THE SHINING ARMOUR (2012)
When the streets became a battleground
Our society, as result of a postmodern heritage, is a massive mix of different ideals, ethics and aesthetics. Walking around the city we can found several discreet riots on outlandish outfits talking about political positions or ideological resistances.
The last avant-garde provides the new society with an absolute relativism and a hard existentialism while the consumerist extends its deal of power around the western civilization. The young nihilistic society adopted these values as a way of life getting a hedonistic culture.
On the other hand the fashion business takes the advantage of the background to grown up as never before. Hereafter wear is not anymore just clothing otherwise make ourselves different from the others.
At this point we must mention the main Dandy`s figure and his role in the 1790s, G.B. Brummell. Could say the person who revolutionized the social habits in his period, thereafter the men wouldn´t be the same. He was not just a fashion victim, in fact it wasn´t his way, he had been the first celebrity who show his personality by his outfit. After him Duchamp, Picasso, Dalí or Warhol amongst other tried to follow him however none understand the real meaning of Dandy.
Dandy is an idea we should recover to think about our period. Currently we can find on the Tesco`s queue an old style beatnik, a new hipster listening any song heat or even a trans wearing an aristocratic outfit. Now anything is possible. The clothing is meanings that compose ourselves, that show our philosophical preoccupations, political commitment and so on. Never mind anymore if the men have to look like proper gentleman, if their Behaviour is manly or their cloths feminine because we are living in the visual riots where a strong looking is powerful than a moral discourse. The environment is become a battleground and all of us are intelectual soldiers.