The Pre-Fall Paradox

            How many season’s must designers, well, design for? The answer is exactly that…4. Last year, New York Magazine’s fashion blog made an official announcement that pre-fall was official. This rounds out the collections designers present are the two traditionals: Spring and Fall, and newer small presentations called Resort and Pre-Fall.

            The purpose of these collections is more commercial. It gives comsumers new products to shop for in the stores after the main season’s garment’s dry up. Hardly any are staged as full-scale runways shows (expect for maybe Chanel, a brand that makes a show out of everything). What is also great about these collections is that they can be a hint as to what directions designers will actually head into for fall. Although, this may not always be correct. Case in point? Miu Miu.

            To say I love Miu Miu is an understatement. My first designer pair of designer shoes was a pair of sparkling gold Miu Miu pumps. I would walk up and down the halls of my house in them, pretending to be on a runway or gallivanting about a fabulous soiree. But that is really neither here nor there.

{silver-flat version seen here via Alice1979}

            Miu Miu resort this year was stunning. Clothing was inspired by lingerie like crepe de chine fabric with sweet polka dot, apple, and heart prints cascading effortlessly down demure dress cuts. Also prevalent is a 1940’s raciness reflected in a type of come hither array of a neon color palette. Miuccia here presented a YSL- indicative collection in a neon color palette on drugs that create heart, apple, and polka dot hallucinogenic shapes.

{images via style.com}

But, come spring, the only things that remain are neon colors. Instead of keeping things bubbly and fresh, Miuccia took a dark turn for spring and explored the shadowy business of show business.

“I was thinking of everybody’s obsession with being famous” said Miuccia of her raised red runway- appliqué star collection. Gone are the feminine silhouettes of resort and in are the boxy drop-waisted items of spring. The clothes remind me more of heavy dresses perfect for fall.

{all images via style.com}

Although, since they do come into stores during fall, Miu Miu Spring 2011 could be an attempt to break the fashion paradox- collections are shown during the opposite season so they can be introduced into stores months before their season (Fall is shown in March to be introduced into stores in August, where they might not start selling heavily until a few months later). Miuccia is never one to follow guidelines, so if she begins to make weather-appropriate clothes for her show as apposed to the traditions imposed by the “fall” and “spring” seasons, she will. And others will follow.

            Pre-Fall collections are currently being wrapped up and will hit stores around May and July. Because duh, everyone needs a winter coat in July. But what am I talking about, I live in Southern California- so I never really need a winter coat.

            On the flip side of things, resort collections are just arriving in stores, as Spring looks are currently being manufactured. 

XXX for XXX: Designer Collaborations

Anna dello Russo in Lanvin

Lanvin for H&M

H&M has just partnered with design house Lanvin to create a capsule collection. Let’s just say calling it a frenzy would be an understatement. One blogger The Shoe Girl reported her friends that work in a mall camped out in their store to get in line at the crack of dawn. Talk about dedication to fashion.

Lanvin for H&M was only distributed to 24 stores across the country. The H&M on Fifth Avenue in New York drew a line of 300. Lanvin designer Alber Elbaz pulled up in his towncar to check if a line had even formed. Not wanting to cause any type of riot, Elbaz stayed in his car. "I can’t believe it. I was sure there would be no one. I was a bit panicked," he said.

I’ll admit it. I have been to target at 8am to get first dibs on the “Tucker for Target” collection a few months ago. Was it necessary? Probably not. Worth it? Definitely.

Designer lines for major retail chains have been all the rage for the past few years. If I recall correctly, it all began with Target and Fiorucci in 2005. I remember getting really interested in the Go International collections when Target partnered with Luella Bartley in January of 2006. I was amazed that so many of the designs in these collections were essentially knock offs of the originals but in cheaper fabrics. After Luella came Tara Jarmon, Behnaz Sarafpour, Proenza Schouler, Partick Robinson, Libertine, Alice Temperly, Erin Fetherston, Jovich-Hawk, Rogan, Richard Chai, Jonathan Saunders, Thakoon, Alexander McQueen, Anna Sui, Rodarte, Jean Paul Gaultier, Zac Posen, and this December William Rast. The list of collaborations reads like a who’s who of fashion’s up and comers as well as established members of the community.

So- designers come down from their expensive high horses and offer the public a little bit of their genius at affordable prices. But, while many of these garments look like the real thing, are styled like the real thing, and are lusted over like the real thing- they are not the real thing. Thus, they do not necessarily fit or feel like the $2,000 version of that dress. Often, the collaborations produce garments that are made as they are priced…cheap.

I’ve shopped for quite a few of these collaborations. So far, the only one that has exceed my expectations was Tucker for Target. While the fabric can be a little static-y at times, the cut of the shirt is exactly like the original Tucker shirts. The same cannot be said of the other lines I have bought from Target, most of which are no longer in my closet because of poor construction. Designer collaborations are about give and take. You give up on quality, and take the cheaper price. 

Social Networking Soulmate

After perusing del.icio.us, I have finally found her (or him? it?). For now, we will assume that camihere, my social networking soulmate, is a her.

I found her after looking through people who had tagged "The Sartorialist", which is one of my favorite street style blogs. Many people tag this particular blog and go on to have major interests in other things, like photography, art, etc. But camihere was one of the first users to have fashion as one of her top tags.

Camihere has 350 bookmarks, 165 of which are tagged fashion, which is also her top tag. Next on her top tags is “blog”, which constitutes 121 of her tags. Following after are design, art, illustration, photography, inspiration, culture, flikr, and magazine.

One of the things that initially attracted me to looking though camihere’s bookmarks were the most recent ones on Paris.  I am going abroad to London next semester but my brother and I are going to France for a week first. The blogs she has bookmarked on Paris are just what I wanted to look for, but didn’t know where to start…fate?

Camihere doesn’t comment on her most recently tagged pages, but from her first tags I can deduce she lives in Spain, Mexico, or somewhere where Spanish is spoken. I find this very interesting because only a few of her sites I have gone to have been in Spanish. , Camihere has been using this site for about 3 years, but still tends to tag almost everything the same few tags. She may not be using the site very efficiently, or often, but has created a really good library of fashion sites- including blogs, designer websites, and shopping websites.

One website I found from my social networking soul mate is lefashion.com. The author posts what she finds to be the most beautiful and inspirational fashion spreads from magazines all around the world. This site is great to see spreads from various magazines that I would never see otherwise.

Another website I found from camihere is thecherryblossomgirl.com. Alix is a personal style blogger who lives in France. Her shoe collection is unreal- after finding her blog I looked through it for hours and hours trying to see every post. I didn’t make it through to her first posts, but I found it really intriguing to see her personal style evolution over the past few years. I think that personal style blogs will be an integral tool for recording the history of fashion trends and how people all over the world interpreted them.

While some of the blog’s camihere has tagged are not useful at all, she has really hit all the major points when it comes to fashion blogs and has tagged many more that will be useful to check out. 

Fashion Piracy- Annotated Bibliography

Image via curiocollective.wordpress.com. FOREVER21 KNOCKOFFS ON TOP, TROVATA ORIGINALS ON BOTTOM

Hedrick, L. “Tearing Fashion Design Protection Apart at the Seams[dagger].” Washington and Lee Law Review 65.1 (2008): 215. Print.

             

Fashion copyright has been pushed through Congress many times, but according to Hedrick, a successful bill has yet to come through, and therefore why no adequate laws have been passed. Congress must be careful with enacting laws about fashion design protection because it could become the model for expansion of the current intellectual property laws. Under the current intellectual property (IP) mechanisms, patents, trade dress, trademark, and copyright are incapable of providing protections for fashion design. Clothing is seen as a “useful article” and is treated as purely functional; therefore making fashion designs categorically excluded copyright registration and protection. There is now proposed protection under the Design Piracy Bills, backed by the CFDA (Council for Fashion Designers of America) that would give a designers the rights to make, sell, import, and trade the fashion design. Hendricks does not support this bill because of its drawbacks and makes the argument that a law such as this under the American legal system would bring about a number of senseless lawsuits. Also pointed out are the numerous expenses that would burden designers from lawsuits to protect clothing with a limited shelf life.

Hendrick’s article is useful for history given on the subject as well as information on current fashion copyright laws in Japan and European Union. While comparing the laws of these two systems with the American legal system doesn’t necessarily correlate, having background on the subject in other countries could strengthen an argument for the need for fashion copyright laws. While there is a clear argument in this article, the information seems to be on the objective side in the way the facts are presented. This source will be useful for the layout of the current proposed law, background of fashion copyright, and arguments for faults in the Design Piracy Bills.

ADR

Anna dello Russo is what you could call the Lady Gaga of the fashion industry. A self-identified “pasionista fashionista”, dello Russo has dedicated her life to the art of fashion. ADR, born in 1962 in Southern Italy, she wasn’t necessarily in the epicenter of the fashion world. But, according to ADR herself she has always known “I want to be fashion”.

  

Anna first began her work in fashion at Vogue Italia and worked her way up to Fashion Director. She now works at Creative Director and Editor at Large of Nippon Vogue (Japan). The funny thing about ADR is that I have only just begun to look through her spreads in the past few weeks after researching her. But, I have been salivating over he style for months- she is on every fashion blog during every fashion week for her outlandish style.

  

With the increasing popularity of street style blogs, ADR has become an Internet sensation. I feel like the general public sees the fashion world as nonsense- and in some ways it is. They are not curing cancer, or solving world hunger- but they are adding a flair of fun to people lives through magazine spreads, clothes, and accessories. No other editor enjoys taking fashion full on as dello Russo.

  

Unlike other editors, Anna wears full runway looks. She takes the vision of the designers, and puts it on. Of course, runways looks are meant to be mixed and matched, and styling pieces from each designer is part of what makes a great editor. But, I think part of what makes her such a designer darling is that she respects their vision.

But ADR is far braver than other editors by taking on the riskier looks that flank the runways. Tommy Ton of jakandjil has snapped Anna multiple times en route to shows in see through lace looks from Dolce and Gabbana. I only hope that when I am Anna’s age, I can pull off such a daring ensemble.

She does not mix and match, and she does not re-wear. While her clothing practices may perpetuate the ideal that the fashion industry is ‘ridiculous’ and ‘frivolous’, but Anna lives and breathes fashion. So much so, that she has a separate apartment for her clothing collection and accessories- that is kept at around 15 degrees Celsius, the ideal temperature.

Her dedication to fashion permeates her love life as well. Anna dello Russo does have a boyfriend, but doesn’t live with her because, well, there is no space with all of her clothes.

I find Anna dello Russo a living reincarnation of Grace Coddington- American Vogue’s creative director. Grace is the real genius behind the styling of Vogue’s fashion spreads. She doesn’t worry about sales, celebrity, or what is current. Grace just lives for fashion that is beautiful. And ADR? She lives to wear fashion that is just beautiful. 

All Photos via jakandjil.com/blog and annadellorusso.com

Blog Comments

jakandjilblog

Getting dressed with Anna dello Russo for Vogue Paris Ball- 

(Photos via jakandjil.com/blog/)

I love that Anna embraces pop culture and allows it to influence her. I feel like a lot of people in the fashion industry, and in general, dismiss Lady Gaga as trying too hard, or being weird on purpose. But here, Anna del Russo (who has a cult following of her own) pays homage to someone who has just as much fin with fashion as she does. Anna is quickly becoming one of my style icons as well because of the risks she takes while at the same time not taking any of it too seriously. When you look at Anna Wintour, she seems intimidating. When you watch Anna Wintour, she is still intimidating. But, after watching a short video of Anna del Russo packing, I knew I had to start Internet stalking her. So I thank you, for consistently posting pictures of the lovable Anna del Russo and her outrageous and fascinating outfits. The mask, the headpiece, the wig, the dress, it’s all just perfection. I’m thinking if I could be best friends with anyone in the fashion industry, it would be ADR. Not to mention, she has the most outrageous clothing collection. In the words of Rachel Zoe, “I die” because its “ba-na-nas”. 

Garance Dore

From the front row...Prada- I mean, fur for spring? In neon colors striped like a Cheshire cat’s tail? Only Prada could do such a thing and make it look so cool. I read the description of the collection before I began to look through the picture slideshow. “Minimalistic Baroque” is only something Miuccia Prada could come up with. The first look is bright orange. Its not highlighter orange, or coral, or muted, or Halloween- but an orange I would like to have an entire closet out of. And then again, things got “bananas” with monkeys in cobalt, forest green, yellow, and bananas (literally), and stripes all thrown together on a sleek, white runway. And the shoes? While I wasn’t really a fan of the flat wedges, from the men’s show, I loved the wedge version- especially in the Mary Jane. And the woven shoes, Id like one in every color, along with the striped shoes, those as well thanks…and the woven platforms, oh, and the silver platforms too. Basically what I am trying to say here is I would like this entire collection of shoes, and clothes, and furs, and striped bags. To me, this was one of the best collections of Spring/Summer because of its unexpected playfulness, yet seriousness with hemlines and structure. 

Long Live McQueen

I am obsessed with Alexander McQueen. Tears sprung to my eyes when I drove by his store on Melrose just days after he passed. The storefront was haunting, grey, and empty as bunches of flowers withered away under the Los Angeles heat.

 A memorial was held yesterday to honor designer Alexander “Lee” McQueen, who committed suicide last February. While the label McQueen will not be showing during London’s fashion week, but rather Paris, the house’s Spring Summer 2011 collection is the current buzz. Sarah Burton, McQueen’s right hand, was appointed creative chief of the Alexander McQueen label four months ago. They are only weeks away from showing their first women’s collection since the designer’s death. Critics and fans alike are wondering if the label can really be Alexander McQueen without the creative genius of its namesake designer.

Hailing from London, Alexander McQueen was one of the most influential and experimental designers of the past decade. His work at Givenchy and Alexander McQueen can only be described as some of the most poignant work by a designer in such a short career.

McQueen's shows were filled with shock tactics that always garnered him attention as a young designer. His collections were met with critical acclaim earning him the British Designer of the Year award four times.

He began formal training at London's most prestigious fashion school Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design as a pattern cutter and a tutor. His strong portfolio led the head of the Master's course to convince him to enroll as a student where he received his Masters degree in fashion design. Influential fashion stylist Isabella Blow bought his entire graduation collection and helped jumpstart his wildly successful career.  It is rumored she is in fact the one who convinced him to go by his middle name Alexander rather than his first name Lee when he launched his fashion career. 

McQueen was appointed head designer at Givenchy in 1996 succeeding John Galliano. His most famous show with the house included car robots spray-painting white dresses on the runway. Givenchy is a classic label that didn’t always accept the outlandish ideas McQueen brought forth. He left the Givenchy label in 2001 when his contract ended.

To put his wildest ideas into fruition, McQueen started his own label. The Gucci group bought a 51% stake in the company and appointed him Creative Director. By the end of 2007, McQueen had boutiques in London, Milan, New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. 2007 also marked the first year his label made a profit.

It was no secret to the industry that McQueen had a dark side. His collections were saturated with sinister, twisted elements that were in turn hauntingly beautiful. One of his most popular pieces was a skull scarf that was worn by most of Hollywood's elite.

2007 also brought the designer attention with the suicide of close friend Isabella Blow. Rumors circulated that there was a rift between the two because of McQueen's supposed under-appreciation of Blow.

McQueen’s tragic death followed shortly behind Blow’s. He died days before the start of London Fashion week, though he was not scheduled to show there, and nine days after the death of his mother. On February 18, 2010 President of the Gucci Group announced the label would go on. His last collection was shown during Paris Fashion Week on March 9^th in a private showroom.
McQueen’s last full runway collection contained "some of the most chillingly misogynist footwear we have ever seen on the runway" according to fashion columnist Suzy Menkes. One of my life goals, and I'm really not kidding, is to wear a pair of the armadillos (as worn by Lady Gaga here at the VMAs).

The loss of this designer is still being felt throughout the industry today. As October 5^th draws closer, all eyes will be on the label to see if they will be able to recreate the outlandish genius of Alexander McQueen.

Trio

Hello World Post

I have a sick obsession: a passion for fashion if you will. I’m not sure how, or what ultimately fueled it, but I am fashion and pop culture obsessed. My family says that I shouldn’t care so much about the material things, but for me, fashion isn’t about who has the most expensive dress or the ‘it’ bag. It is more about the self-expression and freedom it gives you on how you present your self.

The immensity of the business and it’s far reaching effects on people is astounding, which the character Miranda Priestly in the movie  “The Devil Wears Prada” aptly describes when berating an employee who scoffs at the importance of clothing placed in magazines: “ However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff.”

But, fashion is not just for those who can afford couture anymore, which I think is an interesting development. I believe part of this is because a fashion designer’s work is not protected by copyright infringement. I used to think that clothes should be able to be copied by the large chains, partly because I enjoy shopping at them and getting ‘in’ clothes at a fraction of the cost. However, after working at a luxury brand, I see the harmful effects it can have on a company.

A few years ago, my ultimate goal would have been to be an editor at one of the top fashion magazines. Every time Vogue or Elle arrived in the mail, I would drop whatever I was doing and read them cover to cover, examining every little purse, shoe, jacket. I saw the beauty in the wild fashion spreads, and enjoyed the thought provoking essays included in every issue.

My thoughts on the fashion world are changing wildly as I get further and further into the business. Magazines are no longer the only authority on what is in, what designers have had a standout season, and what is going to sell. Personal style and fashion news blogs have begun to take away some of the publishing worlds authority.

My favorite instance of this is Tavi, a thirteen-year-old blogger with an immense vocabulary, wacky style, and insightful commentary. Her blog, “The Style Rookie” has given her an ‘in’ into the fashion world. She has become friends with top designers like Miuccia Prada and the Mulleavy sisters of “Rodarte” and is placed in the coveted front row at fashion shows and given couture for free in the hopes she will wear it in her blog.

After working in VIP Relations at Prada this summer, I have more authority on how things work in fashion, especially in fashion PR and celebrity dressing. I’m finding out that maybe my place is not in the magazine world, where you are almost always replaceable. With this class project, I think that blogging about the business and news side of the fashion world will help me not only become more educated, but also give myself a strong voice on the subject and find where I may want to take myself after college. Being a print journalism major, I plan to focus on more of the news side of the fashion industry- what is current and all upcoming things. With that, I will be able to interject my new viewpoint on the interworking of luxury brands.

Profile Post

It took hundreds of hours to hand sew thousands of little black and white beads into the couture Chanel dress Jane Aldridge wore to the 19^th Crillion Ball in Paris last fall. Most women chosen for the international ‘it’ debutante ball are the daughters of CEOs, moguls, and on occasion actors. Jane is a country girl from Trophy Club Texas, but was recommended by the editors of Vogue to attend all because of a little blog she started in 2007.

Aldridge has a wacky, but brilliant sense of style, as evidenced by her unusual dress for the ball, a far cry from the princess dresses most girls were decked out in.

“Sea of Shoes” reportedly garners over 75,000 hits per day. Aldridge, only 17-years old, has become a fashion internet mogul because of her penchant for designer shoes, vintage, over the top animal jewelry, and kitschy accents. Kanye West is also a big fan, making a shoutout to Aldridge on his own blog.

Readers over the past three years have been able to follow Aldridge and the ultimate evolution of her style. I have been reading her blog for two years, and while sometimes I could never imagine myself styling the outfits she does, I admire her confidence to put herself out there. But really, I just want all of her shoes. Is it embarrassing that sometimes they almost make me drool? 

Personal style blogs have become a fairly recent obsession of mine. I first read about “Sea of Shoes” in Teen Vogue and immediately fell in love. I always felt like a black sheep because of my obsession with shoes, and finally, there was someone who was even more infatuated. I began to check back every day to see what new insights and more importantly, shoes Jane would post. It has come to the point where I’m upset if there is no new post for me to examine. But, as her fame has grown and opportunities have arisen, Jane now posts only two or three times a week.

The Crillion Ball is just the tip of the iceberg of opportunities that have sprung from Jane’s outfit chronicles. Aldridge designed her own capsule collection for Urban Outfitters, co-designed a trench coat for Gryphon, and is featured in top fashion magazine spreads. Because her blog has become so popular and a full time job, Aldridge does not attend school anymore and is instead homeschooled. She spends at least 5 or 6 hours per day creating posts, editing pictures, and answering emails.

“Sea of Shoes” has such a diverse audience: from editors to pop superstars to the everyday girl. And as popularity of the blog spreads, so does Aldridge’s authority on all things fashion. While I would never wear cropped cut Levi’s, vintage 80’s yellow-embroidered snowsuits, or large metal beetle belts, I am fascinated with how Aldridge is able to put together the most random things and create such beautiful images. I’m also obsessed with her Prada and Miu Miu shoe collection- she always has the best pairs of the season, including the daisy print maryjanes from her most recent post seen here.

This site will obviously differ from my work, because as a college student I tend to dress casually everyday, not in couture. But, Aldridge is such an inspiration, and is often spot on with trends, sometimes years before they happen. I think what is so inspiring about Aldridge is how far her blog has taken her: from a girl just posting about her love of shoes to a Crillion debutante.

Voice Post

Tavi Gevinson is a fashion darling. And at only 15 years old the head haunchos are turning to her for her insights. Even though she just started high school, she is casually missing a few weeks for Fashion Week activities. I wish I had started a blog when I was 15.  Sadly, I do not have the same wit, pop culture references, or wealth of opinions that seem to flow freely from the wild mind of Tavi Gevinson.

In case you would like to sum up Tavi in a short paragraph, she has already done it for you:

“Wears batman capes and oversized hats. Scatters black petals on Rei Kawakubo's doorsteps and serenades her in rap. I wish I was Daria but I get too excited about things like candy to be deadpan all the time.”

She writes about fashion collections, Britney Spears, Terry Richardson, her life experiences, what she wears, her favorite movies, and extremely random brain rants, like “Justin Bieber Catbutt vs. Frumpy Troll”.

            That being said, Tavi has the strongest voice of any fashion blogs I read, and in my countless hours perusing the Internet and following a trail of blogs from site to site, I have read a lot. I find myself checking in on her site every few days not for her fashion knowledge, and definitely not for her outfit choices, but for her humorous outlook on the industry and all things pop culture related. I find myself laughing out loud at her jokes. Tavi is like an encyclopedia for pop culture references, as her blog is littered with throwbacks to shows like Daria and other 90s genre topics that I only faintly recall. Where did she get the time to learn about all of these things?

            Her mood boards, a common feature on most fashion blogs, are what I would categorize as ‘different’. In her post, “mood”, Tavi puts images from her journal collages. The juxtaposition of sweet 50s looking dresses in one image and a man covered in bees in another is the status quo on the style rookie.

“Salvador Dali in Balenciaga Fall 2010. That astronomy photo is from a 70's issue of National Geographic, the Dali photo is from the Fall 2008 issue of T (have you seen             the new issue? ISN'T IT SO GOOD?) and the pants and shoes are Balenciaga. The             glitter is from a birthday party I went to at Club Libby Lu in 4th grade. You heard right. And no, I don't know why I still have it.”

            Tavi gravitates towards the unusual in the fashion industry, with an appreciation for cult brands like the above mentioned Balenciaga. Tavi is constantly being watched by the industry because of the oddball things she does with the collections, like adding Balenciaga clothes to a picture of Salvador Dali. But once again, she reminds you of her age with a link to Wikipedia explaining what Club Libby Lu is. Tavi constantly links out from her blog to explain her references giving a little more authority to what she writes about.

            Her maturity is one of the most astounding things about her blog. Apart from just being majorly successful at blogging, Tavi carries a sense of self-awareness, and is constantly assuring readers “I swear I don’t talk like that in real life”. Her rants to lead her to odd places, and most end in a very keen- what was I just talking about type of conclusion.

            In Tavi’s most recent post “you probably don’t even know my middle name”, she chronicles her trip to Antwerp with her father. Her funny side pops out immediately:

“It's such hard work! You have to sit there and move the fork from the plate to your mouth. I took a photo in order to capture the Hard Work, hoping I could show it to my P.E. teacher and get gym credits for doing Hard Work outside class.”

            I would totally think eating Belgian waffles was hard work too, if I had to skip class to go to Antwerp to go to an art exhibition. Tavi may not be the most scholarly writer, considering her age and lack of grammatical instruction, but her voice shines through in her witty one-liners and constant use of italics, capitalizations, and all caps writing.

Although, now that I am looking closely into Tavi’s writing, I can see a slight air of arrogance. Maybe that’s my jealousy speaking. But, right when I think I have the real Tavi figured out, I read this in her post titled “Things I learned in High School: Day One”:

“And I have reached the age in which I am too often under the incorrect impression that I am wise enough to make that kind of observation”

Tavi’s self-deprecation and awareness to her own nativity is simply astounding. What teenager is so self-assured? At 15, I was just trying to survive high school. But not Tavi- high school seems like a side project to her busy schedule.

            Even though the fashion world seems to be enamored with Tavi, apparently school isn’t such a breeze. You see, Tavi just started high school. And because her blog is whatever she wants it to be at the moment, Tavi talks about school experiences often and reminds her readers that she is not the know-all end- all to fashion insights.

“If you, as a short person, want to get anywhere in the halls, you must push and shove. PUSH AND SHOVE.”

            This is a prime example of Tavi’s voice. Can’t you just hear a short girl in glasses and a semi-bowl cut telling you with such exasperation in her voice that getting though the halls in high school requires effort? “PUSH AND SHOVE”, I can just hear her yelling it at me.

            Sometimes I wonder if I like Tavis’s writing so much because of her lack of experience writing literary essays and critical pieces. She just rants about what she wants to, and calls it a day.

McQueen, Armani, and Raw Meat?

High definition TV was on overload last night trying to pick up every fleshy, vibrant pixel of Lady Gaga’s outrageous outfit changes.

First, an outfit fit for a queen made by McQueen. Ethereal gold feathers sprouted out of her head. Rounded armadillo shoes skyrocketed her 10-inches into the air. High-church angels and Bosch demons melted down the flowing chiffon layers of her ornate dress. Lady Gaga has arrived at the VMAs.

As she teetered on stage to accept her first award of the night, still in her red carpet attire, I could not help but remark that this is the prettiest, and daresay most normal, I have ever seen her look. Simple makeup, a healthy tan, and overall gleam surrounded Gaga; it was after all her night with a record breaking 13 VMA nominations.

Gaga, who has a flair for the dramatic, has been quickly embraced by the visionaries of the couture fashion world, including the house of recently deceased designer, Alexander McQueen. And the Lady did him justice tonight in one of the last pieces he created from the Fall/Winter 2010 season. Gaga embodies the “full realization of concept and showmanship” that epitomized McQueen. To top off the red carpet look, which was just the first of the night, her hair hung loosely from her middle part, iced with bright blue tips.

It is hard to imagine how she walked comfortably in those shoes. During McQueen’s runway show when the iconic armadillos first made their debut, some models refused to walk in them in fear of injuring themselves. But, Gaga is fearless when it comes to fashion.

Gaga took the stage for the second time to accept her award for best pop video, but no, she was not wearing the same outfit. She donned a spiked black headpiece with an origami, black, leather ball gown by Armani. 

It must have been one heavy dress because it took two people to lift her out of her seat to get to the stage.  

“I didn’t plan the outfits with the wins, I can’t really walk in this. Fashion Road Kill,” proclaimed the Goth-Lady Liberty-esque Gaga.

He last outfit, however, proved to be the most shocking of them all. She was draped in raw meat. Yes, that’s right, she was wearing a head (a slab rested on her fair locks) to toe (her shoes were made out of meat too) look of raw meat.

“ I never thought I would ask Cher to hold my meat purse”, Gaga exclaimed as she climbed onto the stage in the Franc Fernandez meat ensemble to accept the award for Video of the Year. I’m not sure what kind of statement raw meat makes, but surprisingly the dress had a lot of shape, draping and texture to it. I wonder what Cher thought while she was holding onto the purse?

I feel some sort of special connection to Lady Gaga because I saw her perform in LA at a small club right before she made it “big”. Right away, I knew I loved her style. She was wearing a white origami dress with matching headpiece that ripped away to a white leotard. Many stars may be following the “pantlessness” trend lately (ahem Taylor Momsen) but Lady Gaga was there first.

Now, Haus of Gaga, her creative production team, is behind the realization of the Gaga looks. They bring her wildest fashion aspirations to life, create sets, props, and sounds for her live performances.

Disco balls, bubbles, leather, red lace bodysuits with a matching face covering headpiece, bunny ears, white powdered face, Kermit body suit, no pants, yellow hair, orb-y solar system dresses, bows made out of hair, diet coke can curlers, burning cigarette glasses, the list goes on and on with the revolutionary, avant-garde fashions Lady Gaga has brought to the mainstream public.

This year’s 2010 VMAs were an all-encompassing glimpse into the many facets of Gaga’s fashion. Couture, avant-garde, and just plain out there, Gaga is never one to disappoint her fans, dubbed “little monsters”.

Whether you mock her and label her as insane, or follow in her wake as one of her little monsters it is hard to deny the fashion phenomenon Lady Gaga had generated. 

The Style Rookie

The Style Rookie is only 15 years old, and has already garnered numerous acclaims in the fashion world. Even though she just started high school, she is casually missing a few weeks for Fashion Week activities. I wish I had started a blog when I was 15. But sadly, I do not have the same wit, pop culture references, or wealth of opinions that seem to flow freely from the wild mind of Tavi Gevinson.
In case you would like to sum up Tavi in a short paragraph, she has already done it for you:

“Wears batman capes and oversized hats. Scatters black petals on Rei Kawakubo's doorsteps and serenades her in rap. I wish I was Daria but I get too excited about things like candy to be deadpan all the time.”

She writes about fashion collections, Britney Spears, Terry Richardson, her life experiences, what she wears, her favorite movies, and extremely random brain rants, like “Justin Bieber Catbutt vs. Frumpy Troll”.

That being said, Tavi has the strongest voice of any fashion blogs I have read and in my countless hours perusing the Internet following a trail of blogs from site to site I have read a lot. I find myself checking in on her site every few days not for her fashion knowledge, and definitely not for her outfit choices, but for her humorous outlook on the industry and all things pop culture related. Tavi is like an encyclopedia for pop culture references, as her blog is littered with throwbacks to shows like Daria and other 90s genre topics that I only faintly recall. Where did she get the time to learn about all of these things?

Her mood boards, a common feature on most fashion blogs, are what I would categorize as ‘different’. In her post, “mood”, Tavi puts images from her journal collages. The juxtaposition of sweet 50s looking dresses in one image and a man covered in bees in another is the status quo on the style rookie.

“Salvador Dali in Balenciaga Fall 2010. That astronomy photo is from a 70's issue of National Geographic, the Dali photo is from the Fall 2008 issue of T (have you seen the new issue? ISN'T IT SO GOOD?) and the pants and shoes are Balenciaga. The glitter is from a birthday party I went to at Club Libby Lu in 4th grade. You heard right. And no, I don't know why I still have it.”

Tavi gravitates towards the unusual in the fashion industry, with an appreciation for cult brands like the above mentioned Balenciaga. Tavi is constantly being watched by the industry because of the oddball things she does with the collections, like adding Balenciaga clothes to a picture of Salvador Dali. But once again, she reminds you of her age with a link to Wikipedia explaining what Club Libby Lu is. Tavi constantly links out from her blog to explain her references giving a little more authority to what she writes about.
Her maturity is one of the most astounding things about her blog. Apart from just being majorly successful at blogging, Tavi carries a sense of self-awareness, and is constantly assuring readers “I swear I don’t talk like that in real life”. Her rants to lead her to odd places, and most end in a very keen- what was I just talking about type of conclusion.
In Tavi’s most recent post “you probably don’t even know my middle name”, she chronicles her trip to Antwerp with her father. Her funny side pops out immediately:

“It's such hard work! You have to sit there and move the fork from the plate to your mouth. I took a photo in order to capture the Hard Work, hoping I could show it to my P.E. teacher and get gym credits for doing Hard Work outside class.”

I would totally think eating Belgian waffles was hard work too, if I had to skip class to go to Antwerp to go to an art exhibition. Tavi may not be the most scholarly writer, considering her age and lack of grammatical instruction, but her voice shines through in her witty one-liners and constant use of italics, capitalizations, and all caps writing.
Although, now that I am looking closely into Tavi’s writing, I can see a slight air of arrogance. Maybe that’s my jealousy speaking. But, right when I think I have the real Tavi figured out, I read this in her post titled “Things I learned in High School: Day One”:

“And I have reached the age in which I am too often under the incorrect impression that I am wise enough to make that kind of observation”

Tavi’s self-deprecation and awareness to her own nativity is simply astounding. What teenager is so self-assured? At 15, I was just trying to survive high school. But not Tavi- high school seems like a side project to her busy schedule.
Even though the fashion world seems to be enamored with Tavi, apparently school isn’t such a breeze. You see, Tavi just started high school. And because her blog is whatever she wants it to be at the moment, Tavi talks about school experiences often and reminds her readers that she is not the know-all end- all to fashion insights.

“If you, as a short person, want to get anywhere in the halls, you must push and shove. PUSH AND SHOVE.”

This is a prime example of Tavi’s voice. Can’t you just hear a short girl in glasses and a semi-bowl cut telling you with such exasperation in her voice that getting though the halls in high school requires effort? “PUSH AND SHOVE”, I can just hear her yelling it at me.

Sometimes I wonder if I like Tavis’s writing so much because of her lack of experience writing literary essays and critical pieces. She just rants about what she wants to, and calls it a day.