A prêt-à-porter Reinaldo Arenas: fashion and power in “Que trine Eva”

Abstract

This paper aims at expanding the possibilities of reading Reinaldo Arenas’ short story, “Que trine Eva”, in order to introduce a brief comment on the relations between fashion and power. We expect this approach will allow us to examine in which aspects two characters’ garments, Ricardo and Eva, oppose to a social system that, in Gilles Lipovetsky’s opinion, “rejects the enjoyment or satisfaction of desire through fashion”. We also consider the biopolitics perspective, from which the outrageous clothing the characters created and modeled would work as an attitude of resistance and differentiation from the disciplined body in relation to the guerrilla rules and regulations.