Spammers can be extremely obnoxious, but as someone who’s had the task of improving SEO for clients I’m somewhat sympathic to the poor souls. If they post a comment that’s completely unintelligble or links to something totally irrelevant, then surely their contribution is quick to hit the back of my e-trash can. Every now & then, however, a savvy (or sincere) poster comes along with an obvious SEO bid that’s not just alright by me, it’s welcome!

Such was the case when one “dorisclausen” posted a comment here that linked to a page on madaboutown.com. Unlike many of the spammers that try to hit up TFC this site is home to beautiful and quality fashion products, like the Belgian fur felt hat by Barbisio above. And even better, the link lead me to a page with a video of some Barbisio hats being made.

Barbisio from MAT media production on Vimeo.

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It’s a delightful clip, which shows the care and craftsmanship that goes into making the very dapper hats. The Barbisio brand is clearly about classic quality & not trend-chasing – a characteristic that continues to rise on my priority list. Also, the video ultimately reminded me of being a kid again. Of all the ’80s era children’s shows Mister Rogers was a favorite because of his trips to factories to show how things are made. The Crayola crayon episode is an enduring classic. See it below.

In our modern, “civilized” world we prize language very much. We huddle around our tribal national tongues with pride and, sometimes, savage protection. We use assessments of language to categorize, to separate, to marginalize, to reward. It’s all very important to us and yet language has time and time again been an utter failure on a mass scale.

As you know, I tend to see things through fashion goggles, so the case of designer John Galliano’s alleged anti-Semitic tirade is an acute illustration of my above assertion. First, the major controversy is not that the designer was drunk in public (he was just over the legal limit) or even that there was, reportedly, some hair pulling. The big kerfuffle is over the alleged verbal insults. So violence and chemical indulgence are apparently no big deal. But for goodness sakes don’t call people names!

Secondly, it was the contents of the claimed insults that made this incident into a global story. The “victims” of the circumstance claim that Galliano screamed “Dirty jewish face, you should be dead!” and “Fucking Asian bastard, i will kill you!” What if we replace “jewish” with “freckle” and “Asian” with “blond” or any other adjective to describe a physical characteristic? Curiously, most news reports only highlight the alleged anti-Semitism and few, if any, make conjecture on whether the designer might be an Asian hater. Another side of the story says that Galliano was, indeed, insulting the accusing pair, but only with words like “bitch” and “ugly” – you know, things within the realm of political correctness.

Vogue Italia EIC Franca Sozzani gives flesh to this sentiment in a short interview with Cathy Horyn. “I’m so against anyone that could say something anti-Semitic, against religion,” says Sozzani. “You can say, ‘You’re a bitch,’ ‘You’re terrible,’ but nothing about religion.” Language has failed here in that if designer said what he is accused of saying, it probably had nothing to do with religion. Yet that connotation has been carried over into the public dialogue and will likely stay there by virtue of it’s ability to elicit emotional reactions. The editor also expresses a little confusion over the word “suspension” in reference to Dior’s immediate reprimand of Galliano. Hear her statements in the video below.

It is also worth noting that British-born Galliano is said to have spoken both French and English during the incident. The native languages of the accusers (names Bloch and Virgiti) are not known, but it’s easy to see how a few meanings could have gotten conflated in translation. It’s impossible for anyone that wasn’t a part of the exchange to properly judge the situation (though many will do so anyway). Even the folks involved likely have views of what happened that are clouded by alcohol and emotion.

What’s really significant is the demonstration of how language – a few poorly chosen words – can divide and discombobulate. Upon hearing the story thousands and maybe millions of people made snap judgments and took sides. Some in the fashion press even stated outright that star actress Natalie Portman would probably dump her chosen Dior dress for the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony because of this incident. Meanwhile, we’re all wondering what will happen with the Dior Fall 2011 show set to walk during Paris Fashion Week on March 4. One too many mojitos and a moment of divodom and a worldwide mess ensues. Dammit, Language. You’ve screwed us again.

Galliano portrait photo via State of Lux

With only these tiny, 2-D representations of of the clothing it can be hard to relate to reports of attendees crying at the sight of the hand-sewn creations gliding down the runway. Granted, the alleged crier was Monsieur Lesage, himself. The legendary couturier responsible for Chanel’s embroidery. Considering the upwards of 350 hours of work that go into the making of a single couture garment of this caliber, one can imagine the tear jerking effect of seeing your labor of love finally sashay down the runway on the slim hips of an underfed, underpaid model… And just imagine, they do this twice a year.

Indeed a haute couturier is a rare and strange bird. One who often guards it’s secrets like newly hatched eggs. “Mademoiselle Pouzeux, who does the braids for couture. She has a secret and she wants nobody to know,” Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld said in an interview. “We cannot find anyone to work with her. She does it all alone. She only works for couture because she cannot produce enough for ready-to-wear. And no one knows how she does it.” See the video of this interview below. But before you do that, enjoy some hi-res detail photos of the two looks from above. Still not like actually getting to put them on yourself, but they do better convey the astounding intricacies of the clothing. A sincere thanks to two of my new favorite tumblrs: pellucidus & Emmi Camille

The below image is of the 1927 painting “Kiss” – a work by the French artist Marie Laurencin, whose art Lagerfeld references in the interview (and in the collection, apparently). As the designer implied, the murky color palette is really the only thing that’s reflected in the Chanel collection. There’s something about Laurencin’s paintings that strikes me at the soul level. Aesthetically it’s not a style that I would choose, but it somehow provokes nostalgia for a time I never experienced. It resonates with me in a way that’s not entirely pleasant, but I suppose that’s the sort of bittersweet attraction that good art often has. See more Laurencin works via kroshka_50369.

When I saw the excessive, lopsided, and over-sized cuffs on the Viktor & Rolf runway they struck a chord somewhere deep in my nostalgia centers, and I started craving candy corn and Treehouse of Horror episodes (might be the weather, too). Then it hit me: “It’s tucked into my socks!” The wonky collars and cuffs look strikingly like the failed Gorden Gartrell knock-off made by Denise Huxtable for her younger brother Theo on a 1984 episode of “The Cosby Show.” A classic moment of an epic series. Watch the episode below.

I love that the resolution of the story is that Theo’s friends prefer the artsy, avant garde appeal of his homemade shirt over the flash of the designer label. Hopefully, though, they grew up to fuse that perspective with an appreciate for quality materials and craftsmanship. Amsterdam-based label Viktor & Rolf is the embodiment of this ideal and while there are wild looks in the Spring 2011 collection that indulge the artistic urges of designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, there are also several very smart, buyable pieces that even a safe fashion-lover might try.

photos: Viciously Sweet, YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW