Jezebel: CRIMES OF FASHION

Who Wears Short-Shorts?

Sadie — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:50:00 EDT

"A woman was ordered to serve three days in jail after a judge found her in contempt of court for inappropriate dress." It's not as draconian as it sounds: Kirstie Arnold, 28, of Lancaster, Kentucky, had already been warned twice for wearing hot pants to previous court appearances and on the second occasion was fined $50. When confronted by Judge Karen Booth as to why she insisted upon perping this crime of fashion, Arnold said that she "forgot." The memory lapse cost her three days in the pen for contempt, not counting whatever she gets for the original offense of having knocked over a tombstone and driven away. [The Guardian]

Designer: "I Was Raped" T-Shirt Intended To Empower

Jessica — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Prominent third-wave feminist activist and writer Jennifer Baumgardner (Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism And The Future) made a splash three years ago when she distributed a controversial t-shirt that had, writ large on the front: "I Had An Abortion," and was worn by Gloria Steinem, Ani DiFranco, and countless women's studies majors and Take Back the Night attendees. Baumgardner is making headlines again today with a new tee, one that says "raped" on it. The letters are smaller this time — it's a pale pink shirt with an illustration of a safe, and inside the safe is a note emblazoned with the words "I was raped" — but the spirit of provocation remains the same. "By having an object like this," Baumgardner explains to the New York Times, "that's so mundane, it sort of forces [rape] into everyday conversation."

Baumgardner came up with the idea for the t-shirt while interviewing women for a documentary she's making about sexual assault. She's hoping that the shirt is "empowering" for people who experience rape, because it will help "divest themselves of some of the shame and secrecy of it ." But will embracing their experience in such a sartorial way really be so cathartic? We can all agree that rape victims have nothing to be ashamed of, but most people don't feel comfortable having any aspects of their personal lives broadcast, especially not on something so crass as a t-shirt.

A friend of Baumgardner's, Christen Clifford, volunteered to wear the shirt in public and also spoke to the Times. "There really are so few spaces where it's considered appropriate to talk about [rape]," Clifford says, referencing a dinner party where rape came up and conversation just halted. Call me old fashioned, but I'm not sure rape is something anyone is ever going to feel comfortable discussing at a dinner party. Isn't there some medium between hiding away in shame over something traumatic and wearing a t-shirt announcing it?

Rape Worn Not on a Sleeve, but Right Over the Heart [New York Times]
I Was Raped: Wear Your Voice Out [Scarleteen]

You're Not A Real Fashion Victim 'Til You've Landed In The ER

Jennifer — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST

Poor Simon Doonan: the writer and creative director of Barneys New York is suffering from a fashion-inflicted injury, or so he says in his column in this week's New York Observer.

I once laughed unsympathetically when my mother's best friend broke her thumb putting on her girdle, and now, lo many years later, God has seen fit to punish me... It's hard to say if my affliction is more or less embarrassing than that girdle-mangling horror of yore. I will let you be the judge. Here goes: I was felled by a man-bag, a Goyard man-bag at that...After two or three years of lugging round my luxe accessory...I incurred a nasty case of bicep tendinitis....[It] is a painful and immobilizing condition involving months of rehab.

Motivated by his sorry state, Doonan set out to track down fellow victims of the thing we call fashion. After all, who amongst us has not pulled a Linda Wells? (Says the Allure editor-in-chief: "There I was in the dressing room, trapped in a designer straitjacket [aka - a Prada turtleneck], mortified...I still can't understand how one can get into something but not get out of it.")

Doonan's other fashion victim pals include realtor Burt Minkoff (angora in the contact lens landed him in the ER); gallerist Karen Boltrax (Paul Smith clogs fucked up her feet); an anonymous Allure staffer (thrombosis from too-tight leather pants — guesses, anyone?); and US Weekly's Sasha Charnin Morrison (took a tumble leaving a Versace show, got a photo and a Versace band-aid to prove it).

I for one, have an anecdote: It was my sophomore year of college and I had signed up to be a tour guide for prospective students and their parents. Finishing up a tour while walking forwards (not backwards, like a good tour guide should!) in my brand spankin' new ballet flats — which just might have been an eency bit loose in the heel — I tripped, took flight, and landed face down, using only my knees to break my fall. I was rushed to the ER, as the doc on campus was positive I had not one but two broken kneecaps. (They ended up being severely bruised, and I was put on bedrest for 2 weeks.)

Anyway: So here's the challenge: Can you guys top these fashion injury stories? Go for it. Make our day.

Ouch! Argh! We Tumble, We Fall: Fashion Injuries, or the Agony of Angora [NY Observer]