【曾經公開的女皇衣櫥】

網路上不少將英國伊莉莎白女皇二世公開行程曾亮相的服裝，依照顏色排序為一道繽紛亮眼的彩虹。其中帽子、珠寶等搭配也有許多學問與細節。

在女皇90歲大壽那年，《Fashioning a Reign: 90 Years of Style from The Queen"s Wardrobe》這個展覽，展出女皇從小到大出席各種包含公開活動、皇宮聚會等等所穿過的服飾，，完整呈現訂製服從非凡奢華到日常生活的精神。

伊莉莎白女皇可以說是世界上最忠誠的訂製服愛好者之一，在那次的展覽中，女皇御用裁縫師Norman Hartnell操刀設計的婚紗與加冕禮服也再度亮相。加冕禮服是一襲優雅的白色緞袍，禮服上的薔薇國花，同時代表著君主的九項主權，並以閃閃發亮的絲線、珍珠、亮片以及水晶點綴，Norman Hartnell還特別為禮服加上代表著祝福及好運的四葉酢漿草。

伊莉莎白二世鮮少會穿著「黑色」來展現服裝品味，但這代表了尊敬與嚴肅，因此參加喪禮，或者是參訪教宗時，她才有可能會穿上黑色的服裝。

除了經驗老到的御用設計師，伊莉莎白二世也相當提攜新興人才。1952年時，女皇需要一件儀式披風參加嘉德勳章典禮，她向倫敦皇家藝術學院學生們徵求想法和意見。最後，女皇竟真的挑選了某位學生的設計！

2012年倫敦奧運開幕時，女皇則是穿上Angela Kelly粉色洋裝，「色彩」是設計這件粉色洋裝的關鍵因素，因為女皇必須選擇一個不代表任何參賽國家的顏色。

讓大家知道服裝如何展現出君主的各種面向，也是伊莉莎白二世的職責之一，因為女皇的打扮從來不是為了要融入大眾，而是要在人群之中散發光芒！這數十年來女皇所穿過的服裝，正巧呼應了這段在光環底下度過的人生。

除了凸顯非凡身份之外，女皇的衣著在某些場合裡，也必須向皇室成員或國家致敬，例如1965年女皇參訪衣索比亞時，她細心地在一件Norman Hartnel設計的綠色洋裝上，配戴了衣索比亞勳章；而1974年參訪澳洲時，她則選擇了Ian Thomas的黃色絲綢雪紡洋裝，並以金合花，也就是澳洲國花點綴。

三個展區中最先開展的荷里路德宮，特別展示了皇家的格紋設計，包含艾伯特親王與維多利亞女王為了皇室家族成員所設計的格紋、女皇私人專屬的格紋，還有一件50年代早期被拿來搭配斜紋軟呢外套的格紋短裙。而溫莎城堡的展覽，則精選了在特殊場合上所穿的晚禮服，甚至還有女皇與她的家人小時候在皇宮裡表演兒童劇的戲服。

#BeautiMode #伊莉莎白女皇 #訂製服

前兩日我在Visvim的IG看到這項產品定價美金$2040折合台幣大約是NTD$57600. 這件類似HBT(herringbone twill) 夾克, 1941年的時候美軍將HBT的布料取代了之前使用的丹寧和卡其布, 軍用外套, 帽子, 褲子都使用上了這種布料, 這些用HBT布料製成的軍裝在二戰時期廣泛的受到軍人的喜愛, 也成為最常見的軍裝古著. 有趣的是我看到Visvim刻意在不同地方做出磨損和補洞, 增加了使用感和做舊感.

那我想請問大家, 大家可以接受做舊化的新品, 那為什麼不能接受舊品/古著的破損?

在此我們不談論Visvim的定價策略, 只是想要與大家討論為什麼那麼多古著的初心者追求Deadstock, NOS(New Old Stock)? 當我們去商店或網店時, 做過舊化的處理為什麼我們會覺得很酷想要購買? 當你到SSENSE, Mr. Porter這些網站, 輸入”Distressed”, 你會發現許多一線品牌仍然持續推出舊化過的產品. 消費者認為有做過舊化處理的產品, 讓他們覺得自己比較”酷”, 或者擁有獨一無二的衣物. 有些消費者不喜歡全新的牛仔褲覺得太僵硬或者全新運動鞋太白太亮, 而轉而選擇比較”有個性做舊”的衣物, 或者無法養褲養兩年, 進而選擇”古著”. The Wall Street Journal華爾街日報的記者Michelle Ruiz在今年一月的報導中說明由於許多年輕人使用Instagram, 經過復古濾鏡之後如果穿上太亮麗的衣服, 會使畫面感呈現不佳, 他們想要可以與IG濾鏡或者後製軟體搭配的衣服.

近年古著大熱, 年輕人如海綿般一樣的吸收各種知識, 不單單是每件衣服後面的記憶點或者故事, 許多剛接觸古著的年輕人, 也非常樂於在各種社交平台分享入手單品後面的小故事. 今年因為疫情關係, 美國二手市場今年預估市值是$240億美金, 而2019年則是278億, 預估疫苗問世後, 二手市場可以持續成長, 2021年預估為331億美金而到了2024年可以成長到641億美金(Global Data PLC). Depop軟體也收到$6200萬美金的投資金額, 另外一間二手商店ThredUP也與Walmart合作, 提供Walmart網路商店的二手衣物. 在此同時, 快時尚萎縮, 以前幾乎每星期都會有新品上市的快時尚品牌, 因為疫情關係, 美國年輕人寧願多花時間在IG的Story上面”尋找屬於自己的寶物. 以前衣服比較多不使用化纖, 美國人因為疫情失控, 美國人可以在家穿著睡袍, 或者鬆軟舒服的法藍絨襯衫隨時在家舒適的上班, 這也成為一種嶄新的生活方式, 大家在家時間多了, 也不在意別人目光, 新衣服也不需要了, 舒適方便才是現在美國人追求的.

回到一開始的問題, 為什麼大家可以接受做舊化, 而不能接受古著的破損呢? 有住過日本的應該知道, 很多日本年輕人買古著是因為便宜可以省錢, 當然你習慣古著穿著後, 消費能力如果許可當然會往更高階的邁進. 古著的迷人之處是有許多衣物當時都是用高級的布料製成(跟現代的化纖相比), 每十年的變化, 更可從布料, 印刷, 縫線等等去做各種研究. 也許我們不能稱古著為”Fashion”, “Fashion”這個詞還包含了”Fashioning(進行中的時尚/流行)”, 你可以從破洞中的古著和新的混搭, 搭出屬於你自己的味道. 也許1950的印花圓裙與現代的白襯衫很搭, 也許90的樂團Tee與新的球鞋很搭, 總之大家不妨做點不同的嘗試, 也是現在百貨公司找不到的樂趣.

祝大家尋寶順利, 也謝謝大家非常踴躍地來小弟和Plain-Me舉辦的POP-UP, 沒想到3天就完售(本來以為可以撐三星期), 補貨下周到台灣,歡迎大家再來一波尋寶 !

小弟的IG: @shaunlin0815
收藏IG: @vineandcrane

During the Christmas Break, I started reading a few biographies.

I love biographies. I like stories about real people, real situations, and facts. I like them because, contrary to schoolboy belief, memories and biographies and histories, in general, are very exciting.

The account of a real life can be filled with adventures that we may never encounter in our own personal experiences. Of the three biographies I have been reading, the one about the artist Lucian Freud is the most compelling. It reminded me of something I discussed with Jamie Lin once.

He told me that artists and entrepreneurs have a lot in common. Being an artist myself, I know a little about what this means, but to go on about it for thousands of words will likely bore you, so I will just focus on one element of it.

Let me first start with a quote from Freud, who, yes, was the grandson of the late psychologist Sigmund Freud, though profoundly more artistically inclined.

"The fact of your life being your subject matter doesn’t in any way change the nature of art or artistic enterprise. And therefore it seems absolutely obvious, as well as convenient, to use as a subject what you are thinking and looking at all the time — the way your life goes.”

Artists are experts in the logical pursuit and maybe even the dissection of irrational facts of life. They take this observation and they articulate it in such a way that it presents to the audience a newly envisioned life, that is so detailed and so crafted that it entices us to think and to possibly even live in a new way.

If you even slightly doubt this, look at any of the pieces of impressionist art which are famous for being able to not only depict a scene of life, but to also depict the way in which the scene is seen. Look at pointillism. Look at the frightful and pitiful sculpture work of Giacometti.

All in all, this is to say that art is the action of becoming something new through observation and visual presentation. And to create such a thing requires significant work.

And here is the similarity between artists and founders. Really great founders are perhaps the best at acute observation of human nature. They take those observations and through trial and error, and injecting a little of the uncertainty of creation, they present to us, the consumer, a new WAY of doing something.

It does not happen slap dash, or haphazardly. It happens DELIBERATELY. Despite how irrational and illogical a new thing appears to be, that new thing came into being through the logical action of pairing creativity or imagination with, one might say, the biography of the consumer. So that it fits into that life in such a way that in a short time, or over a lifetime, it simply becomes as necessary to life as breathing.

Thank you for indulging my love of art and startups in this post. Please search the web for images of Freud's work, or any of the art I mentioned here. I am including one, which, as part of a collection in the UK's Royal Academy of Art, has common use rights, and can be freely circulated.

Spend a few moments looking at it. The one thing I will note about the portrait is that, as it is a portrait of the artist by the artist himself, the eyes seem to be missing. They seem to be chiseled into a squint, almost as if shaped out of mountain or rock. To me, this is the story of the artist. Work that over time shapes the ability to see and make the work -- a talent that is critical and permanent, and created as if it is a force of nature itself.

If you are a founder, ask yourself if you are also creating deliberately, and fashioning out of a passion for reality a new reality. Of being, in that reality.

This is not easy to do. This is a life's work. It never stops. But it also has the force of nature.

Doug Crets
Communications Master, AppWorks Accelerator

Image: Lucian Freud by Lucian Freud, Royal Academy of Arts