The Dilly Chic: Fashion - Price or Art ?

This is the topic I've been wanting to bring up for a long time now. As a normal, ordinary person who still buys regular food with regular money, I sometimes feel offended by the perspective thrown by people up in the chain of fashion industry, or even people with higher digit earnings in general. I read in Garance Dore's post a few days ago that her friend's boss' jaw "dropped to the floor" because she (the friend) mentioned to a client that she bought her jacket at Zara.

COOOOOOLLLLLL.

I know it's an unspoken, unwritten rule that money wins. IT ALWAYS DOES, don't argue with me on this one. LOVE? Pfffttttttttt. ART you said? Bzzzzzzztttttt. At least for those people. I usually do not give one f*** about other people's opinion regarding this matter. But then I realize that they start monetizing my passion, they start monetizing what we wear and eventually, ourselves.

I recently read a blog post about how "Fashion is Art" (from the blog Elegant Idiosyncrasy), and I was blown by the imagery. Also blown by how stupid people could be when they say "this is too editorial, this is not art". Well shit. -I'm sorry for a lot of bad words in this post, pardon me please?- Anyway, this just proves it even more that fashion IS art, it's a form of creativity, it's your capability of showing who you are through what you wear. Fashion is NOT money.

I don't know about you guys or those fashion experts out there, but when I see someone with a great style, the last thing that comes to mind is "Oh boy, how much did she spend on that?". I simply think how cool that person is, I imagine the rest of his/her wardrobe, and oh, how fun would it be if that wardrobe is mine. I think about the aesthetics, the art of wearing fabric that complements your style.

Maybe that's why I'm a little offended by people who simply judge a person's capabilities by where they spent their money. Okay maybe sometimes it's applicable. Surely you would trust someone with a Rolex more than a homeless hippie, right? But what if, say, there are two ladies, both have equally great sense of style, one would only wear high end brands and the other one is a bargain hunter, BUT the bargain hunter was so picky at everything she bought, you couldn't even tell she bought everything of hers at Zara and Forever 21. Which one would you trust more? Which one has a better standing in your eyes?

I personally think it's crazy that you should monetize fashion. Fashion is one of the purest, most honest form of art. It's an art you do -consciously or unconsciously- every day. Every single day. So when you start monetizing fashion, you also start monetizing yourself in a way.

The post that I linked to have some mind blowing images you should check out from artists in the fashion industry. More proof that fashion is more art than price tag. Here are some more mind shattering images: (every single thing is courtesy to the respective artists, all I'm doing here is paying respect to the artists by showing you some of their work).

Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin