Russian Construtivism, Franz Ferdinand and You

I am, for whatever reason, hooked again on Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out".  I kinda blame The Thinking Fashionista or maybe its just that I really love the song.  The music video is awesome.  If you haven't seen it, you must click the link and watch it on their YouTube channel.  It doesn't help that I'm a huge Russian/Soviet Constructivism nerd--the music video plays into that perfectly.  That art style is a direct reaction against "art for art's sake" and instead moves to serve a direct social purpose.  Its mostly from the NEP era and the most quintessential piece is THE MAN WITH THE MOVIE CAMERA (movie poster pictured).  If you haven't seen the MAN WITH THE MOVIE CAMERA, you really should.  It was a groundbreaking piece and is still wildly influential.

So, after lots of gaping at YouTube, I decided that wearing clothes inspired by the music video was a must.  One of the things I came up with is this Temperly tattoo-lace mini dress.  The boobs have eyes.  This dress fits perfectly with the music video--its color scheme matches exactly, parts of it look like altogether different objects and its got that dada/fantasy quality about it.  Not only does it look kinda like a high-fashion Constructivist fantasy, but it is also flattering.  Notice the contrasting side panels--those hit perfectly to minimize the hips.  Also, the lines on the abdomen are curved in such a way to create an optical illusion that the waist is smaller.  This is a pretty neat looking dress and it isn't for everyone, but it certainly has a place in the world.

Another dress that seems appropriate is the Roksanda Ilincic Sunrise lame' dress.  I know, it is terribly simplistic to watch the video and get "art deco robot"  out of it.  But, you have to admit that this dress works like that.  Its a classic shift cut and the color reminds me of old hand-painted photos from the 1920s.  I like that the bandages/stripes are slightly skewed, it makes it kinda quirky and like it is some kind of prototype made out of parts found around the lab.  But, it doesn't go overboard to where it looks like a costume.  Its actually really fashionable and wearable.  Granted, you would have to wait for a particular occasion to wear it, but its a really fabulous dress.

I have no idea why, but stuff inspired by Soviet Constructivist artwork is absolutely intriguing.  Its such a different, stylized concept of what beauty and life are.  And, Franz Ferdinand is just plain cool.

Movie poster is public domain and two dresses are from Net-A-Porter

You may also be interested in my posts about more Construtivist/Art Deco inspired fashions and The History of Fortuny