My Personal History on This Planet – A Style Chart, pt. 1

WHEN RECORDING ONE’S SELF THROUGH A VISUAL, PHYSICAL BEING — OR, WHY IS FASHION IMPORTANTE!?

In a moment of dispelling a lousy mood, i shift myself to contemplate my existence (one of my favourite past-times). I find myself drawn to fashion; cultivating the physical being i bring to the planet. It is the self that people identify instantaneously when they glance at me, my body is the conglomerate that represents me on this planet, it the first canvas i choose to decorate every day.

This brings up a multitude of questions —

♥ What is the style i fight for (in not wearing “conventional” styles)? ♥ What are the elements i choose to incorporate?♥ What are the items that bring me happiness when i look at them? ♥ How do i feel like i best express me on the outside without speaking? ♥ What represents my personal history on this planet, in this realm? ♥ What is my elemental being? ♥ How do i poise myself publicly? ♥ What is my freakdom? ♥ Why is it important for me to express what i am inside through fashion? ♥ HOW IS FASHION PHILOSOPHICAL? ♥ Why is it important to contemplate the choices we make?

1. Amber Fort, 2. Purple torso, 3. Sadhu, 4. Maharashtrian Women on Gudhi Padwa, 5. Dancing with religious abandon…, 6. lunchtime

ETC..

So, FASHION IS NON-VERBAL & IT SHOUTS multitudes! STYLE is HISTORY, repeating in a great mishmash of an ethnographic quilt. BEAUTIMOUS. DELICIOUS! Sweet.

As result, i bring you my influences, stylistically & historically — a memory bouncing against another. This physical being, this life is brought to you by all these tiny, eensy multifauceted things that cram themselves together & come out from day to day.

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FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OF INFLUENCE, LET’S EXAMINE THE ETHNIC;

We’ve got this super cool thing that’s evolved exponentially in the past 100 years, as travel becomes more & more affordable – a melting pot. Argueably, there’s a fear of losing cultural traditions, but there’s also a really neat possibility of better understanding another’s tradition & gaining respect & insight into yourself/others.

At this very moment, as i write this post, i’m listening to Panjabi MC — Bollywood is something that influences me, from the 90s bindi movement (Brought to you by… Madonna! Yoga! Gwen Stefani), to a Binge of Bollywood with a live-in boyfriend, to my color synesthesia that attracts me to the bright colors.

I love INDIA: Saffron Yellow & Curries, ghee, Elephants decked in gold, Buddhas, Blindingly hot summers waiting for rain, ice cold cinemas, dashing from train to train, crazy cities with tiny jalopies, jungles & sacred cows, epic weddings, ashrams, the fanged multi-armed deities, the festivals – I long to visit. A sari has been on my wish list since forever — to have brightly colored hair co-ordinated with a matching sari, i think i’d faint from delirious happiness.

The dust. Beige combined with a vibrant SMATTERING. Fuck, yes.

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How Does India. Come Into. My Vision-? OF MYSELF?!

Well, there’s the obvious – some of my favourite cuisine: PASHAWARI NAAN. BHEL PURI. CHUTNEYS! The spices. So much flavor that gets into you & shimmies.

Then, there’s the music (and the film);

And the style – Gold & Glitter & Veils & long skirts & Orange & Pink & Turqouise & Face Paint & Headdresses & Sandals & Mehndi & Nose rings & Marigolds & Shambles & Cities & Countries & Large Bodies of Water & Burning Twigs & Short lives & Long Deaths & Romances & Long Glances & Hidden Kisses & Burning Summers & Tiny Mirrors.

Above & beyond the pretty lists, there’s something that “American culture” lacks that i identify with in Indian culture. In my childhood, i was caught between the dirt & the pearls, wrapped up in stories that didn’t quite match reality – and in those pictures, words, thoughts, there’s something sincere about storytelling. That myth, the hardships ending in extreme beauty – a long drought followed by massive celebration that was spent much time fantasising about the reality. Yes. I am that.

So, that is a beginning. An answer to the questions above, a somewhat abbreviated finish to the sentence fragments above. And it begins!

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1. INDIA – “One Rupee ” ring, 2. INDIA, 3. Devotion. Varanasi, 4. The Sikh Bride, 5. Sari’s shop, 6. Floating offering. Varanasi

For those interested, I recommend watching Lagaan. The Guru is a really fun Americanized Bollywood film. I’ve gone on marathon Bollywood movie sessions, and i will comment that it is an acquired taste & they’re pretty hit & miss for the American movie-goer. Stylistically, i enjoyed The Darjeeling Limited.

Listening, i’ve really been digging Punjabi MC – There’s lots of his stuff on Lala. Niyaz is pretty amazing & the entire Lagaan soundtrack is fabulous. I also really like Tanhayee by Sonu Nigam.

This post contains abstract subject matter i plan on revisiting — i’ve got gypsies & irish lads & voodoo doctors & disco balls & burning man & platform shoes & fashion magazines on my brain. There’s such a mish-mash of goodies that i want to share with myself; and thanks to you for viewing my journey. I do understand that some of this inspiration might seem glossy, unrealistic and an outline – but that’s what this is supposed to be…

I’d like to take each of these inspirations & flesh them out beyond just a glossy portrait that i wear, that i identify with, to understand it more thoroughly – and that is part of this living, this being, this burning!

(Photo by Flip Cassidy)

And now, on a final note, i give you the words of the ephemeral Flip Cassidy:

An open letter of gratitude to the good people in the world.

Do you know how fucking beautiful you are?
Standing out amongst corruption, depression and hysteria?

You’d better know.
You’re what makes Everything Worth It.

All of you who’ve been hurt and healed yourselves, charging relentlessly toward joy and the maximum potential of your human existences, unburdened by fear.
All of you who have standards and goals, and will fight for them, realizing the ultimate weapon in the universe is the human soul.
All of you who know that your past mistakes do not constitute the body of your weakness, rather the opportunities you’ve chosen along the way that have made you strong.
All of you who “just aren’t that person anymore”.
All of you who live dedicated to putting more and more good into the world, because you know that’s what attracts others like you. You are spiritually magnetic.
All of you who know how much shit there is out there, who have ever felt the weight of it, and shrugged it off, knowing that it isn’t a reason to hide, rather the reason it’s so important to be a catalyst to the contrary.
You know it’s needed. You know how badly you need it, and he and she needs it, and the world needs it.
You know that every instance of pain that would cause you to recoil are the most important moments to concentrate on the good you have and can give.
Strike back by leading the army of your mind down the road less traveled.

Thank you for being out there.
Thank you for being out there with me.

A lot of people go to sleep every night doubting or hoping that we exist.
Now I go to sleep grateful that you do.
Thank you.