Inauguration money woes....

The inauguration is upon us and already you can here the cha-ching of the credit cards and cash registers clicking. I mean think about it, you can’t go without a new ball gown that will cost you between $2,000 and $5,000 and then there is the hotel room that will cost about $1,200 and then there’s the limo, the passes, and all the baubles to go with the big day..racking up the total of about $11,000 by the end of the inaugural extravaganza. Now maybe it’s America’s response to the dying market and all of the negative news that is splashed across the front of the newspaper. But is charging a whopping $11,000 weekend trip onto your Amex really the best thing for the economy right now? Or are we celebrating our patriotism and right to be an American by spending our last hard earned dollar on this ball for our wonderful president elect, Barack Obama? Most people justify spending the crazy amount of money on hotels and such because this is such a historical and groundbreaking event, but what about our economy?? The fashion business is booming right along with limo rentals and the hospitality service, but what happens after the ball when all the credit card collectors come knocking on the door?

Gucci and Rihanna Team Up for UNICEF

Gucci and Rihanna make a powerful pair for UNICEF

Rihanna is one of the youngest and hottest stars in fashion world and music business right now which I’m sure is one of the reasons that top fashion house Gucci has picked her to be the new face of their accessories line, “Tattoo Heart”. This new accessories collection is designed by Gucci Creative Director, Frida Giannini, and is to benefit UNICEF for the fourth year running. The collection is obviously inspired from permanent tattoos that have become ever-so-popular within youth culture over the past few years. I love the inspiration because it combines the idea of young trends like tattoos with hot fashions from Gucci to make really fresh and fashionable new accessories that are to benefit a good cause. I do love people who give and this seems like a great opportunity for UNICEF to get publicity about the foundation as well as Gucci to do something great for the less fortunate.
Giannini even said, “I love the idea of a heart being tattooed into the handbags, it’s a permanent mark that you can wear with pride and that stays with you. I think that represents very well what we are doing here. This is not a one-off program, but rather an ongoing commitment to the incredible work that UNICEF is able to achieve.” Giannini designed the limited versions of accessories that combine a white heart tattoo image with Gucci logos and colors. Gucci will donate 25 percent of its sales to UNICEF.

Forever 21 opens new store in NY...here come the knockoffs??

It has been confirmed (but no definite date given yet) that there will be a new, Forever 21, store opening in New York City’s, Time Square. The store is reportedly going to be a whopping 100,000 square feet of clothing, outerwear, accessories, shoes and lingerie. The store reportedly had sales of 1.3 billion dollars in 2007 and is expected to make almost 1.8 billion dollars in sales this year.
This is all very exciting for the young and poor like myself who want trendy and cheap clothes; but at the same time will this extreme store opening only promote people to purchase knock-offs and cheap seconds simply because they can’t afford it? There have been numerous lawsuits in the past few years made by well known designers like Gwen Stefani, Anna Sui, and Diane von Furstenberg against the clothing company because the designers claim that the store is knocking off multiple designs. There were even a few lawsuits brought against Forever 21 by fabric companies and producers in 2007 as well.
Obviously knockoff’s have always been a huge enemy of the fashion world even thought they sometimes inspire designers to come up with elaborate and sometimes crazy fashion concoctions that cannot or will not be knocked-off. And on the legal side of the knockoffs, it’s relatively hard to pass laws on infringement because so many people can interpret the original designs into their own fashion philosophies. So what do we do about it?
Of course, we all know that this devalues the designers whose hard work is knocked-off from a $600 dollar bag or dress to a $30 replica made of cheap plastic and bursting at the seams. So even thought we all know what a danger cheap knockoff’s can be to the fashion world, why do so called “fashion people” continue to support this trade?
I have personally seen girls in my design classes that are carrying fake Chanel and Fendi bags and I think, “Really? How does that work?”. We are all sitting here struggling to become working and recognizable designers and THEY are the ones who are buying these fakes in the back allies?! It kind of stumps me for answers. I mean I get it, everyone wants to have fine things and of course designer brands are all about status; but shouldn’t WE know better?
Maybe those “fashionistas” will think about it after they read this, but most likely not. And sure, we are all guilty from sometime or another about thinking about purchasing that wanna-be Louie Viouton messenger bag, but for heaven’s sake, have a little pride in your work and DON”T DO IT!!!

Fashion Week in INdia

This past week was the Willis Lifestyle India Fashion Week and the designers and shows provided much eye candy that strutted the runway. Many of the shows were filled with numerous fashions that were fusions of mixed styles of the East and West; that made the garments into delicate yet bright ensembles. In fact, it almost stumped me that amid all of these Bohemian fashions that are popular in trends today, that there aren’t more Indian inspired lines. The fabrics were outstanding in texture and many designers mixed traditional dyeing methods with patterns that practically jumped right off the runway at you. The best that I could compare the clothing to that came down the runway would be beautiful exotic birds. The designers mixed a variety of patterns and notions that made all of the clothing irresistible. And of course none of the fashions would be considered vulgar or showy, but there were many fabulously sexy cuts that showed off the models curves and assets.
The high-fashion world in India has slowly grown more popular over the past few years, but the designers are skilled and the market is growing for these young, hip fashions. Many designers are starting to have famous Bollywood actors and actresses model these fashions down the runway to help appeal the clothes to the masses. But the clothing ranged in inspirations from traditional Indian garb, geisha-wear, and thoughts of love, which provided a very wide range in color, style, and silhouette. Many of the fashions were very wearable right off the runway.
I encourage everyone to check out these new designs from India’s fashion week and judge them for yourself. Either go online to Women’s Wear Dailey or www.in.news.yahoo.com. I promise that you will be blown away at the untapped beauty of the designs and the textiles.

street style

I was checking out panda head which is a fashion magazine/ blog site that shows all kinds of different styles from all kinds of different cities. Washington, D.C. actually seemed kind of boring compared to other cities that I checked out like London, Paris, Beijing, Finland, Istanbul, and Seattle (just to name a few). The feeling that I got from looking at the pictures of Washington, D.C. residents was that people are trendy, but not exciting. People don’t push the envelope. Their clothes and shoes are trendy mixing different textures like fur and leather with oxfords, but no crazy haircuts of retro throwbacks that gave them a more individual look- like this is me and here I am.
London, Beijing, Finland and even Seattle residents had more personal style and variety in all the different fashions that they put together. Like in Finland, one girl had the popular stirrup-stretch pants paired with lots of loose layers and belted for a very unique look that wasn’t right off the runway. Beijing was by far my favorite with a very eclectic mix of cultural, hip, vintage, futuristic, and skater mix. Each picture was so different from the next, each person rocked their own individuality to the fullest and even completed their duds with crazy haircuts (long, throw-back mullets from the 80’s but then highlighted and styled to the ultimate coolness). Istanbul showed girls rocking high-top Converse chuck tailors with vintage geometric print dresses and hippies wearing bright and flowing long skirts complete with long dreads and guitars.
I just feel like every other city and country had so many personal fashions that screamed individual. It just makes me wonder, does D.C. have no personality? I mean it’s cool to be trendy but what about different? Washington, D.C. is such a melting pot of cultures and different race’s that I would think it would add come kind of spice to the fashion mix. Even the music that is listened to in D.C. is diverse (techno, Rap, Go-Go, Heavy metal, Rock, and Grunge) that I would think THAT would add some flavor to the fashion scene!
I recommend that everyone check out the website for panda head and maybe it will inspire you to get out there and be different with your fashion. Show your true colors. Don’t just be another bobble-head.

costs for the country

So recently it has come to light that the GOP party has spent over $150,000 on Sarah Palin’s look; this includes hair, make-up and wardrobe for her campaign trail and appearances across the United States. Of course representatives for the party claim that the clothes will be donated for “charitable purposes” and that they were purchased with that very intention. What a bunch of HOOEY!!!
The costs reported for wardrobe are $75,062 worth of clothing spent at the Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, Minnesota and $41,850 spent in St. Louis. Then there was also another $4,100 spent on hair and make-up. Of course spokeswomen for John McCain named Tracey Schmitt commented, “With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it’s remarkable that we’re spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses.” But it’s like, if you’re making such a big deal about what Sarah Palin wears, then why shouldn’t we take notice?
Who knew that fashion and looks affected the campaign trail so much that there’s such an extensive amount of money spent on clothing and hair? Looks are important in everyday life; a nice suit or stylish haircut can make a lasting impression at a job interview or at a work presentation. We all realize what a huge impact fashion has on the world because we live by it, whether people think so or not. Fashion is the reason that you look in your closet and think, “I have nothing to wear! “ But I think that a budget of $150,000 is a little excessive for someone who isn’t even the Vice President yet. And for some reason I think that the American people care a lot more about what’s going on in our economy and with the war in Iraq than what kind of designer power-suit Sarah Palin is wearing. But then again maybe it’s none of our business about how much either party spends on clothing since we are the one’s dissecting their every outfit.

TAKING ON TOO-THIN MODELS-REALITY OR DREAM?

TAKING ON TOO-THIN MODELS-REALITY OR DREAM?

On Tuesday of this week there was an article at CBSnews.com that tries to address the issue of too-thin models in the Quebec region specifically. I say “tries to address” because this issue isn’t new and we have all heard this before. Young, teen-age models who are rail-thin are today’s newest supermodels, and you can find numerous little waifs strutting down the catwalk of every top designer’s runway. Fashion and the media have started to pay closer attention to the weight of models after twenty-two year old model, Luisel Ramos, died from malnutrition in 2006. Some major modeling firms began turning away too-thin girls based on their body mass index measurements, which should normally be around eight-teen percent. Other designers and firms like, Marks and Spencer, aren’t as sympathetic and don’t believe that health should be determined by this BMI method.
I think that this article and the issue in general raises a very valid question about today’s society and what we deem as “healthy”. What body image is being projected at our fashion loving little sister’s and daughter’s? Is too-thin beautiful? It seems that way in Hollywood, the cinema and all over the fashion world, but whatever happened to the women like Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor who flaunted their curvy size twelve and sixteen figures? We do have the few Beyonce and J.Lo’s in the rich and famous scene, but I have read the snarkie remarks that tabloid writers publish; “Beyonce…is she just a few Oreo’s from being a big-girl?” Fashion has such an enormous influence over young people and women in general that it does have the power to make girls starve themselves or go on crazy celery and diet coke diet’s.
I am just asking where do we draw the line and start to get rid of this taboo subject of body weight and stop harming our beautiful young girls. We are women. We are curvy and have breast and thigh’s and plump asses. And that’s how our bodies are genetically made. We are made to be curvy and thick because WE are the ones that have the babies and rule the world. I just wish that being happy and healthy was beautiful, whether that healthy is a size two or a size ten.