Category: Fashion

Fashion, Observations, Prediction

Rococo Style and My Enlightenment

pollywannamath

I hate Rococo design. I doubt that’s a controversial opinion, I don’t see many modern homes with cherubs or flower designs on pastel walls. Rococo furniture is a far cry from the Midcentury Modern pieces that have been prized for the last 5 years.

Would this work in your entryway?

When I was a college student, I had the good fortune to study abroad in France and visit Versailles. Parts of the palace are gorgeous, and its easy to see how impressive the furniture, construction, and vastness of the property are under the museum lights. During my first tour, I was unimpressed by the Hall of Mirrors. I expected to be awed by the light and opulence. It really didn’t stand out from the rest of the Baroque architecture throughout the palace.

The Queen’s Bedchamber, on the other hand, was impossible to miss. It was easily as bright as the hall of mirrors, but instead of having stone columns to contrast the gold, the Queen’s Bedchamber used flower motifs, pink and more gold.

Subtle.

If you have a home VR set up, you can see the the rooms described above for free at the official Versailles website.

Even after my initial experience of Versailles (and other Rococo experiences), I remain justified in my experience with Versailles. But my experience with the grounds differed in myriad ways from the experience of those in the 18th century. One key difference was how the space was lit.

With museum lighting in every room, it isn’t shocking that I wasn’t impressed by the brightness and glimmer of the Hall of Mirrors. The sun coming through the windows and bouncing off the mirrors and gold is no brighter than museum lighting at 3700K (more on this later) that flooded every room. If I toured a building lit only by small translucent windows and whale fat or beeswax, I would have found the Hall of Mirrors to be an incredible open space.

Rococo décor brought whimsy and light to otherwise dark rooms. Baroque design, while similar, lev . Rococo is an attempt to heighten both the brightness of the room and create smaller, more intimate spaces.

Maybe we need a form of Rococo revival today.

Earlier this year, I made predictions about the state of interior design in 2030. One of those predictions involved a shift away from the open-concept floorplan with Bobby Blue and Grey. Smaller rooms will provide an opportunity to deliberately use light as a key design element in a way that isn’t possible in open spaces. The vast majority of lights sold and stocked by Home Depot are soft white (2700K). When a vast space requires overhead lighting, the lighting needs to be neutral and consistent. Lamps are able to add contrast or accent a space, but the lighting is defined by the room in its entirety.

Light temperature is measured in Kalvin. By comparison to soft white, the candles in Versailles burned around 1800K. The lower the Kalvin value, the warmer the light.

Color Temperature Scale

In the modern Rococo revolution, I envision smaller comfortable spaces with varied light used to create different atmospheres. Dining rooms lit low with warm light (~2000k). Kitchens and bathrooms with daylight bulbs that prioritize accuracy (~5000k). Entryways and foyers lit in between to smooth transitions between spaces. I don’t envision cherubs, or flowers as normal wall coverings. I still hate Rococo.

Light alters our perception of space, mentality, and design options. Hopefully my prediction for the next 10 years proves true. Maybe I won’t hate the next Rococo revival.

Fashion, Innovation

What’s the Deal with Pants and Shoes?

pollywannamath

The worlds oldest discovered pair of trousers are 3,300 years old. How different are they from what we wear? Time joked that they would fit in at Anthropologie.

Pants Image
The Pants

Made from wool, with a reinforced crotch, pattern design and straight leg, these pants feature most of the elements of a modern pant. Sure there was no zipper or clasp, no pockets, and the waistband wasn’t elastic–but people still wear rompers, and I would argue those are a step down in functionality.

Why haven’t pants changed much? My dress pants are wool and I like them more than most “modern” fabrics. Did we find the secret sauce over 3,000 years ago and haven’t found an improvement yet?

Shoes too. I was recently looking for a new pair of shoes for work and I wanted the following attributes:

  • Leather upper (stretchable)
  • Use of a wide last
  • Replaceable heal
  • Cork in footbed

I’m a little picky on dress shoes, but I’ve worn through too many and they are one of the three things to spend money on (Shoes, Mattress, chair). I’ve had shoes with synthetic tops, cushioned midsoles and rubber bottoms. They have either looked clunky, wore quickly, or lost comfort with wear. This does not happen with shoes that have the characteristics above.

Roman sandals from as early as 34 BC would fit in with the worlds oldest trousers in Anthropologie. They were leather with cork or hardened leather bottoms and tight laces.

Roman Caligae

Again, did we find the secret sauce in 50 BC? Toss in metal eyelets, rubber welt, and traction supporting bottoms, and we have modern shoes. Much like rompers, are pleather stilettoes a great leap forward or a ‘Great Leap Forward’?

Why is it that authors from the Victorian era through the Golden Age of Science fiction anticipate so much change to our clothing? For thousands of years fashion changed tremendously, but the technology in clothing (pants and shoes at least) did not. Why by year 2000 did those authors anticipate we would be wearing Mylar jumpsuits with rocket packs and motorized heelys? Hell, we just passed self-lacing shoes as a possibility.

I think it could be that we did find the best design for most clothes in the BC era. Wearable tech won’t catch on precisely because fashion changes so often and it’s hard to find something that works well. I wouldn’t want to buy a shirt with great computing power if I anticipate that it will be out-of-style in a few months. I’d rather put that power in my pocket. Instead, I would want the technology benefits in clothes to center around making maintenance easier and item cost lower.

I think there will be a point where clothing fundamentally changes, but it will come only after other factors cause us to need clothing that protects against threats or facilitates actions that humans have not encountered in the past. I don’t think fashion will lead the revolution; which is interesting, because the fashion industry is one that prides itself on change.