Take a good look at the photos below and tell me if you see a problem:
The problem? Each of these looks has been touted in my newsfeed this morning as being “inappropriate.” This type of thing happens almost every day (I get some really weird things in my newsfeed). From the red carpet to work to school, everyone seems to have some opinion about what other people should be wearing, and, a lot of the time, they don’t like it. If we were all polite, reasonable-minded people, those opinions would be kept to themselves, as they should be. But no, the Internet exists and heaven forbid we fail to share our displeasure.
Dear fashion trolls: Take your unqualified and unworthy opinions and shove them up your ass so far as to need surgery to remove your fist.
I have a number of reasons for thinking that dress codes of any kind in any place are wrong. I see all this fashion shaming coming from people who have no fashion sense themselves and it makes my blood boil. Let’s consider what is wrong with this whole “inappropriate fashion” idea.
Fashion Doesn’t Appear Out Of Nowhere
Have you ever stopped to consider what it takes to get a piece of clothing into the store where it’s purchased? Whether it’s a name-brand fashion designer such as Versace or some Chinese knockoff found on the floor at Walmart, everything you wear started somewhere, on someone’s drawing board. Those drawings are based not only on the creativity of the designer but on a deep understanding of what is likely to sell. No designer, known or unknown, intentionally creates a garment that no one wants to wear.
Once the garment is designed, it’s shown to buyers. Buyers represent all the stores that are likely to sell the garment in their stores, whether off-the-rack or couture. The buyers know their customer base well and reject any design that is going to take up space and never sell. They only place orders for what their customers want.
Department stores, such as Saks Fifth Avenue, which have multiple stores, have multiple levels of buyers, each of whom makes a decision as to what to carry in their store(s). By the time any garment reaches the final consumers, as many as 20 different people have made a yes/no decision about whether to sell the piece. All these people have determined that the wardrobe they are providing is appropriate and desirable for their customers.
All these people are infinitely more qualified to determine what is appropriate than some overweight troll sitting on their couch snarfing their eighth box of Girl Scout cookies.
Fashion Is A Matter of Free Speech
What you wear makes a statement. Anything that makes a statement falls under the umbrella of free speech. Among other things, fashion choices say things like, “This is who I am,” “This makes me feel secure and comfortable,” or “This is how I want you to see me.” Fashion, at its best, should be a statement of pride in oneself.
Yet, there are too many times when people wear clothes that they don’t like, more layers than could ever be comfortable, because someone has shamed their fashion choice and labeled it “inappropriate.” For example, my 14-year-old daughter always wears multiple shirts and baggy pants to school because of comments she received two years ago. She no longer feels comfortable in the dresses she loved when she was younger. Her speech has been muted by what other people think.
Such invasions into one’s life are despicable displays of immoral character. Sure, you may have the right to criticize someone else, but should you? Do you ever stop to think of the long-term consequences that come with opening your damn mouth? How dare you shame someone who is simply enjoying the clothes that make them feel good?
Censoring Fashion Sends A Negative Message
I have long held the belief that when fashion is censored those doing the censoring are sending an inappropriate message: “There’s something wrong with your body.” There’s a conflict that comes with saying, “Your body was made in God’s image,” and “You need to cover more of your body.” Bottom line, your body is beautiful and clothing should enhance that beauty, not hide it.
How many millions of people look in their closet or dresser every morning and wish they could wear something more fun and exciting? How many people are forced to wear someone else’s idea of what is appropriate? How many people are forced to identify as something/someone they’re not because of the clothes they’re mandated to wear?
The worst censorship of all is the tired line of one’s clothing being “distracting” or “causes people to have inappropriate thoughts. WRONG! You are never responsible for what someone else is thinking or how they act based on those thoughts. If someone has sexual thoughts based on what you’re wearing, that’s a them problem and they need to adjust their thoughts accordingly.
Our society has a difficult time with the old-fashioned and not-appropriate-in-the-first-place idea that if a woman wears something that causes a man to have sexual thoughts she must somehow be “asking for it.” This utter piece of bullshit has dominated our society for far too long. The more we publish ill-conceived articles about someone’s clothing, we give ammunition to the people who would use it as an excuse for sexual assault.
No, there’s nothing wrong with you or your clothes, and it is never your fault if someone else can’t deal with your choices.
Trolling Fashion Shows Your Ignorance
As a photographer, I covered the fashion industry from New York to Paris for a long time; longer than some of you have been alive. One of the many things I’ve learned is that there’s a difference between honest, intelligent design critique and speaking blindly out of ignorance. There are people who get paid well to understand fashion and critique it responsibly. Everyone else is a wannabe.
One easy way to tell the difference is how the person talks about the fashion. The legitimate critic looks at the fabric, the stitching, how the garment moves, how comfortable it may be, how it compares with previous seasons, and how buyers will likely receive it. The asshole says things like, “It’s too daring,” “I can’t imagine anyone wearing that out in public,” “That is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen,” and “No one should be seen in that.”
Ignorance abounds on the Internet and too often it goes beyond the drivel of unrequested opinions filling the servers on the X platform. X trolls are their own brand of stupidity and most people know to ignore them. What hurts are websites parading around as “news” or some other form of legitimate media without any real form of knowledge about any topic they cover. All they do is repeat the nonsense found on X and dare to try passing it off as journalism. I’ve not linked to any of them because that only gives them more oxygen. It is best for everyone if they shrivel up and die.
When it comes to red-carpet fashion, especially at awards shows, one needs to understand that fashion choices are not made in a vacuum. Conversations are held between stylists and designers with consideration given to where a person is seated, the type of seating provided, who they are sitting with, whether the desired fashion has been worn on a similar red carpet, and how the fashion reflects on the personality and style of its wearer. There are no accidents in the choices made.
I have no problems with any of the fashion choices I’ve seen of late. In fact, I quite celebrate the fact that the “year of sheer” has found a delightful home on red carpets around the world. I hope that the trend continues until everyone everywhere feels proud enough and secure enough to wear similar things in their lives.
But for that to happen, the trolls need to shut their fucking mouths and mind their own business, and let people wear what they want to wear.
By the way, have you noticed how no one’s saying much about Morgan Wallen being arrested for throwing a chair off a building and into a crowd last night? Yeah, let’s focus on the actual bad behavior for a change.
What you say on social media can be used against you
Thoughts on the Passing of Roberto Cavalli
Roberto Cavalli died today at the age of 83. I wish you could have known him. Or maybe not. He was a unique character in the fashion world, his own life shaped by the loss of his father, shot by nazis when he was three years old. That event did two things that lasted: it gave him a stutter that could make his words difficult to understand whether in Italian or English. It also sent his now-single mother to make dresses, from which he would learn great skill.
Cavalli loved three things: art, women, and wine. Art was almost always behind the purpose of his fashion, but bringing out the sexiness of the female body was behind the silhouettes that graced his runways. And wine? Cavalli never shied away from throwing a party. In fact, the party atmosphere of his fashion shows was pretty much a staple.
Cavalli could be fiercely competitive and one of the fastest ways to get on his bad side was to be wearing Armani in his presence. So fierce was his competitive nature that he would threaten to file suit if his Milan show was within two hours of Armani. He wanted to be the biggest show of the day and throw the biggest party afterward.
While the designer loved seeing a woman in a dress, it was the stretch denim fabric and the resulting jeans that made him stand out. The jeans hugged a woman’s curves in the sexiest way possible, often leaving very little to the imagination. He’d pair the jeans with a daring low-cut top covered in sequins and rhinestones and five-inch tall stiletto heels, They were looks that were impossible to miss and anyone in the know recognized the look at Cavalli’s.
Roberto hasn’t been directly involved with the brand for some time now. With age came the loss of motor functions, making it difficult to sketch, and exaggerating his stutter, making it difficult to communicate. Finding someone to replace him was difficult, though. Designer Peter Dundas failed miserably at the house, failing to understand the basic look of the brand (despite his kind words in Vogue). Eventually, Fausto Puglisi took the creative director’s post and has continued with designs that match Cavalli’s concept of making beautiful women impossible to miss.
Yes, there were some issues with Cavalli as the world changed. The designer loved being around models and that gave rise to accusations that were less than flattering. While I never witnessed anything inappropriate, his personality certainly made it difficult to dismiss the charges, especially those made regarding the ’80s and early ’90s. He kept such matters private, though, and as he aged was much more careful about his interactions with the women who walked his runways.
Cavalli could be gruff and fun at the same time. He might complain about a sample not falling the way he wanted, demanding to know who had done the sewing or why the wrong stitch was used, but in the same instant, say, “Oh yeah, I did this, didn’t I? Maybe I should fire myself.” Everyone would laugh, and then he would remove the piece and either fix the problem on the spot or remove it from the show.
Cavalli was part of fashion’s Old Guard, a group that really only has two or three members left. Younger designers are coming along with new fabrics and ideas that are better suited for today’s women. He’ll be haunting someone, though, if his legend is ever lost behind Armani’s. Be sure of that.
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