Here is a good read: https://aeon.co/essays/why-does-philosophy-hold-clothes-in-such-low-regard. It’s nice to see philosophical accounts of fashion and this one goes some way to correcting — as does V&R! — the oft-repeated claim that fashion and commerce is about hedonism (https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2018/04/why-anti-liberalism-fails/). Both articles are well worth reading but the first stands as an important corrective of the second.…
My latest on the Scottish theorists, most of whom appear in V&R. What Was the Scottish Enlightenment?
I do hope to post but will be in England these next two weeks and not doing much original writing. I am milling over a book on Andy Warhol and the Scottish Enlightenment: let me know in the comments whether you think this is a good idea. In May, I hope to give readers…
Over the years egalitarianism has flattened out university traditions and dress. One exception remains the universities of Portugal where students routinely wander about in fantastic cloaks, often sporting the badge of their faculty. There are also fashions in ideas and I talk about one such in my most recent post at Law and Liberty:…
Wishing all readers a blessed Easter Season. Deo volente, plenty more posts to come at V&R as the site continues to meditate on the challenge made by Warhol to wonder about the relationship between religion and commerce. I am busy reading the work of Adam Smith’s patron, Lord Kames, and I think he…
These last three weeks I have been a Smith Scholar working at Liberty Fund in Indianapolis. I have been writing short essays on Adam Smith and the Scottish Enlightenment. These essays will be posted on Liberty Fund’s websites over the next couple of months. I will link to them here as and when they appear.…
Awhiles back, I posted a piece at Law & Liberty on M&S’s confusion over the Burkini (http://www.libertylawsite.org/2016/09/07/burke-and-burkinis/). Here we learn that M&S has failed completely in China and has suspended operations (http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2138570/why-western-fashion-brands-fail-china-and-tips-succeeding). Astonishingly, they didn’t even think about sizing clothes differently for Chinese women? The article is interesting about Chinese interest in British…
The Royal Mail has recently issues a raft of stamps featuring characters from Game of Thrones. Super!
Here is a good interview with a fashion icon (https://www.1843magazine.com/style/versace-the-resurrection). On the plus side, Donatella Versace speaks about her increasing closeness to the Church. On the negative, is an interesting insight the journalist gives us into the fashion industry. The journalist observes that Donatella’s assistants are calm and relaxed. Luke Leitch notes that…
Dear readers, I’ll not be posting for the next ten days as I am off to Scotland. I hope to be busy on my return to the US. Meanwhile, wishing you all well, and thanks as always for popping onto V&R and do feel free to leave comments! — Graham