Invisible Dynamics

Sometimes, we dress to discover who we might become. Reading The Secret Language of Fashion, by Ida Galati, made me reflect on a less visible function of clothing. An outfit does not simply communicate an identity already formed. Sometimes, it creates a temporary space in which another identity can be tested. A more authoritative silhouette. A colour we have never dared to wear. A garment that changes the way we enter a room. Before becoming a message to others, clothing may

What happens when we become more accustomed to seeing ourselves than to feeling ourselves? There was a time when a mirror was one of the few places where we could encounter our own image. We looked, adjusted something, and walked away. Today, our image rarely leaves us. We photograph ourselves. We film ourselves. We select, crop, correct, publish, observe reactions and, sometimes almost unconsciously, begin to imagine how a moment will look before we have fully lived it. Some