The Afronaut Has Landed

Very few other fields look as closely to the past as the world of Fashion does. It is literally a House designer’s job to look at the road the brand has taken, and construct it’s future based on it’s identity. That is what a lot of HB enthusiasts do with European fashion as a whole.

I understand the concept of HB, but I think because it focuses so specifically on fashions of 16th-19th century western Europe, it seems more idiosyncratic than it actually is. Those silhouettes are almost foreign to us now, even if some of the individual pieces aren’t.

Very little of HB movement acknowledges say the 70′s and 80′s, let alone the 90′s as worthy periods of exploration [except as maybe inspiration on how to modernize their design], because frankly, we still wear those clothes. They’re not considered a “costume” for that reason. Something you put on the advertise your interest. 

So, I understand the movement is a form of rebellion; by looking outdated within your own norms, you get to write your own rules. It’s fun to experiment with things others have forgotten or left behind. It’s an eccentricity that isn’t necessarily subversive and therefore it’s safe. But I think it’s overemphasis on Europe’s most colonial and imperialist periods can also attract the wrong crowd. I don’t want to get into that, because i’m going to bed, but that is facts.

There is a reason skirts became bigger and wider post-15th century; fabrics became more ornate and heavy; and jewellery became richer. Even the complicated constructions of certain styles is very reflective of the influence of western Europe’s imperialist exploits.

I’m not saying the trends and styles all came from the colonised nations (some certainly did), but I’m saying that the global subjugation and colonisation created an even larger class of people to exploit. And we’re talking about work that would take years and years, if done by a single person. And this is why they could wear the most ridiculously expensive clothing. This low cost, or no cost (slavery) of labour is what allowed the wealthy to create such extragant dresses and commission portraits to record them.