042. Elizabeth James; Marketing tactics.

ShopBop.com
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's collection, Elizabeth James, just touched down at ShopBop today, and I couldn't wait to check out the lookbook. Apparently the label's name is based on the statistical study that revealed that Elizabeth and James are two of the most successful-sounding names in our (whose?) society. The idea is that when people hear the name, they will imagine an sophisticated, esoteric, and enviable assortment of clothing. The inner snob in each of us will be influenced to buy Elizabeth James in the hopes that it will endow us with similar qualities.

Now whether you buy into this AT ALL is entirely up to you. I am not a big fan of Elizabeth James but I don't particularly dislike it either. I think the Olsens have been successful in creating a line of simplistic but mechanically creative garments. There's a touch of casual and a touch of professional chic, for whomever is either an obsessive fan of the twins or just somebody who happens to like $225 gym shorts. The problem with celebrity-assisted clothing lines is that you pretty much have to like the celebrity to like the clothing. Your (dis)like for the celebrity can potentially cloud your judgment of the clothing itself. But here, I don't see much of either girl's personality, or maybe I'm just not trying hard enough to look. As with The Row, they've gone very basic.

There are some extreme cases in which celebrity lines are nothing more than a rehash of what that person wears on a regular basis. (Take Lauren Conrad, who brashly regurgitated her favorite pieces of clothing all over the so-called runway of her self-titled "collection.") Elizabeth Charles is the other extreme. It's difficult to difficult to deduce the celebs' taste. I suppose the Marianne jacket is probably the hallmark piece of the collection. But since the personality of the clothing falls flat, the backbone of the advertising must fall to the visual effects, and ShopBop has this technique down to a fine art.


ShopBop.com
I read Almost Girl's blog on a regular basis and for a while now I have been reflecting on what she said awhile ago about "guerrilla shoots"--e.g. fashion photoshoots done for online publications/websites. For online boutiques, advertising is based just as much on visual seduction as it is on word of mouth or linkage. And because there are so many such sites around, to get into the big league you have to have a competitive clothes turnout; a constant barrage of new and interesting things. Visually, this translates into the need for a super editorial campaign onsite and in banner ads--and these must cycle continually on a fast-paced schedule. ShopBop does a great job of creating their weekly lookbook, as well as their individual item presentation. The photography is creative as well as streamlined, and this is, I believe, even more important than the actual clothes they sell. Some people will buy a toothpick for $20 if it's marketed properly. All businesses aim to do the equivalent.

There are hundreds if not thousands of online boutiques, and it's easy to fall into the void if you don't stay at the top of your game. Don't deny it--we first judge a book by its cover, always, even if what draws each person in is a different feature. ShopBop happens to have a clean layout, a skilled photographic team, and a professional email notification setup. Although I later recanted my love for Elizabeth James after looking closely at the clothing and realizing it wasn't quite my style, the photo gallery at first drew me in with its aesthetically pleasing styling. If I were an impulse buyer, I'd have been snared.

041. Revisiting un objet d'art.

I snapped this of the BFF when we were trying on clothes at CUSP.



It's a good thing neither of us actually wanted to front the cash for this dress because we might have had to fight to the death for it.

Oh, Marc by Marc Jacobs SS08.

040. For sale...come check it out!

I'm cleaning out my closet in preparation for a lot of expenses in the near future, and I'm inviting everyone who's reading this to come see what I have for sale! It's listed on my regular blog. Come take a look:

EVERYTHING MUST GO.

Clothing from:
-Miss Sixty
-Anthropologie
-Free People
-Arden B
-L.A.M.B.
-Bebe
-Sample Sales
-& more!

039. Cravings.

I do have a weakness for Forever 21. I spend plenty of time berating retail chains like H&M for mass-producing poor quality clothes, but every once in a while, I need my fix--of cheap clothes. It's nice not to always have to pay $120 or more for a shirt. Even if the stitching is always unraveling and you know the reason they give you extra buttons is because the ones on the garment fall off if you so much as breathe on them (case in point: I destroyed my high-waisted shorts today by pulling them on too quickly--a button popped off and is impossible to reattach!). And they're pretty cute sometimes. As long as I don't recognize which designer they've ripped off, my conscience doesn't suffer too much.

I never have enough hot-weather clothing. But I'm going to Europe for a few weeks this summer, so I need a few new things that I can throw by the wayside if I run out of baggage space because I've bought other, better clothes in Paris.

Here are a few tops that are actually quite cute and could be paired with a pair of designer shorts or skirt:


Brianna Woven Top, $24.80
Forever21.com

Crinkled Metallic Wrap, $22.80
Forever21.com

Candy Stripe Babydoll, $24.90
Forever21.com

My best advice when shopping stores like H&M and Forever 21 is to avoid faux-expensive material that looks satiny, as it will inevitably come off as trashy; shun the viscose-spandex hybrids, as they pill and age within mere hours; cotton is your best bet. I always replace the cheap-looking buttons on shirts with quality, vintage buttons from Etsy. You can also make any other minor alterations yourself, given you know how to operate a needle and thread in the most basic ways. You might argue it's futile to embellish what will eventually fall apart no matter what, but my belief is, if you're going to wear it, for however short a time, you might as well maximize its potential.

038. Marc by Marc Jacobs, redux.

With the recent explosion of fashion qua pop culture, many designers have jumped on the bandwagon to create diffusion lines. After all, everyone wants something with a designer logo on it, and designers can easily take advantage of this by creating a cheaper line. There are only so many wealthy clientele who can afford your $3000 dresses; why not make an additional profit? It's a quick fix for both consumer and producer, although I myself am getting a little disturbed at how mainstream designer goods are getting. The label isn't worth shit if you can buy a piece of Mizrahi on sale for $3.29. (That decimal point is not displaced. Although, diffusion lines usually range from the $90-$600 price range these days, and Isaac Mizrahi for Target isn’t technically a "diffusion" line, just a sponsored collection.)

Marc by Marc Jacobs has been a source of frustration for me for quite a while. I used to really adore Marc Jacobs. His collections were fantastic a few years ago, he was definitely one of my favorite American designers.

But my dislike of Jacobs' most recent work is a different subject entirely. I couldn't stand Marc by Marc Jacobs when it first started showing, for two reasons. First, the line wasn't even designed by Jacobs, so what was the point? Okay, so this apparently happens a lot - but honestly, it didn't seem to have any relevancy to the real Marc Jacobs line! It was just him stamping his name onto these cheaper, unrelated outfits! Second, the clothing and bags were literally cheap. I've been to MMJ stores, I've seen the clothes in person, the buttons are badly sewn, the seams are nothing like regular Marc Jacobs RTW.

I also thought most of the clothing was heinously ugly.

But recently, MMJ has been shaping up. Every season I notice more things I like. The prices have begun to reflect the improving quality and taste of the garments; I also like the bags more. I do find it hilarious that the so-called MMJ shoes are just as expensive as, say, a pair of Miu Mius. That will never cease to amuse me. Anyway, the clothing and bags are achieving more recognition as times goes on.

From MMJ Spring 2008:


Style.com
Um, how fabulous is this outfit? It’s quirky and adorable and all kinds of pretty. I must have it!...After I sell my soul on eBay.


Style.com
Available here at ShopBop
After traipsing around Neiman’s, Bloomie’s, and Cusp all evening eyeing the MMJ displays, I finally tried on this dress and fell in love. Well, I already knew I wanted it. But now I know I have to have it. "Sale" being the operative word here. If only ShopBop would make some obscene error and accidentally mark down this dress to 75% off, or better, 95% off, or…well, I can dream, damnit.

I know that dress has been splattered all over the pages of every fashion magazine that has enough revenue to print in color, but whatever, you’re seeing it again because it’s AMAZING.


Style.com
And finally, for a peek at fall's MMJ collection. Also looking quite good. Some designers have been focusing on the tailoring of garments lately, or the texture or shape of the clothing. Marc by Marc Jacobs' most noticeable feature is patterning. And who doesn't love a smattering of polka dots on a eentsy little black-collared cream blouse and criss-cross stitching on a pencil skirt?

Shaddup!

037. To file under blunders: The Baroque.

I started keeping an eye on Miu Miu back in Spring 2006. It was the little V-neck star print dress that captured my interest. I’ve always thought of Miu Miu as a quirky, sporty-girly brand with a lot of twists and turns in it. There are some consistencies in design, but the label seems more like a stream-of-consciousness project for Miuccia. Every season, I have to re-evaluate my opinion of Miu Miu, more than I would for some of my other favorite designers.

This spring, Miu Miu has decided to reuse the baroque ornamentation from their Fall 06 shoes. (I notice this, because I was obsessed with the collection and eventually bought the below shoe in patent red.) Whether corporate is just being manipulative, trying to reel in more profits by creating a new shoe with some of the old hallmarks of the original, I don’t know. It’s like the ugly stepsister of the first shoe. It’s disappointing that they would take such a beautiful baroque-inspired creation, strip off all the patent leather that was its hallmark, and rework the wood carving into a shoe utterly devoid of personality.


Style.com; Net-A-Porter.com
NOTE. I apologize most sincerely for the poor quality of
this image due to lack of Photoshop on the work computer.
It’s a spring shoe, people, not a lump of deadwood. This thing needs color! If I were given the opportunity to redesign the shoe, I’d paint the heel and the toe wedge gold or silver (with the same burnished feel). Then I’d market the shoe in several different colors of leather: white, light pink, and light green, with the option of patent leather for the white. And I would eliminate those glaringly dark threads used to sew the leather. I HATE when the stitching is ten shades darker or lighter than the leather. I know the Chloé Edith bags sport this design and are pretty popular, but I’m not appealing to the people, I’m appealing to you, Miu Miu!

For shame.


Miu Miu floral carved sandals, available at Net-A-Porter for $550.

036. Fashion qua art. A heavily parsed and simplified thesis.

A lot of people live, as I like to call it, in a "satisfied" way. They have a few simple goals, to get promoted, to have a family, to achieve certain personal accomplishments, these sorts of things. They don't have an interest in looking at the world in a different way or broadening their understanding of how the world works. They are basically content, confined to dissatisfaction as they comprehend it within their own small world. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Unlike such people, I feel that my primary calling is to acquire knowledge; to grow intellectually, continually. I don't believe that a state of nirvana can be achieved during one's lifetime - rather, that such an ideal is something to be striven for but never attained. And as I attempt to comprehend the bigger picture, I have come to the realization that there is no one way to acquire valuable knowledge, nor should only one conclusion be drawn from a collection of data. Therefore, intellectual growth should not have a road map (there can be no how-to book on how to grow as a person) and all people's discoveries are equally valuable to the extent that they help lead up to an overall better understanding of the world.

I've read a small number of published articles intellectualizing fashion lately, which I have enjoyed. Having graduated college an English major, I've developed the ability to intelligently dissect any given work of art. And what I have found, is that you can draw as intelligent a conclusion from a Monet as you can some unknown artist's painting that is selling on Etsy. Famous paintings are often only regarded as brilliant because we believe their creators to be brilliant. But as for ourselves as observers, we are able to derive just as much meaning and metaphor from a blank canvas with a swipe of black paint on it as we should a Da Vinci painting. Hence, modern art. Does the former require as much technical skill or intelligence to create? No, but that does not mean we cannot use it as a stepping stone in our own intellectual growth. We learn something from everything.


OMG TEH AWESOME: MyPrestigium.com
In any event, whatever you think of my theory, since you are reading this, I think you will agree with me when I say that fashion is deeply underestimated as an artistic movement. Just as artwork is entrenched in the culture within which it is created, fashion both reflects the present cultural climate and helps push culture onwards. This process of reflection and growth is vital to the evolution of society. Just as we use the same words again and again in different combinations to form unique, new sentences, designers use fabric again and again to form new creations; even repetition and mimicking has its own significance. As I complain about how H&M does nothing but rip off "real" designers, how does this give me a better understanding of how the world works? What does it tell me about the objectives of people in our society--why have H&Ms been so successful? From an (attemptedly) detached standpoint, should it be? What would have to be different about our culture in order for H&M to fail?

Fashion has a unique position in the world because it is a part of our daily life, yet it is also an artistic expression. The current debate about models being "too thin" to be good role models is interesting because it illustrates that models are no longer as behind the scenes as they used to be; fashion shows which used to be only open to the elite of the fashion world are now open to the public through the aid of sites like Style.com. Models have always been thin, simply so that they do not interfere with the flow of the clothing. (Those who are not thin, serve some other purpose in promoting the clothing.) In general, the tallness and thinness create the effect that they are godlike, elevating the clothes, so that people long to buy them to also achieve deification. And the models themselves are essentially meant to be nonparticipants in the "ordinary" world bearing these covetable commodities, in the process also becoming an ideal which we long to attain.

But do you not think that the recent, intensified focus on (and obsession with) model thinness is a product of society's increased fixation on weight? As the statistically "average" person gains weight in Western society, the divide between him/her and the ideal posited on the runway becomes even more pronounced, in which event it garners attention. The fact of the matter is that models should not be acting as role models in a society that already objectifies bodies to an unhealthy extreme. And perhaps that's why this is happening in the first place. Plus, the presence of fashion in pop culture is increasing, so we are focused on the bodies advertising the clothing.

We can never fully separate the model parading the runway wearing couture from the woman who goes into a store and buys a shirt. Clothing is both art and utility. It was designed to be worn for people. Yet we also celebrate the beauty of clothing that is a statement in itself. This is the sort of quandary that continually tries to divorce idealism and reality. And this amazing contradiction is one of the things that I find fascinating to ponder about fashion.

035. Stomping on all the competition.

Remember how just the other day I was commenting on how shoes have run rampant lately? How the most unusual constructions have graced the catwalk this year?

Well, the Rick Owens is the king of all rocker-chic boots for FW08. I've never seen such a boot. Remember when you used to rollerblade around the block when you were a kid? How, in order to slow, you leaned back on the rear brake?

I can't see anyone safely rollerblading in a heel this high, but these are definitely reminiscient of those childhood rollerblades...revamped and made uber-cool.


Jean-Luce Huré for The New York Times
Here's another pair...these things are ridonkulous. (And I only use that word in times of extreme need.)


Style.com
Overall, the collection was very dark and interspersed with leather and prominent zippers piecing the constructions together. I genuinely think this is one of the most unique collections I've seen. Space Age meets Hell's Angels meets Aragorn. It's sort of Sin City-ish.

Which is never a bad thing.


Style.com

034. Busted!

Style.com
So, Paulo Melim Andersson's brief career as Chloé's creative director has come to an end. I don't have the full scoop but it's my assumption that he was fired, not that he actively chose to leave, unless it was mutual.

Too bad for him. Don't get me wrong, I think he did a wonderful job at Marni, and I was really cheering for him when I saw the first collection he did at Chloé. But after the initial high faded, I realized I was still mourning the loss of Phoebe Philo, as well as her predecessor Stella McCartney. I think that his most recent collection - FW08 - was getting closer to what I think of as "Chloé," so I wonder when the bigwigs made the decision to sack him; maybe he was diverging again when starting next year's spring collection, I'm really not sure. I do know that his launch collection was vastly different. One does not associate Doc Marten-esque boots with Chloé. Indeed, one can only reinvent a label so much before it retains no trace of its core identity. I don't condemn Andersson's style, I just don't think it has much relevancy to what has been titled the "Chloé woman."

Andersson will be replaced by Hannah McGibbon, who has worked for Chloé before under the direction of Phoebe Philo. Since I always had a great deal of respect for what Philo did for Chloé, I'm delighted by this change and hope that McGibbon will be successful in healing the rupture that has formed in the eminent fashion label.

Here's a recap on Andersson's Chloé collections, from first to last:

Fall/Winter 2007/8


Style.com

Spring/Summer 2008


Style.com

Fall/Winter 2008/9


Style.com

033. LV a Go-Go.

I was not a fan of Louis Vuitton last fall. My mouth gaped open at the heinous bags embossed with a comedian's misogynist jokes; the procession of nurses' outfits; and weird veils that matched nothing. I still frown every time I see advertisements for those ridiculous, awful bags (Who approved them? What poor soul would unknowingly wear them?).

The 2008 fall collection rekindled my love for LV. The collection performed a complete 360. It showcased luxury garments in agreeable pastel hues (perhaps as a female submissive response to the collection of yesterseason? Sigh. I am left wishing the memory of SS08 could be erased from my mind. If only).


Style.com
This coat is reminiscent of old-world elegance. The shape is not modern but is tastefully done for the twenty-first century, and looks delightfully warm. During these times of unpredictable weather, one must be prepared for sudden shifts toward freezing temperatures; in which case, I will be wishing that I owned such a beautiful coat.


Style.com
I love this one because it is effortlessly chic. The colors in this collection are just great! (Although I cannot for the life of me understand why this is a fall collection. There was a significant amount of black, but whenever I look at the pastel outfits, I am instantly reminded of Easter baskets.)


Style.com
I was sincerely terrified by this picture and hope that this is the extent of the iceberg that is way-too-high-heeled shoes. I have enough trouble walking in my 5.5" Miu Miu baroque platform wedges. Perhaps these monstrosities are, as in days of old, just for show and only meant for the runway performance.


Style.com
A lot of people may be dismayed to see what they regard a boring handbag in a drab color. I for one am enjoying this reincarnation of understated elegance. I like this collection, in which wealth is recognized primarily in the fine tailoring and design, where there is no need for logos to be displayed so glaringly. It brings me back to the days when ready-to-wear did not yet exist and Mademoiselle Chanel was yet a milliner... *cough* Not that I was alive then. But those were golden times.

In any event, I vastly prefer this subtle take on the LV logo to the usual thing - that horrid tan and chocolate patchwork mess that is replicated ad infinitum until it has graced street kiosks in cities worldwide.