November 18, 2017

What the new editor of Vanity Fair — Radhika Jones — wore to her first meeting with staff.

A navy blue dress that Women's Wear Daily described as "strewn with zippers" and tights "covered with illustrated, cartoon foxes."

WWD retreats into quoting Anna Wintour (who is not only the editor of Vogue editor but also the artistic Director of Condé Nast of which Vanity Fair is a part). Wintour only made a gentle gibe, "I’m not sure if I should include a new pair of tights in her welcome basket."

I'm more interested in interpreting the metaphors. What can you say about a navy blue dress strewn with zippers? It says women have the power now. The zipper's strongest association is with the fly on a man's pants. We might say a man with uncontrolled sexual compulsions has a "zipper problem," as in "Jackie Collins Knew Bill Clinton Had A ‘Zipper Problem’" (HuffPo, 2011)("I remember, before Clinton was president, I was sitting at a dinner in Beverly Hills and one of his aides was there and told me that he was definitely going to be president, except for one problem: the zipper problem.... They knew way before he was elected!").

And then a navy blue dress... I think of Monica Lewinsky.



That dress was strewn with Bill Clinton's genetic material.

Therefore I interpret Radhika Jones's dress as wry political commentary: the end of the political subjugation of women, the end of silencing — zip your lip, not mine — and a new era of female domination.

Now, let's consider the item of clothing that was even more attention-getting and metaphor-pushing than a blue dress strewn with zippers: tights covered in foxes.

What do foxes mean? When the political website FiveThirtyEight chose a fox as its corporate logo, Nate Silver quoted the Greek poet Archilochus: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”

So there were many zippers on the dress and many foxes on the tights, which is a message of multiplicity already. But each of the many foxes is also a symbol of knowing many things.

There is, of course, the idea of women as "foxes," which was already laughably sexist when Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin played Festrunk Brothers in 1978 (and Garrett Morris had to explain that you can't talk about American women like that):



I'd say the foxes on Radhika Jones's tights represent a reclaiming of an old diminishment, amplified and multiplied, and complicated by zippers. Foxes run around, finding out about everything, uncovering what is hidden, and zippers enclose while suggesting a sudden, perhaps shocking disclosure. That's all very apt as a message about journalism, and it's an exciting way to say that a woman is now in charge.

ADDED: Also consider that the top-rated meaning for "zipper" at Urban Dictionary is: "A death trap for your dick."

And I created a "zippers" tag and went back and applied it to old posts. I was amused by how many times over the years I've talked about the Brian Regan comedy bit about Zipper, the bad dolphin (in contrast to Flipper) — "Zipper's surly. He is uncaring."

Meade, reading this post, said his first association with zipper was the "zipless fuck" (in Erica Jong's "Fear of Flying"). I had to do some additional retroactive tagging, because I'd only searched for "zipper." Searching for "zipless," I found places where I'd talked about Erica Jong's idea, including one in the context Trump's "Access Hollywood" remarks, from October 8, 2016 (the day after the sudden, shocking disclosure of the tape):
[I]f you watch the whole video, you see him winning with another woman, Arianne Zucker, the one who, in Trump's words, is "hot as shit, in the purple." Zucker is the one who inspired him to say "I’ve got to use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her. You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."

And in fact, you see the female version of that power trip: The woman plays on the man's sexual interest. Grab them by the crotch. Zucker looks entirely pleased with herself, demands to walk in the center and grabs the arms of both men. If that is what is expected and that is the norm in your workplace, how can you be the cold one who keeps her sexuality to herself?

I invite you to contemplate why this got me thinking about Erica Jong's concept of the "zipless fuck":
The zipless fuck is absolutely pure. It is free of ulterior motives. There is no power game. The man is not "taking" and the woman is not "giving." No one is attempting to cuckold a husband or humiliate a wife. No one is trying to prove anything or get anything out of anyone. The zipless fuck is the purest thing there is. And it is rarer than the unicorn. And I have never had one. 

150 comments:

George M. Spencer said...

She should have worn a sharkskin suit to work at Conde Nast.

Sounds like she's a placeholder until Conde Nast finds a heavy hitter.

She's from the newspaper business. She's not a magazine person.

Worse, she was a book review editor. That's very far afield from the world of celebrities and the wealthy.

When VF relaunched in 1983, its first editor wasn't Graydon Carter...it was Richard Locke of the NYT Book Review. The magazine was far too intellectually oriented. A year later he was out. Tina Brown was in.

Henry said...

If it's going to be abbreviated, Women's Wear Daily really needs a J. Perhaps Women's Wear Journal Daily. WWJD.

Laslo Spatula said...

"Wintour only made a gentle gibe, "I’m not sure if I should include a new pair of tights in her welcome basket."

So Wintour was only gently bitchy to the new woman. Catty to the woman with the foxes.

Things ARE changing!

I am Laslo.

Breezy said...

I could not find a picture - is there one I missed?

CStanley said...

I would have thought Fox News was the most obvious reference.

rhhardin said...

Let's see her put out a campfire.

Bob Boyd said...

Cliff Clavin was a fox.
Norm Peterson was a hedgehog.

Laslo Spatula said...

"... and zippers enclose while suggesting a sudden, perhaps shocking disclosure. "

Especially when on a trannsexual's pants.

I am Laslo.

AllenS said...

I also looked for a picture, and couldn't find one.

Tommy Duncan said...

Devil With The Blue Dress

lgv said...

Wow, I wonder if all the metaphors and symbolism went through her mind when she chose her ensemble for the day. It never came to me that that would be the case. But, I think the foxes on the leggings was definitely a conscious choice.

She or Wintour will be gone within a year.

rhhardin said...

A guy will wear a kilt when he takes over.

Caber tossing at lunch instead of bocce.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Is foxes sexist? I haven't used the term in a long time, but I remember my friends and I referring to attractive men as foxes back when I was in my 20's. Also "babes."

MadisonMan said...

Do women really put that much thought into the meaning of their clothes every day as they dress? That must be exhausting.

My usual decision: If I put this same pair of pants on, have I worn them too many days in a row?

Ann Althouse said...

"I could not find a picture - is there one I missed?"

I gave you a picture of the tights that people think were worn. As to the woman in her outfit, I have only seen word pictures.

David Begley said...

Sometimes an ugly outfit is just an ugly outfit. Or a jet.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
khematite said...

Foxes are also about triumphing over the Philistines. See the Book of Judges 15:

3 Samson then said to them, “This time I shall be blameless in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm.” 4 Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned the foxes tail to tail and put one torch in the middle between two tails. 5 When he had set fire to the torches, he released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines, thus burning up both the shocks and the standing grain, along with the vineyards and groves.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
David said...

She looks fabulous in the photo at the link.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Megyn Kelly calls Trump 'tone deaf' for criticizing Democrat Al Franken over groping photo but staying quiet on allegations against Republican Roy Moore and dismissing his own sexual assault accusers

Henry said...

"tone deaf" is not synonymous with "opportunistic."

Darrell said...

That off-topic litter would be a banning for ARM in a perfect world.

Bob Boyd said...

Beware of a sheep in fox's clothing.

Clyde said...

I have a new t-shirt for work that says ZERO (drawing of a fox) GIVEN. Why? Long story. Suffice it to say that my employer has sunk employee morale deeper than the Marianas Trench.

Ann Althouse said...

"Wow, I wonder if all the metaphors and symbolism went through her mind when she chose her ensemble for the day. It never came to me that that would be the case. But, I think the foxes on the leggings was definitely a conscious choice."

You're getting ready for your first appearance in a new organization, which you are going to lead, and the group you will face includes some of the most important fashion people in the world. You think you don't contemplate the meaning of your clothing?!

You might not be deemed to have thought about metaphor if you wear something plain and simple, like a dark suit and neutral hosiery, but if you wear a dress covered in ZIPPERS and tights covered in FOXES, you have thought about the symbolism. Of course! It's ABSURD to think she didn't.

She was hired because of her background in book reviews at the NYT. She's literary. She knows symbols. She's working with — leading — people who are writers and also into the visual layout of a magazine. They will read her and she knew that. She intended to be read.

Maybe some of my points are fanciful, but it is just bizarre to think the foxes and zippers were just foxes and zippers and no larger meaning was intended. I absolutely rule out that possibility.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Ann Althouse said...

@AReasonableMan

That was completely off topic. Find a relevant place to use that material. Don't trip up the ongoing discussion I set up.

Martha said...

I read that the intelligent and accomplished Radhika Jones got the job in part because she would work for less—$500,000/year vs. the $2 million/year predecessor Graydon Carter was paid. More cattiness.

Fabi said...

I'm paying golf in about two hours, ARM. Please don't have one of your infamous meltdowns while I'm on the back nine. Be a sweetie and wait until I've finished my round, mmkay?

MadisonMan said...

You're getting ready for your first appearance in a new organization, which you are going to lead, and the group you will face includes some of the most important fashion people in the world. You think you don't contemplate the meaning of your clothing?!

I concede that I would, my previous comment notwithstanding. So maybe I'd wear clean pants. Miss Prescott would approve.

I will maintain however that 'most important fashion people in the world' have very little influence on me.

Relevant link.

bleh said...

You’re not being serious with this, are you? Like, this post is just an exercise of sorts, demonstrating how someone can find meaning in the meaningless, and think and write critically about something and be completely wrong?

JAORE said...

"Nonsense. Althouse clearly wished to discuss sexual abuse by sitting presidents when she brought up Bill Clinton. Try to stay on topic and avoid personal attacks, is my advice."
"That was completely off topic."

One is reasonable. One may be a man....
++++++++++++++++++++++
Merriam-Webster, second definition:
Vixen: a shrewish, ill-tempered woman

Message to staff. youdon't know me, so let me be clear. I'm in charge, don't cross me or you will face my wrath. Keep it zipped!

Or, you know, that other thing.

tcrosse said...

In the service they call this being Out of Uniform. Diversity does not extend to dress.

Michael K said...

Does anyone actually care about this stuff ?

I can't say I blame ARM for going off topic with his sick obsession.

I could do the same with Gloria Allred and her yearbook.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Michael K said...
Does anyone actually care about this stuff ?


Have you paid any attention to the posts on the Althouse blog for the last few weeks? Any attention at all?

Of course there is tremendous interest in sexual abuse by public figures and politicians. And who isn't more interesting than the sitting president? A man who possesses a remarkable rap sheet of sexual misconduct, so kindly itemized by the Daily Mail.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

As a jeans an t-shirt kind of lady, I don't think about fashion too often. When I do, it's usually with annoyance.

Still, I appreciate the Althouse take. It's fun and off-the-wall. Having the testicular fortitude to make a bold fashion statement can be admirable. Especially when humor is involved.

AllenS said...

Ann Althouse said...
@AReasonableMan

That was completely off topic. Find a relevant place to use that material. Don't trip up the ongoing discussion I set up.

Ya, that will work.

Darrell said...

ARM pulled his willy out and is masturbating now. It's all about power and lack of respect.

traditionalguy said...

A Sexually dominant women is a fetish that will enamor most men. Go for it girls. Just quit claiming to be the Virgin Mary afterwards.

That Ohio judge running for Governor is a dare devil, but don't try that at home.

Darrell said...

The fox is in the hen house. Nothing but blood and feathers now.

Fabi said...

Off-topic ARM said:

"A man who possesses a remarkable rap sheet of sexual misconduct, so kindly itemized by the Daily Mail."

Start your own blog, sweetie.

Darrell said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE

tcrosse said...

I used to work with a guy whose surname was Fox. He was born with the name Fuchs, which attracted indelicate remarks.

David Begley said...

Althouse is right about symbolism.

And now that Hillary is finished politically and the money has been made, Bill should divorce Hillary and marry Monica. They are soulmates.

Breezy said...

Zippers, especially multiple ones, look like scars from injuries. So the proximity to all those foxes, which are quite accomplished hunters, can be quite a statement for endurance and stamina against predators.

n.n said...

If the zippers serve an analogous function for women's wear as it does men's, then they are intended for convenient access. But, why does she have zippers sewn in all over her dress? They serve no functional purpose, or do they?

n.n said...

The foxes are inside the henhouse, which would explain the presence of zippers.

Laslo Spatula said...

1973's "Fear of Flying" was of its time.

Meanwhile, a year later, there was1974's IRVING WALLACE’S THE FAN CLUB which has more relevance in today's world, as this essay attests.

Men always want to undo a woman's zippers.

I am Laslo.

Breezy said...

She is stating that she is a survivor imho.

gg6 said...

'interpretations, metaphors ,associations, messages, political commentary, subjugation of women, female domination, symbols, ideas, representations, foxes and hedgehogs....'
Ha, ha, ha....when the subject is a jet fighter jockey its simply "a bunch of guys waving their dicks around" - but if it's about the world of Fashionista Fems and Faggots it's suddenly like deconstructing 'Man And Superman'!
My guess would be that the message of the incoming Queen is extremely simple - "Empty your pretty but dumb heads of whatever you are used to thinking you know for certain - there's a new Editor in town."

Breezy said...

Battle tested, with scars to prove it. More battles out there and I am up to the challenge.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Monica was the best thing to happen to Bill. It was consensual and used to cover all the non-consensual.

Michael K said...

Have you paid any attention to the posts on the Althouse blog for the last few weeks? Any attention at all?

I grant that point and I have scrolled past most of it, especially yesterday.

Your obsession, however, is not going to get very far with voters if the economy starts perking.

cronus titan said...

That Festruck Brothers skit is still hilarious.

Notice the prominent portrait of President Kennedy on their wall. Nice detail since hte skit is about swinging brothers.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Kissing without permission and panty looking compared to actual rape.

ARM knows the true crime.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...


Sorry leftists. In order to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct - you must throw Bill overboard.

You will never do it.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Multiple different women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct, not 'leftists'. You are depersonalizing the victims.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

LOL - a bunch of women are repulsed by Trump, women who claim Trump was too aggressive, V. Women who were actually ASSAULTED by BILL Clinton.

ARM knows the true crime.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

In Post-Weinstein Era, Trump Sexual Assault Accusers Await His Downfall

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Sexual misconduct. Rape and sexual assault.

Do explain the difference to the class, ARM.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Donald Trump's Sexual Assault Accusers Demand Justice in the #MeToo Era: 'We Were Forgotten'

tcrosse said...

If we recite the Mantra of Trump's naughtiness often enough, he will magically disappear.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

We all read your list, ARM - even if it's all true, it doens't rise to rape or assault.
Like it DOES in Bill Clinton's case - and we all note you have no comment.

Calling someone fat, making someone uncomfortable, and even trying to kiss someone and being told "No" and backing off are not sexual assault.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Donald Trump is the sitting president, his sexual misconduct and misogyny are indefensible.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

If it's going to matter with Trump, it MUST matter with Bill Clinton first.


Laslo Spatula said...

The Commenter Who Ignores the Post Topic says...

I was reading this post -- zippers, right? -- and while I was reading it I was listening to a playlist I made.

I really like the band Spacemen 3: droning hypnotic minimal rock with glorious feedback and woozy soul, often over a single chord. They also had one of the best album titles around: Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To.

They do a cover version of the song "Rollercoaster" that is sublime. Then there are multiple versions of it live: five minutes, seven minutes, twelve minutes, fucking seventeen minutes. Pretty much one chord chugging away. Sublime.

So I put all of their versions of Rollercoaster that I could find in one playlist. That one chord for five minutes, seven minutes, twelve minutes, fucking seventeen minutes.

Several of the best versions have a mix style that is upside-down, and it makes it magic. The drums are barely heard, except for a muffled cymbal or a kick drum once in a while. There is a bass player in there somewhere too, but he is pretty lost in the sound, too. And the rhythm guitar, chugging that chord, is louder than the nominal lead guitar.

I think I will make a playlist of versions of their cover "Transparent Radiation" but I'll probably just talk about that later.

Anyway: zippers. I hate when they get derailed.

I am Laslo.

tcrosse said...

Donald Trump is the sitting president, his sexual misconduct and misogyny are indefensible.

It has already been established that they are defensible. Stare decesis, and all that.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

tcrosse said...
It has already been established that they are defensible.


No.

Sebastian said...

Let me simplify things: when a woman wears a dress with zippers and foxed leggings, she is signaling that she is a foxy lady ready to be unzipped. It's a power play over the other women. It's how women eroticize domination. Men are just their tools.

Tommy Duncan said...

ARM has found a bone. Don't bother him while he chews on it. That bone is very important to him and he likes the taste. The rest of us should just enjoy our doggy bag goodies from the supper club last night.

tcrosse said...

@ARM: That ship sailed in 1998.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Do women really put that much thought into the meaning of their clothes every day as they dress? That must be exhausting.

My usual decision: If I put this same pair of pants on, have I worn them too many days in a row?


Since retirement, that is pretty much my decision tree when getting dressed for an average day. Also...have I worn this combo of pants/shorts/shirt,sweater in the last week? And if it did...who cares?

Back in the 70's there was a brand of clothing that I was particularly fond of called "Foxy Lady" ...Now sold as vintage on Ebay dress ad

Wonderful...my youth is now vintage and for sale on Ebay :-(

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

The sexual misconduct and misogyny of Trump, the sitting president, is not a 'bone', it is a central element in understanding the status of women in our society. At this point in time, arguably the central element.

Laslo Spatula said...

The Commenter Who Ignores the Post Topic says...

So I tried to think about zippers for a moment, but then I got distract by the music I was listening to: Spacemen 3. The version playing is one of the few where the drums come through. It's like it makes it a different song, but actually it really doesn't, because I keep getting drawn back to that relentless one chord.

I have heard the original version of 'Rollercoaster' by Roky Erikson and you can hear that it's the same song, but it's too psychedelic in the way I don't like. I like the psychedelia that sounds like Spacemen 3. Maybe it's different drugs by the musicians.

Anyway, old-school psychedelic music: I'm not a fan of its use of the Wah Wah pedal. Too many notes and it just sounds like circus music. The Wah Wah pedal, when used by Spacemen 3, is different: It is not busily competing with drum fills and bass riffs and chord changes, it is just filtered tone against a chord that is chugging away. I like that kind of Wah Wah guitar.

Anyway: zippers. Most of my pants have them, but I don't think I have any shirts with zippers.

I am Laslo.

Michael K said...

I like the ARM and his bone analogy.

My book is calling.

rhhardin said...

What are women to do with resentment? Zippers may be the next thing.

Domestication used to be the plan. Turn resentment, grudges, suspicions and posturing into a happy marriage.

rhhardin said...

Would you zip me up is more of a chore though.

rhhardin said...

LL Bean has gone a little into down-filled jacket zipper styles, the zippers being in odd places.

rhhardin said...

Cabelas zippers tend to be hard to work compared to LL Bean, if you're shopping for a new zipper-studded dress.

Darrell said...

Democrat women came forward to tell how Bill Clinton raped them. Lefties heeded Hillary's call for dirt on Trump in September 2016 by making up shit.
The End

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Zippers....my husband only wears 501 button front Levis for work. No zipper. Now he complains that the quality of the jeans are not the same, the sizing is variable and the fabric is less sturdy. This is true.

He won't change to zippered brands because he says he once caught his penis in a zipper when he was a teenager and it was an unforgettable and painful experience. I'm sure it was!

I say to him: "If you wear your underpants and keep your dick inside you won't have that problem. Here. Try these Carhartt or Dickies work pants and stop bitching about Levis."

Laslo Spatula said...

The Commenter Who Ignores the Post Topic says...

So I tried to think about zippers again, but guess what: I'm really just mostly listening to Spacemen 3. Maybe their music can be thought of as a zipper: two guitars, together, that don't get unzipped. And a lot of the songs have long zippers in that context.

Other than that, I can't think of other commonalities between the zipper and Spacemen 3, other than that a lot of their guitars make 'zipppp' sounds on occasion.
One of the guitarists played a Vox Soundstream guitar, which had a lot of built-in effects. Here is a Vox guitar guitar with the same sounds, with samples of the various tones and effects.

Anyway, zippers. Zippers imply a sexuality, and Spacemen through don't make songs about sex. Their songs are mostly about death and drugs and Jesus. Usually if a woman is involved in the lyrics it's because she likes drugs, too.

I am Laslo.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

I wondered why a blog post contemplating what some woman wore was getting so many comments, those are usually the posts with under 60 comments in the course of the entire day. ARM has a point about it being on topic ( even minimally ) as the Bill Clinton stain on the blue dress had to be dragged into it. Let’s not ever mention Trump’s sexual assault problems, let’s only laugh about the blue dress with the cum stain. Let’s pretend the pussy grabber is a nice normal President.

“And then a navy blue dress... I think of Monica Lewinsky.

That dress was strewn with Bill Clinton's genetic material.”

tcrosse said...

Ad feminem argument.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Therefore I interpret Radhika Jones's dress as wry political commentary: the end of the political subjugation of women, the end of silencing — zip your lip, not mine — and a new era of female domination.”

Except when it comes to Trump apparently. Zip your lips about Trumps sexual assault problem.


Curious George said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Laslo Spatula said...

The Commenter Who Ignores the Post Topic says...

In the Punk Era the punks often wore safety pins to hold their ragged clothing together. So safety pins were like the punk version of a zipper, possibly.

Spacemen 3 weren't a punk band, they came after that era. And while their songs had simple structures, like most punk songs, they were even simpler, and they didn't seem angry about much, except for maybe not being able to afford drugs.

Punk made you jump around and slam into people; Spacemen 3 made you loosely sway, or nod off, depending on the drugs you had access to.

They didn't follow punk fashion, either. On the cover of one of their best albums, 'The Perfect Prescription', the founder is wearing a V-neck sweater over a collared shirt. And despite being drug hounds they look fairly schoolboy in that picture. They did get shaggier, though: drugs eventually get into the way of hygiene matters.

But I think my punk safety-pin / zipper comment is on point.

I am Laslo.

Sydney said...

The fact that they are criticizing her clothing means only one thing. They do not like her. If they did, she could wear a potato sack and they would think it was MARVELOUS!

Real American said...

Maybe a zipper is just a zipper.

Inga...Allie Oop said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Curious George said...

"Ann Althouse said...
@AReasonableMan

That was completely off topic. Find a relevant place to use that material. Don't trip up the ongoing discussion I set up."

You've been overruled:

Blogger Unknown said...
...ARM has a point about it being on topic ( even minimally ) as the Bill Clinton stain on the blue dress had to be dragged into it. Let’s not ever mention Trump’s sexual assault problems, let’s only laugh about the blue dress with the cum stain. Let’s pretend the pussy grabber is a nice normal President.

“And then a navy blue dress... I think of Monica Lewinsky.

That dress was strewn with Bill Clinton's genetic material.”

rehajm said...

Ann Althouse said...

@AReasonableMan That was completely off topic. Find a relevant place to use that material. Don't trip up the ongoing discussion I set up.


If life were only like this...

Laslo Spatula said...

The Commenter Who Ignores the Post Topic says...

Thinking about it, Spacemen 3 used a lot of tremelo on their guitars, and tremelo kinda sounds like a long zipper being pulled up slowly. Although, in this context, I'm not sure if the zipper is being pulled up or being pulled down. Because neither of those sound like something they would be doing, metaphorically.

Their zipper would probably be more like a Möbius Strip, where you just keep zipping and zipping, endlessly. Which is kinda a drug metaphor, except then the zipper DOES draw to a halt. So I guess if you keep pulling at an unending zipper you eventually pass out.

I am Laslo.

David Begley said...

Picture of the fox tights at the NY Post. Cute. I like them.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Zippers are fascinating! All the allegories! Zippers make me think of Donald Trump’s sexual assault problem.

David Begley said...

ARM:

Do you realize Laslo has gone Allinsky on you?

Ridicule is powerful persuasion.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Laslo unzipped is like a naked blob of quivering cum.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

On a blue dress.

Ann Althouse said...

Ugh. Just noticed I deleted one thing and there are many others here. The subject is clothing and symbolism. Clinton is only in the post because of the connotations of zippers.

Darrell said...

Franken? Wasn't a Senator, then. Forget it.
Trump? Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter if the charges are fake. Impeach him!

Darrell said...

Forgot to add zip your lips, ARM.

tcrosse said...

Dresses with zippers remind one of Emma Peel, as played by Diana Rigg. She kicked ass.

Wince said...

Althouse is displaying her female privilege here.

As DBQ points out, many men are survivors who carry the mostly childhood trauma of having the loose skin of their penis caught in the teeth of a zipper, only to undergo the additional self mutilation of having to extricate it the hard way.

I hope you're happy you've triggered so much pain in so many men!

Dust Bunny Queen said...

You're getting ready for your first appearance in a new organization, which you are going to lead, and the group you will face includes some of the most important fashion people in the world. You think you don't contemplate the meaning of your clothing?!

I wonder if the outrage or irritation with the clothing that Ms. Jones chose to wear is more of a generational issue?

What is fashion forward for a 20 something person versus what an old dinosaur like Wintour considers fashionable. What a young person CAN wear and carry off successfully and what an older woman cannot wear without looking ridiculous.

Just like old people tend to hate or not understand young people's music. Maybe it is the same with fashion.

David Begley said...

If those fox tights were still available I’d buy them through the Althouse Amazon portal for my youngest daughter. Very clever.

tcrosse said...

I've had many a fuckless zip.

Gahrie said...

“In 1994, Trump went to a party with Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire who was a notorious registered sex offender, and raped a 13-year-old girl that night in what was a "savage sexual attack,

Were Menendez and Clinton on that fight too?

Freeman Hunt said...

Interestingly, if you do an image search for "dress decorated with zippers" or "dress covered with zippers," you won't get many pictures of those things, but you will get pictures of dresses that are bizarre in other ways and are entertaining to picture someone wearing to an office.

Gahrie said...

Donald Trump is the sitting president, his sexual misconduct and misogyny are indefensible.

Well of course!

He's a Republican after all...

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Althouse is like Rumpelstiltskin spinning gold out of straw. The zipper-chick would be amazed (and probably delighted) that all that was inferred from what she decided to throw on that day.

Remember the good old days when ARM and Inga's cut-n-paste Trump obsession was centered around the Russian collusion fantasy? They're not attacking Trump, they're inoculating him.

tcrosse said...

What to wear when facing down the Meanest of the Mean Girls ? Something to piss them off.

Inga...Allie Oop said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ann Althouse said...

What’s depressing to me is the lack of color and creativity in comments that just rehash old stuff and do nothing with the opportunity but dampen the mood for everyone who sees a way to do something new.

Don’t bring up Trump unless you can connect him interestingly to foxes and zippers or speaking through clothing metaphors.

There are a lot of great commenters here, people who get why I am doing this. Others are just making it terribly obvious that they wandered into the wrong place. How dare you put up long cut and pasted lists of crap that does not enhance the experience invented here!

tcrosse said...

Imagine what Redd Foxx tights would look like.

Inga...Allie Oop said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Inga...Allie Oop said...

I think zippers are a good metaphor for gathering information and zipping it up into a place that it can be contained safely, but only for a time. If the zipper gets stressed and weakened by all the terribleness inside the shrinking garment, it will one day burst and all the ugly flesh it contained will be there for all the world to see.

gg6 said...

Blogger Ann Althouse said...
"What’s depressing to me is the lack of color and creativity in comments that just rehash old stuff and do nothing with the opportunity but dampen the mood for everyone who sees a way to do something new..."
Well, I sincerely wish you luck on seeing that change much, Althouse. I'm afraid you've picked one of the tougher pastimes in 'modern' life by going 'Blogger'. Getting some personal satisfaction and even occasional 'joy' out of fighting the good fight may be the best to hope for? But in the scheme of most things wouldn't that be way, way more than nothing? And it would seem to me you pretty much earn that., Thanks.

FullMoon said...

If the zipper gets stressed and weakened by all the terribleness inside the shrinking garment, it will one day burst and all the ugly flesh it contained will be there for all the world to see.
11/18/17, 11:55 AM


Now is the time Inga. Get it off your chest. Name your molesters. You do all women a disservice by continuing to protect the men who abused you.

Bruce Hayden said...

“Let me simplify things: when a woman wears a dress with zippers and foxed leggings, she is signaling that she is a foxy lady ready to be unzipped. It's a power play over the other women. It's how women eroticize domination. Men are just their tools.”

Interesting theory. Thinking about women in slinky outfits zipped up the front, I do think that the thought of unzipping it is one of the reasons why this sort of thing is sexy. Almost maybe suggesting that undressing them would be as quick and fruitful as doing it visually, which men routinely do with attractive women. And, I can see why it would be considered a power play with other women, because it distracts the men from the other women, by getting the guys to visualize unzipping them.

You would almost expect that women today would be beyond that, vying for Power against other women by how well they attract men, thanks to their liberation, etc. But I think that young women today may be, if anything, even more insecure in this competition. But until they can put this female competition to the side, and compete with men on their own merits, I don’t think that they will be all that successful in that regard, and there will continue to be a “wage gap”.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I think a dress that has a lot of zippers suggests an easy off type of garment. One that can be quickly removed as opposed to a lot of fussy buttons. The foxy tights area also a fun thing that reflect the light hearted attitude of the wearer.

Perhaps her outfit is a reflection of the 'easy' lifestyle of the younger woman and a rebuke to the uptight buttoned down straight laced old ladies (yeah Wintour....lookin at you, you old dinosaur).

Hah. In your face old ladies!

Pinandpuller said...

A vixen is a female fox or a spiteful and quarrelsome woman.

MacMacConnell said...

Anyone know what breed of dog Anna Wintour is?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

When all the evidence is laid out simply in a single list, like a dress filled with zippers, a pattern, a predilection, a pathology, emerges that becomes impossible to ignore. Zippers are the devil's work, yet still we should not turn our heads and ignore the evil that they bring. The brave, the forthright, men and women of character should stand up and be counted. Not on our watch will the lives of women be blighted by zippers, or even the men who wield them in their ill fitting suits.

Earnest Prole said...

Have you actually seen Radhika Jones' foxy tights? They're childlike -- exactly what a fourteen-year-old girl would wear. I don't understand how you get sexualized riff out of that unless of course you're appealing to people who like Roy Moore.

tcrosse said...

The brave, the forthright, men and women of character should stand up and be counted. Not on our watch will the lives of women be blighted by zippers, or even the men who wield them in their ill fitting suits.

Zippers have only recently been discovered.

MacMacConnell said...

Dust Bunny Queen said...
"Zippers....my husband only wears 501 button front Levis for work. No zipper. Now he complains that the quality of the jeans are not the same, the sizing is variable and the fabric is less sturdy. This is true."

True 501s aren't made in the USA anymore. Check out the labels, if you have five pair they will all have different third world countries of origin on them.

While it takes longer to fasten the fly on 501s, it's faster unfastening them than the zippered version. Plus one's ass looks better in 501s than the work trousers you mention. Your husband may be a 501 affectionado for your benefit. Cheers!

MacMacConnell said...

Earnest Prole said...
"Have you actually seen Radhika Jones' foxy tights? They're childlike -- exactly what a fourteen-year-old girl would wear."

Most Americans dress like children or refugees.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Have you actually seen Radhika Jones' foxy tights? They're childlike -- exactly what a fourteen-year-old girl would wear. I don't understand how you get sexualized riff out of that unless of course you're appealing to people who like Roy Moore.”

It’s as offensive as men in shorts.

Howard said...

If you wear 501's, you are appropriating California culture.

Michael K said...

" people who get why I am doing this."

I'm not one. Somebody posed the theory that you are going back to your hippie days.

That might be an explanation.

buwaya said...

Women always compete with clothing.

Nothing new, any difference is merely a matter of culture and fashion, and even if it is overtly sexual its not usually meant to affect men at all, just other womens imagination about mens reactions.

That is, it is female status competition.

Its global. Elsewhere you will see women (married ones) literally wearing their wealth, all those North African traditional getups covered in coins and gold. The same thing as the enormous 18th century hair pieces, etc.

That is per my wife, who is quite a historian of womens costume. She can date a gown in a BBC TV epic within five years, and tell me if they've got it right. Even down to the technology of the girdles.

n.n said...

Foxy tights with zippers... that were turned down for sophisticated buttons.

Liberalism, and Planned Parenthood, have served to blend the line of hen and chick. However, even with social progress, it is weird and depraved to molest unconscious hens. That is still a taboo with consensus.

buwaya said...

I dont see a womens power metaphor, or power relative to men.

You can go back into deep time and find all sorts of things that you could interpret this way too, but that seems like it would be a mistake.

The consistently most predictive rule is that women dress (and even undress) for women.

Men (actual men) are not in this game at all, merely a conceptual prop at best, the concept of generic men in other womens minds.

buwaya said...

As also with womens behavior.

Public displays of sexual aggression, say in the case of Arianne Zucker, are also intra-female status displays. The men are props on this stage.

Michael K said...

My wife used to say "A party is to a woman what a battlefield is to a man."

'TreHammer said...

...sometimes a zipper is just a zipper

Anonymous said...

The SNL sketch - what I could stand of it - is so childish it's embarrassing and you say that SNL has only gotten worse?

n.n said...

intra-female status displays. The men are props on this stage.

And sometimes weaponized to target competing conscious (and unconscious) women, girls, and babies, too.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

While it takes longer to fasten the fly on 501s, it's faster unfastening them than the zippered version. Plus one's ass looks better in 501s than the work trousers you mention. Your husband may be a 501 affectionado for your benefit. Cheers!

No doubt about that :-P

The issue is that the quality of Levi's has deteriorated and after a few washings, the jeans either rip out in the crotch, the belt loops tear off, stitching comes undone or other defects. The button holes are too small. They don't shrink to fit like they used to (depending on where they are made. The ones made in Egypt seem to be still a quality product.) He keeps complaining/bitching about the 501's and yet,keeps buying the damned things. Stop complaining about it......or try something else!

He is a plumber and while I admire his ass, while working he gets covered in muck, mud, iron bacteria slime and other unmentionable crap. To have him blow out a $60 pair of jeans every couple of weeks is just annoying. Buy something made for work, bending, kneeling and has room.

Wear the 501s when you are not working and aren't covered in shit :-)

Ficta said...

Speaking of genetic material: DNA is a zipper.

tcrosse said...

Rita Hayworth expounds on the role of the zipper in culture:

Pal Joey - Zip

rhhardin said...

Tim Blair and Joe Hildebrand podcast remarks on some female co-workers featured in a magazine:

Sunday Life, and I'm appalled that Fairfax would do this, they...

They dressed up these high-powered female stars

They were wearing make-up and everything, like a bunch of two-bit whores

Leigh, Virginia, and who was the third?

It was, it was Em Alverichi

Em Alverichi

From lifeline, wonderful reporter, wonderful journalist

Who began her life at NewsCorp

That's right as all good journalists do

And it's all been downhill since then

That's right, now all of the sudden she's just slutted-out, on the cover of Sunday Life, wearing make-up, wearing nice clothes

Ironed?

Ironed

Ironed?

Ironed, somebody had pressed those clothes

That's the patriarchy

That is the patriarchy, just oppressing these women, and the journalist who wrote this story, I don't even know who he or she is, whoever it was has a lot to answer for because that person dared to celebrate women

Being objectified

No, worse than that, actually achieving dominant roles in a newsroom.

bgates said...

All these comments following the question of the symbolism of those tights, and no one thought to link to the definitive answer on what the fox says.

I say to him: "If you wear your underpants and keep your dick inside you won't have that problem.

That's advice that would have benefited so very, very many presidents in the 20th century.

Earnest Prole said...

The issue is that the quality of Levi's has deteriorated.

Agree completely, DBQ. I've worn them continuously for more than forty years, and while the quality has gone up and down in the last twenty-five, the current product is the worst ever. Sad!

Ipswichie said...

Song of Solomon 2:15: Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.

Eleanor said...

I think it depends on the print that the fox is part of. Prints featuring foxes have been around in children's wear for a few years made popular by "What Does the Fox Say?" Leggings featuring juvenile prints are popular with the Stay-At-Home Mom set. As are clothes with lots of zippered pockets. I'd have to see the outfit to classify it as "powerful, creative woman". Reading about it suggests a day at the playground with the preschool set.

Anonymous said...

A dress full of zippers says "I'm easy. I want this to come off quick and easy and fast."

William said...

To paraphrase Freud, sometimes a zipper is just a zipper. Occam's razor.