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Oscar Wilde
In high school after reading The Picture of Dorian Grey I became fascinated with Oscar Wilde, everything in my life became Wilde. I consumed everything I could about this man, and he soon became a hero of mine. Oscar Wilde is an inspiration, from participation in the aesthetic movement to the short stories and poems that are heartbreakingly beautiful. Oscar Wilde had opinions about everything and this is what Wilde thought about fashion.
Oscar Wilde on fashion is very interesting, I was surprised when reading some of his views on women’s clothing of the time. Wilde’s view on clothing was much more practical concerning movement and climate. I did not expect Wilde's views to be very practical on fashion but he was an extremely intelligent man.
Here are some quotes from his essay about women’s dress.
“In the latter case a corset becomes useless, the body is left free and unconfined for respiration and motion, there is more health, and consequently more beauty.”
“One of the chief faults of modern dress is that it is composed of far too many articles of clothing, most of which are of the wrong substance”
“I mean the principle of suspending all apparel from the shoulders, and of relying for beauty of effect not on the stiff ready- made ornaments of the modern milliner--the bows where there should be no bows, and the flounces where there should be no flounces--but on the exquisite play of light and line that one gets from rich and rippling folds.”
If you are interested to learn more about Oscar Wilde a fast way to learn is Wilde, a move based on his life, with a brilliant cast!
Kristin
Update 9/21/2011: At school yesterday there was a used book sale and guess what I found!
The first Oscar Wilde biography I read, I had to get it. It is also the same edition!
Kristin