The day after the Met Gala last year, two of my most trendy students, Jose Luis and Manuela, burst into my English honors class and demanded we have a Socratic Seminar on the previous night's festivities. Seconds later, I projected photos from Vogue.com onto the board, featuring the looks of Harry Styles, Serena Williams, and Lady Gaga. I thought they were just kidding about the seminar, but Jose Luis and Manuela seized the moment and led a classwide discussion on which celebrity executed the "camp" theme best. It was then I knew I had two future fashion moguls on my hands, and therefore it only made sense to consult them as experts for this month's blog on Colombian fashion.
I myself am certainly no expert, as previous to living here, the extent of my Colombian fashion knowledge derived from the fictional character, Gloria, on Modern Family. Due to this singular representation, I thought Colombian fashion was a lot of tight, spandex-like dresses, and skyscraper shoes. As it turns out, this is actually a very Americanized version of Colombian fashion (shock!). Since then, I have constantly observed the beauty of true Colombian fashion. Therefore, with the help of Jose Luis and Manuela, I am ready to provide a full fashion review. The three of us will each provide praise and critique, so get ready for Getting Schooled in Colombia: Vogue Edition
Praise from Expert #1: Manuela
"Colombian fashion, in it’s most high-end sense, has a very particular fantasy-like quality that I’ve always found to be very enticing. Like most things originated from this country, fashion pieces can be very magical (which I think can be attributed to their refreshing take on textiles and attentive detailing). It has clear influences from all of the cultures that compose our history, which blend together in a soft, tropical style. Its distinctiveness could be easily attributed to almost all of the acclaimed Colombian designers since their work usually shares distinctive characteristics like nature-filled prints, bright colors, extravagant fabric pleating and draping, eccentric accessories, and flow-ey silhouettes."
Praise from Expert #2: Jose Luis
"Colombia, of all the Latin American countries, distinguishes itself as an unrivaled center of cultural syncretism. The mixture of African, indigenous and Spanish cultures that birthed this nation, live today in perfect symbiosis and reside in the creative psyche of the Colombian fashion designer. Such a broad and enriched cultural background creates immense responsibility for the designer to do their culture justice. The presence of prints, bright colors, pleats, ruching, embroidery, and embellishments have almost become unmissable in national runways. Such traits and techniques are not inventions of the modern designer and rather have particularized the ethnic territories of Colombia for hundreds of years. That’s the first thing to be noted on Colombian fashion, it mimics reality."
Praise from Non-Expert: Taylor Sullivan
"As someone who is known to gravitate towards vibrant patterns and large statement pieces, I relish in the puffy sleeves and large statement earrings featured in the bold and colorful fashion pieces of this nation. My favorite sub-genre of Colombian fashion, which was alluded to by Manuela and Jose Luis is undoubtedly female formal wear. In fact, the high point of my walk to the gym each day includes passing two small boutiques filled with cascading patterned skirts and shiny crop tops trimmed with ruffles. As an expat teacher, however, my opportunities to don Colombian formal wear are limited. Thus, when Conor's family visited last year, I capitalized on this as a chance to go to Delerio, Cali's best salsa show, enrobed in a beautiful floor-length wrap skirt, sky-high heels, and large beaded statement earrings."
Critique from Expert #1: Manuela Plazas
"Despite how much I appreciate and admire it sometimes; that distinctive “pretty” style can grow to be very restricting, which is concerning for an industry that is supposed to thrive from creativity and risk-taking. I’ve always thought it’s —perhaps unintentionally— kind of playing it safe within the concepts it once gave birth to. The industry here can get to be so close-minded sometimes that it appears to be more like an elitist bubble than an artistic profession; the higher social classes dictate one collective perspective on what is “fashionable” and what isn’t, ripping any sort of artistic innovation from the fashion-medium (almost solidifying a social statement). There’s a single mentality on what “works” and an almost childish refusal to give anything else a chance; briefly, it can get to be a little boring. My design teacher once told me that it was unfortunate that in such a magical country like Colombia, with so many skilled visionaries in the field, people would criticize change so harshly. She also said that Colombian fashion would truly thrive once people’s mentalities began to evolve and that hopefully, the emerging, talented youth would play a role in making those changes. I’d like to think so too."
Critique from Expert #2: Jose Luis Salinas
Because Colombian fashion largely comes from the country's indigenous roots, it can toe the line between cultural appropriation and appreciation. Jose Luis explains this conflict below:
"The Wayú tribes in La Guajira are well recognized nation-wide for their craftsmanship in
respect to their mochilas (bucket bags), intricately weaved in colorful patterns. For the Wayú
weaving and crocheting is their utmost form of cultural representation, and is essential to the
lifestyle of the clans’ women. In the 21st century, celebrated designers such as Silvia Tcherassi have incorporated the craftsmanship of the Wayú into their collections, and given the Arwak
people a place in the fashion industry. Nonetheless, the Wayú people are not being remunerated for their contributions and are now victims of the cultural appropriation of the Colombian elite. It’s not cultural appropriation per se, because different from a white man in
North America, the native-american culture is a part of the modern Latin American’s
background. This is because the process Latin America endured in the 15th century was a
conquest, while the United States and Canada were colonized. However, the culture Colombian natives is being perpetually exploited at the hands of the nation’s elite, for the Wayú artisans are paid approximately 1% of the retail price for which their mochilas are sold in the international market."
Colombian
Critique from Non- Expert: Taylor Sullivan
"My qualm with Colombian fashion is less in its design and more in its practical application. Much like Europeans, Colombians love jeans, so much so in fact that it is incredibly rare to see anyone at any time wearing shorts. This is despite the fact that many parts of this country, Cali included, are incredibly hot and humid. I have tried my best to blend in and follow suit, but the seemingly national aversion to anything other than pants and long skirts has been a hard pill for my overheated, sweaty self to swallow. You would think because my school, Colegio Bolivar has an open-air campus and most classrooms are cooled by breeze alone, my students would wear more shorts and skirts. No, they almost always wear jeans...especially the girl students. Also, what's with the Crocs? My students seem to have missed the memo that Crocs, at least in the U.S. are intensely uncool. Even my sportiest jock students rock their crocs...WITH SOCKS!!!"
Conclusion
"Despite the fact that teenage girls are dressed like their forty/fifty-year-old mothers, who are dressed like they just survived the Inquisition, there is much to be appreciated of the Colombian fashion industry. Colombian fashion is outgoing naive, it’s bold and unafraid. The linens and satins, dressed in florals and stripes, decorated with lavallieres, draping, and tiers, and puff sleeves so extravagant in their own non-camp manner, are definitely something to highlight. It’s so different from everything that the global industry provides, despite it being locally static, it remains innovative to the world." -Jose Luis
I hope you all enjoyed Getting Schooled in Colombia: Vogue Edition!
Next month we will resume our usual posting format and feature the traditional "Getting Schooled" moments from both October and November. To tide you over, here is the "Favorites" list from October...
October Favorites:
-"Finca" weekend at Lago Calima with a bunch of expat teachers to celebrate the birthdays of two our good friends, Jess and Merri
-Conor and I finally caved and tried chontaduro, the famous/infamous Colombian snack known to inspire both love and hate upon first taste...I enjoyed it's sweet potato-ish slightly pumpkin-ish flavor, while Con couldn't get over the texture! My students who love it order it with honey and salt on top!
-Jett Setting to Florida for a girls weekend over "Semana Recesso" with my Mom and Brooke! Cue frozen drinks beach time, and lots of "girl talk"! I might have also insisted we leave the resort for a quick trip to Target and Whole Foods...what can I say, your girl missed her American favorites!
-Conor stayed in Cali for Recesco and his best childhood friend, Reilly visited. They hit all the hot spots, including the waterfall, a photo tour of historic San Antonio, a salsa show, and of course ate picadas and lulo juice!
-An epic Halloween Hash run through the hills of San Antonio, planned by Conor and Owen. We ended at the perfect restaurant, "El Gringo" which served delicious "American Style" burgers and wings, and even aired the World Series for our viewing.
-The BEST Halloween party of all time, thrown by our good friends the Fisher family and resident Harry Potter expert/ middle school teacher Katie. Conor didn't even complain when I stretched a bald cap across his luscious locks and painted snake slits on his nose for his Voldemort costume.