fashion weak
am i the only one who’s eyes are glazing over, overwhelmed by all the fashion week coverage? i have this weird, almost involuntary reaction to blog posts & newspaper articles (in WSJ and WWD, which we subscribe to in paper form and get at home every day) about fashion week and the various fashion shows everytime they happen, it’s almost like information overload, my eyes refuse to focus and my brain shorts out.
it’s like i can’t even look at it, and you know what? i really mostly don’t want to! frankly, i find a lot of it boring, and irrelevant to my life. out of my price range, not my taste, etc., etc., etc. maybe it’s because i am honestly inherently unfashionable, and i just sometimes think i am? a distinct possibility! maybe i should turn in my fashion card or something. i can hear my detractors saying, “’bout time!” HA.
yes, yes, there are of course exceptions…i do pay attention to a select few designers. but i think i can count them on one hand. and i’m not rabidly pounding down the doors of style.com to see them the week of…i usually casually go back sometime afterward and peruse at my leisure, if at all. i guess, in thinking about it some, a lot of the designers i’m into probably honestly don’t do a lot of shows and such anyway. not the big guns?
all that is, of course, not to say *other* people shouldn’t be into fashion week, and fashion shows, by all means, go on with your bad self if you like it and eat it up with a spoon! right on, ya know? more power to you!
but i want to know:
-am i the only one who doesn’t get all into it? am i the only one who thinks it’s kinda elitist and outdated? if you’re not really into fashion week and all that stuff, why?
-for those of you who love the frenzy that is fashion week, what’s the attraction? seeing the new trends? novel new ideas presented in an artistic manner? something else? what do you love about it? why does it get you excited?
discuss?
danke!
on a related note: just saw this post on the sartorialist where scott wonders about the possibility of really opening up fashion shows to the masses, i.e., regular folk freely attending/paying for tix, rather than just mostly fashion insiders/celebs.
i’m wondering about how this could happen, what the benefits could be, as well as the downsides.
what do you think that would do to fashion shows? would they be less elitist/exclusive? would their cache be taken down a notch or several? would that be in conflict with the aspirational marketing stance taken by many luxury designers? or could it be a good thing for designers, a way to make profit and be more inclusive? can you see any other potential pros or cons to such a scheme?
i’m honestly interested…would be interested to see if things do go that route, in a bigger way, over time. and what the ramifications would/could be…
February 16 2010 | Posted in culture-vulture, fashion musing
February 16 2010 at 10:19 pm
verhextI’ve been thinking about this all week & have been percolating in order to write about it. & now that I’m about to comment I find I’m still not sure what I want to say! But I too have been burnt out, and I’m not even in the fashion world. There’s something missing – the need for editors to even be at the shows (imagine old-vogue style, where you could phone up and arrange a private viewing!) is irrelevant now — the inspiration seems to be coming more and more from the street and trends are set by the people, not the designers. The internet has changed fashion drastically in just 10 years.
Anyway, babble. Cost vs luxury, DIY, exclusivity, the demise of fashion editor omnipotence… it all POINTS to a more diverse world, but then we still see rows and rows of cookie cutter outfits and poses and trends. THIS is what I don’t get. It’s like no one cares about fashion as a creative outlet, just fitting in.
February 16 2010 at 10:20 pm
sarahi think it comes down to fashion vs style and product
and profit vs innovation and creativity.
these things don’t have to be mutually exclusive
but they so very often are.
xs
February 16 2010 at 10:23 pm
verhextP.S. If women/models get any thinner I may freak out. I feel like it’s the worst it’s been in the history of time, even Twiggy era. I’ve definitely watched more than a few bloggers get thinner as they get more popular through the years, and I wonder if it’s pressure. Crazy.
February 16 2010 at 11:10 pm
popgoesamandaI’ve been religiously reading a dozen or more style blogs for the last five years, and each year I get less and less interested in Fashion Week. I find myself skipping over large chunks of content in my feed reader, and sometimes not even checking in for days at a time (normally I’m a habitually refresher). I just feel like Fashion Week holds nothing for me as a consumer of fashion, or a consumer of art (with a few exceptions). Typically I find myself drowning in couture, so overwhelmed in the styling that I can’t discern what the pieces will look like once they’ve been de-runway’d.
February 17 2010 at 1:19 am
smtMaybe the question/a more interesting question is what value Fashion Week/mainstream fashion DOES have for you. (Or what you want it to be…) Because clearly one could simply decide that Fashion Week IS irrelevant and not pay attention. Which is what the VAST majority of people in the world do. (Not that it is a conscious choice for most people — most don’t even know about it. I mean, of COURSE Fashion Week is elitist!)
Personally, I will sometimes look at the pictures, and when I do, it’s with zero expectations. If I see something I like or that is inspirational — great. If not…well, back to where I started.
February 17 2010 at 2:54 am
KristinaI do typically read Cathy Horyn’s reviews of Marc Jacobs and maybe one or two other designers, or listen to her audio commentary, since I do love her academic unpacking of the statement a particular show makes (Interesting that Jacobs banned celebrities from his most recent show, for instance). However, yes, I totally agree that fashion week has very little to do with my life, my style and how I wear clothes. For one, I work at an arts non-profit, making just barely over $40,000, and I wear a size 12/14… these clothes are not made for me. I’ll stick mostly with street fashion, film and literature for my inspiration, and make most of my purchases via thrift, vintage, etsy, ebay, a bit of “high street” and the occasional splurge on a well-made piece (DVF wrap dress, anyone?).
February 17 2010 at 6:00 am
take it to the chorusFashion weeks around the world just feel irrelevant to me, to be honest. I get more inspiration from looking through wardrobe_remix.
Also, I can’t imagine how selling tickets would work. Surely most fashion houses want to maintain the perception that they are luxury brands, and part of that luxury is about being out of reach to the general public?
February 17 2010 at 7:38 am
IzzyHi Tricia!
I hope you are well and happy!
Frankly, I hate fashion shows. I had the chance when I first started design school to voluteer a few hours of my time to dress models back stage. I really just don’t get the hype these people are getting. As for the big guys in NYC and Paris with there fashion weeks, I really could care less. Just like you said I find it outdated. I find that following these shows and what not is a waist of time for me mostly, I don’t fall over for these reworked trends that must be followed by the so called Big Ones of fashion. Id rather get my insperations from other things then the lastest hip collections.
Anyways, some might think I am stupid to say so, but this is just my point of view on the whole fashion weeks situation.
take care,
-Izzy
February 17 2010 at 8:08 am
CaseyI too have somewhat checked out of the whole Fashion Week frenzy! I think it was November/December by the time I even wandered over to style.com to check out the spring/summer 2010 collections that had come out months before. Even then, I got distracted quickly! lol. I think Verhext made a good point: the creativity and drive for originality just seems to be gone from the fashion world right now. Sure, there are a few things here and there that catch my eye, but more often than not I find myself wondering “didn’t I just see that a few seasons ago?”. Even the haute couture and more artistic labels seem to be caught up in this trend of uniformity that is boring, to say the least. I’m not trying to sound like a snob (especially since really and truly I don’t give a darn about what’s new and what’s not–I tend to take my fashion cues from the trends of 60+ years ago, anyway! lol. So I’m definitely “behind the times”.), but it just isn’t fascinating me the way it used to. Maybe the fashion-crazy, label-hungry craze of the ’00s burnt me out to an extent that I just decided to step away from it because it didn’t speak to me or my lifestyle in any way? Who knows… But this is something I have been pondering a bit lately, as I feel like such a ignoramus for not caring while everyone else seems to be excited.
lol.
February 17 2010 at 8:43 am
Lisahear hear! I’m not into FW either… I can’t do anything with rows of alienlike waifish models walking in costumes that are too ridiculous to wear on the street. I dislike looking at those clownish costumes and having to say, “Oh, she’s wearing ridiculously exagerated shoulder pads. therefore, I need to buy something with shoulder pads in it this year.”
I get way more inspiration out of wardrobe remix, the sartorialist, and everything Wendy Mullin produces.
February 17 2010 at 8:48 am
BeckyI admit I do have a certain amount of love for fashion week, if only for a few of my select favourite designers – Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen (RIP ♥), Vivienne Westwood, Christopher Kane to name a few. Despite being a penniless student, it’s interesting to see some of the new trends as soon as they emerge and think about how they’ll be translated into high street collections costing a fraction of the price of the originals in a few months. Also, some of the more extravagant haute-couture pieces make great eye candy, just like beautiful pieces of art.
February 17 2010 at 10:15 am
renrI think I’m very removed from the fashion world– I don’t hit style.com, didn’t even know who Alexander McQueen was until everyone grieved over him (I still feel very guilty about that plus not knowing big fashion names), and seldom check out street style blogs.
So no, I’m not interested in actively pursuing fashion week. Although I suppose that it would be interesting if it does showcase new methods of making/wearing clothes or something to that extent. That would probably be breaking news
February 17 2010 at 10:23 am
SallyI, too, tune out the fashion week frenzy. I’m not interested in the newness or exclusivity, I’m interested in the designs that I’ll truly love once the furor has died down. So I skip the coverage during FW, and pore over it at my leisure later.
February 17 2010 at 10:55 pm
MichelleI sometimes appreciate the spoils of Fashion week, but only when someone with admirable style has excerpted the highlights. I like Fashion week for its focus on drama and as it’s own art form, but I do agree it’s sort of irrelevant to real women’s style. I’m tall and thin, but yet I don’t relate to models for fashion inspiration. I don’t immediately want to wear what all the models are wearing, because with their glassy eyed stared and their alien beauty they’re about as relatable as a manequin (or really even less so…). But when I see a girl who has that certain “je ne sais quoi”, a unique and creative style I am dying to copy her. Some of the longest lasting style icons are the ones promoting simplicity. Magazines and Blogs often hail people who are simply and chic-ly dressed in timeless clothes. To emulate people with real style Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Kate Moss, or whomever it may be, the idea is not to hop aboard on the trend wagon, it’s to define your personal style and be true to it. It seems that in the case of stylish women, art immitates life as it seems that designers often design collections with a stylish muse in mind. Fashion is designed for women. Over time fashions have changed based on the way women’s ideas and perspectives change. If you look at how fashion has changed over the years it is a direct reflection of women’s attitudes of the time. During the women’s suffrage movement women were starting to wear pants, in the roaring 20’s hemlines went up, all in response to women’s desires. Anyone who knows the basic premise of capitalism should understand why, designers can’t make garments that won’t sell ie: they need to produce clothes women will want to buy. In short, fashion is our slave and not the other way around. Fashion molds itself to us and we don’t need to mold ourselves to it. I think people can find items that represent them in fashion week but to consider what designers are making as some authoritative stance on fashion is giving them far too much credit. I think what designers are saying is often irrelevant to personal “style”. People sometimes talk about the difference between fashion and style, and in truth fashion changes so quickly it immediately does become irrelevant. I feel like to be a truly “stylish” person, sometimes you have to reject “fashion”.
February 18 2010 at 12:34 am
danielleall i can think of is this: thank god fashion, well, the art of making a garment, of making couture, of hand-sewing, of actual pattern-making, still exists. i think a lot of the “fashion” world has succumbed to cheap labor markets and thus, cheap consumerism. however, i do believe garments made by hand and that are essentially innovative, not by trend, but by trade, are going to withstand anything the market, media, or masses follow. fashion is more ethereal than we believe, and i love that about it. whatever (or whichever now) “fashion week” is now or will become is and will be arbitrary to those who believe in making something amazing.
February 18 2010 at 1:32 am
MaryI recently wrote the same sort of post about fashion week! I honestly don’t think it could be “opened” up to the masses. Designer clothing stores are open to the masses as well (technically) yet retain their exclusionary feel. If the fashion industry was really interested, they would have to completely switch format and venue- there aren’t enough seats, and the tickets would never be readily available to regular people; they would be snatched up in seconds by proponents of this fashion culture.
February 18 2010 at 1:33 am
MaryAlso, I’m sure if regular people were invited to fashion week, Mr. Scott Schuman would be at a real loss as far as who to photograph.
February 18 2010 at 9:22 am
ELEGANT PUNKFashion is not what it use to be.And I can use my personal experience to debate it.
I am a fashion designer ,who was very naive and had a romantic view of the fashion world.And I am not talking about celebrity fashion but good old fashion houses.The masters.
I left my country,took a plane to Paris,didnt know french or anyone and pursued a job in fashion.My first two weeks led me to an internship organizing fashions shows at the Louvre for some smaller designers and with time,poverty,hard work and goodwill I landed my dream job at my favorite fashion house as junior designer.
Conclusion.After giving my soul and life for over a year I ended quiting my dream job to save myself.I was and am a normal person who admires creativity and loyalty to what you love.What I experienced was that fashion today is an illusion and they sell it to all of us at a huge price.
I chose myself,what I believe in and took my dignity and got out of there.
I know what is on the runways and its not interesting at all.The true fashion is in each of us and in our unique expression of it.
Be true to yourself AND be YOU.
February 18 2010 at 4:19 pm
GlamaRuthYour previous post on Iris APfel sums it up. It is, for me, about style over fashion. I do look in on the fashion wwek coverage, but I to glaze over a bit at the volume of it. My semi-interest stems form the same reason I’ve let most of my fashion mag subscriptions drop – the blogs are much more interesting, accessible and creative because they’re not just showing what their mega-advertisers pay for, but what is within reach for a (range of sizes and budgets) normal woman, and all the outfit shots are not a jumping girl against a plain backdrop.
February 18 2010 at 8:00 pm
e.This year I tried to be interested in Fashion Week. I really did. But somewhere in between information overload, disagreeing with “expert” opinions, and washing another set of cloth diapers for my babe my interest sort of petered away. I appreciate those who synthesize the week for me and draw out interesting trends and highlights, but I find that I treat even those images the same way that I do wardrobe_remix photographs: inspiration but not dictation, jumping off points not a finished product to emulate.
February 18 2010 at 9:01 pm
kimI was just commenting to my boyfriend today that I really do not enjoy reading the Style section of the NY Times during fashion week, as I have almost no interest in this event. Sometimes I’ll catch a passing glance at a beautiful design, but overall I feel much the way you do about “high fashion”: it is out of my price range and really does not appeal to me. I find ordinary folks working within the constraints of ordinary budgets are doing far more interesting, creative, and accessible things.
February 19 2010 at 12:29 pm
poutfitsHow interesting! I have to say that I *am* into FW…pretty much only because I am fascinated by trends, watching things unfold, repeat, change slightly. But frankly, I wait until NY, London, and Paris are all done before I look at anything, and even then I wait until I am in the right mood to glance at a fraction of all of it. So I guess what I get out of it is inspiration. Definitely not my only source, but it interests me!
February 19 2010 at 1:31 pm
18 February 2010 – NonFashion : academichic[...] Tricia, over at Bits and Bobbins has a recent thoughtful post regarding Fashion Week as an instituti…. And as I said in her comments, I tried really hard to be interested in NYFW this year. I really did. But somewhere in between information overload and washing another set of cloth diapers for baby e. my interest sort of petered away. It’s not that I necessarily think that Fashion Week epitomizes the effects of late capitalism ala Frederick Jameson — though the politics of commerce and consumption are certainly wrapped up in it — nor do I think that I my own creativity somehow surpasses the thoughtful craftsmanship of those for whom clothing-making is a career. In fact, I very much appreciate those who synthesize the week for me and draw out interesting trends and highlights. But I do find that I treat even those images the same way that I do wardrobe_remix photographs: inspiration but not dictation, jumping off points not a finished product to emulate. [...]
February 19 2010 at 6:04 pm
KellyI am with you. I am bored up to my eyeballs with it all. I feel like my google reader is full of runway pics and I just fly past them all. I *like* fashion but this is just too much (of course, I’m not one for runway pics any other time either, so maybe that’s my problem!)
(found you via Already Pretty!)
February 19 2010 at 7:47 pm
The WavesI can’t seem to get inspired by the fashion weeks either. I used to be all over the Fashion Spot and style.com, and I don’t quite know what has happened to me. I find high fashion increasingly boring these days. The fashion elite all look the same. The trends don’t seem to have any staying power. There is a handful of designers whose work I am interested in, but generally speaking, there is nothing interesting out there! I have a feeling this might have something to do with the intensified cycle of fashion seasons, as well as alternative sources of inspiration. I find my fellow bloggers and their unique styles way more interesting than catwalk images.
February 19 2010 at 11:57 pm
WendyBAs far as opening up the shows…I feel like the shows are for selling. People forget that there is business behind all of the excitement. With my jewelry, I like to show it to store buyers and editors who need to see it for work, and to private clients who are looking to buy or might be convinced to buy at some point in the future. But it doesn’t do me any good to show stuff to people who are just out for a good time and looking for entertainment. I consider a sample sale where people are standing around kibbitzing and having a good time but not buying to be a failure.
February 22 2010 at 3:51 pm
laurano, you’re not the only one who feels this way! i’m not interested in fashion week anymore, too. i look at some collections on style.com, but i don’t like all the “theatre” around it – like lady gaga coming to a show completely overstyled and being shocked that it started without her (i think it was last year – read it in a magazine…). who do they think they are? what happens at fashion week doesn’t have ANYTHING to do with my life, with what i wear, what i like etc. most of the time, the fashion isn’t suitable for every day anyway. looking at fashion shows is more like going to the circus or theatre plays – looking at them is nice, but you don’t even think about wearing those clothes in real life.
February 22 2010 at 8:20 pm
JessicaI do really love the production and the thrill of a fashion show, which is an entirely different event when in person. That said, I have seen 6 NYFW shows in person over the past 3 years.
What I DISlike is the high snobbery that goes along with many (not all!) of the attendees as well as the junior PR girls who work this lists and lines.
Yes, fashion week has little to do with my real life, much in the way Broadway shows have little to do with real life. But it is fun entertainment.
February 26 2010 at 5:06 pm
& they’re all made out of ticky tacky[...] Fashion Week tweets and blog posts were flying thick and fast, so it was in the air. When I read Tricia’s post about Fashion Week, I commented the [...]
March 3 2010 at 12:02 am
Links to provocative articles regarding fashion, blogs & mags — An Affair With Fashion[...] Week: Fashion Weak by Tricia Royal from Bits and Bobbins blog. Non Fashion by E from Academichic blog. London Fashion [...]
March 16 2010 at 7:29 pm
Reiko at God's Favorite ShoesI know I’m late but I agree with you! Most of the catwalk fashions are so irrelevant to my life!