English Version | Float like a butterfly, sting like a stiletto

11 Oct 2022
By Pedro Vasconcelos

Butterflies have invaded the Fashion world for millennia. From Schiaparelli to Cher, the flying insect has been present in the most fashionable moments in history.

Butterflies have invaded the Fashion world for millennia. From Schiaparelli to Cher, the flying insect has been present in the most fashionable moments in history.

These days the need for a mask [not the one that protects against COVID, let's emphasize] comes up once, maybe twice, a year, but in Venice, in the 16th century, the mask was the most desirable accessory of high society. It was used both to protect the skin from tanning, associated with a low social caste, as well as to challenge the rigid norms of that society, masks were the micro bags of the time. The most popular of these accessories was the Moretta mask (the equivalent of Jacquemus' Chiquitito, if we continue with the previous analogy), an invention that could come straight from any A24 horror movie, how appropriate for the spooky season. The mask consisted of a simple black circle with eye holes that seemed to float on the surface of the face. "How does a mask float on the face?" one might question, even if we were taught not to ask questions whose answers we don't want to hear. The warning is done but the explanation follows. The illusion that the mask is magically resting on the face is achieved through a small button on the back of the mask, whose hook is, of course, the mouth of whoever chooses to wear it. Besides a surprising illusion, this button achieves another goal: it silences its wearer. If today we interpret the mask as a symbol of oppression, at the time it was seen as an appeal, the origin of a mystery that was more than desirable in a woman. This is not the only moment in Fashion history that shocks modern sensibilities, those that are willing to incorporate dead insects into their clothing please raise their hand. That's right, in Victorian England, beetle wings were used as iridescent sequins. Inspired by the practices of some of its colonies, the use of insects became extremely popular within the British Empire. Fashion is generally more entomophilic than expected, particularly of insects with fascinating beauty. No, we are not talking about beetles, but rather butterflies, which, unlike their predecessors, have escaped fashionable autopsies. Although they have managed to avoid literal dissections, we now conduct a metaphorical one: where does this interest that Fashion has in the symbolism of the bizarre butterfly come from? Let's go back to a distant time, to the Tang Dynasty period, in what is now China, roughly between 618 and 907. This is where we have to go back to find the first use of the butterfly symbol. Porcelain, paintings, literary works: the butterfly was found everywhere, usually accompanied by flowers. "The itinerant movements of the insect, floating among blooms, was an important symbol of frivolity and sexual pleasure, as well as love." The words of wisdom come from Caroline Stevenson, director of the Cultural and Historical Studies department at the London College of Fashion. In an interview with Vogue Portugal, the fashion historian details that, after their appearance in millennial China, butterflies appear again in the 18th century, this time on suit vests. Interestingly, breaking any modern notions of masculinity, the fluttering insects were associated with men. Vests with butterflies made from silk were extremely popular, inspired by the orientalist trend that was invading Europe. The male association is easily understood after Stevenson's explanation, "the butterflies were thought to be masculine, surrounding the female flower."

For all those who had the pleasure of going through the 1990s, the butterfly's association with the male gender can be surprising since, in the last decade of the 20th century, it was not only a symbol of femininity but of the entire feminist movement. Inseparable from icons like Mariah Carey, the winged insect re-entered popular culture through the American artist's song Butterfly. Throughout the song (one of Carey's best, in our opinion) the butterfly metaphor becomes obvious: the coexistence of delicacy and strength represents the female gender. But even more significant than the song was the look Carey chose to wear for the tribute to Diana Ross in 2000. The top, designed by French designer Emmanuel Ungaro, is a work of art, creating a butterfly from hand-placed sequins. Accompanied by jeans (simplicity is the best way to complement perfection), the moment was so important that it catalyzed Y2K fashion's obsession with the insect. But, it must be stressed, Mariah Carey was not the first to wear a top of its kind, that honor belongs to the queen of reinventions: Cher. In 1974, after an all too public divorce from Sonny, her life and professional partner, the singer wore one of the most influential dresses of all time, a fluttery combo filled with shimmering butterflies. The symbolism of the dress did not go unnoticed, as her first public appearance after the last episode of the Sonny & Cher Show, the butterfly symbolized the artist's rebirth.

It is here that we find the ultimate symbolism of the butterfly, in metamorphosis. This use of the insect dates back to the 1930s, to the Surrealist movement. Interpreting the delicate animal through its association with the world of dreams, artists such as Salvador Dali questioned notions of the bizarre. According to Caroline Stevenson, butterflies were "a symbol of transformation, particularly of the change from the ugly to the beautiful." One doesn't have to think too hard to understand the notion: the ugly caterpillar transforms, in an almost mystical process, into the extraordinary butterfly. As one might expect from the most prolific surrealist in the world of Fashion, it was Elsa Schiaparelli who transposed the symbolism into the clothing of her clients. The Italian couturier's clientele was, according to the British academic, "not conventionally the most beautiful, but who, through Schiaparelli's vision, were transformed into stunning, chic figures." From accessories to formal wear, the Italian designer covered her eponymous brand's collections in butterflies, one dress from 1937 stands out that more than warrants a Google search. In Stevenson's words, Schiaparelli's pieces transformed "the ordinary into the extraordinary."

The magic that Schiaparelli embedded in her pieces was idiosyncratic, but the transforming power of Fashion is not exclusive to her. Like butterflies that, after their past as caterpillars use their wings to escape earthly limitations, our clothes have the potential to metamorphose us. Not only because of the confidence that certain garments can provide, although this factor cannot be disregarded. The relationship that fashion establishes with our identity is complex. We turn to the British historian to dissect this depth: "Fashion is intimately connected with our body, identity, and position in the social hierarchy," explains Stevenson. "When Fashion transcends the ordinary, it challenges the limits of our imagination as well as social conceptions. It can hide who we are or even invent new identities and versions of ourselves." We are approaching the core of the issue: the importance of the bizarre, of symbols, of insects, of all that is peculiar or "strange" in Fashion. Let's return to the initial premise: the frightening Venetian masks. Though terrifying, their purpose is crystal clear, to challenge the norms of a society that stifles its members through the rigidity of its hierarchy. In the light of the bizarre, variables such as gender, social class, or age are blurred.

If we were to look at a timeline of different Fashion trends, a pattern would become obvious. The bizarre, the curiosity for the sinister, coincides with moments of social and cultural turbulence. This propensity is not only a reflection of what was explained to us by Stevenson. According to the historian, Fashion "has the ability to portray our collective anxieties and concerns." Immediately images of Alexander McQueen’s or Hussein Chalayan’s collections come to mind, which in the 1990s focused on the themes of death and suffering. Highland Rape, McQueen's fall/winter 1995 collection, is the materialization of this phenomenon: Fashion as a way to explore the grotesque in times of uncertainty. Interestingly, the taste for the bizarre is accompanied by the popularity of butterfly symbolism. At the same time that McQueen was presenting somber interpretations, the popularity of butterfly tops, just like Mariah Carey's, reached new peaks. That moment in fashion history is now being replicated: the taste for the ostentatious bizarre, as well as for butterflies, is resurfacing, both on the catwalks and in infinite collections of fast fashion brands. This interest may be just another component of the resurrection of Y2K trends that have flooded the market since the beginning of the decade, stimulated by brands like Blumarine or celebrities like Olivia Rodrigo. But, as Caroline Stevenson concludes, there is another possibility: "As the contemporary world transitions seamlessly from one catastrophe to another, perhaps there is something we can learn from the fragile but hopeful transformation of the butterfly."

Translated from the original on The Butterfly Effect issue from Vogue Portugal, published October 2022.

Full story and credits on the print issue.

 

 

 

Pedro Vasconcelos By Pedro Vasconcelos

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