sach + char + ine = Rodarte Spring 2012

sac·cha·rine

   [sak-er-in, -uh-reen, -uh-rahyn]  Show IPA

adjective

1.

of the nature of or resembling that of sugar: a powderysubstance with a saccharine taste.

2.

containing or yielding sugar.

3.

very sweet to the taste; sugary: a saccharine dessert.

4.

cloyingly agreeable or ingratiating: a saccharinepersonality.

5.

exaggeratedly sweet or sentimental: a saccharine smile; asaccharine song of undying love.

As I explore the word saccharine and it's definitions within my own contexts I keep running across fashion shows from the past few weeks that define it quite well, visually speaking, that is. 


Rodarte for spring 2012 was one example of a way in which you could define saccharine. The collection used an exaggerated and "cloyingly agreeable" technique in order to woo the onlookers, which is quite literally a definition of the word (see definition above). It would also have been a way for me to describe cliche kitsch to anyone needing a definition, but we won't go there for now. 

Unfortunately the brilliant designers chose to translate a painters brushstrokes into "fashion" and even more unfortunately the painter in question happens to be Vincent Van Gogh. I was pretty certain Van Gogh had been put on reserve for use, as a reference, ONLY at museum gift shops. However, how wrong I was. 

That being said there are some wonderful silhouettes, and for the pieces not relying too heavily on painterly brushstrokes I quite enjoy the "saccharine-ness" of it all. And I will admit that despite my distaste for this collection's inspiration and execution of that inspiration I will, for now, remain a Rodarte groupie like the rest of the fashion world.

And last, but certainly not least, was Starry Night...