Girls Anti-Fashion Analysis: Episode 7

GirlsGroupShot 540x307 Girls Anti Fashion Analysis: Episode 7

We see fashion in this week’s Girls again used to make deprecating statement about the main characters. I wrote about Girls’ and its anti-fashion tendencies last week, and the same theme crops up again in the 7th episode, titled, “Welcome to Bushwick a.k.a. the Crackcident,“ though another statement as it relates to the wardrobe also emerges.

For starters, there’s Marnie’s outfit (above right), openly degraded by her ex’s new flame, who guessed by her appearance that she’s a member of Real Housewives of New York. (Later Marnie goes on to make fun of the girl’s headbanded “Navajo” look.) And then poor Shoshanna, whose sequin skirt and tucked in blouse has J.Crew tendencies and yet is clearly out of place at a Bushwick warehouse party. Interestingly, fueled by crack, she tosses the skirt by the end of the episode.

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And then even Jessa, as much as I.adore.everything.about.her seems a smidge (ok, maybe more than a smidge) over the top in her feather something-or-another (above middle), which is also mocked by Ray–not that his opinion matters but still–and then weirdly the thing seems to fly away at some point. Jessa’s outfit (above left) is perhaps the most correct relative to what you would expect at a Brooklyn warehouse party–then again, cullottes with tights is borderline as it relates to fashion normalcy, even for a Williamsburger look.

I still think the lack of fashion is being used to make Sex in the City distancing statements, but now, too, it seems the wardrobe is being used to express social tribes and how clothes define the person and her/his belief systems, which writer Lena Dunham herself expresses in an episode recap. You look at Hanna and Marnie and even though they live together in Brooklyn, just based on their fashion choices you have to guess they will live in very different places 10 years from now. And that’s what I love about this show, it seems fairly straightforward on the surface but there are all sorts of intricate things being expressed on the sly.