Fashion / PotD

More Than Jeans

September 5, 2015

A Hot Summer (2009)

The whole thing of clothes is insane. You can spend a dollar on a jacket in a thrift store. And you can spend a thousand dollars on a jacket in a shop. And if you saw those two jackets walking down the street, you probably wouldn’t know which was which.—Helen Mirren

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]We’ve talked all week about jeans as though they were the only option for denim clothing. Reality paints a much larger and more varied picture, though. Denim jackets, dresses, shorts, skirts, bustiers, bras, leggings, socks and even denim footwear have, at various times, come in and out of popularity. Granted, not all of those were necessarily good ideas. The socks, leggings, bras, and footwear were all very short lived because, while they presented a unique look, they were a bit short on practicality. Denim is, after all, a fairly heavy material that can induce perspiration in places one doesn’t especially want any level of dampness. Not quite everything works.

Growing up in the 70s, it seemed as though almost everything was made of denim. Not only was everyone wearing their favorite flared-legged jeans, denim skirts were a huge rage. Not short, denim mini-skirts, either. Long, calf- or ankle-length denim skirts seemed to be everywhere. What has been interesting is that for a group of particularly conservative religious fundamentalists, that style of denim skirt or dress has stuck. One can still see them worn by women and young girls whose hair has never been cut, with plain blouses, as they shop at discount stores and thrift markets. Even a certain notorious court clerk wore a denim skirt to one of her many court appearances.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Much more popular, though, has been denim shorts and jackets. The jackets are especially popular with those who spend a lot of time on motorcycles because the denim provides similar protection as leather, but is more suitable for attaching patches and embroidery popular among riding clubs. Jean jackets are also heavy enough to keep one warm without interrupting the style going on underneath. They can be accessorized with anything from diamonds to costume brooches and still look great. A jeans jacket can be one of the most flexible pieces in a person’s wardrobe.

Nothing, though, beats the super-short, cut-off jeans look known as Daisy Dukes. Popular long before a television sitcom gave them that name, the shorts have become a summertime standard for young women everywhere, much to the delight of young men everywhere. There’s something to be said for the way the jeans shorts presents a young woman’s posterior and can make a short girl’s legs look longer than they are. Jeans shorts define that down-home, girl-next-door sensuality that turns heads and breaks hearts.

So ends our look at denim. What started as a fabric for workers has taken over the world. Fashion weeks are coming and I expect to see no shortage of denim still, so watch for it.[/one_half_last]

Fashion / PotD

Casual To Classy

September 4, 2015

Well Accessorized (2011)

Blue jeans are the most beautiful things since the gondola.—Diana Vreeland

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]All week long we’ve talked about how casual and comfortable denim is. While we normally think of blue jeans and anything denim as being more of the type thing one just pulls on right before walking out the door, the past several years have seen quite a change in that denim has become quite the classy, couture material, showing up frequently on red carpets around the world, even at places such as the Cannes Film Festival and the Met Gala. Jeans have become the celebrities way of inferring that they haven’t lost touch with their humble beginnings, or at least don’t want their fans to think they’re stuck up.

There’s also the factor that not everyone who has a lot of money is comfortable showing that off in public. The late Sam Walton, founder of the Wal-Mart empire, was known for dressing in jeans or denim overalls when away from the office. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is frequently photographed wearing jeans and it would be out of character for Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to be seen in anything other than blue jeans and a hoodie. Ostentation is definitely out of style and blue jeans are the way many choose to “keep it real.” For them, being classy is more of an attitude, not a wardrobe choice.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Nothing takes on the concept of being classy more than the red carpet, though, and some severely big names have chosen to wear jeans as they make the paparazzi-lined stroll. If we were to drop names, they would include Mila Kunis, Kristen Stewart, Shakira, Rebecca Romijn, Ashley Tisdale, Perez Hilton, Jamie Foxx, Diane Kruger, Keira Knightly, Olivia Munn, Miley Cyrus, Kylie Jenner, Mel B, Selena Gomez, Lucy Lawless, Katies Holmes, and Jennifer Lawrence. Those, and several more, have not shied away from wearing denim to major awards shows and film openings.

Over the years, we’ve seen denim come down the couture runway as well, with names such as Viktor & Rolf, Donna Karan, Dior, Bill Blass, and Diane von Furstenberg attached to the waistband. They’ve been embellished with everything from pearls to diamonds, rhinestones to emeralds, feathers to metal studs, and copious amounts of leather and lace. Denim is a big deal and while it is still primarily a casual fabric, there’s no question it can be classy when it needs to be. Ultimately, the difference comes in the attitude. [/one_half_last]

Fashion / PotD

Because It Feels Natural

September 3, 2015

Just My Jeans (2012)

A friend sat next to a nun on a plane. He asked her what she missed most. “Wearing blue jeans,” she replied. —Amy Krouse Rosenthal

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Why do we love our blue jeans so much? There would be many reasons, of course, but ultimately it comes down to the fact that a good pair of jeans just feels natural—almost like a second skin on our body. The more we wear them the more they adapt themselves to our curves and bulges, the way we sit, and the things we carry in our pockets. Our jeans become such a natural part of who we are that it is possible to forget we even have them on, and being without them can be a discomfort that leads to anxiety.

Blame the natural cotton fibers for most of that. There have been some jeans manufacturers who attempt to blend other materials with the cotton, but it never works long term. Natural cotton grows softer the more it is worn and washed. Sure, if one buys a traditional pair of blue jeans there’s a breaking in period where the dye causes them to be a bit stiff and maybe even itchy, but that matter is solved easily enough. All one has to do is wash them a couple of times, then wear them while doing something physical such as playing softball or riding bulls (the real ones, not those mechanical toys). The jeans fashion themselves to our bodies quickly and we don’t want to take them off.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]One of the sad aspects of the move toward pre-warshed denim is that the jeans don’t get that initial opportunity to fit themselves to one’s body. Sure, the cotton feels softer than traditional jeans, but when people complain about having difficulty finding a pair of jeans that fit, what they don’t realize is that jeans never really fit well until you’ve worn them four or five times. Pre-washing and distressing may soften the fibers, but that doesn’t replace the natural evolution that comes from actually wearing the jeans.

There are few things in life that we can really call our own: our toothbrush, our underwear, our dental implants, and our jeans. The first two make the list because of sanitary reasons. The last two, though, become part of us. Sure, you theoretically could share a pair of jeans with a friend, but they’re not going to feel natural on them the way they do on you. They conform to your body and just don’t feel the same on anyone else. A good pair of jeans even has wash marks on the pocket where you keep your keys or your cell phone. Our jeans are part of our person; it’s just natural.[/one_half_last]

Advertising / Fashion / PotD

Those Sexy Ads

September 2, 2015

HOT DENIM (2011)

Anyone who is secure about herself shouldn’t be threatened by the ads I do. What we’re doing is fun—if you have any sense of humor at all! —Calvin Klein

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Ads are designed to get your attention, but just because one has an ad doesn’t mean anything is going to sell. To actually sell anything, the ad has to be sexy, has to give the appearance that the product makes you more attractive, even if it’s something as simple as a toaster. Nowhere has sex been a more successful sales agent than in fashion, and there are a handful of brands, such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Balmain, Saint Laurent, and most notably Calvin Klein, that have convinced us that jeans are sexy.

When Calvin Klein hired a largely unknown fifteen-year-old model to utter the words, “You know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing,” the entire Western world screamed. Brooke Shields became an instant household name and the sales of not only Calvin Klein jeans, but all denim jeans skyrocketed. The war for who makes the sexiest jean was on and has yet to end. Styles have changed from skinny to loose to flared to straight-legged with at least a hundred different variations of each. Stone washed, pre-shrunk, pre-stressed, pre-torn, cut, embellished, and studded styles have all come, gone, and returned again.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Ultimately, what the ads are trying to say is that the jeans displayed are so sexy, will make you look so incredibly attractive, that someone will want to help you out of them. Notice how many of the ads now involve two people with posing implying that they might be a couple. Want a new boy/girlfriend? It all comes down to wearing the right jeans. Add the celebrity factor that has taken over and the ads also deliver the message that the right jeans will make you cool.

Of course, deep down inside, somewhere, you know the ads are lying. Just this year, one of the sexiest advertisers, Abercrombie & Fitch, has backed off their nearly hardcore ads because they weren’t working with a target age group that isn’t so impressed by the overt sexuality. Still, look at the ads, and even though the tone is softer, there remains an understated sensuality that pulls one in and makes them want a new pair of jeans. Even millennials eschewing materialism still buy jeans. You know you want them even now. We’ll see you at the mall.[/one_half_last]

Fashion / PotD

The Comfort of Home

September 1, 2015

That Trick With The Hay (2012) Model: Olivia Ogden. Studio Assistance: Keith Dellinger

All fashion brands are about looking good. Being Human is also about doing good. And you can do good by the simple act of slipping into a t-shirt or a pair of jeans. —Salman Khan

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]For all the talk about how fashionable jeans are in contemporary society, they never have stopped being practical and it is still in those callus-inducing, sweat-producing, life span-reducing jobs that denim is most at home. Whether down on the farm, in the middle of an oil field, or on the factory floor, jeans are standard attire and wearing much of anything else just makes one look a bit silly. These are the tasks for which denim was made and when one steps away from the pre-washed, pre-shrunk, pre-demolished wannabe’s with their expensive price tags one finds that a good $40 pair of Levi’s is just as fit for the job today as it was in 1850.

As hard as it may be to believe, it wasn’t all that long ago that respectable people just didn’t wear their jeans away from their workplace. Growing up in rural areas of Kansas and Oklahoma, jeans were part of almost everyone’s wardrobe, but you didn’t dare wear them to school until they became popular in the mid-70s, and even then changing the dress code was a big deal. One didn’t wear jeans to church; that was just disrespectful. One could wear jeans to the diner for lunch because you were on a break from work, but not to the restaurant for dinner. Jeans were for home, for playtime, for work, but not for socializing.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Possibly one of the biggest victories for the normalization of denim came with the election of Jimmy Carter to the White House. A peanut farmer by trade, Mr. Carter was accustomed to wearing jeans just about everywhere he went in the small town of Plains, Georgia, except for church. So, upon his arrival in Washington he promptly declared blue jeans to be acceptable attire in the White House anytime protocol did not demand otherwise. This upset a lot of people who felt that jeans were simply too casual and one of the first things Mr. Reagan did after his inauguration was to make the White House dress code more formal. One might project that the nation hasn’t felt relaxed ever since.

Jeans are still most at home in places one needs the protection of heavy cotton twill. Even now, my jeans are the favorite part of my wardrobe. They know me, they have adapted to my strange body form, they bend where I need them to bend, and most importantly, the cats have difficulty getting their claws through the fabric. While there are still places I won’t wear denim, when I’m home and still need to wear pants, chances are I’m going to be in jeans. It just wouldn’t feel like home without them.[/one_half_last]

Fashion / PotD

Him And Her

August 31, 2015

HappyTOgether (2012)

Fashion is mysterious, as a rule. Why are blue jeans a classic? You just hit on something that happens to be timeless and right.-Diane von Furstenberg

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Like much in the fashion world, denim has at times been a bit sexist. For much of their early existence, jeans were something worn exclusively by men. Most early jeans manufacturers didn’t even make clothes with women in mind. The relatively few women who wore jeans had to adapt men’s styles and cuts. For a high fashion perspective, denim was such a low, working class fabric that it was considered too rough to be next to a woman’s delicate skin. Denim was a man’s material.

World War II did a lot to change women’s wardrobes as they took to the floors of assembly lines and machine shops to do the jobs of men who had gone off to fight. The loose skirts and dresses women were accustomed to wearing were inappropriate around heavy exposed machinery. Jeans and its even heavier cousin, denim dungarees, needed to be worn by women and they needed something that would better fit her frame and shape. Slowly, manufacturers took notice and women’s jeans started working their way onto store shelves.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]It wasn’t until the 1970s, though, that “jeans for her” really became stylish, and much of that is due to Anderson Cooper’s mom, Gloria Vanderbilt. Tighter, designed more specifically to fit and hug a woman’s body, Vanderbilt’s jeans raised denim from farm wear to Fifth Avenue. Then, when 16-year-old Brooke Shields appeared topless, lying on her stomach, in an ad that read, “Nothing comes between me and my Calvins,” sales of women’s blue jeans skyrocketed.

Today, the average woman has seven pairs of blue jeans in her closet, while men are only likely to have five. Styles of his and her jeans are more similar than not, with men being just as likely to wear tight-fitting, butt-hugging denim as do women. Almost everyone knows someone who lives in their jeans, wouldn’t consider wearing anything else. I know at least one bride (and I’m sure there are more) who wore jeans to her wedding. No longer sexist and low-class, jeans are a fundamental staple for both him and her.[/one_half_last]

Fashion / PotD

The Allure of Denim

August 30, 2015

A Causal Throne (2009). Model: Erica Von Trapp

I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity – all I hope for in my clothes. -Yves Saint-Laurent

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Ah, denim. From such humble, working-class beginnings, this simple cotton twill fabric has become the staple of most wardrobes, it’s styles and name brands often envied, and grows in value the more it is destroyed. There’s nothing quite like a good pair of jeans, and there’s no denying the appeal of the look. Despite its working class beginnings, the exact same fabric can be so exclusive as to be affordable only by the super-rich. So, this week we’re focusing on denim, mostly in blue jean form, and all the sexiness and expressiveness that it brings to our lives.

Of course, first we have to get past the basic understanding of what denim is. Originally of Italian construct, the fabric quickly made its way to France where it became a standard in working men’s clothes, primarily trousers. It’s unique cotton twill is composed of one white thread running over/under two blue-dyed threads at a time. This gives the twill sufficient strength without making it too stiff. The indigo dye commonly used fades with washing, providing denim with it’s classic, relaxed and comfortable look.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Levi Strauss is, of course, the name most Americans associate with denim.It was Strauss who introduced the fabric to the United States in 1853, during the California Gold Rush, and pioneered the use of metal rivets at the stress points so that the jeans would be less likely to tear. For the next hundred years, denim jeans would be the uniform of the American working man, from riding the range to working in the factory. When denim shirts were introduced, the term “blue collar” entered the lexicon for most anyone who didn’t work in an office.

Today, one would be hard pressed to find any denim constructed as sturdy as those original trousers were. Instead, we prefer our jeans pre-washed, distressed, cut-up, ripped, and in a condition our ancestors would not have even considered wearable. Yet, when they’re carrying the right fashion label on the waistband, denim can cost several hundred, even thousands of dollars. All from the same, simple, working class fabric. It’s going to be a fun week. We hope you’ll not miss a day![/one_half_last]

Fashion / PotD

Too Fast Fashion

August 6, 2015

War of the Roses

Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months. —Oscar Wilde

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]I have spent more of my time as an adult paying attention to fashion than I ever would have anticipated. Part of that is admittedly due to growing up with an inappropriate gender bias that said fashion was for girls. There’s also the fact that I grew up in a rural state where fashion had more to do with whether one was wearing denim or church clothes, and one’s jeans were boot cut or straight legged. Sure, there were stores in Tulsa and Oklahoma City that carried clothes with designer labels, but we were pretty sure that no one ever actually purchased anything with a four-digit price tag; those clothes were just there so that the markup on the cheaper clothes didn’t seem so bad by comparison.

One of the challenges fashion has always had is convincing people that they needed to buy more clothes. Historically, people have bought new clothes for one primary reason: their existing wardrobe had either worn out or they had outgrown it. Prior to the end of World War II, many women, and some men, either made their own clothes or at least knew enough to make minor alterations. One didn’t just run to the nearest store and pick up a new shirt or a new skirt without considerable thought. Clothes were, for the average consumer, too expensive to be treated with frivolity.

Fast fashion has its roots in the early automation that took place in the 1950s. Prices fell as manufacturing made it possible to produce more pieces per day and it wasn’t long before department stores began seeing the benefit of placing these cheaper-priced goods on the floor along with name brand labels. Making clothes more affordable was a strong part of the growth of the middle class. People were no longer waiting until their clothes were threadbare before replacing them and the world’s elite weren’t the only ones paying attention to fashion and style. Dressing well was a sign of being upwardly mobile, a status most everyone desired to achieve.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]While more affordable clothing seemed like a good thing, greed, selfishness, and vanity soon took over. Profits had to be bigger. New clothes had to come out more often. Having the latest style, as in what hit the shelves last week, became a monitor of one’s social standing. Fast fashion stepped up to facilitate all those shortcomings, and more. Designers were suddenly asked to not create two collections a year, but four, then six, and now eight in many cases. Special partnerships between designers and discount retailers drive sales during those two weeks between collections. Fast fashion has become a monster which we are not inclined to control.

Fast fashion has a severe price, though. As more emphasis is put on lower prices, quality has taken a back seat. Conditions for garment workers have gone beyond sweatshop all the way to outright slavery in too many situations. For every shop that is “cleaned up,” five more “dirty” shops open to meet the price demands of retailers such as Wal-Mart, H&M, and Zara. Domestic manufacturing is non-existent because just meeting building codes in the US prices us out of the subpar competition of third-world countries. We spend billions of dollars on cheaply-produced, low-quality clothing to secure a facade of a social standing, while simultaneously ruining the lives of thousands of garment workers and destroying the environment.

If there is a hope for the end of fast fashion, it may lie in the development of 3D printing that would allow people to print their own clothes at home. I’m sure designers would still be paid well for producing the patterns, but the low-price demands of retail could potentially be eliminated. Of course, so could millions of jobs. There are no quick and easy answers to a bad system on which we’ve become dependent. But change we must. Fast fashion is not sustainable and the end is not likely to be pleasant.[/one_half_last]

Fashion / PotD

Commando

July 11, 2015

The Taste of Nothing (2010)

My mom was sarcastic about men. She would tell me Adam was the rough draft and Eve was the final product. She was a feminist minister, an earth mom who wore a bra only on Sundays. —Daphne Zuniga

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]We end this week of lingerie-inspired posts with – nothing. For all the wonderful lace and silk and satin things there are for a woman to wear under her clothing, there are still a number of women who don’t want anything at all between them and their clothes. They prefer to go commando, as it were. Some like the feel of the fabric against their skin. Some don’t like the restriction of a bra or the bunching of panties. Some just don’t like to be bothered. Whatever the reason, we couldn’t end our discussion of what’s underneath clothing without admitting that sometimes there’s nothing there at all, and sometimes that’s wonderful.

Sometimes, however, the result is less wonderful and more curiously interesting. There is a humorous saying, “Go without a bra and pull the wrinkles from your feet.” Certainly, there is a point at which mother nature’s blessings give way to the reality of gravity and what was once sexy and attractive becomes more of a comic about old age.

I strongly remember a high school history teacher who had already put in 40 years of service by the time I was in her class. She was a striking woman, over six feet tall, broad-shouldered, and a sharp wit that could cut the most caustic teen sarcasm. In her youth, she had been quite a beauty and even a bit of an exhibitionist for her time. The pictures she showed were tame compared to contemporary styles but one had cost her a teaching job when she was fresh out of college. Over the years, she had kept that “don’t care” attitude and even as she was nearing retirement she would show up at school at least once a week not wearing a bra. One would have needed to be blind to not notice. Her large, once proud breasts sagged to her waist. No need to hide the laughter, though. She made the jokes herself and loved the horrified reaction of teenage girls.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Humor aside, there are times when not wearing underwear really does make sense, especially during the summer. Restrictive clothing and heat result in moisture that just sits against the skin, which is rarely a good thing. Moisture under bras, especially those with built-in support, can result in rashes that may then rub raw and result in infection. Those skinny jeans you like so much? On hot summer days they cause perspiration that, when trapped by underwear, leads to yeast infections and other not-so-nice hygiene problems. The solution for those situations is to, a: wear loose-fitting clothing, especially skirts, and b: go commando. Your body appreciates the extra air and freedom to move.

Going commando also has its sexy side as well. The natural shape of the breast becomes more evident outside a bra. Over the past few years, exposure of side-boob has become a “thing” that has its own groups on tumblr and reddit. The sight of a woman’s nude silhouette beneath a dress of light fabric has always been enticing. Then, there’s also the fact that a large number of contemporary designs are such that wearing anything under them is either practically impossible or would be a horrifying distraction to the look, especially within the realm of evening wear. Our exhibitionist society often delights in seeing just how close to nude one can get without being arrested. Does Rhianna even own underwear?

Lingerie is wonderful and our all-to-brief look at it this week has been fun. While styles inevitably change and women’s preference shift, what women wear under their clothes is something we will always find exciting, interesting, and alluring.

Even when what they’re wearing is nothing at all.[/one_half_last]

Fashion / PotD

Beauty Is

July 10, 2015

Dangerous Fruit (2010)

Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills you. –Else DeWolfe

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]There once was a generation of women for whom beauty was an everyday fact of life. There was no “Casual Friday,” or lazy Saturdays where they skipped putting on makeup or just wore whatever they picked up off the floor. For women of this generation, beauty was not a social requirement as much as it was something they expected of themselves, even when others didn’t. What they wore, how they looked, how they spoke, and how they interacted was a matter of personal pride and nothing short of pure graciousness and perfection would do. They wouldn’t have gone downstairs in their pajamas, much less to the store.

I most distinctly remember a woman from this generation named Rose. Rose was already past standard retirement age by the time I met her. She and her husband had raised three boys and ran a small business in a small town in Oklahoma that wouldn’t have cared all that much had Rose taken her appearance a little less seriously. Stuck in the Northeastern corner of the state in a town that was perpetually dusty, Rose’s beauty stood out. Certainly, by the time I met her, she had more than earned the right to take a few days off from her routine on occasion, but to my knowledge she never did. She didn’t want to. Her appearance was important to her and that’s what mattered.

On one occasion, the purpose of which I don’t remember, I spent the night with Rose and her husband, a jovial man everyone referred to as Bus. They lived above their business in a house that was large and old and creaky. I was 12 years old and very apprehensive as to whether this old house might be haunted, so sleep wasn’t something that readily availed itself. Quite early in the morning, well before any reasonable person should be awake, I heard a noise down the hall. Slipping out of bed, I tiptoed down the broad corridor fully expecting to encounter something frightening. Instead, what I saw was Rose in her dressing room.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Being 12, there was much of what I saw that I didn’t understand at the time. Only much later did I realize what I had seen. Rose was already wearing a foundation that included a very large bra, an underbust corset, very high waisted briefs to which garter straps were attached, and stockings. To the side sat a full-length slip and the dress she would wear for the day. Her hair was in curlers and on the table in front of her was a collection of makeup and beauty products larger than I had ever seen outside a department store. I watched for several minutes, awestruck, as she went through her routine. Only when she moved to put on her slip and dress did I ease back to my room.

As an adult, I can appreciate everything Rose went through in an attempt to defy aging, and there’s no question her efforts paid off. There hung in her hallway pictures of her and Bus when they were younger. By today’s standards, Rose should have been a model; she was tall, shapely, and extremely attractive. Had she lived somewhere other than Oklahoma, she might have been a movie star. Instead, both she and Bus served during World War II and both were highly decorated. Where she was, the circumstances under which they lived and worked, didn’t matter. Rose made the same effort, went through the same routine, every day.

It is rare today to find anyone who takes beauty as seriously as did Rose. When I do encounter someone wearing an underbust and garters, it tends to be more as a costume than for function. I don’t think women today feel they have the time or the energy to devote to such a regimen, yet no one worked any harder than Rose did. Such beauty and graciousness is a choice.

Rose died when I was 19. She was 84. She never looked a day over 50 and she was never without a smile and a kind word. Beauty is worth the effort. [/one_half_last]

Fashion / PotD

All About The Booty

July 9, 2015

Painted Angels (2010)

“The bottom of a cup of coffee is not as good as the bottom of her body—which is actually in the middle of her body.” ― Jarod Kintz, I love Blue Ribbon Coffee

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Boy shorts.
Briefs.
French cut.
Hipsters.
Bikini.
Thong.
G-string.

Covering women’s posteriors is a style of fashion all its own. In contemporary society, no part of the female anatomy is more celebrated than is the gluteus maximus and the underwear chosen often has a specific purpose and, perhaps, even a non-verbal message. When it comes to what sits between them and their jeans, women are often quite picky. Sure, there are certain stages in life where one might only be concerned with which pair is clean as they stumble out of bed, but for the majority choosing underwear is a matter of both comfort and practicality. Sensual qualities may be a secondary consideration, but no one wants a pair of underwear that doesn’t fit well and results in chaffing, no matter how good it might look.

For men in a relationship, the matter of women’s underwear is dangerous and threatening territory. One day she’s wearing a thong, which he finds attractive and sexy. The next day she’s wearing briefs, aka granny panties, and he’s confused why she would choose a look so much more conservative and decidedly not sexy. When she wears something french cut and lacy, he may find them more challenging to remove during a moment of passion. And if he goes shopping with her for new underwear, the inevitable question of, “do these make my butt look big,” looms like a guillotine above his head.

Yes, not every woman bothers with underwear. We get that. But most do and for many what they wear down there may be a more significant matter than what they wear over it.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]From a position of pure practicality, each style has it’s purpose. Boy shorts, for example, minimize panty lines when one is wearing a style that hugs one’s rear end. “That time of the month” is when many women choose briefs, though they also work with high-waisted pants and sometimes even come with some form of tummy control. The high cut of French cut panties works well with skirts and dresses that have slits up to there. Bikinis are always popular because they work with just about anything, though the elastic sometimes shows depending on the style. Low-rise jeans have made hipsters more popular as they provide the comfort of boy shorts without being visible. Thongs work for the tightest of clothing and G-strings are something one wears when one has to wear something but doesn’t really want anything.

As with any fashion style, variations abound and the type of fabric and finishing can play as much into the comfort and sexiness of any given piece. Not every style works on every body and figuring out what’s best changes as one ages. Life experience, childbirth, heredity, and even some medications can dramatically affect the shape and size of hips and surrounding muscles. There are times when no amount of diet and exercise can remove what an over-active thyroid has delivered. Lycra and similar fabrics work great for those who are athletic and active, but cotton breathes better and helps avoid certain infections. Every woman knows that there’s not just one type and one style that works for them.

One thing for certain, though, is that no matter what a woman is wearing on her bottom, people are going to always look on with admiration at a well-ensconced posterior. The Western world especially is so fascinated with booty that we sing about them. Song titles ranging from Queen’s “Fat-bottomed Girl” to Sir Mix-a-lot’s infamous “Baby’s Got Back,” and even Megan Trainer’s catchy “All About That Bass,” among dozens of others. With all that attention on their back sides, it’s no wonder that what women choose to wear there is a rather important matter.[/one_half_last]

Fashion / PotD

A Shape That’s Unforgettable

July 8, 2015

Corsetted (2011). Model: Carrie Pennington

A girl should be two things: sexy and fabulous. –Coco Chanel

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Society seems to have always been obsessed with the shape of women’s bodies and women have always been looking for ways to alter their body shape to meet whatever the current fashions might dictate. Pretty much every body type imaginable has been “in” at one point in history or another. Never mind what might be natural or healthy, manipulating body proportions has been a consistent issue for women forever, presumably even dating back to the earliest cave dwellers. The ability to find a mate once depended on how a woman’s shape for her child-producing potential. If the woman didn’t meet that current standard, she could well be left out of the clan and would have to forage for herself. Women’s body issues go all the way back.

No one is exactly sure when women started undergarments designed to alter their shape, but there certainly have been many over the years. Petticoats and hoop skirts both created the illusion of broader hips while, presumably, protecting a woman’s purity. Precursors to the bra actually pushed down a woman’s breast to keep them from appearing too large. Most have, thankfully, gone so far out of style that they are now nothing more than museum pieces. Yet, at least since the 16th century, one piece has adapted and endured to become a cherished piece of a woman’s lingerie collection: the corset.

While there’s no documentation as to when corsets were first used, we do know that some of the earliest versions bordered on cruelty. The ribs were made of iron and pulled impossibly tight. Some speculation exists that they might have originally been meant as an orthopedic device, which makes a little sense despite the fact they were probably not very effective. By the mid-16th century, corsets, which were then known as stays, were more decorative and worn as external pieces over the bodice of a dress, but by a century later they were demoted strictly to underwear, beneath the bodice or other clothing.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Corsets softened considerably and became much more kind during the 18th century, though pulling one tight could be both comical to watch and deadly to experience. By the early 20th century, they were all but forgotten until photographer Horst P. Horst took the iconic photo of a woman in a corset that is the inspiration for today’s photo. That photograph brought new attention to the corset as a fashion piece with a number of variations being developed that were less restrictive to the abdomen and more supportive of the breasts.

Popularity waxed and waned over the mid-century decades, but then designer Jean-Paul Gaultier brought the corset back as an external garment in the 80s and they’ve not gone away since. Every season someone tries a slightly different variation, working them into styles from evening wear to casual streetwear. Look around and one can find a corset, or corset-type garment, for just about any occasion. They have almost become a standard part of a woman’s wardrobe and look sexy and alluring on many different body types, which give them a universal popularity.

We see a lot being said today about body shaming and its detrimental effects. While there is unquestionable validity to the movement, what ultimately matters is how a woman feels about herself. Corsets are attractive and for some women help them to feel more sexy and confident. While no one should ever feel forced to wear anything or feel obligated to look a certain way, one needs to feel good about themselves and corsets help do that. Whether over, under, or as the only garment, corsets produce a shape that is as unforgettable as the person wearing it.[/one_half_last]

Fashion / PotD

Sexy Even By Day

July 7, 2015

Sex appeal is 50% what you’ve got and 50% what people think you’ve got. –Sophia Loren

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]”Those aren’t supposed to move around that much!”

Having breasts can be a problem when one is active. Not all breasts, I suppose. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a woman with smaller breasts complain that they move around too much. But for anyone with breasts larger than a full B cup, support is not only a matter of comfort, it can seriously affect one’s health and performance. As a result, sports bras were developed with the specific goal of holding everything in place while one is exercising or engaged in sport.

As with most garments in the world of lingerie, those that actually work the best are often the most boring. Women are not huge fans of boring, though, and it didn’t take long at all before there were sports bras that look more like lycra crop tops than anything that might offer genuine support. Walk into many gyms today and one is likely to observe an array of sportswear that desperately tries to strike a balance between providing reasonable amounts of support and reasonable amounts of sexiness. Some are more successful than others. Some totally fail.

Several times in recent years I’ve heard conversations and seen articles decrying how this sport or that sport has been over-sexualized. I’ve even had pictures used for those articles (too bad the editors of the magazine didn’t know how to spell). Not everyone is happy to see women being sexy while they are running, boating, hiking, climbing, biking, rappelling, lifting weights or playing beach volleyball. Some professional sports franchises, such as the WNBA, actually go out of their way to make sure uniforms are the furthest thing from sexy possible. With voluminous shorts that go below the knees and tops big enough to house a family of four, women’s basketball uniforms more closely resemble the swimwear of the late 19th century.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Real sex appeal isn’t something that is defined by what one wears, of course. Attitude is as much a factor as anything and there’s no garment in the world sexy enough to overcome a rotten outlook that finds fault with everything and everyone. If women’s sports have become more enticing to watch, chances are it is because the women playing them are exciting. The recent women’s world cup championship is a good example. As Team USA made their way through the qualifying rounds, interest grew in a team and a sport that few people recognized as existing. By the time the final match came against Japan, the game drew more viewers than the all-star games from men’s sports such as baseball and basketball. The women’s uniforms aren’t especially enticing, but many would say thewomen’s Team USA is the sexiest on any field.

As much as anything, what one wears when working out or participating in sports follows the same rational as any other piece of clothing: does it work for the activity without getting in the way, and does it feel good wearing it? For some, that may mean an old t-shirt and baggy sweat pants. No big deal. Others lean toward what’s practical: is everything staying where is supposed to be. And some will go for the skin-tight lycra in bright colors that flaunt their presumed assets. What one wears probably says more about their general personality than any kind of a sexual statement. Are some pushing the envelope of appropriateness? Sure, and I have no problem with the argument that such boundaries need to be pushed; if men can remove their shirts, shouldn’t that rule apply to women as well? But being sexy is so much more.

The days of a woman confining her sexuality to the bedroom are, thankfully, long gone. Women want to feel sexy and be sexy all day and that includes when they’re working out or participating in sports. So we shouldn’t be surprised when the same lingerie-driven style trends one sees in the street show up in the gym as well. Personal expression doesn’t hang on a hook in the locker room. Healthy, active women are beautiful. Let’s applaud and support that in every way.[/one_half_last]

Fashion / PotD

Not Such A Secret

July 6, 2015

Pretty Flowers (2014)

I love to wear lingerie. The problem is that men always rip it off too quickly. When women are dolled up in lingerie they feel sexy. So let us wear it for five minutes. –Karen McDougal

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]I think the lingerie industry should make Madonna its patron saint. Seriously. Up until the pop singer burst onto the scene in the early 80s, bras were boring, for the most part, and certainly never seen in public. In fact, women would go to great extremes to prevent even the straps of bras from showing. I can remember my mother using tape on a blouse whose shoulder straps were just the tiniest bit narrow enough that, should she move the right direction, a bra strap might be visible. After Madonna, though, anything goes and one can pretty much get away with wearing their underwear right down the middle of the street without anyone saying too terribly much.

The down side to such public exposure, of course, is that much of the mystery has been lost. I can remember as a teen when seeing a girl in her bra was almost as good as making it to second base. Almost. There was a curiosity held beneath those heavily padded B cups that we all were desperate to glimpse and maybe even feel. That curiosity is what drove us, what kept us pursuing the young women for whom we so desperately longed. The fact that we didn’t know had me, and most adolescent boys, ready to volunteer for whatever expedition might lead us to that secret treasure so firmly encapsulated in those gentle domes of foam rubber.

Today, however, there are many times where the only remaining question is, “Are those real or does she have a very good surgeon?” As lingerie has moved from being strictly a foundation garment, bras especially have gained a great deal of transparency and many fashion designers have decided that the bra is a suitable substitute for those silly, cumbersome blouses that clog a woman’s closet. After all, why hint when one can make a bold statement? Take charge. Be the master of your sexuality. They’re going to stare at your chest anyway, so give them a damn good reason to do so. [/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Modern bras can get rather expensive. Victoria’s Secret displays some on their annual shows that are worth over two million dollars. Sure, they’re pretty, but in many ways it’s wrapping on a present you’ll never be able to open; window dressing, if you will, for a store in which you’ll never be able to shop. I’m not personally drawn to such displays of ostentation, but I’m sure there are plenty of people who are. Certainly, those are the type of bras over which one would be silly to wear anything, no matter whose name was on the label.

Most women have a collection from which they can choose, and I’ve come across a few who needed entire rooms to house their lingerie collections. There are days when one just feels like having satin next to their skin. If going out with someone who seems a bit shy about making the next move, then perhaps a little bit of lace beneath a blouse that can’t help but show it off is in order. Then, there are the days when it’s sweats and that old thing that looks as ugly as sin but does a good enough job of holding “the girls” in place while you’re feeling less than pretty. There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all bra and neither is there a single bra that works for every occasion. Lingerie just doesn’t work that way.

I never have seen anyone who would wear bras as dramatic as Madonna’s for any reason other than a costume party or photo shoot. In fact, some of Madonna’s bras would probably be a liability if one were to actually attempt wearing them in public. While bras are not the great sexual secret they once were, they still do a very good job of capturing our attention and making us all want to see what’s underneath. Sorry, dear bra, you’re about to hit the floor. Nothing personal. Good night.[/one_half_last]

Fashion / PotD

All The Possibilities

July 5, 2015

Pondering Possibilities (2006)

I was the child who would leave school and take her clothes off the second I got into the house. I made my mom buy me lingerie when I was 5 years old. I was a sicko. My mother must have been mortified. -Alessandra Torresani

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Eleven billion dollars. Think about it. That’s how much revenue lingerie generated in 2014. Eleven billion dollars for bras, underwear, and related frilly things that cover less physical real estate than a bath towel. Oh, but we love every minute of it. Since the mid-70s there hasn’t been an adolescent boy in the US or Britain that didn’t somehow manage to get his hands on the Victoria’s Secret catalog. Before that, there was always the Sears & Roebuck catalog, which could get surprisingly racy for two or three very important pages. Lingerie is that one thing on which both men and women are willing to spend severe amounts of money with rarely any complaints.

Okay, women complain more than men do. Bras are uncomfortable and depending on where purchased never seem to fit exactly right. Of course, lingerie shops counter that most women don’t know how to buy bras correctly. Most young men I know would happily volunteer to help women figure out just exactly how to find the perfect bra, but women have never been too terribly keen about taking them up on that offer. In fact, when I’ve specifically gone to a lingerie store to help a friend or model, the store hasn’t been all that accommodating to my services. Lingerie clerks seem to doubt our intentions. I can’t possibly imagine why.

Still, lingerie is one of those things on which most men and women can agree help define sex appeal. As much as we might find nudity enticing, there is still something about the tease, about the hint of what might be there without actually seeing it, that drives men crazy and elevates a woman’s self-confidence. I would dare say that with the right lingerie a woman can get a man to do her complete bidding with eagerness without the poor sap ever realizing the degree to which he is being manipulated. Lingerie puts women all the more securely in the driver’s seat for any sexual activity their lover may desire with an element of beauty and fashion that is every bit as high-end as the fanciest evening gown.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Yes, there is the practical aspect of lingerie. Some women need bras to help prevent sagging, especially after they’ve nursed a child or 15. Some women use bras to make up for the fact there really isn’t much there to hold. Others use lingerie to help define their shape and there are even lingerie pieces that help those who’ve had surgeries maintain a sense of femininity. Not everything within the lingerie segment is meant to be sexually enticing. In fact, the practical element is most likely the larger part of that eleven billion dollars, though if there are any real numbers in that regard I couldn’t find them.

Still, say the word lingerie and it is the sensual side of the business to which our minds most immediately turn. We think of lace, silk, and satin, carefully design and crafted to entice, to capture our attention, and arouse our senses. We want lingerie to be sexy whenever possible. No one likes wearing boring underwear, though every woman has some. There are, after all, laundry days, or that time of the month when the last thing one wants is to attract attention on which one cannot follow through. Women would much rather slip on the silk and the lace, to feel the soft fabric next to their even softer skin, and to think throughout the day about the encounter that might come at the end of the day.

So, this week we look at lingerie and consider just a few of the more common possibilities. We won’t cover everything, mind you, and if you look around the Internet you’ll find plenty of lingerie designers that even more enticing and provocative than Victoria’s Secret ever thought of being. Lingerie gives women the chance to be naughty beneath their nice, soft beneath the hard, and sensual beneath the strict. What could possibly be more wonderful? We hope you won’t miss a day![/one_half_last]

Fashion / PotD

Runways From Sidewalks

April 13, 2015

Runway on the Canal (2011), Model: Destany Harte. Dress by Beth Bennett

Creative catwalks are big business within the world’s fashion capitols of New York, London, Milan, and Paris, but for smaller markets getting fashion shows noticed by the public is more challenging. Sometimes the best solution is to stage a show right where it can’t be missed.

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 2px”]There have been some creative sets for fashion shows over the years. Tommy Hilfiger always creates a set that echos the general theme of his clothes for the season. Marc Jacobs once had models coming up and down on escalators and elevators simultaneously. Sets for Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel shows are elaborate productions costing millions of dollars. Some say the over-the-top sets help set those brands apart. Others say the sets distract from what are otherwise boring collections lacking in originality and creativity. When one remembers the setting for a show more than the clothes shown in it, one has to wonder if the latter isn’t more correct.

Today’s photo is taken from the 2011 Indy Fashion Time presentation on the canal in downtown Indianapolis. Unlike Hilfiger, Jacobs, or Lagerfeld, this presentation showcasing multiple designers wasn’t looking to overshadow the designers, but rather answer the challenge of making sure people notice them. As the Internet has allowed smaller designers to set up shows without having to move to New York or Paris, smaller cities such as Indianapolis have started having fashion weeks and other fashion related events of their own. The challenge: getting anyone to notice without the huge million-dollar budgets of the big cities.

Indy Fashion Time (IFT) founder Dlang Ferguson, a respectable designer in her own right, hit upon a creative solution to the exposure problem when in 2011 she orchestrated a summer-time runway presentation right out where no one could miss it: Indianapolis’ downtown canal. The downtown canal is a leftover from the pre-railroad days in Indiana that has become a popular destination for both tourists and locals, its broad sidewalks, artistic elements, and gondoliers making it attractive to a wide range of people. Drop a fashion show in the middle of that on a warm summer’s evening and people are bound to take notice![/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 2px 0 8px”]Not that such expositions are easily achieved. Ms. Ferguson worked tirelessly with the various government officials months in advance for the necessary permits and permissions to stage the show. Presenting the show outside creates a plethora of logistical challenges, ranging from security to model prep areas to how to provide music without violating noise ordinances. Dlang understood that to put a show in such a public place meant that it had to be a bit extravagant, impossible to miss, and come off without a hitch. No small detail could be overlooked.

Added to all the logistical challenges was the ever-looming spectre of rain. When one has to start planning so very many months in advance, there is no way of predicting at that juncture what the weather might be. Summer in the Midwest, as in much of the United States, is often quite erratic, going from suffocatingly hot and humid one day to pouring down rain and threatening thunderstorms the next with little warning or forecasting to allow one to change plans. Dlang says she had an internal confidence that the weather was going to cooperate, though, and sure enough it couldn’t have been a more pleasant evening.

A couple of seasons ago, Karl Lagerfeld created his own urban street setting indoors because actually using the streets of Paris would have been too dangerous and too expensive. Smaller cities trump the big ones in that regard, giving designers and events such as IFT the chance to bring fashion directly to the people, right smack in the middle of town. While the task is never easy, the urban outdoors is a dynamic fashion set unlike any other. [/one_half_last]

Fashion / PotD

Yesterday’s Glamor

March 13, 2015

Yesterday’s Glamor (2009). Model: Samantha Caster

There is a reason fashion designers continue invoke the spirits of decades past. This season, we saw a mix of looks from the 70s, 60s, 40s, and even a couple from the 90s. Why? Why keep looking back when we could be, and perhaps should be, looking forward?

[one_half padding=”2px 4px 0 2px”]Answering that question is more complicated than one might think. There are commercial considerations that play strongly into any planning for a major label and retail sales almost always do better with looks that are familiar than those that are new. Women especially look for individual pieces, rather than whole ensembles, that compliment what is already in their wardrobe. After all, if one is spending $1,500 on a jacket it had damn well better go with something hanging in one’s closet.

Designers also consider the psychology of people being more comfortable with what is familiar. There is a strong reason designers such as Iris Van Herpen and Paco Rabanne have not yet reached that level of name recognition that older brands such as Chanel and Christian Dior enjoy: we don’t feel like with know them. We look at the forward-looking contemporary fabrics and styles and aren’t sure we can figure out how to actually put them on our bodies. While the new looks are interesting, we tend to treat them more like museum exhibits on our way to buying the looks that our parents or grandparents wore.

More than anything, though, I think we are in love with the fantasy of the past. We tend to forget, or are blissfully unaware, of just how much fabric and living conditions have changed over the years. That 1960s Chanel suit that looked so chic on Jackie Kennedy? Yeah, that thing was hot as hell and one tended to perspire severely wearing those things. The demonstration of grace under pressure came in finding ways to prevent the sweat stains from showing.

The polyester suits of the 70s absorbed every fragrance that passed within 70 miles of the wearer, which meant one inevitably showed up to an event smelling like a mix of cigarettes and gasoline and cheap cologne no matter what attempts you made to avoid such.

Simple cotton dresses of the 40s wore quickly with frequent laundering. Threads were demonstrably more fragile and, while the seams your great-grandmother sewed might have been sturdy, the fabric itself broke down in sunlight, and dirt and detergent, causing it to wear much sooner than a similar garment would today.

We look at pictures from the past and we see glamor, whether it actually existed or not. Even the stories that are passed down from one generation to the next fail to capture just how comparatively difficult life was a mere 50 years ago. We see a movie star smiling in her movie promo and totally gloss over the fact she was likely paid about a fifth of what her male counterpart received, and even that was likely confiscated by a chain of husbands or male managers who were certain a woman didn’t know how to manage her own finances.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”2px 2px 0 4px”]Even the pictures of grandma smiling with her children gathered around fail to remind us that she had to wash clothes by hand, maybe even sewed the clothes and certainly had to do all the repair work. She inhaled the fumes of bleach and starch and dye on a daily basis. Her soap dried her skin and protection against the sun was non-existent.

Fact is, even taking the pictures of those eras was more difficult than it is now. Up until the late 1950s, there were no strobes to stop motion. That meant working with large heat-inducing lamps that required holding a pose at length until the photographer had everything perfectly set. Then, he (it was almost always a male photographer) would take several Polaroids, waiting for each of them to develop, before loading the camera with film and actually taking the picture. Between shots, makeup and hair would have to be retouched and often blotting sweat stains was a major issue. By the time that single glamor shot was achieved, the efforts of perhaps 20-30 people had been completely exhausted.

We see none of that when we look at the pictures, though. We love the fantasy of those images and longingly hope to recreate the fantasy in our own lives. So, we rush after clothes that remind us of yesterday, or with increasing frequency visit a thrift shop or vintage store in hopes of snagging the original product. After all, wasn’t life more simple and pleasant then? Wasn’t life just as beautiful as the pictures they produced?

Designers understand how much we want to relive the fantasy and modern fabrics offer us the opportunity to do so much more comfortably than did our grandparents or great-grandparents. Yesterday’s glamor will always be a significant part of every runway season, and fashion labels are happy to take that fact to the bank.[/one_half_last]

Fashion

The whole thing of clothes is insane. You can spend a dollar on a jacket in a thrift store. And you can spend a thousand dollars on a jacket in a shop. And if you saw those two jackets walking down the street, you probably wouldn’t know which was which.—Helen Mirren

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Blue jeans are the most beautiful things since the gondola.—Diana Vreeland

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A friend sat next to a nun on a plane. He asked her what she missed most. “Wearing blue jeans,” she replied. —Amy Krouse Rosenthal

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Anyone who is secure about herself shouldn’t be threatened by the ads I do. What we’re doing is fun—if you have any sense of humor at all! —Calvin Klein

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All fashion brands are about looking good. Being Human is also about doing good. And you can do good by the simple act of slipping into a t-shirt or a pair of jeans. —Salman Khan

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Fashion is mysterious, as a rule. Why are blue jeans a classic? You just hit on something that happens to be timeless and right.-Diane von Furstenberg

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I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity – all I hope for in my clothes. -Yves Saint-Laurent

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Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months. —Oscar Wilde

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My mom was sarcastic about men. She would tell me Adam was the rough draft and Eve was the final product. She was a feminist minister, an earth mom who wore a bra only on Sundays. —Daphne Zuniga

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Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills you. –Else DeWolfe

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“The bottom of a cup of coffee is not as good as the bottom of her body—which is actually in the middle of her body.” ― Jarod Kintz, I love Blue Ribbon Coffee

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A girl should be two things: sexy and fabulous. –Coco Chanel

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Sex appeal is 50% what you’ve got and 50% what people think you’ve got. –Sophia Loren

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I love to wear lingerie. The problem is that men always rip it off too quickly. When women are dolled up in lingerie they feel sexy. So let us wear it for five minutes. –Karen McDougal

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I was the child who would leave school and take her clothes off the second I got into the house. I made my mom buy me lingerie when I was 5 years old. I was a sicko. My mother must have been mortified. -Alessandra Torresani

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Creative catwalks are big business within the world’s fashion capitols of New York, London, Milan, and Paris, but for smaller markets getting fashion shows noticed by the public is more challenging. Sometimes the best solution is to stage a show right where it can’t be missed.

Share this:

Like this:

There is a reason fashion designers continue invoke the spirits of decades past. This season, we saw a mix of looks from the 70s, 60s, 40s, and even a couple from the 90s. Why? Why keep looking back when we could be, and perhaps should be, looking forward?

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Like this:

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