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Shiva is one of the main gods of the Hindu religion. When all is said and done, there are millions and millions of deities in the Hindu pantheon, so I guess Shiva is pretty special. In truth, my first exposure was in Final Fantasy VII when I summoned her using red materia to vanquish some foes. As one might imagine, Square Enix’s interpretation of Shiva is pretty off the map and hyper-sexualized but whatever. Shiva, like many (if not all?) gods of the Hindu religion is both man and woman and takes many different forms. As the god of destruction, Shiva represents positive and negative changes that range from the introspective to the more physical world and is often referred to as “The Destroyer”.
I’ll be honest, my knowledge of Shiva is very limited, so if you’re interested I suggest digging a little further on your own. Obviously, I have chosen to depict Shiva in a fully female form, but like I said, he/she has attributes of both sexes…annnnnd I’m not scholar of religion up in this piece.
FYI: from Stardusted.Tumblr.com: “Heeey, so Hindu follower of your blog here! So Shiva. Shiva himself is the male manifestation of the universe, and his wife Parvati is the female manifestation of the universe. They each have 108 forms/names. The genderfluid version you’re talking about is Ardhanarishvara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardhanarishvara). As you see, if you read the article, it’s pretty complicated- and it made me really uncomfortable to see Shiva used for fashion this way. I know you probably meant no disrespect, but Shiva isn’t a woman. (and let’s not even get into the video game)”
1. Dress by Marchesa, shoes by Tsumori Chisato
2. Dress by Peter Pilotto, shoes by Alexander McQueen
3. Dress by Mary Katrantzou, shoes by Altuzarra
I’ve given you guys a few teasers of this video, but this is the final thing. I picked 12 collections from Spring 2013 and set them to Tchaikovsky’s “Apotheosis” from Sleeping Beauty. It’s essentially the finale of the performance when all the conflict has ended. When something undergoes an apotheosis, it means it’s elevated to divine or heroic levels. Sweet word. I believe there is also a cancer treatment that goes by the same name, but I’m a little hazy on that end of it. Watch it in full screen, watch in HD.
The collections included are:
PROENZA SCHOULER
DRIES VAN NOTEN
MARC JACOBS
DIOR
CHRISTOPHER KANE
MARY KATRANTZOU
LOUIS VUITTON
PRABAL GURUNG
3.1 PHILLIP LIM
ALTUZARRA
PETER PILOTTO
ALEXANDER MCQUEEN
(Source: textbook)
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I haven’t really investigated the Egyptian pantheon on Textbook before, but it holds a very diverse array of deities. Oftentimes, the gods and goddesses take the form of animals, or half-animals with wolf heads, hawk heads, wings, etc. In ancient Egypt, the source of sustainability was the Nile. It’s water kept the kingdom moving, providing a source of irrigation for crops, a means of travel (which would eventually give way to the Suez canal) and also served as a point of their religion. The goddess associated with the Nile was Anuket, or Anukis. During the annual flood, Egyptians would throw precious items into the river as a thanks to her for her bounty. Anuket is usually shown with a headdress of feathers but there weren’t a lot of those available.
1. Here, have some water
Dress by Mary Katrantzou, shoes by Donna Karan
2. Here, have some fishes
Top by Donna Karan, skirt by Versace, shoes by Dolce & Gabbana
3. Worship me, I give you the life
Dress by Peter Pilotto, shoes by Alexander McQueen
IEMANJA, BRAZILIAN SEA GODDESS
So we’ve been in São Paulo for one day and are about to peace out for day 2. I’ll share plenty of pictures etc. from the trip soon, but as promised here’s some of the Brazilian history I wanted to share. Brazil is similar to the U.S. in that it’s own culture is made up of many others—you know, the whole melting pot idea. That extends beyond the people and into all aspects of the country, in this case, mythology. Since much of this trip will be focused on sailing, the beach and the ocean, I took a look at Iemanjá, a sea goddess who originated in Africa but found her way to Brazil. Traditionally, she watches over fishermen and survivors of shipwrecks and is also the spirit of the moon. In the state of São Paulo, she is celebrated in early December and parades with gifts travel to the sea to a statue of her near the shore to give gifts in her honor. Pretty sweet.
1. Saving mad shipwrecks
Dress by Carlos Miele, shoes by Mary Katrantzou
2. Makin’ the moon shine
Dress and shoes by Alexander McQueen
3. Bringin’ in them fish
Dress by Mary Katrantzou, shoes by Altuzarra
FASHION WEEK FALL 2012
Rise and shine kiddos. For the past few weeks, I’ve been working on this video. Last night, after 6 straight episodes of Game of Thrones, I finally finished. I took a few of my favorite fall 2012 collections and animated up right nice. They’re not necessarily my top collections from all over but they’re all great. Press play, hope you like it.
1. Derek Lam
2. Prabal Gurung
3. Altuzarra
4. Band of Outsiders
5. Marc Jacobs
6. Mary Katrantzou
7. Carven
8. Lanvin
9. Kenzo
10. Alexander McQueen
11. Prada
12. Dries van Noten
Song Credit: Bossa Nova Baby, Elvis Presley
