"In the digital realm, we are naked and vulnerable." This is the opening line on the website for x.pose, a smartphone-powered dress that becomes transparent when you tweet or share on Facebook. NYU designers Xeudi Chen and Pedro Oliveira have defined x.pose as "an exploration and commentary on the current internet culture of our generation and the relationship we share with our data."
The dress itself is divided into sections, and each section corresponds to the neighborhood the wearer is tweeting or posting from. Once she's tweeted or posted, the dress connects via Bluetooth and becomes see-through in specific sections. The more personal data shared on your smartphone, the more skin you show.
As a statement, I find this dress intriguing. It's a physical depiction of our emotional nakedness in the digital realm. We wouldn't go out in public naked, yet we're willing to share practically everything about ourselves online. Maybe it's because we've grown up with this technology and have become apathetic to its impact, but more than that we have a need to be heard. If you're feeling misunderstood in your everyday life, you share to find the people who "get" you. If I were to wear this getup, I'd be naked in minutes.
A perfect gift for that person in your life who needs to get over their FOMO already, am I right?
Which brings me to our next dress: Intimacy 2.0 by Studio Roosegaarde, a fusion of intimacy and technology. The dress changes from opaque to transparent when the wearer is turned on. You know, kind of like a really expensive mood ring. They come in 'Intimacy White' and 'Intimacy Black,' and are made of opaque e-foils that become increasingly transparent based on your personal encounters.
"Social interactions determine the garments' level of transparency, creating a sensual play of disclosure," says their website, citing the dress as "daringly perfect to wear on the red carpet." (RiRi, take note.) They're currently selecting haute couture designers to develop a 3.0 fashion line for men and women.
While it's definitely an avant-garde look for the runway or red carpet, I don't see how it can translate to the general public. For one, it's very Tron-meets-Vegas-club-circuit. For... well, two, what if your heart rate and body temperature go up for other reasons — like nervousness or too much caffeine (or you know, having a pulse)? Or what if you work yourself up into such a dither over the thought of other people knowing your business — oh look, boobs.
So much for playing hard to get.
