Imagine of talented designers made clothes for the masses, a la top shop. That would be fucking revolutionary. Oh and add in some sizes beyond size 10 and you are out of the fucking universe. Where is my fashion revolution (fashion, fashion revolution, mmm..mmm).
This situation is truly dire. I finally graduated fashion school just a few months after the bottom dropped out & despite having what I've been told is an impressive resume & portfolio, neither I or any of my graduating class peers have been able to find work in the industry commensurate with our ability or experience.
I gravitated toward fashion as a livelihood because, aside from my passion for clothes & art, it seemed the only creative industry that truly embraced women in business & allowed for independent pro-activity. The current landscape is disheartening, but fashion remains my first & last love, & the only career in which I can see myself completely fulfilled. Economy be damned, I'm not throwing in the towel any time soon.
@doit2julia: Is there any opportunities for doing what you love outside of the established channels? I know my industry - journalism - is having some similar issues, albeit for different reasons, yet some really cool, interesting things have been done by people who used technology do to their own things.
@whynotshesaid: I have some ideas. A lot of fashion people are currently going the small-scale DIY route these days & readying business models & investor proposals for the (*fingers crossed*) economic recovery.
I'm looking to re-establish my own online vintage shop. I did so pretty successfully during school but eventually had to abandon the venture as it began to compete my escalating academic demands. It was decent money-maker, & even with retail numbers where they are, it should pay the rent once I get it going again.
I lost my job a couple months ago, and generally when I hear of recession losses my heart bleeds. In all these photos, I can see their beauty of their work, but it is hard to muster emotion from an industry who has looked upon me and announced me grotesque and unworthy of wearing beautiful things. It is all so grim.
I cannot stand celebrities who think that they could actually design when really they can't. There are people out there that live, breathe, and die in fashion everyday. Those that break their breaks and do all they can to break into the business. But many don't have the financial backing or celebrity backing *cough* Zac Posen...
I've never came across a celebrity design that I like. They hire underlings to do all the work then stamp their name on the product. Fashion is a game to them when its life to others...
This might be a stupid question, but if you guys hate what goes on in fashion mags so much, why do you read them and pick them apart? Isn't it kind of like looking at the Wall Street Journal and getting mad that there's so much business/finance in there?
@Sadako: Well, I hink it has something to do with the fact that vogue, cosmo etc are the main "women's magazines" out there and they reach millions of women, giving them ridiculous advice/standards to adhere to. and its definitely worth "picking them apart" and commenting on the messages women are being sent via these magazines. especially, when an absurd amount of people take whats written in these magazines to be true and normal.
also, fashion doesn't have to be trivial and overly expensive, as these magazines tend to portray it. considering these are "fashion magazines" you think they could do a better job at making fashion accessible to the women who actually read their magazine.
@Sadako: would be great if there were somuch fashion in vogue, problem is mainly no fashion, total irrelevance, idiotic articles by the same 3 cliquettes every time, and 'actresses,' meaning actors who are women, on the cover. all the time. i would say this issue the worst in the wintour eon, but how could i tell, since theyre all more or less identical.
@Sadako: Because fashion magazines are a huge influence on the perceptions of womanhood and femininity. They reflect what we are supposed to look like, to want, to aspire to, and to do. If we blithely dismiss them, we are ignoring the problem of prescribed female identity. It is a responsible person's duty to look at these things critically.
@Sadako: Not really. It's poking fun at something that many
people read. It's important to ridicule stuff like this. Otherwise people might take it too seriously. Many of us don't buy them because of it, and maybe that will be true for others to more it's poked fun at.
@Sadako: I'm of the belief that fashion magazines should talk of, you know, fashion rather than promote a jetset lifestyle. Why are there no fashion magazines talking in-depth of fashion (about silhouettes, colours,... and how this all works together), publishing articles of the history of fashion, featuring interesting, stylish people and questioning what fashion and style really is?
I'm picturing a movie scene of Anna Wintour at her desk, with a voiceover.
I wonder if we can move on past the "affordable" schtick we have been doing...this recession is sooo 2009. There's an $800/night spa in Utah that I like. ... Now, Rachel McAdams' hair: should we go Sharon Stone circa 1992 or Medusa circa BCE 600?
Rachel McAdams has the "divorce" haircut: you know, the new look hairdressers force on you when you are weak and unhappy after a breakup. You say: "I need a change", they hear "PePe Le Pew is my role model."
Maybe a size 4 wouldn't be too big if the indie hipster skinny jeans trend would just die already!!!! PLEASE! Cough. Sorry. Skinny jean hate is hard to control.
@FrabjousDay: I feel jealousy hate. It's a whole look that I physically can't do. I need to go two sizes up to fit my ass and I get that "weight loss commercial waist" thing that a belt won't help. It looks great on those skinny girls who can also wear boots over it...
@CynicalPink: I have the same problem! So irritating! And then there is always belt-buldge to worry about (depending on the top you're wearing). But dispite the waist issue I love them because they make my legs look really nice... I just end up wearing volumey tops when I wear them.
@CynicalPink: When the look is done right it's amazing. Most of the time it looks like crap though. And the only skinny jeans I look good in feel awful. I just want normal jeans to come back into fashion again!
We've discussed this before, but how do the hair and make-up people at Vogue continue to have jobs after they ugly up Rachel McAdams? It takes real talent to screw up that badly. It looks like her hair is trying to escape from her head.
Balenciaga should sue whomever actually green-lighted the Sportiletto, and should be grateful if Steve Madden's team actually made it seem desirable and copy-worthy.
@labeled: Jeez, those are some ugly shoes.
Also, what is happening with the Forever 21 lawsuits? They do the same thing-- copy designers blatantly, but I never heard what happened.
@Raised-byHeathens: Right? I particularly like this shot of them, also. What shoes don't look fan-fucking-tastic with gray wool tights? And, they're even worse than I thought - that's rubber, not leather. Jeebus, those're so fug they're kind of making my morning.
@labeled: She is wearing them with some type of track pant too. See the piping there on the leg? Is that like dressing up for sporting events? High fashion at the hockey game? They are awesomely fug.
I read "Jessica Simpson shows bikini line" as some sort of downstairs version of a nip slip that Perez Hilton would doodle about and make fun of mercilessly for months.
Unfortunately her swimwear line looks even less exciting.
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I gravitated toward fashion as a livelihood because, aside from my passion for clothes & art, it seemed the only creative industry that truly embraced women in business & allowed for independent pro-activity. The current landscape is disheartening, but fashion remains my first & last love, & the only career in which I can see myself completely fulfilled. Economy be damned, I'm not throwing in the towel any time soon.
12/23/09
12/23/09
I'm looking to re-establish my own online vintage shop. I did so pretty successfully during school but eventually had to abandon the venture as it began to compete my escalating academic demands. It was decent money-maker, & even with retail numbers where they are, it should pay the rent once I get it going again.
12/23/09
12/23/09
I've never came across a celebrity design that I like. They hire underlings to do all the work then stamp their name on the product. Fashion is a game to them when its life to others...
12/23/09
I can't decide if the problem was how bad those name are, or the fact that the Sweetface ad looks like it belongs in our bad 00's fashion post.
12/23/09
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also, fashion doesn't have to be trivial and overly expensive, as these magazines tend to portray it. considering these are "fashion magazines" you think they could do a better job at making fashion accessible to the women who actually read their magazine.
12/22/09
12/22/09
And, you know, rip them apart.
12/22/09
people read. It's important to ridicule stuff like this. Otherwise people might take it too seriously. Many of us don't buy them because of it, and maybe that will be true for others to more it's poked fun at.
12/23/09
12/23/09
12/22/09
12/22/09
I wonder if we can move on past the "affordable" schtick we have been doing...this recession is sooo 2009. There's an $800/night spa in Utah that I like. ... Now, Rachel McAdams' hair: should we go Sharon Stone circa 1992 or Medusa circa BCE 600?
12/22/09
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That is a look I wish would die. I always want to ask what stable they use for their horse.....
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12/21/09
In some chipmunk-type voice? I imagine the voice would be key for the delivery!
12/21/09
12/21/09
Also, what is happening with the Forever 21 lawsuits? They do the same thing-- copy designers blatantly, but I never heard what happened.
12/21/09
12/21/09
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Unfortunately her swimwear line looks even less exciting.
12/21/09