Further on fashion

We would have never imagined it, but it seems that one of the most definite areas of influence of the Brontës is - believe it or not - fashion. The Brontë stories - especially Wuthering Heights - seem to be a constant inspiration for fashion designers. After the sobriety of Gucci, jeans designers Sass & Bide have launched a new collection as a tribute to Emily Brontë!

But tomorrow night in New York there will be scarcely a piece of denim in sight when the designers present their fifth New York Fashion Week autumn 2006 collection: Shining Independent, a homage to Emily Bronte and Greek goddesses.

If you are intrigued about how a casual wear collection looks whose intention it is to pay homage to Emily Brontë, here's a brief description:

The autumn collection will showcase viscose jersey blouses with flowing sleeves and silk dresses all designed to drape softly around the body. Even the suits, in a wool/linen twill, combine cigarette pants with draped panel jackets.

"The colour palette is very soft," Middleton (Heidi Middleton the designer and owner of the firm with Sarah-Jane Clarke) said of their choice of cream, black, white, cornflower blue and muted pink.

Hmmm... any ideas on how you think Emily would dress if she were living now? Somehow this description doesn't strike us as something very Emily-like. But then again that's pretty difficult when it comes to fashion. We would love to see all these designers' faces when told that Emily famously said that she wished to be as God made her when criticised about her lack of sense of fashion. Nevertheless, at least in the case of Heidi Middleton she's above suspicion according to this bio:
Heidi Middleton first wrote these words of Emily Bronte in her diary as a fourteen year old, and it's a message that resonates with Sass & Bide today more than ever : "I'll walk where my own nature leads me. It vexes me to choose another guide."

On another note, the New Statesman publishes an article by Siri Hustvedt where she talks about corsets and women's fashion. She is convinced that clothes do not make the man:

Jane Eyre's plain dress is a tonic against the frippery of the silly females who visit Rochester. And all these images are taken from moments in larger stories that captivate us, stories about people who are living out their lives and their romantic entanglements, both comic and tragic.
This looks like a more Brontësque approach to fashion, doesn't it?

Categories: In_the_News, Weirdo, Emily_Brontë, Jane_Eyre