lots of stuff to share lately! it's all too good to keep to myself. i really love the comments and discussions they foster here. thanks for piping up about how you feel about these bits and bobs of news, too, as i am consistently floored at your intelligence, wit, and willingness to participate in discussion. you, my dear readers, rock! and also, thanks for letting me know you like these kinds of posts, and for letting me know you find them interesting or get something out of them...i enjoy putting them together for you!
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-burdastyle's fabulous co-creators nora abousteit and benedikta von karaisl share some inspirational restyling tips (from the adding of accents or mending those pesky seams and holes) that will assist you in sassing up your current wardrobe (from the ny daily news). i am all about the idea adding in of bright, spring-like colors to your wardrobe as a way to ease into the coming season. but really though, brights are always relevant, always welcome, always beautiful no matter the temperature.
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-more from the ny daily news: a little six question interview with a mood fabrics employee. apparently fashion designers stressed out because of fashion week are more annoying to work with than bridesmaids. color me unsurprised! haha!
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-can you believe it? polyester is back! (via the wall street journal) here's my take: if they can call it microfiber and make it feel NOTHING like that spongy, oily, unbreatheable junk from the 70s, i *might* give it another go. but generally? i prefer the naturals: linen, cotton, wool. synthetics just can't beat that traditional stuff sometimes! it lingers on for a reason.
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so, not only do fashion designers want their runway models skinnier and whiter than ever these days, they want them to be disposable beauties, "sacrificial virgin[s]", knock-kneed, and so impossibly fresh-faced, it seems as if they just walked immediately from the school yard to the runway. they are then pitched after the end of a fashion season, never to be seen on a runway again. no one even knows their names. the driver? to get the freshest-faced girls one can obtain...it's all about the fantasy of young, lithe girlhood. because, frankly, "saggy-breasted" women don't sell clothes...to use older or even seasoned models is too much of a financial risk. (via the times online).
i know i bring this up a lot, but really, it's kind of sick...western society is INCREDIBLY obsessed with the young, the perfect, the tall, the skinny, to the point of absurdity. any deviation from those strictures is considered disgusting and ugly by many, especially those who consider themselves to be arbiters of style and fashion trends. how have we gotten so far away from reality? is that just the way it is, not something to be argued with or questioned? is skinny, young and tall really what's "best"? anyone else get the feeling these girls are somehow being used?
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-speaking of older women in fashion being irrelevant, i found out through the suburban queen that some young (and predictably 'anonymous') finnish bloggers think anyone over the age of 25 has no right to be speaking about style via this new media of blogging. makes me a.) wish i knew finnish, and b.) want to give those little ignoramuses a piece of my age-addled mind. personally? i think the older one gets, the more interesting their personal style has a chance to become. the years bring gifts like acceptance, confidence, wisdom, and life-experience...all of which can shape a beautiful, idiosyncratic wardrobe that expresses one's fashion personality and inner soul to a tee. only age and time can deliver these blessings (though, surely, there are exceptions).
what do you think? do only the young have the right to speak on matters of fashion and style? does this 60s-esque adage ring true, "don't trust any [fashionista] over 30?"
if that's true, i better go put a down-payment on my coffin now... :)
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-two (one, two) thought-provoking posts about the state of fashion blogging (and how she's bored of it) at the moment, from julie of almost girl (she's behind the blogging network cotorture). i can't really relate to most of it because i most definitely still consider myself a fashion outsider (in a myriad of ways, including in the realm of fashion blogging), but i can see where she's coming from, having observed the changes in fashion blogging over the past few years: freebees, press passes, and more are common and more frequent with more and more fashion bloggers. those who were once outsiders are now insiders. julie asks (and i paraphrase): have some fashion bloggers lost their critical eye as a result of these perks? has fashion blogging lost it's soul? maybe, maybe not. but here's my take (i always have one!): it's never a bad idea to step up one's game, to strive for greatness...and most certainly, it's NEVER bad to shake up the status quo. i think it's great she even brings the subject up. (via danielle's recent post on final fashion)
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and oh, oh, oh!...the quick and diiiirty (just two!):
-just found a new, and quite lovely knitting blog, i like lemons. the photography over there is simple and stunning. this little ball pattern is *adorable*. i want to make some as toys for my future bebe.
-this doily racerback tank on craft chi is pretty pretty...and hey, it's sort of similar to some clothing design/embellishment ideas i already had swimming around for such in my head for some time now. zeitgeist, ahoy! (via craft:)