“Just as dreams are compensations to the lacking aspects of our conscious life, fashion (in a general sense) is compensation to unspoken or unrecognized aspects of our inner world.”
I am Aynura, originally from Azerbaijan. After living in couple of other countries, I currently live in Rome with my husband and two ridiculously funny boys.
My journey into depth psychology
Since I left cozy womb of parent’s house, I happen to live kind of a selected nomad life. Such kind of nomad life style comes with some wonderful highs and quite some real lows. With a couple of years in each country that we had to live, my life almost over the last decade has been about figuring out who I am against that culture in that particular moment. Putting in words makes it sound like a cliché, but I’ve learned the importance of belonging to a certain culture in a hard way. Because it provides a set of values and morals that play a role of guide in all aspects of life. Of course, those morals may be biased or prejudiced (which in general they are), but they just make you feel secure on the ground. When that frame is not there any more, one finds herself in the abyss of unanswerable questions – what is right, what is wrong, what is bad, what is good and even that most dreadful question – who am I. There is no guide any more to give one the means to measure. If one makes to the end of this dark tunnel, ones realizes that beyond that illusionary firmness, there lies basic yet eternal human values, which bring different kind of meaning to life. But getting there is a process, sometimes quite painful. It is all about finding “your own myth”. I am making my baby steps in that direction (I hope).
My journey into fashion
So, it has been quite some years that in search of that firm ground, I have been swinging back and forth between the very extremes from studies of depth psychology (in the core country of it – Argentina) to the most refined fashion and luxury studies (guess where – in Italy). I say two extremes, because they are about extreme interior and exterior aspects of our lives. Over the years I have come to realize that just as dreams are compensations to the lacking aspects of our conscious life, fashion (in a great and general sense) is compensation to unspoken and/or unrecognized aspects of our inner world. In a sense, although pointing to opposite directions, they originate from the same “seed”. I think, that is why use of symbolism in fashion is so smooth and appealing. That is why, unknowingly, I have been swinging between the two extremes just to have something to hold on to feel life, to dress a meaning to it.
Blog idea
This blog is an attempt to synthesize my extreme passions by shedding light over mythical and symbolic images frequently used in fashion design. I intend to decode that secret language right where it is loved and used so keenly so that they come to life and surround us just like fashion does. I try to keep posts easy and kind of fun when possible. But coming to this point has been a real journey and this blog idea was not born out of fun and entertainment. It was born in moments of deep reflection. Or crisis. Even after designing the site, I’ve abandoned it for couple of months not knowing to really launch it or not.
My expectations
I hope this blog will not be interesting only to those who love fashion, but also to those who are interested in deep dark alleys of our mind. Of course, this content is not meant to be any kind of help or guidance. However, all the myths and symbols deciphered here are realities of our psychic life. They are the invisible hands behind our daily decisions, reactions, attitudes, biases and prejudices. They form the ground over which construct our judgement and reasoning. They are the artists that paint in color our gray reality, give magic wings to our “I believe in what I see” rationality, bring tears to eyes in sorrow and take to stars the hearts in love. Our consciousness is mathematical and is eager to judge and divide everything into “good and bad”, “right and wrong” based on the values framed by specific culture in certain moment in space and time. However beyond these definitions, there lies eternal truth of human soul free from duality, judgment, time and space which is to be communicated through these undying myths and symbols. So they are the guiding mother of our baby consciousness and ego. They are the treasure book of bottomless history of humanity written in eloquent yet silent picture language which we have forgotten how to read.
What I find amazing, when even psychologists stumble, fashion exhibits an unfailing attitude to refer to the depth of our mind, resort to rich symbolism and influence on much deeper level. It seems, when we think they are dead, those symbols make a comeback, now more than ever in fashion industry.
So, have fun and join me in exploration of the colorful dimension of psyche. This blog is exclusively related to the world of fashion and sometimes maybe to animations of classic fairy tales.
A last note – these are not topics that are explained and can be exhausted by reason, some color of imagination and irrationality is needed. Reactions from people can be most dramatic due to the numinous nature of symbols discussed. Also, when touched complexes, so called those well-concealed “sweet spots”, people tend to hate that topic. So, this controversy in mind, I’d be happy to hear your thoughts, opinions and suggestions on what you would like to read about. And I’d do my best to dive into books to bring it to you.
Enjoy!
Aynura
