Monthly Archives: March 2017

Corsets and natural law

The corset is making a comeback. Some worry there are political implications, that corsets objectify by pushing the female body to “perverse proportions” (https://www.wsj.com/articles/waist-management-test-driving-springs-corset-trend-1488471042).   How to assess the morality of “perverse proportions”?   In a previous post, I noted Adam Smith’s aesthetic objections to the corset (http://www.ethicsoffashion.com/adam-smith-on-corsets/). Recalling that for Smith beauty and morality…

Dior, Dance, and Play

Dance and fashion has many famous associations though Coco Chanel’s collaboration with the Russian Ballet is surely the most well-known.   Dior has a dance advert for its new perfume Poison (https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/fashions-dalliance-with-dance?utm_source=Subscribers&utm_campaign=16fa1fd8f8-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d2191372b3-16fa1fd8f8-417297929).   The dance is contemporary but draws upon the most primordial patterns of civilisation.  Huizinga (see my discussion of his ideas V&R Chapter…

Trans-Humanism’s False Hope

Trans-humanism is both very new and very, very old. Whether the promise of wearing a chip that will immediately report the start of cancer cells in your body or an AI “doctor” diagnosing you from data your handheld collects when you jolt with a pang of sciatica, Trans-humanism recalls the very origin of clothes, the…