I Went To The Market To Realize My Soul

The song of the day is Rudie Can't Fall by The Clash. It is a catchy tune, which incorporates a lot of different types of music. The Clash were inspired by different genres and especially in this song you can hear elements of funk, reggae and ska. With the Internet I think you have to a have at least a basic knowledge of different artists. But a lot of the times you're able to namedrop an artist but you haven’t really listened to their music; sort of like reading the cliff notes instead of the book. That’s why every once in a while I buy an older album that can counteract with new music. I can highly recommend it. Rudie Can’t Fail’s reggae influences can also be observed in the lyrics, as the commentary pays tribute to individuals who challenged the status quo of their elders. Like the narrator responds "I know that my life make you nervous/But I tell you I can't live my life in service." Also the chorus expresses a suspicion of the consumer-lifestyle, that is relevant now more than ever; ‘’I went to the market to realize my soul ‘cause what I need I just don’t have’’ But don't take my word for it; listen to the music.

I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. De Mille

The Ukrainian-born Danish artist Sergei Sviatchenko has started a website, where preppy aesthetics are renewed. It’s called Close Up and Private. Sviatchenko has a keen eye for capturing the details of fashion and by focusing on the details instead of the entire look there is an aura of mystery surrounding his photographs. Preppy semiotics continues to captivate me; especially in regards to defining different kinds of subcultures. Taste cultures are transformed into self-conscious "subcultures" by defining music, literature and especially fashion.

It’s interesting that subcultures are based on the basic meaning of contra, which means against. Defining yourself in opposition to something else and with the help of expression sharing your oppositional aesthetics with the observing world. Sviatchenko’s project is more about updating the preppy aesthetic with modern touches. If you interested in Sviatchenko you can read a fascinating interview with him, where he discusses the project and reveals his beatlemania.

There is something very sad about beautiful clothes. One of the main reasons is because there is the historical sadness of fashion. Clothes are tenuously attached to a specific and irretrievable moment in time. Places that sell expense clothes tend to enhance their exclusiveness by constantly referring to their status. There is a store called Illum in Copenhagen, that has a Ralph Lauren corner and the leather boat shoes are displayed on a bookshelf just under two books by F.Scott Fitzgerald (Tender is the night and the Great Gatsby). Whenever I’m there I always feel that Imperialism is lurking in the background.

When you enter you are confronted with a wooden table displaying a rainbow of sweaters and polo’s. One of the sweaters has an extreme noticeable preppy fabric called Madras.

Madras is of course from India. These are some of the things that fascinate me about preppy-ness, definitions and the intertextuality of semiotics. But it is sad that such an order ever existed and even more sad, that you can notice its manifestations in modern times.