Since we were children, we were constantly playing dress up. Dressing up in our parents’ clothes or wrapped our bedsheets around us to transform and play a character, but is it any different than standing in front of our closets now as an adult and picking out something to wear to match our personality? To tell a story?
As adults, undoubtedly clothes are essential to express our identity, Is a form of non-verbal expression. But how much of that is wearing a costume and “playing dress up” and how much is style? This has been a very controversial topic in the fashion/costuming industry that many say those have no correlation at all. They say, “Clothes make a statement, costumes tell a story” But these two realms are connected. We can see fashion is heavily inspired by costumes and history. According to Andrew Bolton, curator of The Costume Institute, the Great Alexander McQueen was best known for his astonishing and extravagant runway presentations, which were given dramatic scenarios and narrative structures that suggested avant-garde installation and performance art. giving a touch of theatrics we see constantly in fashion runways. But Below I point out some similarities that may put this controversy to an end or at least give you a bit of an insight into and draw out your own conclusions.
- Purpose
- Costumes are clothes created to enhance the performance of actors, in specific settings such as film, theater, etc. to represent a character in its specific narrative. in Fashion: in could either be express yourself creatively or for functional purposes, but in all, aren’t we the main characters In our own film?
- Creativity and conceptualization
- Both start off with the same process of a blank canvas through the production phase of textiles, sketching and construction while having to push the boundaries on creativity.
- Storytelling
- They both are about establishing a connection with the audience and telling a story of self-expression through visuals of textures and details.
- In all, fashion can be anything, just because you are wearing something over the top doesn’t mean it’s a costume. These realms are connected by their shared principals of storytelling, craftsmanship, creativity and purpose. People wear costumes to transform themselves into someone else, and Fashion is no different. That’s why I believe as a fashion designer I create pieces that let grown-ups embrace their inner child and play dress up forever while still being and expressing their own unique style