Hello again!!
So I changed my mind… there is now a structure to season 3!
The structure is essentially me styling outfits. Every other week on Thursday morning for the duration of season 3, I will share one, two, three outfits I have created in correspondence with the topic of the week. The topics vary from cultural phenomenons to poetry to gas stations. We will still be interrogating gender, the internet, and social practices, but using vocabulary from the ~fashion world.~ It’ll be weird and fun! I promise. If you want to skip ahead to the looks I created and skip the history lesson, scroll to the bottom.
To begin: the art hoes.
Let’s jump right in, shall we?
Have you ever identified as either an art heaux or art hoe? Answer below. And please leave a comment if you agree or disagree with my interpretation of art-hoeism.
I want to make one thing clear: The term hoe (a slang word used to describe a promiscuous woman) is a word used as a term of endearment in this context, or whenever you hear me say it. Slut shaming is dead, people!
Now, there are a few definitions of what exactly an art hoe is. According to this tumblr post from 2015, an art hoe is simply a person who “makes or appreciates art.” Urban dictionary takes it a step further and says an art hoe is “a hoe who is mysterious and chill and like hippyish and good at art.”
But according to the Publishing Man, the internet formed a shared identity around the term “art hoe” and Mars, a queer black teen in 2014. Posting under the username sensitiveblackperson with photos of themself photoshopped into artsy backgrounds like matching stripes and Van Gogh florals, Mars created a space for their peers to express and access emotions that traditionally wouldn’t be recognized anywhere else.
From a Dazed article back when:
“(Art Ho) gives POC a platform to express their internalised struggles, which is a problem we face everyday. We don't have a voice in this society. It's usually subdued by our white counterparts, and our anger is taken for granted – having this movement gives people an insight into who we really are.”
“Non binary people of colour don't really have a stable platform where they can prove and show what they're capable of without being questioned about their identity.”
and before you get mad at me for appropriating another culture, they were sure to verbally include everyone as the movement grew:
“We made this movement inclusive for everyone,” Mars explains. “The reason why we made this is so everyone can participate in it and have a place to call home.”
That being said, there is always organizational tea. So if you want it because you are inclined to fight for the underdog, check out Mars’ instagram: @biblicallyaccuratebisexual.
And so, as it goes with time, internet communities, and all good phenomenons, other users took the idea and ran with it.
Here are some of my personal favorites:
As you can see stripes are a big part of it. From the feminine side, being cute is an ongoing theme. From the masculine side, being sad with hard aesthetics continuously comes up. While it’s a pretty wide spectrum of what an art hoe can be, an interest in feelings, colors, and expression remain.
Now we get into how art hoe-ism revealed itself to me and pawed it’s way into my psyche:
While I was living in the Michigan in my twenties, I definitely identified as an art hoe. Though I first heard about the term while in school, it wasn’t until I was out of school making my own art on my own terms that I found community through artistic expression and emotional sluttiness online. (And here we still are today!)
And so of course, as a life-long chameleon and art hoe newbie desiring to be easily identified by other members of said community, I played the part. This was in 2017/2018 though, so the aesthetic had morphed into different subsections.
I met it somewhere around here: (this one’s brutal, but that’s sort of half of it)
Though I was never really the Mac DeMarco flavor of sad, Tyler’s Flower Boy album did give me a renewed lease on life when it came out. (Do you think if I name drop him enough he’ll get me a job at Le Fleur? just kidding, I don’t want your goddamn lettuce, I don’t want that shit.)
An essential part that led me personally to art hoe-ism is that art hoes remain angry.
“But not alllll art hoes! There are sad ones too!”
The beautiful thing about the internet is that you can be whoever you want to be. The arbitrary rules of [men are assigned anger at birth and women are assigned sadness] just don’t apply. Going back to what Mar’s was talking about in 2015, it’s the decolonization of emotions - anyone can have them and the art hoe space on the internet, will let you.
So I found my online art hoe community to be a place that really let me be mad. This was during the Trump years too, so you know I was absolutely steaming ninety-six percent of the time. Then as my tiny internet community grew the more I fed it my hyper-focused emotional crafting, it continued to acknowledge my now nuanced rage, an anger I previously had no idea what to do with. And though I didn’t always do a good job leaving space for the sadness in return, I saw and participated in all these emotions being molded into aesthetically pleasing fits, sets, and photoshopped photos.
All this to say, even underneath the palatable cutesy stripes and doc martens, you still have all these really mad and sad young adults meeting on the internet, but using the specific language of art and fashion to identifying each other as peers in emotional turmoil. To acknowledge and share that pain with one another. Art hoe is a culture, is a language.
But that’s enough about feelings now. Let’s get to
THE LOOKS
Seeing as I have a history with art-hoe-dom, I did not purchase anything new for this shoot. I wrote the whole backstory, then rummaged through my closet and put some stuff together. It’s been a minute since I’ve done this: dressed up and danced around in front of a camera, so I tried to have fun with it. The squinting is a vibe, okay? In the past, when I have been informed of the severity of fashion by people who exclusively shop at J. Crew (no offense J. Crew), that’s when I start to resent it. And I am not in the business of resentment. So I will say this only once!! Fuck off with your rules.
anyway, this is what I came up with.
#1 Art Dad
It’s giving stripes, it’s giving vintage, it’s giving 80s hippy dad who rocked a pony tail and has some sexual history with men but is happily married to a woman, kinda dad. It’s giving antique taste but I could still fuck you up if I had to protect my children, kinda dad. It’s giving girl dad.
Everything is thrifted except the Converse and the socks. Socks are Target. If you must know, the shirt brand is Nautica and the pants are have no label, I don’t know why I ripped it off. Ooh and the braided belt I found in Colorado. Sunglasses are my roommate’s.
I do actually really like this outfit, though I’m not convinced about the shorts. I like the length, but I don’t love the fit around the stomach. Why is there so much volume?
Art hoes really do be loving high-waisted and I fear I am moving away from the high waist.
As evidenced in the next one…
#2 Gallery Opening
This outfit makes me feel so powerful. Maybe because I don’t often break out my wedding shoes for non-wedding occasions, or maybe because the lilac thrifted US Polo Assn (assassin? association…) makes me feel like old money and also gay at the same time. Which is a uniquely pretentious combination you don’t find everyday. I dare you to intellectually spar with me in this fit.
I would like to point out the difference in the look when the shirt is tucked in, revealing the high-waisted pants vs when the shirt is untucked, laying flat. The first looks so much more masculine! Am I right?
I think it has to do with proportions. Like emphasizing long legs with a high waist may traditionally be a more feminine styling technique.
The turtleneck is Gap, the pants are thrifted Evan Picone grandmama pants, and the shoes are Franco Sarto. Socks are still Target.
I put on all my big colorful gemmed jewelry because if I’m at an art gallery, I want to look rich! One of my favorite accessories that I don’t often find an excuse to wear is this red lion head bracelet I found in a free box outside a brownstone in Brooklyn. The colors are the best part of this outfit and this takes it to a maximalist level (there could be more though). For a full dandy look, next time I’ll add red socks.
You will see this outfit again, mark my words.
#3 Art McSlutterson
And for the last art hoe look, I give you a classic: youthful park slut!
(the clicker was giving me problems)
This outfit is giving the most 2017 tumblr and is the truest representation of my art hoe days gone by. The best way I can describe my past self is:
because a hoe is pretty fast and pretty dumb while an art is very smart and very judgmental, when you put them together, you get an a bitch who is on fire and blind with rage.
I used to wear this shirt/pants combo a lot. With a tee underneath it can be a casual work outfit, or with more skin showing it’s the perfect park party vibe. My friends younger sister made the beaded necklace which is so cute and also makes me feel nineteen. The sheer top flows really well in the wind and the pants are so comfortable, the outfit really does have an energy and motion to it. But if finding the perfect representation of my hardened and soft innards is the goal with these fits, I think this one leans too soft for even me to pretend these days.
The shirt used to be a full length dress I thrifted by Ulla Popken, but I cropped it (takes a bow). Pants are thrifted, some vintage brand named Requirement Petite. Sports bra and socks are…Target!
I love this outfit, but not for me.
And that brings us to the end of the art hoe investigations! Let me know what you think! Do you agree or disagree?
<3
If you have made it this far, thank you for reading. I have so much fun doing this and really appreciate your support.
See you in two weeks!
xoxo Carson
Pretty funny dear!
Love the outfits!