If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?
Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
celebritycity
From the minute the first images of the red carpet at May's Met Costume Institute Gala circulated through the internet and blogsphere you could have heard a collective intake of breath. There was Madonna, in all her post-Guy Ritchie flory, in a thigh skimming Louis Vuitton Fall Winter 09 (not even gracing the pages of magazines yet) turquoise blue mini dress, thigh high patent leather boots, and a pair of bunny ears. The fashion community was divided as to whether or not this was merely another reinvention of the Madonna everyone knows and most love, or whether this was a sad case of mutton dressed as lamb (or, rather, rabbit). Wacky or just weird? So wrong it's right or so wrong it's just, well, wrong?
getty via the cut blog
I weighed in on the issue, judging (perhaps prematurely, as you will read later) that she was just grabbing for the attention and had just become a caricature of what she once was. While i still believe that it was an attention seeking outfit, looking with hindsight and seeing these images raises a bigger issue, which is just how runway can translate to real life, and if the answer to that is very little at all, then what is the purpose of runway shows today?
Although the Met Gala is hardly the controlled environment for a runway to real life test, being noticed is really more important than being well dressed, and therefore some of the more out there runway looks can be worn with a relative amount of security. But the outcry that followed Madonna's outfit, and the sheer nonplussed state of most critics at the bunny ears, was interesting to watch. What was deemed whimsical and even inspirational on the runway became odd and unnecessary in real life. Most people reviewing the Louis Vuitton F/W 09 show loved the bunny ears, they thought they were a perfect rendition of old-school Parisienne exuberance and playful chic. But once it hits real life it is deemed as crazy and out there as the Phillip Treacy fascinator Sarah Jessica Parker wore to the London Premiere of Sex and the City Movie last year (the same milliner who created the 'bird' that she wore on her head in the wedding scene).
Marc Jacob's Autumn/Winter 09/10 collection for Louis Vuitton was just as uplifting and bright as his eponymous one, but with a different, lighter touch. The bunny ears, large strips of taffeta with wired edges wrapped around high buns were whimsical and almost magical, adding the final fun finishing touch to cute outfits in pastel pinks adorned with more ruffles than a beauty queen and puffed out shoulders. They also added a bizarre note to the more serious outfits in the collections, grey peplum jackets and stiff suits topped off with a pair of bunny ears and a hint of theatrics.
style.com
Once upon a time the runway collections served the purpose of showcasing the clothes for a house's clientele. Christian Dior's now famous New Look collection in 1947 was a simple, conservative affair by runway standards today, and was even narrated (look number 4 is a classic suit for a working woman etc). As walk in shops were almost non-existent and most of the clientele of these houses placed personal orders the shows stood as a showcase of what was to come. No theatrics, no over the top staging.
Although it may seem as if this is still the case today it is actually the opposite. Pret-a-Porter or the Ready to Wear shows are actually moving closer and closer to couture in their presentation. The elaborate theatrics, the over the top staging, the bold music and lighting choices, the live bands, the increasing celebrity presence... all of this makes runway shows for ready to wear into more of an advertisement for the designer rather than a presentation of the coming season's clothing, some of which may never even make it to production.
As such ready to wear runway shows have taken on this fantasy quality that used to be reserved only for couture. Designers like Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano and Alexander McQueen have been breaking out the drama in recent catwalk presentations. Giant Chanel 2.55 handbags as set design and a carousel with Chanel Make up products instead of horses? Check. Galliano's beefeater headgear designed by Stephen Jones? Check. Alexander McQueen's eccentric FW collection inspired by Leigh Bowery complete with a huge video dedication, the red lipstick 'fish lips' and houndstooth checks as big as your fist? Check check check.
Runway has become a social event, a chance for socialites, starlets and other wannabes to see and be seen. It's no longer just about the clothes, it's more about establishing a creative environment, getting across the message and feeling of the collection. Designers are achieving this through an increased importance placed on the various additions to a runway show: music, set design, wigs, make up and accessories... such as bunny ears.
And that's just it, isn't it... this 'creative environment' that runway conjures up is so different to the real world. For the duration of the show, sometimes a mere 10 short but frenetic minutes, audience, model, photographer, editor and writer alike are captivated by the vision of the designer. The aim of a runway show is no longer just to show what's happening next season, it is to transport the audience to another time and place, whether that be Louis Vuitton's playful Paris, Balmain's Powerful 80s wonder woman or Alexander Wang's painfully hip it-girl. When you take that outfit off the runway though it displaces some of its transformative magic. You can maintain it in editorials with the help of a magazine's considerable editorial power, but on the red carpet all you've got to make that outfit achieve it's original purpose is your own charm and personality. If you don't amp it up then the outfit wears you, and it doesn't work.
vogue russia via oneminutescans
This is the first editorial I've seen with the bunny ears, and no doubt not the last. Natalia looks cute, and the bunny ear manage to translate from runway to editorial very well, helped in part by Natalia's chameleon like modelling ability. Apart from Madonna's Met Gala outfit a i've only seen them once in real life, and only recently on Garance Dore's blog. The girl in question was wearing a modified version of the runway pair, a little less conspicuous, exactly the kind of fun, silly sort of thing for someone fun and silly to wear. Alexa, perhaps? Or Chloe Sevigny? It's not for everyone, but like i said, if you want to make it work you have to amp up the character. Don't be an ageing pop star fulfilling contractual obligations. Play into the idea behind the clothes, pair it with a striped breton top, distressed jeans, a belted trench coat and ballet flats in day time to make an impact. At night time a simple dress can be spiced up with the bubblegum pink bunny ears and a huge smile. It shows that you don't take it all too seriously. Parisian girl with a twist.
garance doreCreativity and drama should not be isolated solely to the runway and to magazines. There's nothing i hate more than the belief that you can't have fun with clothes and dressing. It's simply not true. If Madonna's Met Gala shows us nothing more than the fact that she refuses to adhere to ageism and to the preconceptions to how a 50 year old should dress, then I will marginally salute her. Although I feel she should leave the thigh highs and mini's at home, I implore her to whip out the bunny ears as much as she wants. Because heaven knows, if anyone can pull off the rabbit, it's her.
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