Why Embracing Frivolity Might Be the Most Serious Act of All: A Provocative Take by Jehanne Dubrow
In examining how clothing and appearance function, Dubrow centers her personal experience and insights among critical and aesthetic sensibilities. From subversive agency to useful beauty, to personal testimony, the lines blur, and we come to understand, as she has, the arbitrary nature of boundaries and definitions. Dubrow traces her frivolous fascination with clothing to her beloved Oma. Her grandmother’s skill as a seamstress should have led to a brilliant career, but her dreams were stunted by antisemitism, and though clothes bring Dubrow delight, her depiction of Oma’s plight is a stark reminder that frivolity itself is often hitched to the weighty and consequential. For all the twists and diversions, Dubrow’s conclusions are sharply observed: “…the clothing put on our bodies tells others what we defy and what we believe. Clothing reveals our aspirations.”
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