All I knew about Diane Pernet is that she looks silly and has a blog, so tonight I took a longer look.
But I still can’t figure out what she’s trying to say with her costume.
I guess we’re not supposed to call it a costume, since she is never seen wearing anything else. Maybe we’re supposed to call it her Look…an expression of her individuality and eccentricity. If you check out some older photos, you will see that she had a distinctive hairstyle more than 2o years ago. Here she is in 1989:
Ooooh, wasn’t she pretty? I like the big messy hive. The horrible writer Tama Janowitz also sported this big messy hair back in 1986:
But Tama has tinkered with her look quite a bit since then.
Why has Diane made this costume her signature? Perhaps she is in mourning for her youth. Perhaps she wants to be easily identified, to make a strong impression. Whatever the reason, I want to know what she wears when she’s home alone. I want to know if she fears losing her identity without her costume. I want to know why no one has the nerve to call her out on it.
Is it easier to adopt a weird costume as an older woman than to struggle with your sagging face and body? Is it easier to wear a costume than to figure out how to look attractive and creative on a daily basis?
I’m aware that many designers and artists have a “uniform” they mostly adhere to, like Vera Wang or Patti Smith, to name just two. But I assume their choices are based on comfort, at least in part. Diane looks like she puts a lot of work into the Crazy Goth Widow thing. I don’t like it. It’s too cartoonish. Take it away!
Me, I have a uniform but it’s not as rigid and it’s based on comfort, as well as a resistance to experimentation. At least it doesnt require a head-dress.
What do you think about costumes as markers of identity, and how do you decide what is crucial to your look?
I forget where exactly I read it, but it was somewhere I read that the big difference between a costume and a uniform is the intention behind it. Which is really funny to think about, because if that’s the case, this woman could get up in the morning, pull this stuff out of her closet, and put it all on without really thinking about what it looks like, and it’s a uniform. Whereas the teenager who spends an hour choosing JUST the right shapeless t-shirt to wear with comfortable jeans is wearing a costume. Ah, semantics. They make life fun.
Costumes as a means to express identity:
Maybe its just easier to express yourself through a persona. Sort of like how its easier to say what you mean in a work of fiction.
Its fun to be visually stimulating for attention whoring reasons as well as for the pure pleasure of it.
I’m interested in costume because I think it’s fascinating to make one every day and to test how it changes your mood. to build one and then destroy it and live through it as the day goes by. To strip down in the evening. Also, I use it to build a memorable character that my poetry can ride on. Ali Abraham isn’t really me anymore and I use the name “Theresa” here because my best friend theresa speaks her mind and yells at people all the time. So I wanted to give myself the freedom that comes naturally to her.
Not so much a costume, but sort of similar.
Then again, on the “costume creates idenity” flipside:
I am an extremely anxious person and predictability implies comfort. So if people can predict how i’ll behave I have to fix it by being unpredictable. it makes space.
costumes both make and mask identity. The most obvious mask comparison is with sunglasses. Its much more comfortable to be in public with sunglasses on.
Amy Sedaris is a bizzaro character in this whole idea- she’s been doing the costume/character acting/identity building exorcise since she was tiny. I don’t know what this says about her, but she is single and about 40 years old, suggesting either strength, wisdom and self confidence or commitment or self sabotage issues. Im not sure which.
Also, being a cartoon automatically throws people off or draws them to you in an ordinary casual interaction. In either situation, the cartoon has the social power (at least for the duration of the interaction,) because the other person is a tiny bit uncomfortable or impressed (though not always.)
I’ve never thought of cartoonishness or costume as being connected to body or aging issues…..but it seems possible. I can’t count myself as contrary evidence.
As for the hair, for me, not only is it a source of ego, but its a shielding mechanism. like sunglasses. the bigger, the better, the skinnier and more hidden I look.
so who knows.
Diane Pernet is definitely annoying in the tragic-fashion-boy interviews though. I don’t like her much either. But I do want her sunglasses.
I’m too whimsical or could that be lackadaisical to adopt a uniform of any sort even a neoclassical uniform. It is an amalgam of Victorian mourning dress and Spanish widow. I’m kind of impressed at the uniformity based on brand image – you know who she is. She can hardly be wasting time and money on clothes.
What is slightly disturbing is the almost uncanny resemblance to Dame Edna Everidge and the slightly caricature element of her style of dress. It reminds me of Edith Wharton writing about Mrs Manson Mignott in the The Age of Innocence
i don’t get that utterly joyless diane pernet at all.
she’s supposed to be this super influential fashion blogger, but her writing usually bores me to tears. blahblahblah (insert fashion industry insider gibberish here) blah blah.
Ah …. but then where does the line lie between costume and corporate/attire for the workplace lie? Do we unconsciously dress or don a costume for the role we are playing – be it mother/lover/office worker or to reflect our age/status? Of course we do – non verbal communication is far more powerful than what comes out of our mouths. And it can be a matter of life or death – I’m thinking gang colours/army uniforms et al.
Interesting comments.
oops … I forgot to add the qualifier “if you want to fit in/be included” to my comment – of course there are scads of folks who do not deviate from ‘their’ look at all – whatever they’re up to. And not everyone is so calculating.
I feel conflicted about people who have a daily “costume”. On one hand I kind of admire their dedication to stick with one look, especially if they’re really doing it as a natural expression of who they are (Patti Smith for example has a look that seems like a natural extension of her personality). I’d guess that the majority of people with a costume don’t develop it in such an organic way. Maybe once they establish their “look” they feel like they can’t change it anymore? They’ve created an expectation for their appearance and if they don’t live up to it then other people will be disappointed or critical. I suppose it all depends on the person but some definitely come across as more contrived and calculated than others. I think that when people cross the line of comfort they start entering gimmicky territory and it seems forced (Anna Piaggi comes to mind). I don’t really want to criticize people for having an eccentric or over-the-top look, having fun with fashion is great and I love when people dress the way they want and don’t care if they look silly to others, but I appreciate it more when it seems sincere and genuine. Maybe Diane Pernet is genuine, I don’t know, it’s hard to tell.
Sometimes I wish that I knew myself so well that I could comfortably have a “look”, but I don’t think that will ever happen…at some point I would just get too bored of always looking the same. I’d like to better define and feel more confident about how I dress but also leave room for experimentation. I’m not interested in having anything like a “trademark” since it would probably make me feel trapped. Sometimes I love a trademark look on others though, Vivienne Westwood and her orange hair will never get old!
Hi I am a regular reader of this blog not just for the posts but also the comments-I love the debate that often follows between all you smart and funny people. I have posted maybe once before but not since but I have plucked up the courage again.
My partner and I were only the other evening discussing the wearing of a “uniform” by the rich and famous-Simon Cowell was the catalyst for the conversation, he who only wears armani v neck t shirts, mostly or something. My partner reckons Mr Cowell would like to be seen as being comparable to Einstein, who had a few versions of the same suit which he wore religiously…. I think, with those in the public eye, it may have to do with separating themselves from the massess, in a “I have no time for such earthly pursuits” kind of way.
With your one, whoever she is, me thinks it’s maybe just so people can still recognise and photograph her as she ages, whereever she may go…
“Is it easier to adopt a weird costume as an older woman than to struggle with your sagging face and body? Is it easier to wear a costume than to figure out how to look attractive and creative on a daily basis?”
I think, to both: Yes.
It is one method of coping with fashion for one who is not, for various reasons (age, body, etc), going to be wearing the latest fashion. I think this sort of costuming is rampant among many who are part of the fashion industry.
I personally love both costume and uniform and consider all my clothing to be one or the other or, in some cases, both. My scrubs, for example, are certainly a uniform and are also, to my mind, a costume.
I generally agree with a sentiment shared in previous comments: All dress is costume.
Amy Winehouse in 20 years.
It’s too early for me to come up with anything substantial…but AGGGHHH she looks absolutely beautiful in the picture at 20 years old. I can”t stand it.
I’ll come up with a more detailed response later. Carry on.
Costume, uniform: alternate ways of deliberately not really communicating anything about yourself because you’re either hiding behind your attire, or making it known that you’re not really making a choice about it.
I think she looks ridiculous, but my morbid curiosity is piqued — how DOES she do that hairdo?
She never has to decide what to wear day after day. I for one have days when I have no idea who I want to portray myself as to the world. If I had a uniform I would never have this problem! She’s a genius!! I think that thing on her head is a mantilla, which is:
Mantilla – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A mantilla is a lace or silk scarf worn over the head and shoulders, often over a high comb, popular with women in Spain. It is particularly associated with …
History – Peineta – Usage in Catholicism – Usage in Popular Culture
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantilla – Cached – Similar
She is so unique! you don’t see many of those around, do you? (And I hope you are reading some snark into my post).
Two years ago, I had chin-length hair that I dyed fire engine red. I loved it so much that I decided I wanted this hair for the rest of my life. That I’d forever be known for my fire-engine red hair and when I became a famous somethingorother, it’d be my hair that people would remember.
And then it started to grow out, and I realised what a pain in the arse it was to keep up, and that was when I chopped it all off completely.
I find costumes slightly ridiculous. When you look at people like this, there’s definitely a persona being projected, which works great in our superficial world where EVERYBODY either has or wants a persona. But what about when you’re hanging out at home with your friends. Does the persona drop? Does it stay on until you fall asleep? Does it stay on until you die? Do you avoid making friends entirely so that your persona can stay intact without challenge?
As cool as these things look on the surface, I think that they are made for other people, not ourselves. That they form these prison bars that look attractive from the outside but trap us from the inside, and that ultimately they limit us as human beings.
I don’t know. But it’s an extremely interesting topic. I think whatever’s going on inside with the costumed or uniformed individual is going to be apparent to an astute observer, eventually. There’s nowhere to run to. As usual, what is intended specificially to hide always reveals more than it obscures. I’ve always liked the sheer fun of dress and I enjoy seeing people having fun with it. There’s just an attitude – I can’t pin it down, but it transcends costuming and uniforming.
The top picture made me think of the opera singer Montserrat Caballe, and that wiped out my ability to think about it clearly, assuming I ever had any to begin with. Divas, jeez, talk about costuming…
It’s sort of like having an online avatar that you dress as in real life. I could never keep to a costume/uniform. It feels pretentious to say I dress based on what’s “influencing” me at the moment, but I guess it’s pretty true. Some days I’m feeling like wearing black and boots and other days it’s heels and a bright dress, often brought on by what I’m reading/watching/thinking about.
I’m thinking that Diane’s outfit is both uniform and costume. And it allows everybody to know who she is, no matter how poorly she ages. It’s like Anna Wintour’s bob hairstyle, ubiquitous sunglasses and Channel suits: you know exactly at who you’re looking.
Personally, being a corporate lackey and cubicle farm slave I really hate this business casual stuff, which is a uniform in itself. However, it’s not the right uniform for me – it’s too limiting but also too expansive in what it allows. I miss the days when I was required to wear a suit, currently my favorite type of former uniform: it was stringent and precise but it allowed me to put together an outfit in 30 seconds, leaving enough room to be creative with hosiery and accessories. It identified me as a member of a certain group and, in a way, made the “playing field” even.
I kind of wish I was a person who had a costume identity marker. I like looking different but I envy my friend who’s wardrobe consist of various black tops and a couple pairs of jeans and never has to wake up in the morning and go “oh, I’ve got nothing to wear”.
There is a fine line between a costume, a “trademark”, “personal style” , “look” and so on. I have similar questions as Rebecca: do you dress up in your costume only when people can see you? Do you wear it all the time? Why the choice of the fussy quasi-Spanish duenna costume? I personally would opt for black t-shirts, jeans and crazy sneakers, or something similar – but then, I’m lazy and undisciplined and would be always tempted by a red T-shirt…
She was beautiful, now, IMO, she’s weird. Not that there is anything wrong with it.
OK I have just learned all about this person in 5 minutes and have the answer ……… pretentious.
End of discussion!
i can think of 2 reasons why people stop changing their clothes: they get so wrapped up in controlling how they want to be perceived that they fixate on a certain look, and maintain that at all costs, OR they’ve completely disassociated themselves with their appearance and forget to maintain it at all.
my reaction to people who force their appearance on others–with a look-at-me costume–is You want attention but you don’t want to relate to anyone else.
If she was still young and beautiful, I doubt if she would be hiding behind a costume.
I love what diane pernet has done for letting out more voices of other creatives. I also wonder about the costume, maybe she is mourning creativity.
Artful Lawyer – Hahahahahahaha!
HelOnWHeels – It’s easier for men in the business world: A suit is their uniform and they can express themselves via ties and shirts.
Cricket9 -Black with an occasional flash of red, sounds perfect to me!
Sheri -Yep, I think you’re right. About the hair: it’s hard to know where the hair ends and the head dress thing begins.
I think initially you wear the costume, after a while though it becomes ridiculous and the costume becomes too much artifice, the costume is then wearing you. After a while you can just send the costume out by itself, it serves the same purpose and you can just lie at home on the couch in your underwear.
Cybill – Hahahahaha!
I think Cybill has cracked it!
So in reality some mininum wage lackey is out there in the powdered wig (Karl), the bob and glasses (Anna), the giant kaftan (Andre) … and possibly two (on each others shoulders on account of the hair) Diane. Total bloody genius.
I guess if you are so beautiful when you’re young, it’s going to be a real kick in the teeth to age. Making an elaborate uniform to attract attention is just going to get up most people’s noses though… I have a friend who’s all about the eccentric and you know, she always seems false. She’s a nice girl underneath it all, but never easy company.
I guess what I’m trying to say is if someone’s clothes are that elaborate I can’t imagine wanting to hang out with them and drink red wine and dance and laugh and set the world to rights.
Cybill – that’s fantastic news! I sent my costume out to work today and I’m staying at home to figure out a new look.
I’m much too lazy, but I love costumes. I think we need more people walking around like that
Cybill – ROFLMAO!!! Brilliant! Unfortunately my costume demanded a wage hike that I can’t afford so I’m the one at work today. Bastard costume!!
I actually got to meet Diane, albeit very briefly at Tokyo Fashion Week in 2007. I had no idea who she was at the time, I just remember being in awe of her outrageous atire. I was sitting and waiting to go into a show as she walked past surrounded by her minders/who-knows-who I just saw this huge black thing and turned to my friend and was like “who/what the f$%^ was that?” my friend immediatly stood up and pushed us through the minders to chat to his “idol”…I was apparently stupid for not knowing her, but hey it was 2007 before I knew anything about bloggers. Anyway she chatted to us for a minute before making her escape into the show. I have no idea what we spoke about because I couldn’t focus on anything else, except what she was wearing! AND this is Tokyo Fashion Week…people wear the most rediculous things all the time in that city, let alone at fashion week.
Anyway that is my story…I kinda think the outfit is a way for her to stand out and seem important, it certainly made me think of her in that way.
thank you so much for the mention! i feel like finally someone ‘got’ me and what i am trying to do in my work —
Cybill, that was brilliant!
I’m not so bothered by her wearing costume, or uniform, but by her choice of character. I don’t get the message of it, it’s outdated and clumsy and … it’s not relevant at all. Why would anybody want to look like a widow? It’s not funny at all, mocking the widows. Maybe she is a widow… even then…
If she would swap that head-dress for a turban, I’d applaud her style. I think that she still is damn beautiful, costume can not hide it.
Costume can not mark the identity completely, there is always something borrowed from stereotypes, otherwise people wouldn’t have reference and it wouldn’t read as a costume, it would be just a daily uniform.
There is this thing about the “high” hair and class-society. The height of Diane’s hair might imply that she is a higher status than us mortals. That is not funny either.
I very much like Diane Pernet. Her chosen look may be somewhat unappealing, but the cartoonish drag is a card that some personalities must play in order to defy and mock trends while remaining surrounded by their production, detractors be damned.
Mourning garb or rocker with leather jacket–it’s just a slight discrepancy, and Diane has chosen to startle. I don’t think she’s trying to hide her aging at all but is exaggerating it in a goth-camp death dance most graceful. Diane’s look is courageously self-protecting and defiant at the same time: very nunlike.
I sort of dig what Diane is doing. So many of my middle age (56) friends are wearing Eileen Fisher uniforms & I find that boring. So I think I’ll take Diane’s look & con-temporize it a bit for everyday wear. Minus the bumpits.
I don’t know what to say except I can’t imagine why someone who’s probably only in her early fifties would want to look like an 80-year-old widow. It’s one thing to be an eccentric old lady, but at least grow old first.
Well, I wouldn’t wear it, but i don’t really give a shit if she does. I like cartoony drag. I get bored of wearing the same thing very very fast, so I could never do it though Betsy Johnson has a similar cartoon style thing and I love it, she looks like pippi longstocking gone crazy. Andre Leon Talley dresses liked a cracked out designer house wife in his LV mu mus and such. I love how he looks, but it brings me to me big ass misgiving.
I do not really take kindly to some one who dresses like a nut case telling me I should suck it up and only be happy if i am slim blonde tanned and wearing what ever stupid designer the “elite” ( and I use that term with all hte sarcasm i can muster) tell me I should wear.
If their message is… be who you are. fab. But from reading Ms prent’s blog (for as long as i could, i found it really boring) all i can figure she is telling me is that i should lust for the latest wunderkind as crowned by her and the court of mz Wintour. I have no interest in that at all.
If she is afraid of aging.. well she needs to grow the fuck up. She is lucky to be alive. I watched a generation of my friends died while republicans said there was no problem, and i will be nothing but proud of my age from then on.
She’s in her early fifties??? I’m sixty and comparing, I look like a spring chicken – yay me. Note to self – avoid massive amounts of black fabric, black hair and black ruffles.
Fashion Hayley – Oooh, thank you for sharing that!
Tama – My pleasure.
i like the idea of it. why not this since we are all in costume anyway. I wish I could go around all day bringing the ridiculous like some character.
Diane has definitely made that look her costume. I love the picture from 1989, it’s great to see her eyes! xx
I think its just a uniform because considering how thats just how she likes to dress and its probably comfortable for her (Also, from what I have read on Diane Pernet, her garb is somewhat of a tribute to her late beau and just something she can’t seem to stop doing). Some people just prefer certain clothing and I can definitely relate considering that certain things just don’t make me feel comfortable. For example, I’ve tried wearing and buying things that aren’t in black for the last 5 or 6 years and I always either return it or never wear it because something just feels innately wrong (the only colors I can really tolerate is dark purple, dark blue, and grey and I rarely wear those colors unless its like a bracelet or a ring). I can’t exactly explain it, but when I’m out of my black uniform I just feel kind of awful and inauthentic. Like I’m putting on airs or something.
I can’t really comment on Diane Pernet, seeing as this is the first I’ve heard of her :s Is that good or bad, I don’t know.
What do you think about costumes as markers of identity, well the idea of a costume is quite scary, I like when people are creative and assert their individual style… but taken to far it can be over the top and frightening.
How I decide (and how I hope most people decide) on what is crucial to my “look/costume?” is hands down what is flattering on my body type/shape. This is the #1 factor.
#2. Is to look and see what everyone else is wearing and pick something they hate or don’t wear (within reason). In my case I have a lot of options because everyone where I live (small Canadian town) pretty much wears jeans and a tee or sweatshirt. The more adventurous wear leggings.
Thank you for all those lovely comments about sagging skin and old age.
pernet – I certainly wouldn’t comment on your skin or age, since I’m older than you. Do you google yourself though?
Of course, that is how I found all these charming comments. The thing is it is not a costume and I do not dress to please anyone but myself. With all the bitchy comments above, it seems quite clear that I am not dressing for anyone but myself and I’ve yet to reach 80 but thank you for telling me that is the age that I appear. Perhaps my blog appears boring to your readers as I choose not to post bitchy comments . If I do not like something I just do not write about it.
All the best, Diane
Pernet – Thank you for speaking up! I don’t think all the comments were bitchy – many were very supportive of you! I see that someone felt your clothes made you “look 80.” What I wanted to explore is how your look is interpreted by a range of people.
Obviously, your look calls for a reaction of some kind. You know, are you trying to provoke, to protect or hide yourself, or to project as idea of yourself…I am curious.
In my 40s I always planned to confine myself to black mourning gowns once I hit my 50s. I thought it would be a funny statement and it would be sort of a preemptive move: Looking like a Victorian widow before anyone started alluding to my over-the-hillness.
I’m wondering if anyone has ever interviewed you about your look and how it came about and what it means to you. Would you like to be a guest author on this subject?? Or are you put off by the bitch factor?
It’s not always bitchy here. Sometimes it is very emotional, sometimes playful, and sometimes people insult me for being a bitter old hag and much much worse. I just trust the readers to join in a conversation without becoming abusive. I banish them if they prove to be mean-spirited imbeciles.
Best to you as well, Sister Wolf
It’s funny Sister Wolf all my life people have told me what beautiful skin I have and continue to say so. For the moment it is not sagging but who knows what could happen tomorrow. You know we all do age and although I’m far from 80, I will probably be one day and maybe you too. I don’t look forward to it but I don’t fear it, I accept it. What can you do? You either die or get older.
All the best, Diane
Your response came before my additional answer. I do not dress to attract attention, as I said I dress to please myself. Perhaps this is the case with other’s but it is not my desire. Every journalist poses that question and I’m sick to death of responding to it hence I do not want to be a guest editor and put in a position where I have to defend what I consider the simplicity of my look. And yes, the bitch factor does turn me off because I am neither cynical, bitter nor bitchy. If any qualities age one, those are it. All the best, Diane