Things I Love Thursday

Following in the footsteps of the lovely Gala at iCing, I'll be posting a little link collage each Thursday of fashion gems and related fabulosities. Sometimes I don't want to fill up all your feed readers with 17,000,000 little posts about this and that...so here you go, no installments, just one lump sum of style joy.

• Lane Crawford - This Chinese luxury boutique has, for the first time that I've noticed, started advertising in Vogue. Their advertisement spreads are works of art themselves; it took me a minute of revelling in the awesome photos to realize it wasn't a Vogue fashion spread! Their combinations of words and images is light years beyond most Western retailers'.
• Haruki Murakami - I've finally read Norwegian Wood, and it might be my favorite of his books (though The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles is a tough contender). For me, reading his stuff is a gorgeously, almost-visual experience. It's the real world but not quite; things are everyday but not; and everything is described with luminous weirdness.
• Purple - Purple is arriving for spring in a big way (I know, it happened in fall too, but spring's purple is a more clear, wicked jewel tone). A lot of people think it's a daring color and won't attempt wearing it, but it actually is flattering to almost every skin tone. I'm thinking how rad a tee-shirt dress in bright purple would be...any tips on where to find one?
• 
• Jenny Dayco stud earrings - I got these at Aero & Co on W. Third St., and they were immediately stolen from my luggage when I went to the Bread&Butter fair in Barcelona. I was DEVASTATED--so much so that I actually went back and bought them again! (They look like these to the right, but without the hoops.) They're kind of tongue-in-cheek punk luxe...I adore them.

There's scads more, but I'll save up for next week. What do you love this Thursday?

Style Snapshot: Heather, L.A. Music Mogul

Bringing in this next installment of Style Snapshots is the very fabulous Heather Peggs, whom I got all paparazzi on recently at Spaceland after the Pity Party played. Heather has had a finger on practically every happenin' musical pulse around here in the past few years, and she now deejays live and via podcast, has her own record label (Hell Ya!) and puts on shows regularly here in L.A. Not only does she always have a stack of up-and-comers' CDs in her purse, but she never fails to appear in an adorable vintage dress and interesting baubles.

This night, she was in a Heidi-esque frock with tailored lady coat, sweet pumps and an unexpected purple kerchief. Oh, and a hot toddy, which she says this bartender makes so well she drinks them even when she's not sick. Milkmaid gone wild? She explains:

Well, it was laundry day, so basically I ended up wearing this dress. I love it--the fabric is really cool, and vintage dresses always fit me so well. But it's really sheer, so that's why I added the dark coat. People always like when I don't do anything to my hair, so it's just all natural and going everywhere. And I never would've picked out the kerchief, but my gay assistant told me to wear it. I think I've gotten even less efficient since I hired him, but he's the best stylist ever.

I love that Heather eschews standard rock-honcho tackywear for things that could've stocked a Fifties debutante's closet...while still making setlists of crazy underground glitch-hop. Thanks, Peggs! If you ever get sick of those shoes, you know my number.

Trend Notes: Top-Siders Are Back!

I used to think my dad was SO UNCOOL for refusing to wear any shoes other than Sperry Top-Siders. I mean, boat shoes? Helloooo, we didn't even have a pool, never mind a body of water big enough to float the boat that I thought would be the only justification for those ancient prepster shoes.

The original Sperry staple

But times have changed. This past fall, a hyper-fashionable friend of mine sported baby-blue boat shoes with her skinny cut-offs and shrunken blazer, and she looked amazing. Granted, she's one of those ridiculous people who looks good even when she's been kept up all night by the baby and she has her shirt inside out...but STILL, those Top-Siders really worked. So preppy and careless it's hip, you know? So, last night at the Echo, boat shoes came back into my life in a big way, much like that guy you had a crush on all through school but never hooked up with but who then reappears at a party 7 years later and makes you remember suddenly how dreeeamy those dimples were...thankfully, these shoes are more accessible, less regrettable and only look better with age. I spotted them, majorly aged, on the feet of the adorable Greer from the band Rademacher. Sadly, you can't see them here, but they were all beat-up and looked like she'd been walking on the beach and doing things with sailboats for years, and it looked SO AWESOME.

Back last summer, The Hinter started craving J.D. Salinger style...and I think finally the fashion world has caught up with her. Gucci's punk prep, the return of mid-century upper-class ideals...all of it's sailing in this season on a plaid-sailed boat, and we've got to be properly shod. Remember, though, that brand-spankin'-new Top-Siders totally defy the point; if you can't wear yours in quickly enough, do some thrift-store crawling. And none of these new-fangled multicolor versions on the website...that's just silliness.

Style Snapshot: L.A. vs. D.C.

One thing I love is checking out photo blogs from other parts of the country and seeing how overall styles vary from place to place. Obviously, it depends on the subculture being photographed, but once you start clicking through pic after pic, you'll definitely notice some local trends. For instance, Panda Head, a photo blog charting street style in the Adams-Morgan/Woodley-Park/downtown area of Washington, D.C. (perhaps comparable to...Los Feliz? Lots of singles, artsy types, young government staffers...probably where you want to live if you at all identify as a hipster) reveals that it's waaay more common for people to wear all uber-dark colors, and to use brighter shades color only as an accent.

2 D.C. ladies shiver in the sub-60-degree cold.
Each wears one small item of color. Discrimination!

I think in L.A., these girls would definitely have some springier hues in their tops, or jackets, or something. Blame the East Coast's necessary addiction to big hulking black winter coats, but there's an assumption that one should generally resemble a dark, tree-trunk-like column with only token bright bits. Here in SoCal, though the weather is currently anything but beachy, neon sweaters and jewel-tone dresses are the wintry norm. Thank god--all black makes me and my ultrapale skin look like a morgue refugee!

An L.A. attempt at winterwear [thanks Cobrasnake]

For more D.C. stylez, hit up Panda Head.

Style Snapshot: anti-fashion fashionist(o)

Our inaugural guest for Style Snapshot Sociology Hour with Material Girl is an unlikely victim: not a twentysomething Gucci addict, nor a fortysomething fashion editor, but a sixtyish businessman who has never thought of himself as being aware of, never mind interested in, fashion. That is, until we started discussing business and I mentioned my affection for talking with people about their clothing. "Why, I don't think I make any sort of statement with my clothes. They're not fashionable in the least!" he claimed. But no, I pointed out, he still chose them carefully and they definitely constitute a "look" for him, and a corresponding message. He seemed to grasp my point--oh, I love being right--and here he is, now the first brave soul to offer an outfit and an explanation. I thank him for being willing to associate himself with fashion statements, and for proving to me that anyone can learn something from stopping and thinking about the clothes they put on that morning. His charming caption is below.

This is a guy who affects utter disregard for appearance, but in fact dresses each day in a manner calculated to tell the story of a working-class plutocrat.

In this picture, he poses for a press photo pretending not to care about owning a merchant bank, or is anyway not a frightened banker afraid to take a chance. The necktie with the poker cards complements the news story about a big winning bet on a near-bankrupt company. The dungaree shirt suggests a factory hand wearing the logo of an electric motor company that he happens to own. The long unkempt hair identifies him as an unrepentant Sixties draft dodger, a uniform he can still proudly fit into forty years later. Each day he carefully selects a disreputably flashy necktie, pulled down exactly two centimeters at the collar, and relishes the comment of his office receptionist, who is under standing orders to admire his necktie every morning with feigned enthusiasm.

Yes, you are what you wear, or at least wear what you wish you were.

Film School's Fashion Rules

Ever noticed that sometimes it's less satisfying to see a band live than to sit in your living room with their record on your stereo? The live show has got to enhance the songs themselves, and I've found that one of my criteria for really wanting to see a band play live is that their visuals must be good. I ain't talking strings of lights and abstract video backdrops, I'm talking fashion: the kids have got to have style, yo! It's not that every musician needs to dress like a MisShape in order to earn my presence, but if I'm going to stand on a beer-sticky floor and hear sound quality that depends totally on the sobriety of the sound guy, I'd like to at least enjoy looking at the stage. Some bands drop several cool notches once I see them in person (hello, Death Cab), but for other bands, their cool duds enhance the whole experience and leave me an even bigger fan (Rilo Kiley, back in the day! Oh, Jenny Lewis.).

Jenny Lewis: Cute!

Ben Gibbard: Not cute.

Back when I listened to both of their bands, thinking of pretty li'l Jenny singing those weird li'l songs made them even better. Thinking of overly old, big-shirted Ben singing his sappy ditties just made them more...creepy.

My new band fashion crush is the bassist of Film School, Lorelei Plotczyk. I was already totally into Film School, a San Fran band with a new record just out, and we walked over to Spaceland the other night to check out their set before our friends the Pity Party played. When Film School came on, my first thought wasn't, "ooh, look at that rad Mustang bass" (that was my second thought), but "ooh, the girl playing it is so cool!" Not only does she look like a French model or something equally envy-inspiring, but she had on the most fabulous black-and-white dress (white top, black high-waisted pencil skirt). Eventually I was doing my best impression of a heartsick fanboy, leaning against a barstool and gazing dreamily at Lorelei, wondering when I'd ever be able to play bass like her, and where'd she get that fantastic dress? Now that I think of it, her dress matched her black-and-white bass, and the other pictures on their MySpace imply that all her dresses do. It's like matching your clothes to your Chanel bag, but so, so much cooler.

Lorelei, Mustang, pretty dress.

So, class, today's Lessons from Film School: if you're on stage, chic clothes can make the audience keep its eyes open; dress the very best you can while still being able to perform; and match your outfit to your instrument!

Color-coordination continues. [photo: speed of dark music blog]

Trend Spot: Amusement.

For all you culture vultures, I've got a real gem today. According to my friend, it's the hottest thing on the internets these days. But first, a little quiz:

1. Do you buy organic food?
2. Do you want or own a hybrid car?
3. Do you totally dig Michel Gondry films?
4. Have you had Difficult Breakups?
5. Do you eat Expensive Sandwiches?

If so, according to Stuff White People Like, you may well be a white person!

Keep in mind that my dear friend (as pale-faced as I) told me about this site this morning when we were eating overpriced crepes at a local farmer's market and discussing hybrid cars, having just purchased organic vegetables and done 90 minutes of yoga.

Project Ethos Gets Starry, Feb.29

I'm always impressed when someone who graduated from my same fashion design program goes on to do big, glorious things (even more big and glorious than blogging? Could it be?). The latest envy-inspiring ex-student is Heidi Luerra, co-founder of Project Ethos, a recurring fashion/art/music exhibition for underground L.A. artists. Project Ethos's upcoming show, "Stars Aligned," will be one giant cocktail of 8 fashion designers, 10 visual artists, 3 bands and 2 DJs...all shaken-not-stirred into Hollywood venue The Avalon/Spider Club on Friday, Feb. 29.

I may not have heard of "DJ Lady Sha" or have bought these indie designers' pre-collections way back when, but I am SO down with exploiting the whole fabulous art-music-design connection, that's so strong in L.A. Oh, and I love that this isn't yet another Phillip Lim - Trovata - Marchesa - Rodarte - Prouenza showcase that, yet again, will garner Anna Wintour's favor and be featured in a new Gap ad campaign. Nay, this here Project is solely to help struggling startup artistes get noticed. Heidi Leurra explains, "Being a fashion designer wasn't enough for me. I need to lay my head down at night and know that I may an impact in someone's life."

Kudos for that...and here's hoping that I can share in that impact via some fabulous cocktail attire and a bitchin' fiesta. (Notice the dress code: "No Denim." Hee hee! Oh, L.A.)

More Info: ProjectEthos.com
Full Bar. Valet Parking. Clothing & Art Sale.
This is a Red Carpet Event. Cocktail attire required. No denim. 18 and over. Doors open at 8pm.
Avalon/Spider Club | 1735 Vine St. Hollywood, CA 90028

Uggs Conspiracy

I know I'm dooming myself to eternal Uggs-ad hell by following up the last post with this one, but... who would've guessed that, tonight at the first meeting of my exciting fashion illustration class, LIKE 20% OF THE GIRLS IN ATTENDANCE WOULD BE SPORTING FOOT ELEPHANTS?!?

That's right, MULTIPLE ladies who paid good money to learn how to draw elegant, elongated fashion figures, whose feet taper down to tiny little spikes, decided to make Uggs their first-day-of-school style statement. I was agog. I thought my old fashion school, with legions of girls in Chanel sunglasses tapping away on Sidekicks were bad. But no. It turns out that a whole generation of people prepping to enter the high-end fashion industry are fashion disasters. What a dirty little secret. Time to go soothe my distress with a stiff drink at the Little Joy's lunar eclipse party.

Clicking With the Enemy

In a probably pathetic attempt to start generating a few pennies of income, I just set up Google AdSense on this site. AdSense is a quick and easy way of, in theory, matching up paying advertisers to advertising slots based on frequently occurring words or topics.

Since with all my ranting about Uggs being horrid elephant-foot shoes, "Uggs" is probably the most oft-repeated word on this blog...so, naturally, what am I now advertising in a giant sidebar to your right?

Uggs. Uggs, Uggs and more Uggs.

More ads will probably pop up thanks to this post. Oh Google, you're too clever for your own good! Your ads will never get clicked and I will never make money! Too funny. Gotta love it.

Outfit Photos Are Here!

Omigosh, darlings, I am SO EXCITED that the reason this blog was created--to showcase the clothes and thoughts of all sorts of neat people--is ready to launch for your viewing pleasure! I'm so very excited because outfit photos are going to be fascinating in, like, a billion ways:

• We'll get to see what people wear in all sorts of situations, and add a little variety (it's the spice of life, you know [as in,"Spice up your life!" Oh man, as lovably absurd as the Spice Girls were, how did that song ever become a hit?]) to the ho-hum clothes we see around us in our normal routines
  
• We'll get to be happy little voyeurs and find out what went on in the photo subjects' minds when they were getting dressed that day (and don't we all wonder that, looking at certain people we pass on the sidewalk!)
• We'll get to look at the meanings that clothing has for all of us, even the ones who don't read Vogue
• Coolest of all, we'll probably end up looking at how we get dressed in a different and newly insightful way

I already have my first photo guest lined up and I'm really pleased; it's someone you'd never see on a normal fashion site, which I think is perfect. It'll be up soon...check back!

When Uncool is Okay

Let me whip out my handy clipboard and write my dear readers a little memo...

After my recent Uggs post, I got several emails from people defending their Uggs-wearing rationales. So I want to apologize for being so blanket-statement-happy & to refine my criticisms here, so as not to seem totally judgmental and unreasonable (who, me?).

1. Uggs are ugly. They are not flattering or attractive. This must be understood and acknowledged.
2. Therefore, they must NOT NOT NOT be worn in any sort of public situation when "chic" is the desired effect. One email I received echoes my horror at all the Uggs in Boston (thanks, Annie). "On Uggs: I was in Manhattan in November (where I found it positively balmy) and I swear that one in five women had on a pair of the mid-calf Uggs, in rust brown. Another 1 in 20 had the same color, in the knee high version, with the leg rolled down to the mid calf height. I was so glad that I stopped wearing them about 6 or 8 or was it 10? years ago. Though around here [New Hampshire], the ones with real soles have their uses for dress up in winter."
3. On that note, here is my exception to Rule #2: Uggs are very, very warm and comfy.
4. Therefore, they are permissible and even encouraged in these situations:
1. Freezing cold weather when you are outside doing hard labor or walking somewhere far away (like my friend who wrote me that "I'm going to wear my Uggs in the snow and the rain, and not apologize for it!" I understand. No one looks cool in snow and rain. I still remember the gigantic balloon of a down coat I used to wear in Boston.)
   
2. Freezing cold weather when you are inside and you have insufficient heat (like in my apartment when I lived in northern Spain. My roommate had Uggs, and even I was jealous.)

Lesson: fashion is not always about the most flattering option. When possible, yes, but practicality does have to win every once in awhile (and if you never let it win, you end up being one of those hilarious women trying to hike up an ancient Mexican pyramid in stilettos). Okay? Okay. Let's all be friends.

P.S. I love the girl in the photo. She's wearing giant fat things on her lower legs, but somehow I think they look far more interesting than Uggs. Plus I admire her dedication to the layered look--imagine carrying around all that!--and her mad multitasking skills. [photo: karst]

Daily Outfit: I Regress

This is what I wore to work on Friday:

I'm not totally sure what was going through my mind when I put this on. I think it was hot out, so I decided to go with a skirt, and somehow the rest evolved (big skirt --> small shirt --> skinny sweater; skirt --> high boots; workday --> flat (vs. heeled) boots). I realized when looking back on it that this is a really juvenile outfit for me; all the components are college relics except the boots (which are fantastic finds from Zara that people compliment every time I wear them!). I think the subconscious theme going through my mind was wanting to rebel a bit against the sweaterdress-and-belt uniform that most ladies at work wear. I also love wearing this shirt because it was the first thrift-store find, long ago, that I cut up and resized for myself. Despite going against the grain a little, I actually really liked wearing this to work. I think this is proof that what-everyone-wears isn't necessarily necessary to comply with, and also that wearing something you have a connection to can make you feel good no matter what.

Style Icon: Blondie

I have a monster of a post written up about the connection between music and fashion, but I won't dump it on you yet without some extensive un-dweeb-ifying edits. In the meantime, let me get ahead of myself and rave about my current favorite music/fashion obsession: Blondie!

Of course we all know how fabulous Debbie Harry was--and still is--but my mad love for her style (and the guys' too, to be fair) was renewed last night. My fabulous boyfriend gave me a fabulous book full of snapshots of the band from its early days and first tours in the late 70s. Roberta Bayley, who's known for her photographs of the early New York punk and rock scene, captured Debbie's moments of looking girlish and like a skunk-haired coquette to looking absolutely fashion-forward and fierce. It took America years to notice the band, even after success in Europe, and I wonder if it was mostly Debbie's cheekbones, her short dresses and her backdrop of natty fellows that finally got them noticed.

Debbie Harry in one of her many Stephen Sprouse minis.
She wore this white one with knee pads every single night for one tour.

She was really inventive, often pairing weird things (see the jumper, knee pads, heels and safety vest above) onstage. She favored avant-garde designers and scoured dance shops for gear as well. Her must-haves:

• Stephen Sprouse minidresses, especially with one slanted strap
• Low-heeled Capezio dance shoes
• Headbands worn straigh across the forehead
  
• Bright lipstick AND dark mascara AND major cheekbones (fashion magazines always warn against this, but clearly they have no idea what they're talking about. I mean, the girl is absolutely SMOKIN'.)
• Lots and lots of hair bleach!

Watch the "Heart of Glass video and wish it was 1979:

Valentine Finery

I always forget how cheesy I get on Valentine's Day until it happens. I go along turning up my nose at sappy romantic ads on the radio, eschewing lingerie stores and admiring the haughty looks sported by Prada models...and then I wake up on February 14 and get frantic when I can't find my undies with the little pink hearts on them. I settle for pink lace--which usually lies at the bottom of the drawer--and wish I still had those socks from fourth grade with the plaid hearts on them. I can barely believe myself. Snap out of it, cheeseball!

Nevertheless, I did go around all day today with way more pink on than usual, and feeling very satisfied with myself for having on appropriate underoos as I pasted sparkly hearts on a totally absurd card for my very un-cheesy boyfriend. I guess clothing isn't always a part of our grand scheme to make impressions on people...it can be really just for fun, and for our sake alone. I sure wasn't trying to impress anyone with my hidden heart socks in fourth grade, but I sure did get a kick (HA!) out of them. And despite my supposed lack of caring about the officially designated day for L.O.V.E., I've definitely fallen into its trap; I'd never commemorate the L-word with my underthings on any other day.

[thanks digital water cooler]

Do you, dear readers, commemorate things with your clothes too? Do you wear ironic Christmas sweaters or green St. Patty's Day socks? Or are you way too cool for that?

Outfit Photos, Divine!

Okay, kids, story time!

Way back in 2007, I was reading an amazing little book called Everything I Ate. Author Tucker Shaw decided to photograph every single thing he ate, every single day, for an entire year--and the result is TOTALLY captivating. Seriously, I never would have guessed that snapshots of Cheerios with brief captions could lure my in and make me wonder all about the guy's life, why he was eating that thing that day, and what my own relationship to food is. So of COURSE I eventually came around to thinking about how cool it would be to have the equivalent thing, but with fashion instead of food.

I imagined a site where people from all over the place would tell us what was going through their minds when they got dressed that day. No matter how much little someone cares about fashion, they still have to make choices about it at least every 24 hours--but it's very rare to get anyone else's perspective on this daily ritual. Glorious little fires of glee started burning in my mind, and eventually this blog came to be (beautiful story, non?). It encompasses way more than just photos, but I think that a healthy dose of slightly voyeuristic and majorly fascinating pictures of people with their own captions is still vital! I'm super excited to start doing this and am going to be putting out a call for contributors.

In the meantime, it's only fair that I start with myself. Here is a very, um, unedited shot of me from a few days ago, after work:

I was inspired that day by the very gorgeous Gucci spring campaign (yah, the same one I wrote about recently) with its stodgy-meets-edgy vibe. So I prepped up my jeans with a bright pink button-down, but made it fitted with a safety pin at the waist. The coral beads were my grandmother's & I adore them. I liked the whole deal and felt rather fierce (props to Christian of Project Runway), but it did seem a little dressed-down once I got to work. My colleagues don't really do retro. Oh well.

To me, fashion is so much more than fabulous shoes and purses that cost more than rent; what makes it forever fascinating is WHY it happens. I'm looking so super-forward to getting mountains of pictures and thoughts to post for y'all's viewing pleasure.

Trend Notes: Skinny Belts

[style.com]

Something I admired on the Max Azria runway (Spring ’08, above) was the proliferation of skinny, natural-hued leather belts tied over filmy, romantic silk dresses. Belts are nothing new, but this incarnation is identifiable by its skinniness and waist-level fastening (no hip-slung styles for this baby). After taking note of the Max Azria version, which grounds his nude dress dreams, I’ve been seeing similar ones all over in collections for spring. Mars Norsgaard (an amazing Nordic designer whose website I cannot find for the life of me) did a citrus-color one, adding punch to a staid, charcoal Glen plaid shift dress; Louis Vuitton is getting in on the action with brown belts over starchy white jersey dresses, resulting in a classic prep/equestrian feel. I, meanwhile, am making my skinny-belt statements with a dark olive green model…$3.00 at Mango!

[another version of my Mango belt; www.mangoshop.com]

I don’t think this trend really says anything one way or the other about what we’re feeling right now…I think it’s more that we’re bored of big wide waist-cinchers, so now to the other extreme we run. On the other hand, I have been reading about fashion's move toward classic, simple silhouettes as part of a societal wish for stability, which does point to traditionally narrow belts versus avant-garde fat ones. In any case, I don't mind; it's WAY easier to eat in a skinny belt!

How I Became A Designer

[What you get when you Google "fashion designer."]

As a lowly assistant, I haven't expected to get any plum design assignments at the large clothing company I work for. Since starting my current position in January, I've done a bunch of necessary but thankless tasks to help everyone get ready for the insane, sleepless blur that is Fashion Week (see previous entry on the joy of papercutting!). But last week, after the head designers had flown off to NYC in the company plane (yes, it even has our logo on the tail), I had more free time and wandered over to another designer's office to ask if I could help with anything. Oh sure, she said, there's a shirt we desperately need work on. The designer who'd made a mockup had done a horrible job, and clearly didn't understand the feel that was wanted for the whole style. So I was handed the abstract art print that was being used as the inspiration for the design, and told breezily to go make a few shirt designs and bring them back to her.

WHAAAT? Me, who hadn't made anything of my own for them yet, nor had any sort of grand entrance exam to prove my worthiness, was going to design an entire shirt for them totally from scratch? No questions asked?

Yup. Oh god.

So off I went, drew three shirt templates and came up with three different ways of incorporating the paintbrush-stroke-design into a real-life colorblocked sheer jersey top. Harder than it sounds, in fact; you can maybe imagine that brushstrokes don't translate well into fabric that has to be cut, pieced and sewn (efficiently, without excess cost and in a short amount of time). Practically shaking, I brought my designs to the designer--excuse me, my now-CO-DESIGNER--and she picked the one she liked the best and said, "OK! Great! I'll send it off the my patternmaker, and I'll show it to you next week when the sample comes back!"

I practically had to go have a heart attack after that. Little did I know that my endless hours toiling over the cutting tables in patternmaking class would actually culminate in my knowing something. Fashion school wasn't pointless! I guess I actually know stuff! It was thrilling to be trusted with real designs for the company...but, you know, it was also a little disillusioning to see how easily the task got tossed over to me. I doubt most people realize that when they buy a YSL dress or something, it's most likely not the big-name designer himself who actually had much to do with it. He gets the quotes and the credit, but it may well be an underling fresh out of school (ahem) who made that dress happen.

I lugged this book to class every day; I wished I'd lugged it to work too!

Primary Colors: Presidential Candidates' Fashion

Happy Super Tuesday!

The Red Dress fashion show next Friday may be held in the White House itself, but the most notable presidential fashion shows are occurring all over the country--at each public appearance that a presidential candidate makes. Every time Hillary, John, Barack, Mitt & company show their faces, they're also showing their bodies and making fashion statements, which, of course, are guaranteed to double as political statements too.
Imagine the pressure! They probably want to keep a consistent image, yet not fall into the trap of being caught wearing the exact same thing over and over. They want to make a favorable impression, and surely don't want to alienate any potential voters with their choice of clothing. They want their clothing to reinforce their political message somehow, but probably don't want to be caught with a professional stylists for fear of being thought shallow or vain. We're harsh judges, we voters, and candidates know--or at least they should know--that every little bit counts.
"The clothes we wear send a message about how we want to be perceived," says the ever-wise Tim Gunn in this Reuters article. "Even if voters were to say, 'I don't pay attention to those things,' I think subliminally they must." Of course we do! Just think about the positive or negative light we might unwittingly see a candidate in just because he chose a particularly flattering or unflattering color of tie. Then widen the scope to include types of suit, colors and prints, a buttoned-up versus relaxed look, tailoring of trousers or lowness of neckline, lipstick or no lipstick, hair products versus no hair products...all these things have instant implications that even the fashion-dense can see.
Hillary Clinton's ensembles have been the most widely discussed (remember CleavageGate '07?). I tend to think she looks boring, and that the brightly colored suits scream "country club" rather than "fresh and exciting." Tim Gunn sees her pantsuits as penis envy: "I feel like she's trying to be one of the guys." Romney is classic suit dude, but people wince at his stodgy, unflattering pleated pants. McCain's sweater uniform is interpreted as his trying to be a relatable guy-next-door, while Huckabee takes the casual look even farther in his mission to be a pal. Obama, on the other hand, is positively dapper, and I've read multiple articles that specifically mention the fat, glossy Windsor knot he uses for his tie. You probably didn't even realize that you'd noticed these things--but I bet, reading this, that you actually did.

[photo: NPR]

"Politicians as a whole are not known for a fashion sense," said Robert Burke (of Robert Burke Associates luxury consultants). "At the end of the day, they are going to do whatever it takes to look the most professional and most presidential." But do they always succeed? After all, how do people not known for their fashion sense judge what will give the correct impression? Perhaps Hillary's black-and-yellow "bumblebee suit" is an example of just how bad judgements can be. On the other hand, Sen. Obama is so noted for his style that, way back in Fall 2006, he was the cover boy for Men's Vogue.


Also interesting to see is who isn't interested in candidates' clothing! "I am more interested in Hillary's views on the issues than I am in her fashion choices," said Max Azria, designer. "I think that every woman, including Hillary, should find a look that works for her rather than trying to follow trends." Sadly, until the issues get tattooed on candidates' foreheads, they'll always be less noticeable than how the proponents knot their ties. And for those who say we shouldn't pay attention, I say: We have to. We can't help seeing the candidates, seeing their clothes, and evaluating them as we do everyone else's; they know this, and they're sending us a sartorial message, whether we consciously "read" it or not. I think clothing is such a valuable tool that they'd be fools not to use it...if I were running, I'd need major brainstorming sessions to decide what to wear! (Hopefully, they wouldn't culminate in choosing yellow and black suits....)

Sources:
Reuters: Subliminal sartorial messages on campaign trail?
FACTBOX: Fashion experts cast their votes on Clinton style

Boston Hearts Uggs

I can't believe it. I truly, truly can't believe it. Just when I thought that the scourge of Ugg boots was over and done with--when I felt confident that I'd never lay eyes on another BevHills teen in a denim mini and giant suede foot elephants, and I could instead direct all my hatred toward that henious new enemy, Crocs--my old hometown has proven me wrong.

You know how I just said how conservative Boston is? How my somber ensemble was de rigeur? Well, apparently, along with black sweaters, Bostonians also love Ugg boots. I was strolling down Newbury Street today, admiring the MaxMara window display, when a troupe of 3 Uggs-wearing chicas approached. DEAR GOD, could it be? My eyes burned until I heard them speaking Spanish; oh, phew, they're foreign, they don't count. Trends have totally different meanings in other countries.

But that was just the beginning. At least every three minutes for the next hour as I walked down the uber-chic street, I saw another girl or several sporting the sheepskin monstrosities. I have never seen so many Uggs in my life--not even at the height of their popularity in L.A. I kept elbowing my co-window-shopper when each new eyesore approached, until I nearly broke her ribs. When we stopped in to a hip new cafe for brunch, the girl at the next table (of course, right in my unlucky line of vision) had purple ones. Dear God, let the madness end!

Let me note that I am not entirely unreasonably judgemental. I understand that it is winter, and the weather is cold. Uggs are very warm and very comfortable. I certainly don't begrudge these fine ladies some warmth. If Uggs were the only way to prevent frostbite, I'd shut my mouth. But there is no such excuse. I was wearing Converse All-Stars today, which are flimsy canvas and provide no warmth at all, and I was totally fine. Plus, these are girls who happily wear stilettos and little tiny tops on other occasions, happily substituting chic for comfort. If they sacrifice warmth and comfort so often with the rest of their clothes, clearly their need for foot furriness wasn't motivating their Ugg wearing. They've somehow just failed to receive the memo that Uggs are the worst shoes ever made. They are the equivalents of sweatpants: I forgive you if you wear them to the supermarket on Saturday morning, and in your house with your nearest and dearest. I do not forgive you for wearing them in public, especially in places where you are, in theory, trying to look nice. Neither does the law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft, where associates who wore their Ugg boots all day allegedly received a note reminding them to "change out of their snow boots" after they arrived at the office. Perhaps I should carry photocopies in my purse to hand out to chicks who, well, didn't get the memo....

"Festive Attire": East vs. West Coast

When packing for my trip to Boston this weekend, I mainly thought of the weather. How to combat the brutal, sub-60-degree cold? I did my best, but it wasn't until this morning, as I got dressed for the event of the day--my cousin's Bar Mitzvah--that I realized how DARK everything was that I'd packed. As I put on my charcoal trousers, grey boots and black cardigan, I winced and hoped I didn't look utterly, well, funereal.
"I should've brought my purple flats," I thought. "Or a pretty scarf! God, they'll all think I've hit my angst-ridden twentysomething depression. All my aunts will cluck over how the fashion industry has made me insufferable and I'm no fun anymore."

[Photo: cari]

But it turned out that, once in the synagogue, I was perfectly in sync with everyone else (color-wise--thank god I wasn't in sync with some of the tunic-and-sack-skirt combos...). An outfit that would have been positively dour in L.A. was perfectly appropriate in Boston--and, you know, perhaps I knew that all along when packing my bag. I guess I haven't entirely escaped my East Coast beginnings. Are dark colors really more the norm in cold climates, and is the whole straightlaced-repressed-East-Coaster stereotype actually kind of true, at least in terms of the color wheel? I wonder if anyone else notices styles switching up as they traverse the country. If so, do tell!