sake. Or perhaps it is referencing the martyrdom of St. Sebastine?

 

[As You Like It]

I thought St. Sebastian was martyred by having been shot through with lots and lots of arrows. I know in the Life of St. Edmund, it mentions St. Sebastian having prickled like a hedgehog from being shot so full of arrows.

And St. Eadmond is my favorite of the English martyrs because his head was cut off and the Vikings absconded with it. His kinsmen retrieved his body and went out looking for the head, shouting "Where are you" and the disembodied head replied "here, here, here," and the kinsmen were able to track it down to a spot in the woods where the Vikings had dropped it where it was being guarded by a wild wolf (who though ravenous and greedy dared not taste of it). The wolf suffered them to take the head back to the monestary where the body lay in state, and they affixed the head back on the body. The wolf accompanied the monks back to the monestary as though he were tame. In the tradition of Saints Lives, of course the body did not decompose, and years later an acolyte wished to learn whether the head remained affixed to the uncorrupting body and tried to pull it off, whereupon he was struck down in a paralysis. He recovered and learned not to get too nosy about God's workings.

I had to translate the Life of St. Eadmund from Old English to modern English for practice...I guess a flavor of the translation comes across in my little recap. The "here, here, here" bit is really funny when read aloud in Old English.

 

[As You Like It]

a link for St. Sebastian and one for Eadmund. So yep, St. Sebastian was shot full of arrows, but ultimately killed by having been clubbed to death, and Eadmund was shot full of arrows, then decapitated.

Thank heavens I'm not a saint, nor ever hoping to be.

Apologies to the topic.

I really like this one. It looks like an Eastern Orthodox icon.

 

[purplelucrezia]

Originally posted by As You Like It@Feb 23rd, 2004 - 12:16 am
I thought St. Sebastian was martyred by having been shot through with lots and lots of arrows. I know in the Life of St. Edmund, it mentions St. Sebastian having prickled like a hedgehog from being shot so full of arrows.

And St. Eadmond is my favorite of the English martyrs because his head was cut off and the Vikings absconded with it. His kinsmen retrieved his body and went out looking for the head, shouting "Where are you" and the disembodied head replied "here, here, here," and the kinsmen were able to track it down to a spot in the woods where the Vikings had dropped it where it was being guarded by a wild wolf (who though ravenous and greedy dared not taste of it). The wolf suffered them to take the head back to the monestary where the body lay in state, and they affixed the head back on the body. The wolf accompanied the monks back to the monestary as though he were tame. In the tradition of Saints Lives, of course the body did not decompose, and years later an acolyte wished to learn whether the head remained affixed to the uncorrupting body and tried to pull it off, whereupon he was struck down in a paralysis. He recovered and learned not to get too nosy about God's workings.

I had to translate the Life of St. Eadmund from Old English to modern English for practice...I guess a flavor of the translation comes across in my little recap. The "here, here, here" bit is really funny when read aloud in Old English.

I remember reading about St. Edmund in Catherine Called Birdy. Interesting indeed!

 

[purplelucrezia]

I was just thinking about the meaning of the dead doves and I came up with several different concepts.
The first one, thanks to my art history training, is the dove as a symbol of Christ. Since the doves are dead here, perhaps it represents the current lack of popularity of Christianity.
Another idea is of the dove from Noah's ark. The dove in that case was a symbol of hope, so perhaps the designers are claiming that hope is dead.
Also, the dove may simply represent exactly what it is. The dress could thus be a comment on cruelty to animals.
Finally, and most obviously, the dove as a symbol of peace. If the designers are trying to make a comment about war, political power, etc. this explanation would make the most sense.
Just some ideas...