I have more bubble puns in me, but why go on?

Previously: Kristeen Young wore a dress of bubbles in 2007. Lady Gaga wore a similar dress of bubbles in 2009. I posted on the strange sadness one feels when someone famous does the same thing as someone you like.

Recently: Another discussion started along Young’s fans, partly because Gaga wore another, much less similar, dress of bubbles. The cruelties of appropriation were discussed. Hussein Chalayan’s similar/earlier creation was cited (again). It was pointed out that nobody outside the room cared. I dug up a New York Times blurb on Gaga’s bubbles, which was annoying on a whole different level -tried to implicate Gaga for copying high fashion; ended up implicating DIY culture- but in the end, was making the same argument as me: no matter where she took it from, she’s famous, she’s comely, it’s hers now, and that chafes.

At this point, Young jumped in via proxy, with a series of remarks which abashed and touched me, and which I’d like to quote:

the NY Times is bashing gaga because they say her dress is a rip off of a Hussein Chalayan (designer) dress. I’ve seen this dress and yes Gaga’s is exactly like it. My dress was inspired by and Abbott and Costello movie, Abbott and Costello go to Mars. I’ll explain if you want. You’ll notice that my dress is an actual dress and Gaga’s and Chalayan’s are bubbles over a leotard. Mine also has an X over the right breast with dots of blood…and a hoop over the right shoulder…..a reference to Amazon warriors who cut off their right breast so they could shoot arrows better.. In the Abbott and Costello movie (a favourite of mine when I was a child)…..Abbott and Costello try to go to Mars but end up on Venus where it is inhabited by Amazon women. They have a truth machine (a lie detector) there where they make men hold a bubble and if the man is lying (when asked a question) the bubble bursts. THIS was the inspiration for my dress. I actually said something about this, on stage, when I started wearing the dress.

Having said this, I think it is perfectly fine for artists (who aren’t clothes designers) to take ideas from clothing designers…..and re-work them. That’s what art and culture is about…..AND clothing designers are putting their designs “out there” to influence how people dress. BUT, I do not think it’s ok for well known artists to copy lesser known artists in their own field. I know there is a vampire tradition in RnR. But, it’s sickening…..and usually leaves the lesser known to have nothing but a heroin problem. If the internet is here for the whole world to know INFORMATION…..fine, let the vampirism live on…..but, just let it be known where they are getting their food.

I know, I know…..it’s JUST a dress. But, it’s not, you see. I spend a lot of time (and what little money I have) making music AND my outfits. It’s part of who I am…..my identity…..my creativity. When someone comes along, and is more known, and claims it as HER identity…..even for the moment……it’s gutting. She has the money and team behind her to consume and consume…and shout it from the mountaintops. I obviously don’t. And NOW, who am I? If I continue in the same vein I have been (for quite some time) will people say I am copying HER and dismiss me? See, it’s much more than a dress. And by the way, I don’t think it’s HER who is copying…..I think it’s stylists searching the internet for ideas…..I’ve encountered this before.

Is there life on Mars?

So. Forgive me for another bubble-post, but that really got to me. Fame tends to reduce us to our position relative to the very famous. We are expected to accept this, and indeed we are often greeted negatively if we don’t, but it’s actually pretty terrible. That’s why, in the end, I have to respect the culture of celebrity mockery which I’ve written against in the past; it’s just a pity that it so often manifests as thinly-disguised mockery of anyone different from ourselves.

(Also, someone I admire and empathize with is unhappy. Making an identity is incredibly hard, and when something takes part of it away, it’s painful. This is the primary reason why I posted today. Don’t let me pretend that all my human responses are in the service of my philosophies. On the contrary, my opinions largely exist so I can pair my human responses with something less obviously vulnerable, and I don’t think I’m alone.)