I love this topic! I’m pretty sure I add in juxtaposition without thinking about it, and that I like to have something unexpected too. I very much agree with you that they are not the same thing—some juxtapositions, like the boots & skirt combo you mention, become routine. Having a wide, loose top and more fitted bottoms or vice-versa is another juxtaposition that’s become expected, so the photo you posted seems surprising. I think the blurring of the distinction between juxtaposition and unexpected happens with colors a lot too. Pink & green, blue & gold—all these pairs that are right across the color wheel from each other seem striking at first, but eventually feel pretty played out. “Pink & green? Preppy. Ho-hum. Next?” They are high contrast, so they are a juxtaposition, but they are not new or unexpected. The “pop” of a complementary color feels pretty played out to me, but I think lovers of harmony enjoy it for the familiar contrast, if that makes any sense.
Jenni, do you mean the “new” rules Katherine mentions, which are the juxtapositions she lists, or do you mean the rules that say not to mix things that way, to wear refined shoes with dresses, etc.?
The tricky part for me, in creating outfits that have an unexpected element, is making the intentionality obvious. I think that’s part of what Synne points out—completely ignoring the rules just looks like a mess. Some of that lies with the audience, of course. The YLF people who commented on this outfit all seemed to realize that the slip showing was intentional (some liked it, some didn’t, & some had good suggestions for improvement with a different hemline on a longer slip, but I think everyone knew I meant to do that); my sister did not understand that I wore it that way on purpose. The lingerie lace & boots combo is another of those juxtapositions that’s so expected it might be played out.
Final thought: this topic reminds me of a basic tenet of Western music theory, that the whole of music history, from when major and minor scales were codified in the late Baroque era until now, is about increasing dissonance, with each era adding its own type of clashes and juxtapositions, like syncopation and blue notes in Jazz. Fashion is cyclical, but it seems to me that each era tries to create new dissonance by going against the previously established rules, never wholesale, but clearly intentionally transgressing a specific “guideline”, like removing the waistband from high-waisted jeans, which eventually led to low-waisted jeans, which then took over (to my dismay).
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