Cafe Conversations

Do you have any ideas for supper?

Either chili or lamb burger I’ve got in the fridge.

What are lamb burgers good with?

On a bun?

Potato?

It will be better when the park and ride is here

Ha-ha-ha.

Fashion's Interruption Between the Great Wars

Photo by Victoria Furuya

                   Golden Age thinking: the belief that a time before our own was better, more glamorous, more progressive, and in this case, more chic. Serving as a reminder of a time before our own, mannequins stand sentinel, donned in garments from an era of shifting trends and irrefutable allure.

            The Museum of Vancouver (or, as its been known since the rebranding in 2009, the MOV) is currently showcasing an Art Deco Chic exhibit. Amanda McCuaig, an organizer of the exhibit, leads me around the quiet room a couple of hours before the exhibit opening.

            The pieces are all from the early 20’s to the late 30’s, and are from the collections of Ivan Sayers and Claus Jahnke, with the exception of four of the pieces, which are from the MOV’s collection, and one from a private donor. Sayers started collecting pieces when he was fifteen years old, in part so that the pieces wouldn’t go to waste. He lives in a two-bedroom house in Vancouver that is filled with clothing dating back to the 1700’s.

             The exhibit is organized chronologically, and so the first few pieces on display are from the early 20’s, around the time that King Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered.  The clothing reflects this fixation on Egypt and the ethnic east. Aluminum sunbursts are embroidered on a shift the colour of desert sand, and a sheer lilac dress has pyramids and palm trees extensively embroidered along the top and bottom hem.

            “The 20’s were a time for women’s liberation of not only mind but also shape; they were fighting for the right to vote, and for being considered more for their intellect than their figures,” McCuaig explained. The shapes of the dresses are consistently drapey and almost childlike in their form, with an emphasis on surface design.

            “A lot of the pieces are silk and chiffon, and the fabric itself is quite delicate.  Reinforcements are needed because the beading is pulling the silk,” she says. The dresses that are up now will go back in boxes for 40 years so that they remain in good condition.

            The straight shapes and geometric prints indicate the heavy influence of art deco on the styles of the era. Think the Chrysler building in New York City, or the German expressionist film Metropolis.

“When you actually come in and see [the garments], it’s almost shocking how different it is from what your preconceived notions of what the 20’s and 30’s garments look like; particularly the 30’s, because you just think of the Great Depression.”

            After ogling a valuable black Chanel dress enclosed in a display case, we move into the garments from the 30’s. A jewel case of accessories displays leather oxfords, hats with tiny brims, a clutch shaped like a Volkswagon Beetle, and a small, headless velvet teddy bear, which is actually a perfume bottle.

With the 30’s, the emphasizing of shape is fashionable again, the waist came back up and in. There is a focus on more cut outs in the actual form itself, rather than surface design. A lot of dresses have intricately detailed and open backs, so they are the focus when dancing with a partner.

The drastic change in design from the 20’s can be explained by the fact that fashion is an industry: by changing what is fashionable, designers are able to continue to sell new pieces. Naturally, the grim economic state was also a contributor to the drastic change: modesty was valued, and liberation movements put on hold.

            Perhaps one of the most interesting things about the exhibit is the sense of nostalgia one gets from the garments. Much of the art deco details are making their way back into designs today; one piece, a short cream flapper dress, could be worn to a cocktail party. Some of the pieces are transferable from the 30’s to the context of the 80’s: the angular shoulders, kitschy pins, and black and white leather gloves.

            “If you take it out of the 80’s context and into the 30’s context, then it’s glamorous. It makes sense in a totally different way. Maybe men with big hair and tight pants will come back,” she laughs.

            On the opening evening of the exhibit, I chat with an elderly woman glamorously dressed in clothing from the era.

            “People just don’t dress like this anymore.  Any chance I get to recreate it, I take it.”

            This is Golden Age Thinking at its finest.  Nostalgia rules the fashion world; trends are repeated decades later, and styles reflect the shifting ideals of the people in the clothes.

 For alternate version, see the-peak.ca

A measurement of romantic/platonic love

     Near the end of last year, a couple of young filmmakers walked around a university campus and asked people one question: can men and women be just friends?

Something interesting happened. All the women said “yes, of course,” with dubious looks on their faces as if the answer was obvious. And yet every man responded with some variation of “no, you cannot.”

     The video went viral, spawning the platonic friends debate in cafes and bars alike.  The parties, more or less, fit into two categories. One person would say “Of course you can, we’re not children, what a stupid question,” while the other maintained that “it’s more complicated than that.” Let me begin by clarifying that I am of the “complicated” party.

     You would be accurate to argue that this video made by college students does not necessarily count as a scientific, psychological study yet nevertheless its evidence proves beyond a doubt that male/female platonic friendships are impossible. I would agree with you. The small size and narrow age group sampled does not give us enough empirical evidence, but that’s not really the point. What this video does do, however, is provide interesting insight into the difference between men and women’s thinking.

     One of the common reasons why men believe that it is impossible to be “just friends” with women is the sexual attraction issue. If you are attracted to someone who is either a good friend or a best friend, what is keeping you from pursuing something more? The men interviewed in the video admitted that, if given the chance, they would “hook up” with a girl who is a friend.

     Perhaps one explanation (albeit a strictly reductionist one) may be that women, biologically speaking, seek out security and comfort when it comes to male friends or partners. To be surrounded by supportive, non-threatening individuals is considered healthy and important. On the other hand, men (while still desiring comfort and support) are biologically created to “spread their seed,” to put it crudely. This is not to say I wholeheartedly agree with this possibility; I am no scientist myself, but perhaps this is one aspect that should be kept in consideration.

     In an article titled “Strictly Platonic,” Pamela Johnson relates platonic male/female relationships back to the original Greek philosophical concept. Put glibly, she says “you either don’t have the hots for the other person, you pretend not to, or you reroute the energy into conversation.” Based on my own personal experience, this claim seems mostly accurate. Of all my friendships with men, there has either been a point where I considered the possibility of romance, or he did (whether that was strictly based on attraction or a greater admiration). Again, my personal experience alone does not suggest some wider truth, but rather indicates that cross-sex friendships tend to be more complex than same-sex ones.

     The complexities in cross-sex friendships is explored in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships in the article “Cross-Sex Friends Who Were Once Romantic Partners: Are They Platonic Friends Now?” Schneider and Kenny admit that “the potential for sexual attraction [is] a challenge that men and women face in a friendship between them.” According to one study, 53 percent of males and 31 percent of females admitted that they started a friendship with the hopes that it would turn into something romantic (Kaplan and Keys 1997). It was also found that “a majority of men and women reported wanting to be more than just friends at one time with their opposite-sex friend” (1997).

     As these studies suggest, opposite sex friends sometimes consider or act on sexual or romantic desires, thus complicating the friendship. This does not mean that every friendship a man has with a woman is fraught with sexual undertones; indeed, it is possible for two people to be friends without anything romantic ever occurring. The complication that I mean to point out is the “just” friends part. If one individual is in a relationship, or if the hangouts occur within a group, the chances of anything “complicated” happening are less likely. Yes, men and women can be friends, but the trajectory of that friendship will not always be so simple as “just friends.”

Originally published in Mars' Hill, March 1, 2012