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Travesty of Fashion Trends

Tuesday 15 October 2013
I suffer from a complete fashion overload pretty much after every Fashion Week. A whole month of being bombarded with nothing more than so called street style which is more theatrical than reality and of course, blatant consumerism.


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Kenzo has moved from being obsessed with tigers to all about the Eye. On sweatshirts, bags and any conceivable Kenzo surface. The weave patterned Celine sneakers looked not too dissimilar to the dirt cheap Chinese storage bags that every Asian person on the face of the earth is familiar with. What can I say? Inspiration comes in all forms and ways. Let's take a look at Marc Jacobs. He and his team of designers loved the foldable bag so much that they copied it for Louis Vuitton as a tribute and charged a small fortune for it. Going back to these Celine Skate sneakers........ they've been photographed on the feet of many mainstream and popular bloggers as well as fashionistas. I'd say, they're a definite candidate on Celine Doan's Shit Bloggers Wear. I'll have to tell my relatives in Asia how fashion forward they are.


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What's with the socks and heels combo?  I'm bemused at how many actually jumped on the bandwagon despite how ridiculous and contrived it looked. And uncomfortable. Balancing on heels while running from one show to the next or trying to glide on the pebbly bits of the Tuileries is hard enough. Add a pair of socks and you're practically left with no grip on those hard soles. This reminded me of how the magazines raved about the furry Celine heels and continued waxing lyrical about Birkenstocks which looked like they'd sprouted hair overnight. The first reminded me of Big Bird in heels and the second, his partner in crime, Elmo.







And then there's the jacket/coat draped over the shoulder. We've all done it including yours truly.  Posing and standing deathly still is one thing. Let's be honest here, wearing it this way allows your outfit to be more visible. Trying to do a catwalk on the street while perilously balancing the jacket on your shoulders is another story. Toss in a young child and it's borderline lunacy, excruciatingly contrived and utter vanity (I've tried doing it and the results ain't pretty..........)



Whilst photos of some of the most outlandish costumes are beamed to all corners of the internet world, fashion predictors and influencers - the likes of Anna Wintour (Chanel suits and Manolo Blahnik Carolynes), Emmanuelle Alt (cropped skinny jeans, well tailored jacket/blazer, pointy heels), Carine Roitfeld (pencil skirts and sky high heels) are equally pursued by street style photographers. Interestingly, they never seem to veer from their individual uniforms. They have their own styles regardless of fashion trends. On one hand, they may preach the gospel of fashion, on the other, they're not followers. How hypocritical. And guess who we admire more. Yup, those who stuck to their guns.

At times, the current obsession with all things fashion reminds me of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale story "The Emperor's New Clothes". Do we blindly follow fashion trends just because the cool people wear it? Are we concentrating more on our exterior than working on our inner self? Has looking good taken precedence over the importance of being kind and thoughtful?

Photo credit: Tommy Ton for Style.com

6 comments:

  1. Oh lordy. I need to take back my leather pants don't I? Just joking. That's one trend I can't do. But yep, I love to see a well turned and stylish person rather than something eye catching for eye catching sake. I think what I really dislike is hugely unflattering clothes - why do that to yourself? I know we need fashion to evolve and move on and eventually things dilute down the line but some trends will hopefully never catch on. Like the Big Bird shoes.

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  2. The more outlandish outfits are fun to look at but it's the likes of Emmanuel Alt that I pin or save photos of. They always provide a bit of inspiration. Christine Centenera went a bit too crazy for this year for my liking, she was always a bit quirkier than the other fashion editors but this year just looked like she was trying too hard. Those furry shoes are cray cray!!

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  3. Oh great post. You know, I spotted a pair of the mink lined 'birk'-esque Celine sandals at NZFW of all places! It is funny what becomes a trend though, and I feel like with FW, you start to see the same things everywhere. I much prefer those who are slightly predictable - minimal in their style. I can't really understand why people would dress up for FW for the sake of wearing something completely ridiculous that will never see the light of day again. And yeah, I'm totally guilty of the jacket as a cape thing, but I note it doesn't work with every jacket!

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  4. I'm speechless! I actually missed a lot of the fashion 'trends' of fashion week this year since I didn't do a lot of online reading relating to the shows. I just picked a handful of my favourite designers to watch for and my usual blog reading. I was gob smacked especially at the LV shopping bag which I hadn't seen and those furry heels!!!!! I simply can't understand the fuzz heels thing or the Celine version either. Fur under your foot? Wouldn't that get sweaty and matted after one wear? I'm with Sue. Hopefully some of these 'trends' just won't catch on. I'm always more intrigued by the more simplistic, true stylings of Emmanuelle and the crew than the flash in the pan 'fash pack'. Oh.. and yes I've done the coat perched over the shoulders thing too which required so much adjustment just to keep it one as I walked ;) The things we do!

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  5. I'd be interested to hear how many pairs Celine sold of those furry pumps. Never really saw anyone wear them off the runway. And I also tend to gravitate to the off-runway looks of the ladies who just seem to dress for themselves instead of putting on a show in hopes of getting captured on camera. And I guess it's a mixed bag in regards to why people follow certain trends.

    xTheresa

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  6. In all honesty, I only do the outerwear draped on shoulders for outfit pics during the colder months in an attempt to not get frost bite! Otherwise, I'd never be caught doing that as it's just not practical. :P

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