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Just found out from WendyB's blog that the great French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent left us from Paris, on June 1 2008, following a long illness.
He is truly fundamental and is part of the small influential elite who has made fashion what it is today- his legacy still reigns! Every time us girls decide wear a pair of pants during the day, we have him to thank for suggesting it! A toast to the king from me, in my very own Le Smoking suit. You will truly be missed, Monsieur Saint Laurent!
Photo cred: NYT, wbjewelry
A number of very strange and rather shocking conversations between myself and an 8yo girl, the daughter of a family friend- let's call her Anni, occurred when they were visiting last week and I was absolutely stunned:
Topic 1: Fluoro pink is the thing to be seen in, said she."You know, you really should buy some fluoro pink. It's very popular these days." kicked off the first conversation. I think I was staring at Anni, mouth open half the time. Wait, what? Come again? I'm not trying to be elitist but it was shocking to realize how different 8yo girls a decade ago (aka moi) were from the kids of today. I think I was watching Sailor Moon and playing with yoyos in my tomboy jeans-and-Tshirt outfits.Topic 2: She recommends Payless as the place to source your black flats.Because Anni just got her first pair of blk ballet flats at Payless, she recommend I get mine there too (sorry hun, I thought, I've already got a few pairs too many...)
Topic 3: It's all about layering, dahling!"I really like these- points at her plain long sleeved blk Tshirt - it's really good for layering. Because we're in Spring so it's still a bit cold. An outfit kind of like what I'm wearing now..." For your information, she wore a blue and white patterned mid thigh baby doll over the Tshirt, with blk leggings and those flats. By God, she's trendy for someone who's not even a tween yet! [The photo was the first example that came to mind, a tad bit old- Marc by Marc Jacobs SS06 RTW]
Topic 4: What do you call them? Pencil jeans or skinny jeans?Anni really really really wants a pair. Enough said. Apparently, I'm somewhat "uncool" because I don't own a pair. Does that mean I'm a nerd? Does it?
I sound terribly bitchy, don't I? I don't mean to, but I guess I still haven't gotten over our "enlightening" conversations yet. I say enlightening, in quotation marks no less, because it reflects the strength and power of advertising on the child and the tween in my opinion. Ever since a few years ago, it's suddenly become all about the tween- they're a huge market because they're aware of what's hot (and what's not), they understand the importance of one's appearance... but don't have a job yet. So to me, what the tween does is spend extravagantly on luxury goods with their parents' no limit credit cards. I'm not against the concept of either spending lots on luxury goods or the use of my mom's credit card per se (God knows I do it a lot)... it's just that if they're spending so much at a stage when they're not truly aware of the value of money, how much debt and card bills are they going to run up as an adult? And are they really aware of what's good quality, what's worth the price... and what's not? Is this in fact going to be the catalyst that will eventually lead to a First World debt crisis? [Shhh- I know I know. I'm being melodramatic...]
Since everything is growing so much more accessible, and as children's fashion is becoming more like adult's fashion just shrunken in size, kids seem to be growing up so fast- at a glance, they appear to look better, act wiser- in an almost adult like manner- and it's such a foreign idea to me. Sure I was a city girl (no doubt I always will be) but I remember my childhood fondly- days spent in the local park playground, playing with the neighbor's kids and trying to beat the boys at handball during school recess and lunch. Anni seems to spend her days applying nail polish, reading numerous fashion magazines (she namedropped Harper's and Vogue at various points in time) and listening to Avril Lavigne and Gwen Stefani.
I don't know what to think.Are they being deprived of a childhood because of the commercialization, and materialization, of everything? Or are we simply redefining what childhood means?
Photo cred: style.com, NYT, some blog I found through google
Do we really view extravagant prices as just another fact of life? Are we buying pricey luxury goods to prove to the world that yes, we do have the money (and hence the status and worth) to consume them? According to NYT, then yes! We do- with the increased profits of LVMH, Gucci group and the Prada group as proof. If you ask for my answer, I'll say yes to the first question and uncertain for the second. I'm going to call our immunity to the price tag the department store shopper's habituation syndrome. Happens all the time. You shop at those nice calm beautiful department stores like Barney's for a few hours and come out being able to justify a $200 Tshirt as a bargain. Our motives to buy luxury goods, however, goes a bit deeper than that... because it really depends on how secure we are socially. I mean, I like designers because of the quality (If a high end brand doesn't the quality, I won't buy it!) and (obviously) the design... from the avant-garde and the intricately designed to absolute classics like Chanel and Hermès. Others might want to feel the satisfaction of knowing they 'fit' into a certain 'elite' because of it. Or maybe, it's just expected as part of the job description.
And the dollar plays a part in affecting these imports. I know the Australian dollar is on my side at the moment. The US dollar not so well, I know. It always seems to have this flip side- the two dollars head in opposite directions. Strong USD means a weak AUD and vice versa. The AUD has been doing smashingly well and very very strong.
1 AUD = 0.8582 USD.
Does that mean I should be spending more? (I sure hope so... )
Cred: NYT
I have a tendency to stare at those who wear fantastic outfits: Wonderful styling. A pair of patent fire-engine-red pumps. A nicely cut jacket. A stunning scarf. This Quote of The Daily, from NYT photog Bill Cunningham pretty up sums up my habit to a T:
I'm looking at the clothes, not the people... you know me!
Apologies in advance if you feel self conscious under my scrutiny! It's just my way of appreciating fine fashion and good taste!
The June 7 NYT article, Stealing the Scene Along With the Store, is a complete reflection of the pop-culture dominated society that we live in today. It talks about the death of true fashion as we know it, and by that I mean fashion designed by the talented and the genius, because of the celebrity-designer infiltration. Think MKA and the Row, with its definite upmarket price. The unfairness of it all!! Them, the ones only partially involved in the design process itself, with the huge marketing budget vs the struggling but talented. Who prevails?
I myself have always made a point at avoiding celebrity labels. The Row? No thankyou (although I do like some of the pieces). Britney Spears perfume? No thanks. The Paris Hilton one? Nup, I'll pass. It's not whether they smell nice or look nice, because I know some are great. I'm simply boycotting against the celebrity-name-infused-everything that is one the market today, even though I know one consumer not buying accounts for nothing in their however-many-billion-dollar empire. Call it my personal fashion philosophy. I am in favor of those who have bled for fashion, who've made sacrifices for it, who believes in it- I guess it might be a bias but the celebrity seem to get everything handed to them on a silver platter.
Mr. Lim... said the chances of a young designer surviving in the business today are “slim to none.” By contrast, celebrity lines... typically break the $100 million mark in sales in their first or second year, thanks to the power of a star name hitched to a huge marketing campaign. And they almost always begin with a lucrative fragrance deal, whereas it takes years for traditional designers to get the attention of companies like Estée Lauder or Coty. Ms. Wang said. “You could be competing against a television or movie star for a fragrance deal, and that’s an added pressure for designers. We’re working really hard to keep our heads above water, and does the public differentiate, or care? Those are big questions...” The struggle of talented designers is an old lament. On top of familiar pressures — the contracting number of department stores, the difficulty of finding financing, the fickleness of consumers —some designers are now waking up to realize they are competing with celebrities for market share...
So some might see me as a fashion snob, but how are we meant to find the next Yves and Karl Lagerfeld if we are diving head first into the pond of celebrity worship??
Photo cred: fashionologie
He is truly fundamental and is part of the small influential elite who has made fashion what it is today- his legacy still reigns! Every time us girls decide wear a pair of pants during the day, we have him to thank for suggesting it! A toast to the king from me, in my very own Le Smoking suit. You will truly be missed, Monsieur Saint Laurent!
A number of very strange and rather shocking conversations between myself and an 8yo girl, the daughter of a family friend- let's call her Anni, occurred when they were visiting last week and I was absolutely stunned:
Topic 3: It's all about layering, dahling!
Since everything is growing so much more accessible, and as children's fashion is becoming more like adult's fashion just shrunken in size, kids seem to be growing up so fast- at a glance, they appear to look better, act wiser- in an almost adult like manner- and it's such a foreign idea to me. Sure I was a city girl (no doubt I always will be) but I remember my childhood fondly- days spent in the local park playground, playing with the neighbor's kids and trying to beat the boys at handball during school recess and lunch. Anni seems to spend her days applying nail polish, reading numerous fashion magazines (she namedropped Harper's and Vogue at various points in time) and listening to Avril Lavigne and Gwen Stefani.
Do we really view extravagant prices as just another fact of life? Are we buying pricey luxury goods to prove to the world that yes, we do have the money (and hence the status and worth) to consume them? According to NYT, then yes! We do- with the increased profits of LVMH, Gucci group and the Prada group as proof. If you ask for my answer, I'll say yes to the first question and uncertain for the second. I'm going to call our immunity to the price tag the department store shopper's habituation syndrome. Happens all the time. You shop at those nice calm beautiful department stores like Barney's for a few hours and come out being able to justify a $200 Tshirt as a bargain. Our motives to buy luxury goods, however, goes a bit deeper than that... because it really depends on how secure we are socially. I mean, I like designers because of the quality (If a high end brand doesn't the quality, I won't buy it!) and (obviously) the design... from the avant-garde and the intricately designed to absolute classics like Chanel and Hermès. Others might want to feel the satisfaction of knowing they 'fit' into a certain 'elite' because of it. Or maybe, it's just expected as part of the job description.
Does that mean I should be spending more? (I sure hope so... )
I have a tendency to stare at those who wear fantastic outfits: Wonderful styling. A pair of patent fire-engine-red pumps. A nicely cut jacket. A stunning scarf. This Quote of The Daily, from NYT photog Bill Cunningham pretty up sums up my habit to a T:
The June 7 NYT article, Stealing the Scene Along With the Store, is a complete reflection of the pop-culture dominated society that we live in today. It talks about the death of true fashion as we know it, and by that I mean fashion designed by the talented and the genius, because of the celebrity-designer infiltration. Think MKA and the Row, with its definite upmarket price. The unfairness of it all!! Them, the ones only partially involved in the design process itself, with the huge marketing budget vs the struggling but talented. Who prevails?
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