VALUES / STYLE
5 years ago by
When, as the Atelier, we decided to focus on our values for the month of September, we had many discussions about what exactly those values are. Inevitably, we ended up talking about style. After all, style, and the style with which one lives their life, is a huge part of what Atelier Doré is all about.
From the women that we feature on our site, to our loyal readers, to the team that makes up the Atelier, our shared style ethos isn’t hard to identify.
One thing we have in common is that we don’t take it all so seriously. Fashion is fun, and fashion week, with its never-ending chaos and excitement, is inspiring, but it doesn’t rule our lives. The way we get dressed each day has a lot more to do with the enduring and essential, rather than the trends that come and go.
The women who inspire us have lives that are full. Full of style, yes, but also full of work, travel, passion, and inspiration. Therefore, they tend to have a formula for what they wear from day to day. Buy less but buy better, is among the phrases often seen on our site. Slow fashion. Essentials that we’ll wear for years. Classic. Timeless. Utilitarian and functional.
Of course, all of this isn’t to say that we’re perfect, minimalist drones. Style is personal. It’s inspiring and expressive. Sometimes, we take a fashion risk and discover something new that we love. Some days we wear the bad outfit. Later, we’ll go home and laugh about it with our girlfriends (or write about it for our readers). Our style presents us, genuinely yet imperfectly, to the outside world while allowing us to feel comfortable in our own skin.
This coming week, we’re going to be highlighting our style ethos with some slow and deliberate fashion choices, and some women who are endlessly inspiring to us. Stay tuned!
Chère Garance , je vous ai découvert il y a maintenant longtemps, à vos débuts. Avant votre plume ce sont vos dessins qui m’ont parlé, simples, directs, avec cerre grâce que l’on appelle aussi Elegance. Et puis les années passant je vous ai oublié prise dans mon propre tourbillon. Bien sûr j’ai acheté à sa sortie votre livre , un peu comme l’on prend des nouvelles d’une amie, à distance. Et puis plus rien jusqu’à ce matin. Envie, besoin de savoir ce que vous deveniez, comme une connexion nécessaire, à des milliers de kilomètres je me retrouve dans chacun de vos mots, dans chaque silence, non tout ne va pas mal mais pire rien ne va bien. Merci d’avoir mis sur cette douleur lancinante, paralysante ce mot que je n’osait pas articuler. Je vous souhaite de très vite de nouveau vous habiter. Bien à vous .
Hello darling’s
Of course legions of women will recoil with the darlings , but I’m that rare old queer who can get away with it . As one of your few regular male readers , I sometimes find that you are too gender specific. The women this, the women that , becoming more gender fluid can help to define an individuals style . Style doesn’t have a pronoun. Style is egocentric and borderless at the same time. Style is both masculine/feminine all at once . Style has little to do with gender .
Oh dear it’s my Sunday afternoon rant , thanks for always being kind.
Jandrew
Dress The Part
http://www.jandrewspeaks.com
You are so right, Jandrew. Thank you for repeatedly reminding us of this. I loved how you said, “style doesn’t have a pronoun.” I will take all of your afternoon rants. Big hug. xx Veronica
I do wish you’d dig deeper into the actual values that undergird this style. This essay skips over the surface of *why* you would choose slow fashion – is it environmental? Just an expression of class (in both the socio-economic and “taste” sense of the term)? You toss out the word “utilitarian,” without even a wink or a nod to the fact that most people would use that word for a solid pair of Carharts, not a dry-clean-only summer suit. If humor is part of the M.O., maybe a bit of self-reflection in the Atelier’s essays would help them mesh better with the adorable, human, humane and so very vulnerable Garance – who brought us here in the first place.
I realize you rarely publish negative comments, but I just wish, wish, wish there was a bit more self-awareness and humility in the Atelier posts.
Word.
Hi Jessica,
Thank you for pointing out that you would like us to speak up louder on Why’s and How’s of slow fashion. As it’s exactly what we have coming your way.
We’re all living breathing human beings here at the Atelier, who choose to stand up for ethical fashion, while taking into account that not one brand is perfect. We always put our hearts in everything we create, because it’s important for us to connect with people like you, Jessica, our valued readers.
Thank you for stoping by to read, to share your thoughts and to challenge our perspective.
xx Bogdana
*_*
By the way…looking to the picture of this story there’s a word : «Bravura».
And in portuguese it means something that i Truly belive that can also describe what the Atelier Team is all about! No bullsh*t!!!
Check it out!!!
Kisses from Lisboa
Jorginho
Hi! I love your blog but, as every style blog, the prices of clothes are too high. I know that slow fashion is expensive, but it’s almost impossible to find something in your blog that is under 100 €. I really can’t efford them. And, as a working mother of two children, I really don’t have time to go find vintage clothes. Could it be possible that you write any article about more effortable clothes?
Thank you from Italy!
Federica
Merci ….
At first, I read the post quickly. But because I have the habit of reading the comment section as well, I ended up going back to reread it just in case I missed something. Some of the comments made some valid points. Style indeed doesn’t have a pronoun! Something I hadn’t noticed before and thank you Jandrew for pointing that out. And style is definitely not about fashion alone. It’s more of a choice to live in a certain way, to enjoy the things that matter to us in a certain way and certainly the choice to express ourselves in a certain way. What I’m trying to say is that our choices dictate our style in every single aspect. Fashion is just a bit of that and perhaps a bit overrated by some. We need to slow down, not just because of the environmental impact. But we because we risk missing the point!