There are phases of a Fashionista’s development. There’s the time you’re SO EXCITED to get your First! Coach! Bag! and then the time you realize you wouldn’t carry a Coach bag if it came with cash, blow and unlimited access to a 22 year-old cabana boy named Luis. You go from getting it wrong most of the time, to getting it right EVERY time and finally, you get to the point where you don’t give a flying spead-leggéd squirrel WHAT people think because even if only “fashion people” get it, you know –in fashion as in life– there is life beyond the prettydome.
(hahahahahaha no.)
I am a classicist. I’ve always BEEN a classicist. Maybe it’s because my grandparents raised me or maybe it’s because I watched too many old movies, but aside from a brief period of experimentation in my teens –I recall the day I went to school in a pair of cuffed denim shorts, velvet heels, black hose, one of those odious “big shirts” in a particularly lurid shade of magenta and a big velvet top hat because I knew, KNEW someday I was going to marry Slash from Guns n’ Roses and this was my “in”– I’ve been consistently conservative, well-cut and right. Not exciting, but right.
Anyhoodle, the trouble with being a classicist is getting into a rut.
Cobalt blue dress –of which I have three, hello rut!– means blush or mocha snakeskin pumps. Sure I’ll put out when the bishop comes to visit (uh, as it were) and maybe pair it with my sequined tiger Manolos.
And then the other day I unearthed a pair of yellow silk satin Lola Cruz heels I’d bought ages ago and never worn–they’re the origami mule variation of the ones below which I don’t like as much but is on HUGE sale at Yoox—
I won’t say it was a whole new ballgame, there’s still nothing more classic than a silk mule (in fact, I don’t generally approve of mules in anything but silk) but it pushed my envelope a little, and that was good for me.
So I challenge you to push YOUR fashion envelope a little. A great place to start would be at YOOX.COM’s 90% off Sample Sale, which runs now through Sunday.
Some unusual shoes from the 08 Fall/Winter collections that are tickling my fancy:
*Get your minds out of the gutter.
Oo, those stripy ones are pretty! And they’re roughly the same shape as feet, which is always a plus point.
Comment by MissPrism — March 27, 2009 @ 4:41 pm
How badly would you hurt me if I wore those striped MJs with striped tights?
Comment by Janey — March 27, 2009 @ 4:41 pm
sigh.
You hurt me, Garnet. You hurt me bad.
Comment by Plumcake — March 27, 2009 @ 6:16 pm
Oooooh, zebra stripe mary janes… MissPrism is sooo right.
Comment by Icy — March 28, 2009 @ 2:11 am
One question–what exactly is so wrong with the Coach bag? I have heard you and other fashionistas make such statements about items like Coach bags, Tiffany heart jewelry and cha cha heels (in my recent memory) without any backing explanation.
What exactly makes one item fabulous and another tragic?
Comment by dcsurfergirl — March 28, 2009 @ 4:07 pm
I strongly dislike the Coach “signature” bags, but I think that Coach still makes some beautiful, well-made leather goods. Are they “fashionista” worthy – probably not. I know that I’ve picked up a number of Coach bags and purses over the years which I continue to use. The quality of Coach leather can be spotty – my bags which were made in the US are indestructible – the bags now made in China, not so much.
So I’m not a fashionista, just a lawyer who likes to have a well-made bag that I can carry when I’m wearing a suit and trying to look trustworthy. :-)
Comment by Grace — March 29, 2009 @ 12:42 am
I think the issue is that just as carrying something absolutely crawling with interlaced G’s was The! Done! Thing! in the 80’s and the LVs in the 90’s, so now the Coach bag is the Trendy Advertising Must Have Du Jour. And it’s tacky to advertise someone else’s initials all over your clothes, moreso if every mall rat is convinced that label-flashing is the epitome of style.
I think it was Bottega Veneta who used to have the slogan, “when your own initials are enough,” and I think that puts it very well.
Comment by raincoaster — March 29, 2009 @ 3:51 am
I just like to question blanket statements. They rarely fit.
As I write this, I am looking at my newest Coach purchase from the “Bonnie” line, based on Bonnie Cashin designs from the early 1960s. They look very different from the Signature bag Plumcake posted. I also own some Signature and Op Art accessories. I have never thought of any logo pattern as flaunting money or buying style.
It’s a lot easier to rock what you love.
Comment by dcsurfergirl — March 29, 2009 @ 10:33 pm
I always thought this “let’s slather our logo all over our purse” concept to be rather….gauche. I didn’t think it was cute when Gucci did it, and I still don’t think it’s cute when Louis Vuitton, Coach, and Fendi do it. And I’m especially repulsed by Coach because they also have matching shoes. *shudder*
And now Chanel has those tacky totes with their ginormous interlocked C’s haphazardly slapped on. Miss Coco must be rolling her grave at the thought of it.
On the bright side, those Givenchy bronze heels are divine.
Comment by ChloeMireille — March 30, 2009 @ 10:51 am