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"This withdrawal into fantasy was immensely reinforced from 1910 on, by the motion picture. Public day dreams of wealth, magnificence, adventure, irregularity and spontaneous action- identification with the criminal defying the forces of order- these scarcely adolescent fantasies, created and projected with the aid of the machine, made the machine-ritual of life, tolerable to the vast urban or urbanized populations.
Too dull to think, people might read: too tired to read, they might look at the moving pictures: unable to visit the picture theater they might turn on the radio: in any case, they might avoid the call to action: surrogate lovers, surrogate heroes and heroines, surrogate wealth filled their debilitated and impoverished lives and carried the perfume of unreality into their dwellings. And as the machine itself became, as it were, more active and human, reproducing the organic properties of the eye and ear, the human beings who employed the machine as a mode of escape have tended to become more and more passive and mechanical. Unsure of their own voices, unable to hold a tune, today they carry an ipod; afraid to be alone with their own thoughts, afraid to confront the blankness and inertia of their own minds, they turn on the radio or tv, and eat and sleep to the accompaniment of a continuous stimulus from the outside world"... Organic and Mechanical Polarities. Mumford, Lewis.
People before did not have the opportunity to degrade themselves in the pursuit of the good life that they so aspire to; as they try to mimic the lifestyles of the rich and famous. The Democratization of luxury that occurred in the 20th Century especially in America is vile. The Democratization of fashion over the last 20 years has done the same thing; lower standards and expectations. Democracy today means little more than the ability of more and more people to consume more and more of the same standardized products.
It's hard being a designer today. It’s having to compete with so many amateurs posing as fashion designers that Marc Jacobs seems so fresh and contemporary.
Marc Jacobs for Fall 2013 channels Joey Heatherton from the 70's with matching shag wigs; and a stripped down utilitarian post modern aesthetic. Shiny shimmery shirtdresses, and faux fox fur wraps, and silk pajamas, and pencil skirts all played tongue and cheek. Marc Jacobs has a sense of irony that is unique for an American designer.
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