In Honour of David Bowie
It was with great sadness that we learnt of David Bowie's death this morning – few have ever been so influential in terms of fashion, music and culture in general.
Today it is taken for granted that music and fashion are creative and certainly commercial bedfellows: witness how both Madonna and Lady Gaga manipulate their image as an essential element of their music brands. The clothes promote the music, the music the brand. But the phenomenon really got underway in the 1950s, taking off in the Swinging Sixties and was truly established in the 70s when the subversive environment of British art schools stimulated students, or former students, to indulge in both music and design.
Clothes became performers’ costume, with the ‘unwearable’ having an almost instantaneous ripple effect down to the mass market. Marc Bolan and David Bowie were seminal in disseminating the Glam look using the interplanetary to explore the possibilities of artifice. Experimentation with identity, particularly sexual ambiguity, was reflected in the music and the glittering space age outfits, chunky platforms and makeup for men and women. Bowie and his androgynous alter-ego Ziggy Stardust, was renowned for his velvet catsuits, leotards, dresses, neon make-up, gravity-defying hairstyles, platform shoes and bright printed scarves to change his persona alongside his musical style. The emphasis was squarely on the singer’s persona with fashion an integral part of the image. At one point the commentator Peter York suggested that Bryan Ferry and David Bowie should hang side by side in the Tate as contemporary works of Art...
This is an extract from Corinne Julius' article on music and fashion in the Souvenir issue of Selvedge Magazine.
Clothes became performers’ costume, with the ‘unwearable’ having an almost instantaneous ripple effect down to the mass market. Marc Bolan and David Bowie were seminal in disseminating the Glam look using the interplanetary to explore the possibilities of artifice. Experimentation with identity, particularly sexual ambiguity, was reflected in the music and the glittering space age outfits, chunky platforms and makeup for men and women. Bowie and his androgynous alter-ego Ziggy Stardust, was renowned for his velvet catsuits, leotards, dresses, neon make-up, gravity-defying hairstyles, platform shoes and bright printed scarves to change his persona alongside his musical style. The emphasis was squarely on the singer’s persona with fashion an integral part of the image. At one point the commentator Peter York suggested that Bryan Ferry and David Bowie should hang side by side in the Tate as contemporary works of Art...
This is an extract from Corinne Julius' article on music and fashion in the Souvenir issue of Selvedge Magazine.
8 comments
David Bowie – style icon, re-inventor, way way ahead of his time. I was born in the sixties and clearly remember my brother and sister (ten years older than me) dancing, in the sitting room (with parents on sofa!) whilst watching top of the pops. Seeing Bowie for the first time I was totally hooked. Still am. Great loss to the world of music. We love you David and we always will. So many good times, so many great memories.
Only last week my husband and I were saying that we wanted to buy David Bowie’s most recent album. Born in ‘58 in the UK he was one of my earliest music heroes! He signified change, daring, creativity, he showed us it was alright to be different! A sad loss, too soon, he will be missed.
Thank you for your article honouring him. Wouldn’t it be great to see all th costumes he wore in one exhibit? Any chance of that happening?
TO EVERYONE AT SELVEDGE….I JUST LEARNED OF BOWIES PASSING AND HAVE BEEN LISTIENING TO TRIBUTES AND INFORMATION I HAVE NEVER KNOWN ABOUT HIM BEFORE! WHAT A GUY!
I SALUTE ALL OF YOU AT SELVEDGE FOR FORWADING WHAT YOU HAVE JUST SENT TO ME AND ALL YOUR SELVEDGE FANS AND WHAT YOU HAVE PUT TOGETHER AND ORGANIZED IN HIS HONOR.
I WILL READ ALL VERY SOON AND I FOUND THIS TRIBUTE TO HIM VERY TOUCHING!
SINCERELY,
JOAN PODEL
David Bowie – A stylish man with flair and a vivid, unrelenting, imagination. A gentle person who loved colour, loved texture, who bravely pushed every boundary and then some, who revered and respected ‘difference’ and indeed revelled in it and who showcased the beauty in everything…the ultimate showman and musician. We will all always benefit from his incredible legacy left behind. Gone way too soon.
Bowie was the soundtrack to my life. The epitome of cool. Classy. Genius. Genius. Genius.