Hey there lil’ Red Riding Hood, you surely are looking good! Owwwww!
Little Red Riding Hood is a beautiful girl, wearing a long, bold red cape with a golden cascade of curls escaping from beneath her hood. She has rosy cheeks, plump lips, and she carries a wicker basket brimming with cakes and sundry—a fairy tale that kindles several levels of imagination in various people. One day she was eaten by a big bad wolf on her way to deliver cake and wine to her grandmother. However, a kind woodsman saved her from the stomach of the wolf, where she came bursting out, and reigned triumphant after killing the wolf.
Parables or fairy tales appeal to our senses as they are magical.They tell a story of victory of good over evil. They shape our culture as they can be interpreted in every century. Little Red Riding Hood is a tale preceding the 17th century, and continues to be interpreted in the 21st century. And now we have the Red Riding Hood moving coming up. It is a tale of innocence, boldness, love, courage and triumph. It is a tale ofinterpretation.
Fashion too is the same. At different times, it can be different things: innocent, bold, fun or shocking.
For example, fashion has a love-hate relationship with the color red. Too bold, too old, too young, too provocative, too statement making, too this or too that!!
Well I say, just like our parables, red invokes various emotions in us is therefore a color subject to multiple interpretations.
On a young woman it can be sweet and frolicky; on a woman of the world it can be sophisticated; on a sexy woman it can be provocative; and on an older woman it can be regal. And the Chinese wear it for good luck and fortune.
I love when fashion can be analyzed and perceived in multiple ways. It provokes thought and dialogue. And as erudite beings, we are always up for analysis, correct?
Look at the dresses below; they range from sweet, to sexy, to simply scandalous. The same goes for the bold red lacquered lips; they can be interpreted as sexy, bold, fun or sophisticated.
So, the moral of this story is forget societal labels. Labels limit and constrict us. We are not too old to be bold, too young to be sophisticated, “too this or too that.” We are like parables. Our style is like parables—subject to numerous interpretations. Just wear it, and leave the rest open for debate and interpretation…. Owwwwww!
