1 Boring Old Man

Once a year, whether I need to or not, I click on the fashion section of the New York Times [this time, by mistake]. What better place to look for a diversion on the Eve of the opening of the defense in the Scooter Libby Trial, a new round of commentary by and about Douglas Feith, and concern over Cheney‘s obsession with Iran. So, here’s a bit of something else to cut the tension:

Cutting to the Bone Without the Angst

Misguided though it may be, American fashion is not complacent. One can point to the provocative designs of Thom Browne and Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, recent winners of industry laurels, as proof of an independent, even transgressive, spirit.

Of course, transgression takes many forms, from men in skirts to skull tattoos to football fans fashioning turbans from hollowed-out watermelons. Doubtlessly Mr. Watermelon Head isn’t concerned with flouting convention as much as he is spoiling in the sun, but a consoling virtue of being provoked and annoyed is that, generally, you recognize the point.

I’ve been mulling over Mr. Browne’s show since I saw it Monday afternoon, amid some transplanted birch and Christmas spruce, the perfect setting, I realize now, for a retelling of the Alcott story “Little Women,” with Jo and Meg now as Joe and Reg. I saw ample larders, dry goods emporiums stocked with the best woolens of dying New England mills, dressers lined with hair tonics and peppermint soap.

In all this rich romantic goodness, I also saw, perhaps not surprisingly, moral decay. Indeed, Mr. Brown’s miniaturizing aesthetic is a reflection of a decadent society — obsessed with design, obsessed with food, obsessed with money and fame…

A Woman in the House: Isabel Toledo

A lot of people only achieve half what they were born to do. Something gets in their way: early death, frustration, insufficient notice. It would have been a great pity if Isabel Toledo, now in her 40s, had not been given the chance to do Anne Klein — a pity for us as much as her. We would have not seen what this remarkable woman could do if given something as tangible as a major fashion label. There is an irony in all this. Why does a first-rate talent get ignored for years and others of much lesser ability are promoted by the media? What makes us look away?

I was thinking about this on Friday during the Anne Klein show. While I am not naïve about the ability of editors to louse things up, it seemed to me that it would have been impossible for any of them not to be shocked by these clothes — shocked at how much better they were than most of the stuff we saw on the runways, shocked at their level of sophistication and wit, shocked that American fashion finally has another real designer in the house.

Maybe it was Imitation of Christ that first turned peoples’ heads, or the vintage mongers, or those terribly talentless socialite designers. Whatever it was, Toledo’s genuine talent will make it harder for them to get more attention than they deserve.