Day 342: A Tangled Web We Weave

Eek! These photos are from before I went away. I must have been channelling some deluded idea of haute couture at the time. I was reading On The Daily Express the other day (here and here) where Gina had gathered together a group of other bloggers from around the States—one from each time zone—and done a survey about trending looks. Essentially she asked each blogger about a series of trends (crop tops, rompers, jean styles, Birkenstocks, etc) and whether these trends translated to the street in their area. Often they didn't. What is fashion? An elite group of designers who make clothes that only a small percentage of people can afford or wear? An enormous group of retailers, advertisers and marketers who push a quick-turnover must-do look in order to sell, sell, sell? Or one person—you—deciding what to wear when you wake up today?

Irene               List_Addict
I am sure I am not the first person to riddle-me-this, but tell me, if you can, why doesn't the fashion industry make sense? And now, with the added dimension of the fashion blogging community, it has got even weirder. Do you think blogging is about what we 'should' wear? Is it about what we 'do' wear? Is it about trends and perpetuating the dictates of the clothing industry, or is it about people being an antidote to a prescriptive money-making train which wants to see us conform to a constantly changing ideal? Of course, there isn't an answer to that—there are blogs that fit into every category. Bloggers trying to make a living from it have to jump on board with big-business—they're the ones with money to spend, and they're only going to spend it where they get publicity. It's a no-brainer. The op-shop/thrifter bloggers and the sewing/fashion bloggers have different incentives: they celebrate getting a contemporary look via a different route which is creative and economical, or, they celebrate looking nothing like everyone else becuse that is the beauty of thrifting. Some bloggers are so close to the periphary of the exclusive end of the fashion industry that we can only call it a different door to the same arena: high end fashion items, model looks, professional photography. Others seem to be at the door of a theatre instead—where it is about dressing-up, not dressing. What kind are you? What kind am I? It's quite fascinating.

Me: a thrifting, shoe-obsessed, dresser-upper-er who wears, in real life, some of what is on her blog, in a non-conformist interpretation of what seems to be 'trending' at some stage in the last two years or the next three, as long as she can find it in an op-shop (thrift store) and as long as she doesn't have to walk too far in the shoes. You?

The Outfit Dress (under): Op-shopped Dress (over): Handmade Belt: Myers Necklace: Retail Golf Shoes: eBay

Photographer de Jour: Moi

Who Wore It Better?

C

Linky today with:

On the Daily Express/More Pieces of Me