With the release of fashion model Daisy Lowe's “guilt
free” cookbook looming, we debate the often over-looked similarities between the
art forms we love to feast on (be it with our eyes or with our mouths).
Model turned chef is not a rarity as fashion’s
darling Daisy follows in the footsteps of Sophie Dahl and actress turned self
proclaimed lifestyle guru, Gwyneth Paltrow (who is now found most in her
kitchen, consciously uncoupling egg whites from their yolks) in their bid to
become vegan mutations of Nigella (ever so slightly less vivacious and carb
absorbing). However, the allure of a twenty something model can be bettered by
nothing, the promises of which are whispered to you as your fingers click to
pre-order on Amazon. You can be a model too if you just buy my
book.
Fashion and food are synonymous with the word
‘lifestyle’ as they are the make up of our day-to-day lives; art forms that
everyone interacts with regularly (one would hope). Transparent salutations to
this are presented in the form of “lemon chiffon cake”, the dessert mille-feuille of French origins or the
mutton sleeve. All signifiers that style of fashion and food allude to the trends of life's great many pleasures.
Just as designers redesign and take inspiration
from their predecessors. Fashion students are taught to look to the past in
order to learn and further evolve the design of clothing, pushing the extremities
of social ideals, taste and ergonomics. The same can be said of cuisine as
gourmet chefs have teased our taste buds (even if only imagined). Unpalatable fodder,
or a gilded creation from Heston? Many of us will never know; as we sit at the
other side of the TV screen or read the latest cookbook, we may watch the
culinary revolution unravel.
Fashion and food are both key indicators of
luxury. Throughout history, competitive hostilities between those frenzied by
any art form have occurred as they each try to outdo one another. The most
delectable representation of this can be found in the Marie Antoinette, Sofia Coppola’s vision of 18th Century
France seemed to include sweet delights and raspberry laced champagne as much
as the candy coloured corsetry and mile high tresses (tall enough to inspire
jealously in the matriarch of the Simpson family). Fancifully handed to us by
Coppola with a little help from Siouxsie and the Banshees, the lifestyle was
sold to us immediately. The mix of voguish aperitifs meant that a facile life
of pleasure and luxury was at our fingertips whenever we pressed play.
Food in film can not only convey luxury but
desire also. As an animal instinct one could argue that food is salient to our livelihoods
more than clothing, however, it has grown into a necessity just as electronics,
cars or gym memberships are most urgent on our list of previously
nonessentials. The life of Riley.
The most
prevalent example of food and desire is comically found within the cartooned
strokes of Lady and the Tramp. An infamous scene for an animation, filled with
ardour and ever so imitable. It is within reach; even the most incongruent of
home cooks can conjure a spag bol with limited incineration. Meaning that
although less elegantly executed, our own romantic foodie memories can be
created (even if they leave us with threads of spaghetti tickling our chin).
It only takes a few evenings of watching Masterchef to notice the trends
within cuisine, as easily supplemented to us as a quick flick through of Vogue.
Square plates, scallops for starters and a trio of desserts, all heavenly
concoctions, yet, so changeable with every season.
We may
review both industries as pretty throw away, but imagine if at the end of
creating your masterpiece someone had eaten it faster than you took to rustle
it up. A new collection every few months, or a new meal every few minutes? It’s
all a matter of taste.
Fashion and food can work well together:
luncheons at which the crème de la crème of the industry dine together,
cajoling with collaborators and scheming (I see it as more of a military
operation than quant dinner party, everyone has their own agenda).
Nevertheless, the two can also have a bittersweet relationship.
I have
been told many times that women have a love affair with handbags and shoes
because buying them isn’t dependent on whether or not they feel bloated – you
don’t need to look into a mirror to gaze at the leather strapping your feet
together, neatly framing your pedicure. Getting your nails done can occur pre
or post Sunday roast; however, shopping for a date night outfit is an occasion
ever so dependable on figure. Meaning that food can be our best friend or worst
enemy. A light lunch with girlfriends or a midnight dash to the fridge that
leaves us penitently prodding our tummies as the thought of being too fat to
fit into our Calvins darkens our doors.
Previously mentioned model slash celebrity chef Sophie Dahl conveys the
dysfunctional affairs we share with food while thoughts of what to wear
tomorrow linger in our minds.
It seems that cooking for ourselves has become as
quant as the image of 1950s housewives sewing from their mail order patterns in
an effort to emulate the Hollywood elite. We have become proprietorial over our
kitchens once more in a bid to become the image of perfection, with illusions
of congeniality.
Click the link below to read the condensed version.
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