Dresses R Us

When I get dressed in the morning, I don't just think about the aesthetics of the look. The weather, of course, is of the utmost importance, however the wearability factor must also be taken into consideration. And dresses are so easy to wear! Maybe the wearability factor could explain why I love dresses so much. I have plenty of them; they accumulate over the years, it's very difficult to get too fat for a dress and they're so easy to wear. Somehow it's easier to justify excessive spending on a dress because it's a whole outfit. Cue:

I love my new dress because it's so wearable, so flattering, so bright and so comfortable! But upon closer inspection the label says that 'professional dry cleaning recommended'. But don't slightly more expensive dresses always say that? I once read an article talking about the bad quality of Zara clothes, but saying that they are actually not much worse that any designer clothes, only we treat a £60 Zara dress worse than a £300 Marc by Marc Jacobs.

But surely if I have to start dry-cleaning it, that reduces the wearability of the dress which is the whole point of it anyway, no? I'd appreciate your input!

Also, I love dresses so much that I think I'm going to do another post about the charm of dresses and my personal very favourite...

Writing it all down

I've written about inspiration quite a lot lately, but what do you do when an idea siezes you? I tend to forget about it, or if I'm lucky write it down on a piece of paper. But recently the idea of a fully fledged notebook has been appealing to me more and more. Yesterday I was browsing in Selfridges and came upon the stationary department. I found some very sweet and satisfactory notebooks; an ethnic-style set, leatherbound with little locks and pretty patterns and a table with notebooks of special cover designs; Orla Kiely, the Design Guild etc.

But I was especially drawn to the beautiful Smythson stationary with the thick leather covers and gilt pages.

Typically, Smythson stationary has sky-high prices; they are an established brand, the leather is top-quality, the pages are made with a special patented technology. But still, the above gorgeous 'Lockable Manuscript Book' will cost you upwards of £220.

But doesn't just looking at or holding a beautiful notebook give you a sudden urge to write, inspire a fountain of ideas? There's nothing quite like the blank pages of a notebook, definitely not a blank Microsoft Word document (possibly the most depressing sight ever). Better start saving?

A different kind of shopping experience

I have previously said that I hate Primark; there are numerous reasons for this, but the main one is the shopping experience it offers. But today, for some unfathomable reason I decided to endure a 50 minute bus journey (I could have taken the tube, but that would have been worse) to do some much needed holiday purchasing. Apparently our destination is going to be so hot that you get changed at least 3 times a day - I can't imagine it getting much hotter than it was today - so an abundancy of cheap t-shirts and shorts was necessary.

So Primark it was, and very pleasant indeed. I got my shopping done and had plenty of time to trek to the other side of Oxford Street to browse in Topshop and exchange something. The air-conditioning wasn't working! I managed to find a very cute necklace but by the time I left the shop I was far more disgruntled than upon leaving Primark as well as a good deal cash lighter.

The moral of the story? You don't always get what you pay for in terms of the shopping experience. You may be shopping alongside better dressed shoppers, but after disapproving of Flying Saucer's judgement of her fellow shoppers (although my comment seems to have vanished; maybe I was suffering from sunstroke UPDATE: yes I was, sorry FS), I don't think I can use that as a valid reason. Plus, the Topshop brigade were a lot sweatier.

Continuation

I have previously touched upon the idea that there is never any true originality, because everything is inspired by something. A comment to that post argued that even though nobody can be completely original any more, combinations of old elements can create new things which are just as exciting. Yesterday I went to the Serpentine Gallery and saw the current exhibition, which is a collection of the artist Richard Prince's work, called Continuation (running until the 7th of September). In the words of the Serpentine website, who can probably articulate it better than I could:

These works have been critical in challenging ideas of authorship and raising questions about the value of the ‘unique’ artwork.

Therefore, Prince is very honest about taking direct inspiration frome existing art in creating his own; is work is a continuation of what already exists. For example, this beautiful and extremely valuable photograph:

Which is a continuation of the Malboro Man campaign. Searching for information about Prince, I found this interview with the New York Magazine, and this quote:

What do you think of younger artists under your influence, people like Kelley Walker and Wade Guyton? It would be strange for me to think I’m being ripped off, because that’s what I do! In those days, it was called “pirating.” Now they call it “sampling.” There’s a guy on the street who paints copies of my “Nurse” paintings, along with Elizabeth Peytons and Eric Fischls. I think it’s funny. I actually bought one; I thought it was pretty close.

It put an interesting spin on the recognised idea that 'copying' is 'wrong'. I am certainly in the camp which will not buy a fake item of clothing which claims to be designer; even if the designer piece is ridiculously overpriced, it feels like they are cheating the designer out of the credit they deserve for their work. Additionally, I hate reading the 'steal their style' pages in magazines, which completely rob any individuality from an outfit.

But when I was watching Gok's Fashion Fix (yep admitting that I do that is slightly embarrassing) this week Alexa Chung, who makes freqent appearances on 'steal their style', asked the designer behind Missoni if she minds when her designs are copied. Just as Richard Prince, she doesn't mind. After all, imitation is the best form of flattery isn't it? And I'd personally prefer to be on the steal her style page than worst dressed (well, depends on the magazine: I'd be honoured to neighbour WendyB on WWD's Disaster Area!).

Nevertheless, there is a fine line between continuation and imitation. Richard Prince's work is very much his own and it is fascinating to be able to see the thought-process of inspiration and how art can evolve until it is only faintly recognisable (part of the exhibition included casts of car hoods which were then painted so that I actually felt very proud in identifying them correctly as car hoods). And whilst it does become dull and repetitive to see the same thing over and over again, such as when fashion clones copy Kate Moss's once fresh look, creativity is often something born of inspiration. Even if we can no longer be truly original, there is still plenty of creativity left in taking inspiration from old ideas and continuing them into new forms.

Hello @ 23:05

I didn't want to make a habit of missing this, but right now I only really have one over-riding thought. Over-riding off-to-bed thought? I have 8 insect bites on one leg (I think the other is less tasty). My legs look terrible but they're also very itchy.

Trendista

I don't read very many fashion magazines; I have three Vogues in my house which are on heavy rotation but I mainly read them for the articles and like to look at the pretty pictures. I think that I have briefly mentioned my inability to spend more than a minute on websites such as style.com; I just find the experience very monotonous. You could say that I can still get some trend knowledge from reading fashion blogs, which I obviously do. But most of the blogs on my blogroll is very un-trend-orientated; they lack those polyvore or photoshop moodboards of every season's trends. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with these, simply that they don't inspire me.

Therefore my awareness of current trends is fairly limited. So I thought it would be fun to take a couple of what I have gathered to be current trends, explaining where I got the idea that they were the trends from and whether these trends have translated my wardrobe.

1) Fringes. Right now, fringes are everywhere on everyone and their mother's blogs. Multiple times, in some cases. I have a couple of fringed pieces in my wardrobe, most notably this bag which is almost a year old. Once I got it, I noticed a very similar version in Zara (mine is hand-made). However I think fringes are one of those trends which have yet to become properly trendy; my friends refer to my bag as 'tasselled'. It's wonderful how uncool certain words can make something sound...

But when on the Autumn page of the Topshop website, I see this:

That's a red light trend alert.

2) Vertiginous heels. These have always been around and worn by my deputy head teacher on a daily basis, but I have only recently begun to notice heels which reach heights which even the most weathered trendista would find difficult to cope with. On top of that, most of them are stiletto-thin! According to this article, Gwyneth Paltrow's recent spout of high heel wearing has had an inspirational effect. Trendy!


All I can say is 'ouch'. The highest heels in my closet come in at a measly 8cm - that's just over 3 inches (and I've only worn them once). Must. Try. Harder?

3) Other footwear: loafers and gladiators. About a month ago I did buy a pair of white loafers (which have a fringe!), which I have worn plenty; they are ridiculously comfortable and satisfied my desire for a pair of white shoes. I began to be alerted of their trendiness afterwards when I saw somebody I know wear them (this didn't bother me because our looks couldn't be more worlds apart). But it was on a rare glimpse at the Daily Mail newspaper that I came upon this article naming it 'the must-have shoe of the season'.

Luckily, the article was written by Liz Jones who continued her story with a brief bashing of almost every other flat shoe alternative (a fan of the vertiginous heel trend, perhaps).
I do wear ballet flats, Havaianas and elasticated flats, plus it's Liz Jones, therefore I didn't take this personal affront to heart; in fact, I think I may wear my mocassins (I prefer the sound of mocassin to loafer) tomorrow.

Gladiators, however, are another matter altogether. They have become so ubiqitious lately that they are one trend that is simply impossible to miss. I do not deny that they can be beautiful, and I will take any opportunity to pay homage to classical civilisation, however I am glad that my glads are a little less, um, full-on.

(I have these, in silver)

I think that my interpretive sandals are an example of the key to staying away from being a trendista. Read the glossies, style.com, blogs or just visit the shops, whatever floats your boat but always make sure that in the translation from trend to your wardrobe, you're making it your own.

Summertime Day 2

Well, I finally found my straw hat, courtesy of Marks & Spencer. It's a little less trilby and a little more cowboy. But hey, I'm OK with that. I think it fits quite well with the summery vibe I've got going on...


(note the ankle - a little nod to the destination of my upcoming holiday. It was a gift from there a while ago; too big to wrap around my wrist twice, too small to wrap it around thrice)

I can't wait!

Today feels like the first day of summer... the sun is shining, I can wear my summer clothes properly (without the add-ons of tights or a cardigan) and I can have my window open without getting cold.

I can also do nothing all day without feeling guilty and thus I have done a ton of writing today. In two weeks from now, I am going on a holiday (more about that nearer the time or I might just explode with excitement) and I don't think I be using a computer at all there - even when there is one available, I like my holidays to be completely technology free. But I didn't want a huge two week hole in my history, so I have created a couple of posts for before and during the holiday and I am hoping to accumulate enough scheduled posts to have a regular output whilst I'm away.

But it's soooo difficult to spend forever researching and writing something and then not being able to share it straight away. Doesn't 08/08/08 feel like a lifetime away right now?!?

It's a Feminist Issue

Doesn't everything seem to be a feminist issue? Fat, guns, climate change, gay rights and food are just a few of the things which a google search throws up as feminist issues. No wonder the idea of feminism has acquired such a stigma that women are reluctant to 'be feminists'; feminism is associated with bra-burning, ferocious, man-hating and bitter spinsters. A notion seems to have developed that you cannot be a feminist if you have chosen to be a mother, or enjoy hobbies which may be seen as frivolous: that sewing, cooking, even fashion cannot go hand in hand with feminism. That to be equal to men, you have to have a high powered career.

These ideas are only inaccurate, but in my eyes are the entire opposite of the true feminist ideal. To me, feminism implies a choice. It is the movement which started by demanding to have the same political rights as men, but is actually more important than being identical to a man in every way (after all, that would mean bra-burning, hairy legs and no dresses, wouldn't it?); it is the ability which a woman should be able to have to choose which path of life she wishes to take, and not have to factor into that decision the constraints of law (which thankfully has been achieved in the UK to a great extent), society and even each other. Despite the preat progession in women's rights, I don't think feminism is an archaic issue when a woman is unable to choose the path of parenthood without making great sacrifices for her career when for a man, this is a complete non-issue.

In the same way that I deem their beliefs inaccurate, I am sure that there are plenty of people who disagree with my milder approach. Take the book Jane Eyre, which upon publication caused an outrage for its 'strongly feminist stance'. Now, it is difficult to appreciate how ground-breaking it was from a feminist point of view. This does show how far feminism has progressed, but it is also a great way of highlighting what are to me, the core ideas of feminism, that the roles of men and woman should not be concrete; they should be fluid and flexible and reversed as the individual wishes.

'Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel...they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer'

Label Whore, Yes I Am

Most of my rantings and complaints are completely and utterly hypocritical. One thing I attempted to demonstrate in my Label Snob post is that if you like something, it shouldn't matter where it's from (as long as it's ethically made, affordably priced, of good quality etc etc etc). But you can never say that I've ever denied enjoying a gold ole bit of label whorery.

Imagine my delight when presented with this delightful shopping bag come Sunday morning. Glowing white, bright and labelerific.

The gift was fairly modest, but very much appreciated. You can see how quickly the paint was applied and dried on my delighted nails!

Now I fully appreciate that the level of pleasure I derived from the paper bag the present came in (still on my desk) is highly disproportionate. Does this make me a bad person? I don't think I care...