Monday, September 13, 2010

Why lie when I can be honest?

Lately, the disconnect between fashion and reality has become immensely apparent to me. For example:



In the first photo, Natasha Poly is wearing insane heels while working out. No one does this. In the second photo, Iris van Berne looks breathtaking in the dress with the cracked out hair. Oh, but wait, something else is going on. She's eating a Big Mac. While dressed to the nines. Does this happen in real life? Of course, it very well could, and I could be completely oblivious to it. But, I highly doubt that's the case. (Why does she have to be eating McDonald's of all fast food chains? People equate McDonald's with obesity, right? I feel like she's rubbing it in my face that she can eat high calorie food and remain the type of skinny that is considered "beautiful.")

Another example of this annoying disconnect is the famous 14 year old blogger, Tavi Gevinson, of style rookie fame. I'm not knocking her; she seems like the sweetest, most genuine person in the business. Recently, she has acquired an agent because her parents were tired of taking her to fashion shows and such. Her recent post says, among other things, "Thanks for the lovely night, dudes! Real talk with awesome people is just what you need during the middle of Fashion Week." A 14 year old is covering fashion week. Perhaps I'm merely jealous, but something is off about a 14 year old attending fashion week. She's a great writer, so I almost wish she'd just go off and write a novel - something as groundbreaking as Catcher in the Rye (I think she could do it, too). I don't want the fashion industry to scoop her up in its glamorous arms, show her love, and then throw her in the dumpster for the garbage machine to crunch and eat her up.

I suppose I'm wondering if fashion does indeed have a place in reality. Can a person be involved in the fashion world and still be grounded? Can a "normal" person wear Yves Saint Laurent and Prada and Balenciaga and Zac Posen and Alexander Wang and Chanel and Lavin and Louis Vuitton etc. etc. and remain connected to reality? I once knew a girl who threw on her Burberry trench, grabbed her Zac Posen bag, and went shopping at Marc Jacobs the night before her midterms. I don't understand.

(Both photos via fashiongonerogue.com)

2 comments:

dhennigh said...

I think you have great points. I think, knowing that you're cultured, part of this may have to do with the culture we live in. I know that in Italy it's not uncommon to wear a pair of designer shoes as everyday fashion. Even in France this is often times a part of the "everyday" or at least something that is appreciated for special occasions. Maybe it's the "don't waste" attitude, but my European friends would rather have less product, higher quality. Many Americans, I feel, prefer to have mediocre quality, but a ton of it. I have to admit, in certain instances I fall victim to this trap as well - I am, after all, an American that has adopted the American culture - but I also realize, as you to, and appreciate the essence of true fashion and am more than willing to go the extra mile with my bucks to bring it into my everyday life. I think things are changing in our society, though, and we might see an increase in making designer-quality expression part of our "quotidien" lives.

Lydia Armstrong said...

Well, yeah, I agree with a lot of what you're saying here. What you said about Tavi is totally true, because this is an industry that could quickly tire of her before she even reaches her potential and does something truly remarkable. But I still dig what she does, and what first struck me about her through her blog was how original she is. I've found other blogs that copy hers down to mentioning Rei Kawakubo in their "about me" section, posting about Hole all the time, and using the same exact pop culture references over and over. And so many of them seem like they'd be so cool if they'd just be themselves.

I thought I might piss a person or two off with my post, but whatever, I don't care. I can understand finding similarities among the things in the same genre of something, but sometimes it's just over the top.

Also, I love the decked-out model eating the Big Mac. If I was her, that's exactly what I'd be doing.