Hume x Sneakers x Furniture

A trend amongst collectors of sneakers is a turn to furniture (https://fashionista.com/2019/05/menswear-streetwear-rare-home-furniture).   One seller observes: “As sneakers become more complex and conceptual I think guys are starting to notice details in other things and wanting to elevate their spaces as well.”   Pure Hume.  The economy is driven by the refinement of the arts…

Privilege and camp

Today’s op-ed from BOF is most welcome (https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/opinion/op-ed-notes-on-the-met-gucci-and-the-death-of-camp?).  A typical op-ed about fashion invokes inclusivity and egalitarianism, democracy and subversion, globalism and the “voice of the street.”  It’s a nice change to see the 2019 Met Gala has brought the aristocratic out in Eugene Rabkin.   Dozens of pieces will be written about camp over…

Huizinga and dress-ups at court

Civilisation grows as play, contends Huizinga (V&R Chapter 6).  One of his strongest examples is the play character of courts, judges, and trials.   Here is an excellent article on clothing choices at recent trials in the US (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/fashion/anna-sorokin-elizabeth-holmes-card-b-court-fashion.html).   Huizinga would think the defendants are entering into the spirit of the game.  

Adam Smith, Dionysian?

V&R loves Roger Caillois!  His work on games adds to the reflections of Huizinga (V&R Chapter 6), which I think analytically potent.   Whilst Huizinga dwells on the attributes an activity must have to be a game, Caillois thinks about the classification of games.  He identifies four: competition, chance, mimickry, and vertigo.  These categories, respectively,…