{"id":1231,"date":"2011-08-12T07:30:27","date_gmt":"2011-08-12T14:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/?p=1231"},"modified":"2011-08-12T17:04:36","modified_gmt":"2011-08-13T00:04:36","slug":"burning-man-series-nevada%e2%80%99s-desert-dress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/2011\/08\/12\/burning-man-series-nevada%e2%80%99s-desert-dress\/","title":{"rendered":"The Burning Man Series: Nevada\u2019s Desert Dress"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I’m pleased to present the first in a new series for the month of August, that will focus on the Burning Man<\/a> festival (which begins August 29). Each Friday, a different guest writer will present their\u00a0 point of view on this annual festival in the desert. <\/em><\/p>\n

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Jan Loverin, Curator of Clothing & Textiles, Nevada State Museum's, Marjorie Russell Clothing and Textile Research Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

First, I’m happy to present Jan Loverin, <\/em>Curator of Clothing and Textiles Nevada State Museum’s Marjorie Russell Clothing and Textile Research Center<\/a> who happily provides some context for the festival, for those who are unfamiliar. <\/em>Loverin has a B.A. in Biology from Whittier College and a M.S. in Home Economics from the University of Nevada-Reno. She has worked (part time) at the Museum since 1985. She has written numerous articles and presented papers nationally and internationally. She is also a long-time member of the Costume Society of America.
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Nevada once again becomes a mecca for art and community with the 25th<\/sup> year of the Burning Man Festival. For the past 21 years this event has been held on the Black Rock desert, north of Reno and \u00a0has become one of the largest social gatherings in the northern hemisphere.<\/p>\n

Nevada has historically been recognized as the home to massive gold and silver mining, legalized gaming, prostitution and world class entertainment. Now we are known for the spectacular, awe inspiring, Burning Man Festival and the community of Black Rock City.\u00a0 This temporary community of over 40,000 people inhabits the playa for seven days, creating a unique society based on a gifting economy, radical self expression and \u00a0self reliance.\u00a0 This phenomenon has dramatically changed the look of our state.<\/p>\n

Northern Nevada, particularly Reno, becomes a haven for the thousands of visitors who pass through on their way to the Black Rock Desert, \u00a0seven miles past the small town of Gerlach.\u00a0 When the event begins we watch as the highways become crowded with fully packed and loaded vehicles heading toward this desert community and when it is over, we again watch the exodus of very dirty and dusty vehicles as people leave and go back to their daily lives.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Geoffrey Nelson (Via Dusty Couture)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While there have been many articles written about the concept of Burning Man, I am here to tell you that it is wonderful, freeing, transformative, dirty, fun, entertaining, richly rewarding and a place to shed your current persona and adorn yourself HOWEVER YOU WANT\u2026\u2026 as long as it\u2019s not current normative dress.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right, costumes are an essential part of being a \u201cBurner.\u201d\u00a0 While theoretically, it is a place for total freedom of expression, it is not without some elements of conformity.\u00a0 Feathers are in<\/del>(See note 1 below), boots are in; wings, stilts, crinolines, and ballet tutus are in; nudity and body paint are in; utili kilts are popular, as is wearing underwear as outerwear.\u00a0 Headgear and various forms of artistically created hairstyles (usually created to reduce the effects of wind and dirt) are essential and costuming for night is illuminated with elaborately constructed ensembles of el wire, glow sticks, fiber optic fabric, and accessories of fire.<\/p>\n

Burning Man has once again put Nevada on the worldwide map.\u00a0 Burners are a part of our culture\u2026with pre and post decompression events throughout the year, \u00a0and exhibitions of art at local museums, and it has created a sizeable impact on our economy.\u00a0 Burners are as much a part of Nevada as showgirls, strippers, and Las Vegas night life. Burning Man has also has created a profound effect on us Nevadans.\u00a0 For a state that has been known for its conservatism, it has opened our eyes.\u00a0 Yes, you can create a society and tear it down 7 days later, leaving no trace. Yes, you can create a community of bartering(see note 2 below) and exchange and have it work.\u00a0 Yes, you can create magnificent art and have the sky as a backdrop. Yes, you can dress up and put on a new and different outfit to become new and different person. Yes, Burning Man works for Nevada.<\/p>\n

As the curator of clothing and textiles at the Nevada State Museum<\/a>, I am fascinated by the creative genius of Burning Man and in my opinion, this festival has embraced the natural beauty of Nevada\u2019s desert landscape as a place of freedom, survival and community.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thanks so much to Jan for giving us this brief introduction to the festival (and the Burning Ban Series). Tune in next Friday for another installment with a different point of view.
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Bibliography<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clarke, Rachel. “Radical Conformity: Fashion Trends at Burning Man.\u201d Popular Culture Association National Conference, San Francisco, CA, 2008.<\/p>\n

Nelson, Geoffrey. A Tribe of Artists<\/em>: Costumes and Culture at Burning Man. <\/em>Exhibit Catalog Nevada Museum of Art, 2007.<\/p>\n

*Image via LibreInk Blo<\/a>g Photo by Frederic Larson of the San Francisco Chronicle<\/em>.<\/p>\n

1. $teven Ra$pa. Arts Advocate & Special Events Producer for Burning Man wrote me this afternoon to make sure people understand that “Feathers–especially feather boas– are not “in” on the playa. They are on our list of things NOT to bring to Burning Man because they create MOOP (matter out of place) as they shed. In fact, feather boas can be confiscated by our Gate crew to avoid littering the playa with possible loose feathers, so it isn’t good to encourage people to show up with feathers.”<\/em><\/p>\n

2. $teven Ra$pa. Arts Advocate & Special Events Producer for Burning Man also wants to make sure everyone understands clearly the culture of giving at Burning man: “Jan mentions “bartering” and the emphasis of Burner culture is gifting–giving something without the expectation of return. It is that spirit of giving that permeates everything at Burning Man: from self expression to the generosity of theme camps to the massive works of art.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks so much to $teven for pointing these subtleties out!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While there have been many articles written about the concept of Burning Man, I am here to tell you that it is wonderful, freeing, transformative, dirty, fun, entertaining, richly rewarding and a place to shed your current persona and adorn yourself HOWEVER YOU WANT\u2026\u2026 as long as it\u2019s not current normative dress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93,88,7,37,1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1231"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}