Label Snob?

There is a huge number of brands and labels which over the years have been branded as tacky/ugly/unfashionable. There are those which have made a comeback; Burberry, Topshop, Jaeger to name just a few. Yet there are plenty more which remain lurking in the cesspits and reject piles of unstylishness and therefore remain undiscovered by the hordes of fashionistas who refuse to explore. There are even those who claim to be label-blind, shopping in musty vintage shops way before it was cool and braving an S&M shop all for the sake of fashion. However there are still labels and brands I doubt even these daring folk would entertain the idea of wearing, because they're just so uncool. Admittedly, me included. So I had the idea of doing a little bit of exploring, and see what I could come up with which may be able to prove that a label is just that, a little piece of fabric stitched onto the inside of a garment, a label.

I decided to start off with the hardest one I could think of, the notorious shop Jane Norman, famed more for flammable clothing and chavvy bags of this nature than anything a stylish blogger would be caught dead in:


But on further investigation, I discovered a selection of dresses which *shock horror* I actually liked. They have a very Hervé Léger vibe to them.

Next up is a similarly trashtastic label, Juicy Couture, famed as the chosen apparel of gym-going slebs and WAGs. Velour tracksuits anybody?


No? I didn't think so... well how about this stunning one shouldered dress then?


Designers such as Cavalli get a bad name for their ill-advised animal print and permatanned clientele:

But I've always adored their stunning snake inspired jewelry collections, which whilst always very similar are always equally dazzling.

(both Cavalli pieces are available on net-a-porter, you know which one I'd go for...)

What about those brands universally acknowledged as 'frumpy'? Surely they must have something to throw up. Take Phase Eight, more commonly known for mumsy ensembles such as this:

However dig a little deeper and you'll find some insanely over-priced but gorgeous pieces, such as this sparkly lot. Whodathunk it?

And if that lot's not enough to convince you that even the worst labels can house some fantastic treasures, then I bow to you and name you a true label snob.