a question of identity
Quote from “Alice in Wonderland”
“I knew who I was this morning, but I’ve changed a few times since then” - Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
Identity is a central theme throughout both “Alice in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass.” Perhaps that is why this charming tale has endured multiple generations and iterations, from Walt Disney’s 1951 animated classic to the more recent live action version in 2010 featuring the talents of Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, and Helena Bonham Carter. Why are we still so fascinated by this Victorian-era children’s novel?
You might be thinking, “what does this have to do with fashion?” Identity. Think about every time you try on a new dress, a different hairstyle, a new lip color….you’re creating more than just a “look,” you’re really trying to decide which identity to wear. “It’s no use going back to yesterday…because I was a different person then” Alice says in answer to the Caterpillar’s interrogation. I feel similarly about my own personal growth, having left a 20 year career in hospitality to follow the butterfly of fashion. In “Through the Looking Glass” Alice goes through a mirror to enter an alternate reality, which resonates not only with my personal experience but, I believe, the human condition. Don’t we all yearn for an alternate version of ourselves, our own realities? Why is Instagram so popular? How many of us spend hours creating content in an effort to capture the best, most idealized version of our own selves? How many of us use social media as the looking glass through which we step to find another world of beauty and wonder?
In 1932 Alice P Hargreaves, widely considered to be Carroll’s muse and the original Alice, arrived to the U.S. and was lauded by the media as having entered a new “Wonderland.” Similarly, you might say, Ana Delvie arrived in the U.S. from Germany to create a new identity for herself. I’m empathetic with her desire to live a life of luxury, which is certainly the reason why I am so drawn to Instagram with it’s endless array of flowers, flowing gowns, and beautiful sunsets. In New York Ana certainly created her own Wonderland. The difference between the two stories, besides that one is fictional and one is not, is that Alice fell into her adventures quite by accident. Interestingly, as chaotic as the world through the looking glass may seem, there is actually an underpinning of organization - every chapter is a move on a chessboard, outside of the narrator’s view. Ms. Delvie’s story certainly plays out like a series of moves across a chessboard, each one calculated to produce a predetermined result. At stake is her lifestyle and indeed, her very identity. Alice on the other hand, must go on a journey and undergo multiple transformations to discover her identity, just as we all do going through puberty - or, sometimes, a mid-life crisis. It seems that the question of one’s identity is a life-long process.
