Jean Paul Gaultier Ready to Wear Spring 2011 Opens with Plus Size Model

Jean Paul Gaultier's Spring 2011 collection reminded me if David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust days had a love child with Joan Jett. Its a little punk, little glam rock, with some ethereal hippie/Bohemian frocks, thrown in with structured leather. Below are my favorite looks (it was hard not to post every piece.)

As you may have noticed, the show opened and closed with plus sized model, lead singer of the band Gossip, Beth Ditto. Despite her size Ditto is making her mark in the fashion world. In an interview, when asked if she had always been comfortable with her size, she replied, 

I used to say that no, I didn't. Sometimes, you feel uncomfortable but then you look around and realize it's not you -- it's what other people project onto you. It's not really how you feel about yourself; it's the way the world makes you feel. It's not even a real emotion, but it definitely affects you. When I was a little kid it was really hard for me. One day you're a cute, chubby kid, but then you get boobs and your mom realizes it's not baby fat. You start to feel a lot of weird pressure. There were times in junior high when I'd say, "When I get older I'll be thin." I thought it would go away.

But then high school came and I got into riot grrrl. My best friend, Jay, was also this fat gay boy. I would watch 'Jerry Springer' and there would be fat girls in bathing suits, and I would be like, "Gross!" And [Jay] would be like, "Who cares?" It was the first time I was ever like, "Oh, yeah. I don't really think it's gross. I've just been told that it's gross. I have that body. Why would I think it was gross?" It was just very deep. Some days you wake up and you're like, "Oh, God, it would be a lot easier to be in a different body." But I think everybody feels that way, no matter what body they have.

Ditto bravely posed nude for Love Magazine, showing that a body that is not portrayed in teh media whatsoever except in a negative manner can be attractive or at least an alternative. There are arguments about portraying obesity in a positive manner because of the health effects and the "epidemic" this country struggles with. This is a valid concern but the flip side is that the fashion world does not seem to bat an eye at the effects of only portraying a slim (no pun intended) view of what attractive is.

Recently I watched a documentary/lecture given by Jean Kilbourne, Number Four of her series "Killing Us Softly". Jean Kilbourne has been examining advertisement and how women have been portrayed in it for decades. Points she brings up a lot is that in advertisement, women are portrayed in demeaning and unrealistic ways. Airbrushed to perfection with body shapes roughly 5% of the countries population actually has, yet is the only size portrayed in all sources of media. Also for years women are portrayed in demeaning ways whether is be in a manner that is...

                                                               sexually violent....

                                                   dehumanizing (portrayed as objects....

                                                               ...or as animals)

                                                                    ...more violence

                                                          extreme sexuality.....

                                               ...and portraying children as sexual objects

Is having an overweight women in a fashion show all that bad? Seriously? Like women aren't made to feel bad enough in society. Maybe normalizing something that is normal, like diversity and body size, isn't such an awful thing. I'm curious as to how people feel about this...ideas?

Betsey Johnson Dress

 

Doesn't' she look like a Princess? Maybe... except for the fact her necklace reads "Ride Me" on it. Otherwise I found this to be a playful ethereal piece and a favorite of the Spring 2011 fashion line. What do you think? Would you ever where this and to what sort of event?

Iris Schieferstein Hoofed Shoe

Last year a friend sent me a picture of these shoes as a joke since it looked like I was a hoofed animal in some of my high heels. The artist Iris Schieferson is a German artist that works with dead animals as raw material, cutting and pasting in a Frankenstein-like manner to create art and fashion.

The gun on the heel reminded me of The Chanel line of Gun heels Madonna wore a little while back.

With a touch of Nina Ricci Shoes Fall 2009

Schiefersteien's shoes are worth roughly $6000

I don't imagine it is something one would want to wear often if at all but it is certainly a morbid piece where fashion meets art.

Ralph Lauren Spring 2011

My favorite of NY Fashion week was the Ralph Lauren 2011 Spring Line. It had romantic feminine lady like silhouettes with a spin of a western look. Fringe and lace, whites tans and light blues. I simply loved it. Here are a few of my favorite looks below,

                                                         *See full runway show here

Shoe-gasim

These John Galliano shoes are epic in every way imaginable. Truly looking like neon sculpture rather that fashion. So far there are no sites showing them for sale as of yet.

Love the Burberry Prosum Leather Coat

                                                                                                            *Spring 2011     

Bone Daddy

                                   *Betsey Johnson Spring 2011 at NY Fashion Week

                                      *Jeremy Scott Spring 2011 NY Fashion Week

Alexander McQueen Memorial takes place in London

                       
                     February 11th this year, the fashion world lost an icon, Alexander McQueen.

 The designer took his own life nine days after his mother died and one day before her funeral was to be held.  On Monday at Saint Paul's Cathedral in London, a memorial service was held to remember the late designer. Sarah Jessica Parker, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Stella McCartney, Rachael Weisz and Vogue editor Anne Wintour were among the crowd of fashionista's that attended the memorial service.
Parker was in tears as she gave her final farewell. 

  

Wintour was the first to take the podium, "He taught us that the runway was a place where dreams become reality. There was no comfort zone with Alexander McQueen. There was no containing of his contradictions. Even his final collection was a literal fight between dark and light. His was an 18-year career of harnessing his dreams and demons," she said.

"He showed us everything was possible; dreams could become reality. But he has left us with an even more exceptional legacy, a talent that soared like the birds of his childhood above us all."

Inside the cathedral, Icelandic performer Bjork, dressed in white and wearing angel wings, sang 'Gloomy Sunday,' a composition associated with suicide.

He was remembered in March on what would have been his 41st birthday by a number of prominent New York-based designers, including Diane von Furstenberg, Michael Kors, Zac Posen and Calvin Klein's Francisco Costa.

The Alexander McQueen label lives on under the creative direction of Sarah Burton.

Vivianne Westwood Red Rocking Horse Platform Wedge

 

Found this gem of a shoe, reminded me of Hermes, the Greek God. the messenger and guide to the underworld. These babies run rough $198.00.  

I want!

Underwater Fashion Show

While out with a friend tonight, we talked fashion and she brought up something she saw on the news while in Europe. She said it was an underwater fashion show and I knew right away I wanted to look more into it.

Recently there was an underwater fashion show in Seoul Korea to celebrate to opening of a new department store called Lotte. Models swim with grace in ethereal brightly colored "hanbok" dresses, designed by Park Sul-Nyeo.

I also found this amusing clip from the 1950's of an underwater fashion show but with a toung and cheek satire tone rather than a fashinable one.

Burqa Banning: Imposing Religous Freedom or Bringing Freedom to Muslim Women?

Recently in France there was a vote to ban face covers including burqas. The measure must still go to the French Senate before it becomes law. The Senate is expected to vote on it in the week of September 20, Other European countries have hoped on board with banning burqa's or are at least discussing the possibility.

When first learning about this news I had a range of different feelings about the issue. At first I felt that a ban was a bit extreme and imposed on religious freedom. But then again, the burqa was only recently imposed on women and that it really has little to do with Islam, rather the government imposing these extreme morals.
 

This is a dicey subject because a burqa can represent a number of different things.Some women who may wear a burqa do so as a choice,  seeing it as a way to connect to God and show her faith. Others do so out of sheer protection from being a social outcast, who would be seen as a whore tempting men if not covered  or worse, raped and beaten. "Asking for it" so to speak, which isn't an unfamiliar phrase we hear rapist say anyways in a culture where burqa's are not the norm.

I'm curious to know how others feel about the recent decision France made about banning burqas....do you feel that it imposes on religious freedom? Do you agree that most women who wear burqas are forced to so banning them is a step towards more freedom? Could banning the burqa lead to more violence towards women by not covering themselves?

*To find out more about this please view Claire Berlinski's article.

"Oil and Water" Fashion/Artistic Statement

I recently flipped through the August issue of Italian Vogue and was taken by surprise from the images I saw in one fashion spread. The images are so powerful and shocking they boarder on offensive. I imagine American Vogue would most likely never do a spread this provocative.

In what is titled Oil and Water the model  Kristen McMenamy is portrayed as a one of thousands of Gulf of Mexico creatures that have fallen victim to the oil spill. Photographer Steven Meisel purposely created an atmosphere that makes the viewer uncomfortable  to capture the stark reality of  the situation.

I find it brave, maybe not so fashionable  but defiantly innovative and creative. A statement to say the least.



*Tulle dress with beaded embroidery, Ralph Lauren Collection. Rubber necklace, My Sister's Art. Hair by Orlando Pita for Orlo Salon. Make-up Pat McGrath. Fashion editor Karl Templer. Set design by Mary Howard.

Temporary Tattoo's pt 2

Did I call it or what with the designer temporary tattoos or what? Betsey Johnson just came out with a line of temporary tattoos as seen above. They are not nearly as costly as the Chanel temp tats which are roughly $75. These cost around $25. The design of the chains are similar but Johnson has put her own personal touch especially with her signature bold colors.

Temporary Tattoos High Fashion?

I have been noticing out in the fashion world a new trend that I am really in love with, temporary tattoos. Unlike the kind you grab from vending machines in grocery stores and such, high fashion temp tats are very sexy and designed beautifully. They are also a lot more pricey. The Chanel Spring 2010 runways show was displayed with this line of tattoos.

 

Also Beyonce Knowles new fashion line Dereon ads have Ms. Knowles covered in these faux tats. She named the line after her biggest inspiration, her mother Tina Knowles,  Dereon is her mother maiden name. Tina has been inspring her daughter fashion wise since the days of Destiny's Child and designed all the outfits for the band.

Beyonce said of the the ad photo shoot that she kept putting more and more tattoos on herself and loving it. She is well known for up with sort of alter egos (Sasha Fierce) and I think that these hott temp tats are an easy and fun way for peopel to do that with themselves. Fashion is a form of playing dress up and tattoos are a way of decortaiong your skin.

I myself have two tattoos and am utterly terrified of getting more. Not just because of the pain but like fashion, tattoos designs trends can easily look dated, and you end up stuck with them. 

This new trend seems to be a reincarnated trend that exploded in the mid nighties, henna tattoo's.

 

Granted you can go into any new age shop and get a kit now even still. Henna is gorgeous and fun. It lasts longer than most temp tats and the practice of henna use can be dated back to 1200 BC to the ancient Egyptians who used henna on their nails and hair. Henna was also used to dye animal skins, textiles, and men's beards. Once the henna plant's cooling properties were discovered, painting the skin became a way for the desert people of India to cool down their body temperatures. In the states before the henna trend blew up in 1996, it was used mainly as a temporary hair dye.

Maybe this trend will pass again like it did once in the 90's but I for one love it and thinks its a way to be creative and a way to play dress up with fashion. Its unique, yet an ancient practice. Its also I lot cheaper than getting the real thing and maybe a good way to see if you are really in love with a design before marking your skin permanently, a trial run so to speak.

*I realize its been several months since I've made a post and will try to do more

Why I won't Buy Coach anymore...

It was only this year that i was even really aware of what Coach was and what sort of products they carried. I vaguely remember Coach as a leather goods store when I was younger, leather briefcases belts and such that my mom would stop at to grab my dad something every once in a great while.

I had owned a pair of purple leather gloves with mink trim that my mother got me last winter. They were gorgeous and stylish and I loved them. They were bought on sale but originally something like $300.

this is them

Coach began as a family run business in 1941 in New York's Garment district in Manhattan. It was run by six leather workers whose expertise was wallets made by hand. Now Coach is a well known name, you see every girl and their mother carrying one these days.

I will not deny that Coach purses are well made and estically pleasing to the eye and touch...alas I find it difficult to get that high I once had for it. Granted it was less than a year ago my interest was sparked but this is just an example of the disposbale nature of fashion. I own three coach bags, two that I will admit (gulp) are fake or...Faux-ch.

For fake bags the one's I have are okay, perhaps a grade B. Not Quite third shift factory workers pumping out basically the same thing, (that would be a grade A in fakes) but still quite nice.

Authetic Coach bags even at outlet stores can cost between $130-$300.

The reason for my dislike for Coach happened this recent Black Friday.

It was my very first Black Friday and I wanted to see the craziness of shopaholics and crazed mother nabbing gifts.

 

3AM shopping

Not only were the sales not very good, but the line outside of the Coach Outlet was unbearably long, consider the coupons they gave out were the same you could print out on your own every other day of the week. This is not what really troubled me. What really got me was seeing that literally every young girl and their mother had a Coach purse. Some were really nice, others generic and I'm sure some were even fake. Then I thought, why am i shelling out a few hundred bucks for a purse with some C's on them if litterally everyone has one?

Coach has become the Abrocrombie and Fitch of Purses. Its a mall purse. Still nice but doesn't have much substance or depth. Not to say that fashion does...but the fun about fashion is the expression of it, the hunt for deals and discovering or embellished your aesthetic style.

Coach is good to have one of...one that screams you, it will last forever with the design, but get something classic not trendy unless you can really see yourself still loving it next year and even the year after that. Okay maybe having two doesn't hurt, one for spring/summer and one fro fall/winter.

But know that it doesn't make you a fashonista. Its a beginner bag or and forever bag. Know that you are not original and that you will see 20 other girls....and their mothers with on as well.