Just Saying ...

This painting (my work, from the late 80's) hangs in our restaurant. In spite of the very poor quality of this photo, you can see the elements of the painting pretty clearly. It has been there since the day we opened, and I've had ample opportunity to watch and listen to people's reactions to it.

The title of the painting is Madonna / Magdalene . The conversation that I intended with this piece was about multiple issues; feminism, religion, art history, and how the meaning of symbols changes with cultural change. And because a lot of the people who where looking at it then were thinking about similar topics in context, I found that folks generally understood my intent.

In the almost two decades it has been hanging in the restaurant, the conversation about it has changed.

Much more often than not, viewers tell me that they think the two women are a lesbian couple, even after they know the title. While that was never the intent, I can see why viewers often think that. Here, and in this decade, the symbols that viewers see in this painting bring up uncomfortable political and social issues. We bring elements of who we are, right now to our interpretation of all kinds of images.

And that applies to what we see in the mirror and in fashion magazines. Clothing design speaks to each of us, and we interpret what we see in personalized ways. Style, cut, color, fabric texture; all of these elements have meaning to us, and in simple and complex ways, each item in our wardrobes are an element of the vocabulary we use when dressing.

So, when we dress and go out into the world, we begin a potential conversation with everyone we meet.

No pressure. None at all. Don't worry about it.

This is one of the things I think about when I look in my closet or find something I really like at TJ Maxx. And it's one of the reasons why I care about fashion (what there is to use to make up vocabulary) and style (what I say with that vocabulary.)

If you love vintage, what does that say about you? If you don't wear vintage, but wear lots of modern interpretations of retro styles, does that say something different? What about wearing only black or neutrals or bright color? Because there is a sudden trend to mixing prints, are you now a follower or a leader? If you show a lot of cleavage or never show any cleavage, what are you saying? And if you never consider questions like these, does it matter?

None of this may matter to you at all. There's no right or wrong answers to these questions. But what you can count on is that you are saying something when you dress, and that some people who see you are listening.

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Some days ago, I was cruising my favorite blogs and in checking in on the lovely Reva at Reva's Rags 2 Roses, I saw that we'd just bought identical pants for a very good price at JCP. Stop by HERE to see how Reva wore them ... I love what she did with them! I'd already made a photo of myself in them some days before, and you can see the difference in what we both had to say. Same vocabulary, different conversations. Isn't that cool?

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For more conversations, I'm heading over to the chatty Patti for her Visible Monday gab fest.  Lots to talk about ... join us!

Thank you for stopping by!  Comments are always wonderful, so feel free to tell me what you're thinking.  I read them all, and try to answer each one ASAP!