I hope this doesn't get too wordy, but I want to make sure I explain what I mean.

What is avant-garde?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. It's weird how my mind gets lost down these rabbit holes, but that's where I've been this week. I think it started when I found Strawberry Couture on etsy. Some of those hats are pretty awesome and I want most of them. They're mostly something I haven't seen before, and they're definitely different from what I see around my area in the rural American south.

I've watched my fair share of Project Runway (and "all stars"), and have to say that over the last few seasons that I watched, I was pretty disappointed in the "avant-garde" challenges. A lot of it wasn't new or different at all; some of it was downright weird without striking me as avant-garde; much of it was actually boring.

Anyway, after discovering those hats (and a couple of really interesting shops like this one) on etsy, this is a question that has been rolling around my brain.

I've looked up the dictionary definition, but I'm still curious: what is avant-garde to you? Is anything REALLY avant-garde anymore? I mean, even Rick Owens', Margiela, McQueen, and other edgy designers don't seem weird anymore (at least to me). Is my perception skewed, since I tend to favor dystopian (and sometimes even downright weird) looks?

I'm especially interested to hear from Angie, since she shops for a living and has probably seen it all, but I value what all of you think about it. Thanks for your input!