Please, please, please keep looking at things you don't like
We have been watching Mad Men — a second watch for me, first for Caleb. In season 3, as the cracks in their marriage have begun to show, Don and Betty go to Italy on business for the Hilton hotel chain. Betty steps off the plane in a pink suit with scalloped edges, does some shopping, and shows up to dinner like this:
Compared to Betty’s normal wardrobe of pastels, and petticoats, this is a jarring difference. As someone who has dabbled in costume design, sitting on my couch, I was taken aback. What the hell is going on with the nude lip? With this hair? The tiny bow pin reminded me of Mrs. Elton’s hair in the most recent Emma adaptation1:
Betty’s look in this scene is intended to be jarring, a stark departure from her traditional bouffant and pearls — a sexy Italian mod alter ego. As the scenes went on, I moved from being vexed by the ensemble to admiring how well the costume designer (Janie Bryant) was able to convey this alter ego that Betty adopts, allowing her to become someone else for Don and their marriage — an illusion that dissipates as soon as they return to Camelot in New York.
Why bring this up, one outfit from one episode of prestige TV that came out over 10 years ago? I wanted to explore the idea of creative disagreement, or the importance of looking at things you don’t like. I think this idea is especially key in a world of algorithmic silos and overwhelm.
Philosophy Corner (me intellectualizing)
I don’t vouch for John Stuart Mill, as he was a utilitarian and I am not. What’s important for today, however, is knowing that John Stuart Mill was a 19th century English philosopher that had a lot to do with the founding of the British Parliament. He wrote an essay, On Liberty, most of which is about rights and liberties that citizens should have as part of the new government, including free speech. JSM’s idea was that censorship should not be part of the new system of government because we should never be afraid of new ideas and concepts. Once we are presented with new ideas, we should not be afraid of them because we can do one of two things:
Think about the idea, learn that our current beliefs are outmoded/wrong/not nuanced enough, and adopt the idea as a new belief — which gets us closer to the capital-t Truth. A happy ending!
Think about the idea, discern for ourselves why the the idea is wrong, and become strengthened in our old beliefs because we can logically dismantle the new idea and use that to support and better understand our current beliefs — which also gets us closer to the Truth. Another happy ending!
This policy is obviously applicable in many parts of life, and I personally hold it near and dear for its role in dismantling beliefs I grew up with and don’t agree with anymore. I think it is a crucial part of media literacy, and holds true in the Internet and fashion discourse I partake in and contribute to on Substack.
Same same, but different
Clearly, I am not suggesting that we entertain blatant bad-faith discussions of politics on TikTok. But because we all exist on the internet, we end up seeing the same styles of outfits and home interiors repeatedly even when we try to be different. Brooke LaMantia recently wrote about this phenomenon for The Cut in the piece “What If My Personal Style Isn’t So Personal?”
It’s hard!! It’s exasperating!! UGH. You mean even when I’m trying to be unique I end up looking like everyone else? I understand, it’s hard, especially when social media feeds are designed to sling out more and more of the same. Pinterest markets itself as this well of inspiration, but does it succeed in that goal (especially when a third of the feed is just ads)?
The easiest way, in my book, to fight against this current is to intentionally follow design accounts of people making art in styles you don’t like. For fiber arts, for example, I follow Vexnot Studio on Instagram:
I would not personally make or wear these items; they are a little Seussian to me. But am I glad someone else is making them? Of course. Same goes for the writer of Kayla’s Substack, Kayla S on Instagram:
Kayla typically uses only scrap yarn for her free-form knitting and crochet projects. It is way harder to make something (successfully) without a pattern, and I am wholly impressed by her craft. Her work was part of the inspiration for the rainbow sweater I just finished — something I wouldn’t have thought to make if I only consumed content related to the Four White Blonde Girls of the Apocalypse2.
Another example: we all love Paige Wassel, of course. However, one of my favorite AD home tours is RuPaul’s. The house is consistently themed in black, white, and orange. There is a disco ball installation in the dining room. Would I ever decorate my house in this way? No, but I still love the creative conviction, such an out-of-the-box and totally unique style that you can tell RuPaul was intimately involved in designing.
Outside of Instagram and AD home tours
Earlier this year, I visited the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris. It’s a small museum, but when you visit it is practically empty outside of the elliptical rooms of the Monet Water Lily murals. They are beautiful murals, but the rooms are so congested with people making content in front of them that they are difficult if not impossible to sit in front of and appreciate. I mean, this is a museum that has Picassos and Matisses in it, empty outside of two rooms. It seemed like most people were paying the 15€ entrance fee solely to visit impressionist art that was popular during the life of the artist — I mean, the guy wouldn’t have two specially built rooms in a museum in central Paris if he was controversial. Monet’s house and gardens in Giverny are among the most magical places I’ve ever visited (also overrun with people making content), but there is nothing challenging about appreciating Monet. I hope this doesn’t come across as snobby, because mostly I felt sad. I anthropomorphized the art elsewhere in the museum, hanging lonely, waiting for someone to come along and fulfill its purpose by just appreciating it. You don’t have to like a piece of art, but you owe it to yourself to look at it.
In a quieter, almost empty floor of the Musée de l’Orangerie was an exhibit of the art of Robert Ryman. I had never heard of him before, but essentially he is famous for painting white squares. His artwork is not immediately palatable in the same way Monet’s is, to be sure. It’s harder to appreciate, even if you’re not seeking an explanation or meaning from it. Personally, while taking in the exhibit hat I came to appreciate was the almost scientific method of Ryman’s work, a rote, diligent meditation on the way light and paint interact. As with Betty’s Italian look, the white squares needled at some confusion and latent dislike in me, but I came out of the exhibit with an altered perspective and gratitude for the opportunity to gain that perspective. That’s how art touches us and makes us better people.
I guess this is my way of expressing frustration at the ideological echo chambers all of us in the US are so familiar with. I’ll leave it at that. I just urge you to challenge yourself in this small way through your social media feed, and through the media you consume. And don’t skip exhibits at the art museum!
Y’all have only narrowly escaped a breakdown of my favorite castings of all the characters in Jane Austen adaptations… that’s not a promise but a threat
(Sofia Richie, Hailey Bieber, Matilda Djerf, Alix Earle)