« Mycology | Main | Burning Hearts »
October 19, 2007
New Catapult - Dressing Up
A new issue of Catapult magazine is out, bursting at the seams (Pun Entirely Intented) with interesting articles. Can I just tell you how much I wanted to write an article for this issue on "Dressing Up?" In fact, two Sundays ago, I had a collection of lines and concepts I wanted to write about all jostling for attention. Sadly, I knew that I really could not choose to become "with article," as generally when I am writing one I will work on little else until it is done. Sigh.
At any rate, I am rather comforted by the fine selection of articles that the issue has, some covering some of the same ground I would have done. First, Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma's editiorial, thoughtfully well written as always, considers the gains and losses of our culture of casualness.
If it’s merely brand snobbery that we’re abandoning in a more casual culture, that’s no great loss. But I don’t feel a sense of sadness on account of missed opportunities to show off expensive clothing or flaunt beauty competitively. In fact, I think part of the problem is that people in the U.S. and Canada are generally too wealthy; we’ve lost our sense of dressing up for a special occasion. Why take the time to make an elegant dress for summer weddings when one can just throw on one of several dresses from the Old Navy clearance rack? We’re so overwhelmed with stuff that we can’t conceptualize bringing out the same special outfit year after year for Christmas Eve. Instant pop cultural Halloween costumes are widely available and so inexpensive that it’s not worth the time to create something from scratch. And suits and ties have come to represent tailored prisons, as opposed to a gesture of respect and celebration.
In the communal article "Dressed Up Memories," Jeremy Huggins and Dennis Haack have wonderful reflections. I also enjoyed "Dressing Up" and "The secret lives of dresses, Vol. 1," a story told by a dress.
Catapult | By jackdas | 11:12 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://stlouisblogs.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1043
Comments
"The secret lives of dresses, Vol. 1" is well written. I’m not sure why, but I expected the story to be funny. Maybe it’s because the thought of personifying a dress is funny to me. I don't know. In any case, the perspective is intriguing.
Posted by: Heidi Vincent at October 19, 2007 1:02 PM
Yes, Heidi, it is a strange and sad little tale. I, too, was interested in it mainly for the perspective. It is effective because the dress has a limited perspective, rather like a child, which I think is like what is called an unreliable narrator some times. In such cases what is significant are the few facts the narrator does or can reveal as opposed to all that he/she/it does not know. I think "To Kill a Mockingbird" is in this format.
Posted by: Neil E. Das at October 19, 2007 2:35 PM
One of my favorite unreliable narrators is Holden Caulfield from "Catcher in the Rye"; he was broken, honest, misguided, and completely endearing.
Posted by: Heidi Vincent at October 19, 2007 3:16 PM
