With the rise of modern fashion trends springing from conventional design and the influence of social media, the art of fashion has entered a new era.
“The literal definition of fashion is ‘a popular trend, especially in styles of dress,’ so that gets us nowhere. But fashion IS art,” said junior Abbie Funk, who is known for her very intricate and colorful fashion sense. “It’s performance art, it’s conceptual and not practical, it’s ornate and chaotic, or simple and sleek— it’s a very broad spectrum. [For some it’s] just for retail and basic necessity, but I’d categorize that [more as] ‘clothes’; ‘fashion’ implies something is fashionable, stylish, or aesthetically pleasing.”
Funk is an academy art student and she gets creative when it comes to styling anything she puts together. She pairs anything and everything, making some quite chic combinations.
“My sense of style is like a mix of a bunch of pre-existing styles and influences and my own personal touch, so I don’t really have a name for it. I mean, I guess it’s “funky” because when I ask my friends and family about how I dress, they all say ‘nonsensical,’ ‘abstract,’ ‘eclectic’ stuff like that, so I agree,” said Funk. “I love alternative subcultures and historical fashion and weird, ugly stuff, so my expression and art reflects that.”
Even if it seems strange to the outside eye to catch someone wearing plaid and polka dots together, or a shirt from a set of medical scrubs with a pair of jeans, Funk has a relationship with fashion that is completely her own.
“I like spontaneity and mess and when jewelry clangs, and smudged eyeliner, and dresses over jeans, and patchworked socks. I also personalize and make a lot of stuff,” said Funk. “I want to make more so it all feels very ‘me.’ I got into sewing because I love fashion; I can make or alter whatever I want. I made my own bag, I made my own jewelry, and design stuff all the time. For me it’s always been a personal expression and a very big passion of mine. Ever since I was little, I dressed myself and even though it was God awful and embarrassing to look back at younger and middle school me sometimes, I always wore whatever I wanted. I try not to take anything too seriously because it’s just clothes, and one day I will die so I don’t really see the point in caring what other people think about it.”
Even in this era of trends that come and go, Funk still feels the same about her fashion and sticks to the idea that her fashion is what makes her “Funky.”
“I’m not really the biggest fan of modern day fashion trends, mainly because a lot of them are microtrends that lead to overconsumption and textile waste,” said Funk. “I’ve been thrifting since I was a kid, but now that it’s super popular, I think that’s great. I think people should wear whatever they want, but still be conscious of where they shop because nowadays the fashion industry has done so much to the planet you have to be conscious. And modern fashion impacts it more.”
At the end of the day, fashion is just an outward expression. Even if a person decides to wear something that you could see a thousand different people wearing the same variation of, they are still expressing something to the public eye. It doesn’t matter what you wear, it’s how you wear it.
“I don’t think that everything I’ve worn, weird or not, is ‘art,’ especially since that’s such a heavy title to bear. But I do think it adds to me as an artist; the outward expression is the art and not each specific outfit. For me, my definition is just as broad because it’s always been that way. I’ve always loved so many different styles and understood that the industry has to be flexible to accommodate just how many people there are,” said Funk. “One of the main reasons I love clothes is that I can be anyone I want that day. Any alter ego, anybody from any place. We’re all born naked and the rest is drag, to be honest. Some people express themselves by wearing a comfort hoodie every day, and I express myself by closing my eyes and picking a random pair of ripped fishnets as my victim for the day.”
The most important part of wearing what’s comfortable for someone, is being true to who you are. You don’t have to be an artist to be fashionable, and you don’t have to take very long to plan an outfit to be fashionable. Whatever comes together comes together as something at least one person could look at and understand as fashion.
“Sometimes I literally get dressed in the dark. I’m always open to experimentation and I love mixing and matching my clothes and wearing things differently and layering and accessories— so everything about fashion!” said Funk.
At the end of the day, fashion is a subjective art form. Anything and everything goes. The reason we decorate ourselves with clothing is because it’s fun. We should be creative with how we decorate ourselves, and that’s exactly what Funk stands for.
“I don’t have time to juggle my AP classes and whether or not the kid who sits behind me in econ likes my outfit, because: I do not care,” said Funk. “It’s my self expression and I’m not going to apologize for it, that’s so lame— ‘Oh, sorry my skirt over my jeans hurt your feelings.’ Like, get over it. Art and fashion are subjective and I love my style and myself, and one day everyone will feel that way and there’ll be world peace and butterflies and rainbows and no homework.”
