DRESS CODE: Diana Nawi

For two years, Diana Nawi, 25, has been an art history graduate student at Williams College.

 

“It’s kind of a secret program,” she says. Well known in museum circles, the intimate and intense program produces curators and scholars who now work at most major museums. For Nawi, the program has included a stint as a curatorial assistant at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts.  Nawi’s thesis project focuses on karaoke videos, which she became interested in after watching works by video artists Candace Breitz and Phil Collins.

 

“I have seen karaoke, but I’ve never done karaoke,” she says of the popular pastime. “I can’t decide whether it means I’m not biased or that I’m a fraud.”

 

While Nawi enjoys dressing in ensembles that she calls “tributes,” she makes no claim to originality when it comes to clothes. “The notion of originality is a false concept, because you’re engaging in a conversation that has been going on forever,” she says.

 

Instead, she views clothing as generally fulfilling the dual purposes of form (looking good) and function (offering coverage or protection). “Outside of that is where other things, like style, come in,” she explains. “I am playing against the idea of the purely functional.”

 

While Nawi’s stint at Williams has been an intellectual wonderland, her sartorial life has been more nuanced. “Being here, you realize how limited the gaze [of others] has become, so you do it for yourself,” she says of the aesthetic differences between city and country.

 

“I am less subject to the occasionally stifling parameters set by urban standards. I am freer to envision things that are not necessarily part of hipster culture, which can be quite dogmatic in terms of style. When you’re freed from that, you have more leeway to determine what is ‘current.’” And, she continues, “How I dress in the country is so far outside of the acceptable framework here that it no longer matters. There is no common language or point of shared reference. Fewer people are in on the joke.”

 

Still, Nawi makes one thing clear about her temporary rural life: “I didn’t give up. I wear makeup every day. I still cut my bangs. On multiple levels, I want to say, ‘I dare you to underestimate me because I am wearing thick eyeliner.’” No way.

 

my
inspiration

Describe your personal style.

I always like a little wink in what I wear. In high school, I wanted to be a rockabilly, but I realized that those girls have big boobs. Now, I have a kind of punk aesthetic without the punk content. I have a fetish for flats and skinny jeans. Fashion is a language I use for communication. I’m at that stage when you are figuring out what your body is, what your job is, and what you are. But I lapse. It takes a long time; I still envision myself as nineteen years old.

 

How does a rockabilly dress?

A made-up face, pompadour, very retro, very clean, kind of a 1950s look—kitsch. It was big in Sacramento, California, where I grew up.

 

Explain the wink.

Neon, animal print, glitter, lots of gold chains. I guess it is partly my Miami Jewish grandmother rising up in me. I went to Miami over break; I imagined that would be my grand fashion homecoming. I packed all of my one-piece jumpsuits, gold, and leopard print.

 

Was it your fashion homecoming?

The wink of it was the difference. I just don’t think they’re kidding. Sometimes, I’m kidding.

 

Explain what you call a tribute outfit.

It’s part of the wink, the language of the thing that I am doing. It’s about humor. At an interview, I wore a skirt that matched a painting in the museum. The skinny jeans and flats are a tribute to punk rock. Once I went on a cruise for a friend’s wedding. I had a fantasy of cruise ships (pirates included); historically, cruise ships were the ultimate luxury. I had ten bathing suits for two days at sea. I had my nautical linen and stripes. I had my Hermès-inspired scarves for my hair, big hoop earrings. I brought all my gold…. It was a disaster. Somehow, I didn’t realize it would be like going to a mall, a food court, and the Holiday Inn at sea.

 

How do you see Berkshire style?

L.L. Bean boots, fleece, plaid shirts. I can go to a café at 10 a.m. and see a man dressed in camouflage because he has been hunting for the last five hours. In some ways, it is a classic style that is timeless and Northeastern. I have bought a lot of plaid unabashedly since moving here. And I don’t feel like an ironic hipster. I’m like, I earned it. I have a creek in my yard.

[JULY 2009]

 

Petria May owns Petria Boutiq in Great Barrington, Mass. For more on Diana Nawi’s inspiration, visit
www.newyorkstylist.blogspot.com.