{"id":14157,"date":"2013-04-10T14:27:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-10T14:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/archives\/?p=14157"},"modified":"2024-04-04T14:27:41","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T14:27:41","slug":"sia-girls-makeup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/archives\/2013\/04\/10\/sia-girls-makeup\/","title":{"rendered":"sia girls makeup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wait, why is a Perspective writer writing about fashion stuff? Well, fashion can be pretty serious business, ya know.<\/em> Fashion is a form of human expression. So if you care about ideas, fashion should interest you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s something that\u2019s an example of something I\u2019ve been wanting to talk about for the longest time: The SIA girls are simplifying their makeup.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old scheme on the left: The red is redder, the eyeshadow is bluer- it looks a little more garish and obiang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By itself, this seems a little random, arbitrary, uninteresting. Who cares about what a bunch of flight crew (bless their hardworking souls) does with their eyeliner?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do. I care because I think it\u2019s interesting. It\u2019s interesting when you put it in the context of broader ideas about how things should be presented. I think it says something about the age of abundance we now live in, and how to deal with information overload.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s Aishwarya Rai in a movie. Look at all those details, all those colours! Do a Google image search for Indian Wedding and you\u2019ll be overwhelmed with incredible amounts of detail. Why is there so much detail?<\/strong> <\/em>There\u2019s clearly a lot of craftmanship that went into all of that \u2013 the goldsmith, the jewellers, the embroidery \u2013 all of it is highly elaborate and complicated. Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have to understand the context. In older times, jewelry and embroidered clothes were a luxury. Here\u2019s a quote from David Marshall, Singapore\u2019s first Chief Minister,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know, when I won a case once years ago, I was presented with a lovely porcelain Buddha with a big flowing belly and ears that reached to his shoulders and a chubby face. I said to my client, \u201cLook, you Chinese got a real feeling for aesthetics. How can you worship something so obscene?\u201d He said, \u201cMr Marshall, try and understand. China is a land of starvation where millions of people die for lack of food, and to be able to eat that much, to be that fat, that is heaven!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s how Aishwarya dresses in real life:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Notice a difference?  It\u2019s a lot more subtle. Why?<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe it\u2019s a because  of the<\/strong> transition from the age of scarcity to the age of information overload. <\/strong>Everything is information, every choice you make is a signal to others about who you are. In the past, abundance was power. Now, it\u2019s almost obscene \u2013 why does anybody need that much?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider the Papacy. Here\u2019s Pope Benedict XVI in front of his gold throne:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And here\u2019s his successor, Pope Francis, who\u2019s done away with a lot of the opulence typically associated with the Papacy. He also went on to wash and kiss the feet of prisoners, including a Muslim lady\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s pretty clear we\u2019re seeing an overall trend towards minimalism.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Need more examples? Here\u2019s Princess Diana\u2019s wedding:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And here\u2019s her son William marrying Kate Middleton:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Notice how there are far fewer details on the dress. There\u2019s less fabric. The bouquet is smaller.  The veil is less elaborate. The whole picture looks more \u201celegant\u201d. It\u2019s less \u201cheavy\u201d, more pragmatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re moving away from the \u201cFlamboyant Peacock\u201d doctrine, where you demonstrated your wealth and power by flaunting so much gold and wealth that you\u2019d literally be weighed down and incapacitated by it. Diana would need help running from zombies \u2013 and she has <\/em>that help, so being encumbered is a sign of her Princesshood. Kate, on the other hand, looks like she could kick ass herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mr. T\u2019s model of manliness is unlikely to make a comeback, methinks. It used to be a sign of power, strength and wealth. Today, he\u2019d look like a guy who\u2019s insecure and trying too hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider the general obsession with cars, girls, bling-bling, cigars, suits and other trappings of wealth that rap stars tend to focus on.<\/strong> (Tupac, Eminem and Andre 3000 are 3 examples I can think of who buck this trend. They will probably be remembered as the real<\/em> artists, because they chose to speak about issues beyond their immediate desire for social acceptance.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This painting by Polish artist Pawel Kuczynski (above) captures it well \u2013 doesn\u2019t an obsession with opulence ultimately wear you down? What is the point of wealth if you have to spend all your time flaunting it? It\u2019s the \u201cNew Wealth\u201d who have this problem the most. \u201cOld wealth\u201d is quiet and reassured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, SIA isn\u2019t trying to make a statement here, all they\u2019re really doing is responding to feedback. \u201cWe took into account feedback from some customers that the previous colours seemed to be on the strong side,\u201d said the head of cabin crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s happening?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

People on the ground are starting to realize it looks and feels odd when public figures are overly \u201cpainted\u201d.<\/strong> We needed that in the past, when there was a huge distance between the Pope and his flock, the King and his Subjects. We no longer feel this vast divide today, not so much. The Pope is a ultimately just a human being like the rest of us \u2013 why should he get to ride on the shoulders of others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A person who tries too hard to be different from everybody else looks a little bit silly. (Exception: Lady Gaga \u2013 but that\u2019s a uniquely complex case, because while she\u2019s distancing herself from the general public, she\u2019s ingratiating herself to her audience \u2013 \u201cLittle Monsters\u201d, she calls them.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s all quite exciting, if you ask me. We have design that is more elegant. Now that information is freely accessible, minimalism is becoming not just a random subculture, but a way of life, a way of navigating the absurd amount of garish detail everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

P.S. If you\u2019re interested in things like this, look up Alexander McQueen\u2019s designs (R.I.P.). I felt that he was able to understand the power of using simplicity to express authority. He designed for goddesses, for empresses of galaxies who didn\u2019t have time to bother with cumbersome, over-elaborate peacocking. I can\u2019t help but feel that we should all learn to do the same. True royalty isn\u2019t inherited, it is earned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the language geeks, Royal comes from Regalis, Rex –  \u201dto keep straight, guide, lead, rule.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep straight, folks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image credit: Worldcrews<\/a>, Malar World<\/a>, BoredPanda<\/a>, Airtraxx<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wait, why is a Perspective writer writing about fashion stuff? Well, fashion can be pretty serious business, ya know. Fashion is a form of human expression. So if you care about ideas, fashion should interest you. Here\u2019s something that\u2019s an example of something I\u2019ve been wanting to talk about for the longest… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5gxNz-3Gl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14158,"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14157\/revisions\/14158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}