THE UGLY TRUTH, AKA THE FLAWED LOGIC OF TOTAL BEAUTY
Reverence for the wonky, wrong, and wretched
MAKING THE CASE FOR “UGLY”
IN THIS ISSUE: THREE THEORIES OF UGLY that includes Ellen DeGeneres, Carlo Prada, Roger Vivier, and stock imagery; THAT Lalanne Sheep that you have or will now see always, incl. KRIS JENNER; THE UGLY IDEA THAT SPARKED THIS NEWSLETTER c/o @shop_rdc
**COMING UP WEDNESDAY**: THE MOST PERFECTLY “UGLY” UNNEW HOME THINGS FOR SALE, SEE PREVIEW COLLAGE HERE (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Snoops,
WHY DO WE NOT VALUE “UGLY”? Accepting Ugly into our lives is, in the view of For Scale, a Red Pill moment. Ugly is a route to UNMASKING the world around us, which can never be and in some ways should never be a place of Flawless Beauty.
And, besides, “ugly” is sometimes kinda cute. Exhibit A, where at least one sweet little bowl is observable:
Let’s begin with a short list of “Ugly” We Admire:
Los Angeles, an atrociously ugly and fundamentally fantastic city (gloriously understood here)
Non-”Curated” Christmas Ornaments (e.g. those handmade by small children out of pasta; novelty ornaments in shapes like Pickle or Doritos or Anna Wintour)
Why? Because they are all, to varying degrees, unprecious (or lend unpreciousness to something) ergo allow us, in our own imperfection, to RELATE TO THEM. (i.e. The “Thematic Christmas Tree” is Object; the “Assorted Christmas Tree” is Story-teller.)
FOR SCALE posits that some degree of Ugly, and ergo Unmasking, in the domestic interior (more broadly) has the effect of making our own spaces more relatable to ourselves, i.e. the space makers.
This is for three reasons:
For most, the home interior is not viewed as a space for experimentation (compare this to the sartorial realm) and so we strive for Beauty and what I would term “resolved spaces” (i.e. put togetherness). The pursuit of Total Beauty is the enemy of individuality.
Our blind obsession with Beauty means that we disregard the need for balance. We feel that a space of 100% Beauty is both interesting and achievable, but it is instead a kind of anechoic chamber: too much time spent inside 100% Beauty and you’re likely to lose your mind. (LOOK AT THE FASHION INDUSTRY… so proudly self-isolated in a Beauty Bubble, that they essentially spent 20+ years promoting eating disorders!!!! I mean, wow.)1
Ugly, more than Beauty, inspires Fanatacism. Fanatacism is FUNatacism. I won’t be giving examples.
NOW, LET’S DISCOVER “UGLY” THROUGH FOR SCALE’S THREE THEORIES OF UGLY:
Theory 1
If Beauty is in the eye of The Beholder,
Ugly is determined by Context
Q: Are you just going to tell us that bad taste is the new good taste, but only when that bad taste is done in a particular way, ergo kinda becomes “good taste”?
A: Yes and no. Both/and. AS A RECOVERING DESIGN EDITOR, I have come to understand that anyone who claims to have GOOD TASTE is in all likelihood an asshole.
And I also know CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING.
An Aside:
Style note on “Vignettes Of Stuff”, a.k.a. a type of context: Tidy Vignettes are OUT, Clutter Vignettes are IN.
Here we explore the context of “ATTRACTIVE MEN”:
What is typically referred to as “Ugly”: the grandma floral (PLEASE SEE PREV. ISSUE OF THIS NEWSLETTER ON FLORALS)
Adding “Hunk of your Social Climbing Fantasies,” the late JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY JR., relaxing on grandma floral. All of a sudden, the grandma floral seems WANTABLE.
The Corporate Pacifier of NOVELTY ERGONOMIC SEATING:
The Who-Knows-What-He-Does Milanese man about town CARLO PRADA, one half of What-Do-They-Do design service (maybe?) CONCORDE, again showing that a Handsome Man can make you think “HUH, I LIKE HOW ROUND IT IS!”
BONUS:
I just also wanted to rail against plucking icons of AVANT GARDE MANIA (*absolutely For Scale will write an issue of the newsletter on this style) and putting them in the context of literal KARDASHIAN MINIMALIST MAXIMALISM (i.e. “minimalism” that relies on having every single important design piece, but all in white).
May I present, the Ubiquitous In Architectural Digest Walk-Throughs: the Lalanne Sheep
First, in its AVANT GARDE MANIA form in the apartment of ROGER VIVIER (who popularized camp classic, the Stiletto Heel):
Theory 2
OVERDOING BEAUTY IN THE WRONG WAY IS “LIVING SHOWROOM”, AND IS BAD UGLY.
Here is the EXQUISITE Solange Knowles, in her new(ly designed) apartment, in a feature in the EXQUISITE Apartamento Magazine.
AND YET… SO MANY capital-‘O’ “Objects” that it SUFFOCATES US. The vibe is entirely SHOWROOM, that Beauty kind of horseshoes around and becomes Ugly. And not the ugly we honor here, THE OTHER KIND.
AN ASIDE
Here is the paradox of “UGLY”:
Just as there is a way to do “good taste”, there is a way to do ugly taste.
Theory 3
UGLY IS HUMILITY, UGLY IS RELIEF
TALES FROM THE FRONTLINE, a word from exceptional seller and person unafraid of the occassional Ugly, Philip Marquez a.k.a. REFUGE @shop_rdc a.k.a. the man who inspired this Issue:
WHEN PRESSED FOR MORE DETAIL:
Polished homes today reflect wealth, the latest interior trends pulled from Architectural Digest, The Kardashians, or the palaces of online socialites. They say to be ashamed of mismatched plates and mugs, and shirk objects that don’t fit “the vibe”. It is so pervasive that during walkthroughs, instead of personal opinion or expression, there is fear and loathing for anything new or visceral.
Love isn’t always practical, it’s often personal and therefore misunderstood. Objects can trigger memories. Kintsugi, the art of mending cracks in objects to give them new meaning; a deeply personal meaning, is one of our favorite go-tos for anything if it can be applied. Even a cup stain on your polished coffee table could be something beautiful if it’s personal. Let’s be honest, in a world where everyone’s so desperate to be an impeccable lifestyle brand ugly is the relief to be around something that isn’t and doesn’t care to be.— PHILIP MARQUEZ FOR “FOR SCALE”
FINALLY: A PREVIEW OF STUFF FOR SALE THAT IS GOOD “UGLY” IN THE RIGHT CONTEXT (COMING WEDNESDAY)
CONT’D, ON FASHION AND BEAUTY… BODY DYSMORPHIA CONTINUES in the name of “Beauty”: Folk Hero Julia Fox recently posted on TikTok a little rant that included the denigration of women who are 5’2” (Famously Lady Gaga is proudly 5’2”)
Ugly is the relief! Cheers to that. Loved this so much.