bits and bobbins

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 am i the only one who thinks it’s kinda elitist and outdated?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…

a great video featuring my favorite trendsetting octogenarian, iris apfel. it’s basically a little bio on her, her tastes, her influences, her textile business. it’s chock-full of great old photos of her from “back in the day” and lots of sage, style/life advice.

i’ve been a big fan of hers since seeing the 2005-2006 MET costume institute show, rara avis, that featured selections from her fun, bold wardrobe.

seeing her free and bold use of color, shape, motif, and texture was incredibly inspiring to me. it’s still inspiring to me! she’s a woman unafraid to experiment and try new things when it comes to fashion, and at the same time, she knows who she is and curates her style accordingly.

love these quotes from her in the video:

“i just mix and put things to together the way the spirit moves me”

“the fun of getting dressed is that it’s a creative experience, sometimes it’s better than another time”

“freedom of expression, of expressing yourself is the most important thing; if you don’t you’re all bottled up and choking.”

“[be] free, free”

“you only have one trip [life], you might as well enjoy it”

…basically, i think she’s saying:

if enjoying [style] means wearing what you like, the way you want to wear it, when you want to wear it, then… GO FOR IT. and make no apologies.

wise words! iris, you are wonderful!

(via advanced style)

you could see these girls on the street in any major city across the globe, no? indie girls trying to set themselves apart from the pack. or perhaps, trendy girls with nice bags, looking blase in their ballerninas. i’ve seen my fair share on the streets of chicago (where i still am at the moment!), in wicker park, and on michigan avenue, respectfully. those gals might see themselves as unique, think they are “different”…but, whoa, they all look so scarily similar, do they not? the same type of bags, the slouchy knit berets, the long, layered tresses tossled just so, the ubiquitous skinny jeans…

are any of us really “different”? or as “different” as we think we are?

nope. not really!

it’s pretty curious, eh?

we’re really very categorizable, moreso than we probably want to believe.

i called this post exactitudes, part deux, because, whatdaya know, it seems i wrote about the exactitudes project way back in early 2008…but it seems to be making the internet rounds again. and for good reason, as the project is ongoing, and utterly facinating.

a quote from my original post on the exactitudes project:

you can read the rest here, if you so wish!

go to the exactitudes website to learn more about the project.

p.s., a tip:
turn your sound up when looking at the groups of photos on the exactitudes website, as the individual photos are accompanied by little illustrative soundbites!