What Does Flattering Mean In Fashion?
Sartorial Scriptures, 1.
“Inspiration is unconscious, or perhaps subconscious.” - Norman Hartnell
A very warm welcome, and a thank you, for signing up for my brand new Substack newsletter Sartorial Scriptures, curating the most insightful, thought-provoking and entertaining fashion based articles, features, social media posts, visual and social media straight to your email inbox.
Fashion is many things: art, empowerment, freedom, oppression, inspiration, utilitarian, community. Uniting us in our various subgenres and subcultures, the community provided by clothing can be healing, educational and transformative.
In keeping with this, Sartorial Scriptures is itself community.
Please do not hesitate to get in contact with me to give your recommendations for features on the newsletter - editors and writers you currently appreciate, a film with costume design you wish garnered more attention, a perceptive autobiography, a story that caught your eye etc.
The title of this edition is a question: What does flattering mean in fashion? I would love to hear your answers via social media (my links are on my profile.)
Without further ado, here is the first edition of Sartorial Scriptures.
- Molly Elizabeth Agnew xoxo
Haute Couture SS24 Fashion Week Calendar
Commencing on January 22nd 2024 in Paris, Haute Couture fashion week promises to amaze as always. Schiaparelli designed by Daniel Roseberry kicks events off on Monday. Notable shows include Jean Paul Gaultier guest designed by Simone Rocha on Wednesday and Robert Wun on Thursday.
Get acquainted with the calendar in advance and do remember that the timings shown in the above graphic are in Central European Standard Time, which is one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. Make sure to adjust them to your own timezone so you don’t miss out!
Bella Hadid Returns To The Cover
After a year away from the glare of the fashion industry, beloved it-girl Bella Hadid has made a sensational comeback on the cover of Perfect Magazine. Providing art direction in the editorial photographed by Bryce Anderson, Bella is glowing perfection taking on the nostalgia of fashion and beauty editorials of what many would consider a golden age of print magazine - the 90s and 00s.
Who Is Juergen Teller?
Good question, and one many a person has been asking after the above images for W Magazine went viral on social media. For AnOther Magazine last month, Ted Stansfield asked the photographer, who is rather like Marmite, 50 questions centring on his latest exhibition i need to live.
Do you have a favourite iPhone editing app? I don’t even know exactly what that is. I don’t really have an app.
Read the full piece here.
Inside Bangladeshi Garment Workers’ Ongoing Fight For Fair Pay
Entering 2024, we must make an effort not to leave hard hitting truths of the fashion industry behind to be forgotten. Revisit Sophie Benson’s sobering Dazed piece from December telling the stories that *must* be heard.
“If the salary is not increased, I will have to let my child engage in child labour instead of education to meet household expenses,” said 32-year-old sewing operator Jahanara Begum in November as she waited for the new minimum wage to be announced for garment workers in Bangladesh.
Read the full piece here.
In Conversation With Amina Muaddi
Stylist and fashion commentator Osa sat down with globally renowned footwear designer Amina Muaddi in a two-part series for Instagram. The pair discuss Muaddi’s switch from journalism into craftsmanship and design which has culminated in a brand recognised for its flared heel bases and transparent motifs and much more.
You can watch the interview here.
#75HardStyleChallenge
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January is packed full of challenges designed to push us to be better in the new year we have just entered. Move over 75 hard challenge (an ED gateway) and hello Mandy Lee’s (aka oldloserinbrooklyn) #75hardstylechallenge.
The premise is simple: just get dressed every single day for 75 days and document aforementioned daily outfits! The goal? Gain a deeper understanding of your personal style, what you naturally gravitate towards and get creative.
The hashtag already has 1.2 million views on TikTok and that number will only continue to rise. Will you be partaking?
I Owe You An Apology (Or Do I?)
Okay, this one is personal. As somewhat a red carpet fashion devotee I like to imagine what I would dress certain celebrities in for their appearance and do tend to keep these thoughts to myself…until Sunday and the 2024 Golden Globes. Having played around with this format for a work project I went rogue and photoshopped a Valentino pre-fall ensemble onto Margot Robbie. My mistake? Posting it on Twitter, obviously.
No matter how often I made it abundantly clear that the image was in fact FAKE, I could not curtail the chaotic destruction wreaking havoc in my notifications. Is it really, however, entirely my fault that social media users didn’t do their due diligence? One could utter the terms ‘media literacy’ and ‘social experiment’. Thus, I apologise…for being awful at photoshop.
Issey Miyake is Not Flattering
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A TikTok video uploaded by user celeste.aria_ has generated wide-reaching backlash, sparking a broader discussion as to what flattering really means. In a video in which Celeste stated her self-proclaimed ‘bitchiest fashion opinion’, the work of the late, great Issey Miyake, in particular Pleats Please, is not flattering on the body.
In response to a Tweet (mine, it was my Tweet) highlighting the above video, stylist Lakyn posted the following:
Issey's goal was never to "be flattering," it was to push the boundaries of what clothing and the body could look like! It was about creating new silhouettes, not just "flattering" the ones we already have!! Ahhhhhhhhh!
Adding to the discourse, Isabel Slone (who is also on Substack) stated succinctly:
The point of Pleats Please is that it's universally comfortable and easy to take care of. Flattering is not the point.
So, what is flattering? And you should probably spell someone’s name correctly when you criticise them.
My Fair Lady
With costumes designed by British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, interior-designer and costume designer Cecil Beaton, My Fair Lady (1964) is visually thrilling. While almost everyone can agree the motion picture is far too lengthy, and you may or may not be a fan of a good ol’ fashioned musical, the costumes worn by Audrey Hepburn throughout My Fair Lady are adored for a reason. Recently referenced during British Vogue’s #VogueWorld event in late 2023, this is a part of fashion history you should see!
Cecil Beaton
If you find yourself enthralled by Beaton’s designs in My Fair Lady then it is worth taking a deep dive into his work photographing the British royal family. His close relationship with both Queen Elizabeth’s (of the 20th century, not the daughter of Henry VIII), Princess Margaret and even Wallis Simpson generated some of the most captivating images of these public figures.
Thames & Hudson currently offers an excellent hardback coffee table book that tells a very modern tale: the creation of a public image.
You can buy Cecil Beaton: The Royal Portraits here.
Thank you for reading Sartorial Scriptures, if you are not already subscribed I hope you consider doing so below.