BIRD FLU NYC

• 2012-03-05

  And there the line is drawn.

  For me there are two great divides - credible fashion people and, because of my failing descriptive skills, let’s just call it the preoccupation with looking good - the most obvious difference in the two being the emphasis placed on beauty in oneself. To put it simply, fashion people don’t care about how the shirt will make their boobs looks, or whether a skirt will be tight enough to accentuate their butt just so. They look at the merit of the individual item and appreciate it for what it is on its own. In the other, there’s this concern with how pretty an outfit can make oneself appear with the right hair and makeup, the fashion element becoming secondary. Is the art being showcased or is the person being showcased? Take Anya for example, she doesn’t seem preoccupied with looking like a super model or being the hottest thing to walk through the Tuileries. Does that mean she takes zero pride in beauty or looking good? Of course not, it’s just probably not her first fashion concern. And the same could be said about people like Emmanuelle Alt or Julia Sarr-Jamois.

  There’s not one mode that’s better than the other, it all comes down to personal preference. I’m not going to judge someone for wanting to look pretty. I mean, in some way don’t we all? However, as someone who respects the craft of fashion, I think it’s important to recognize that there is, in fact, a difference and to call it what it is.

  There was a time when the It Girl was someone truly aspirational, when information moved slower, and people had time to discover themselves and develop tastes. While the internet is a miracle tool in uniting the world and getting news at lightning speeds, it also makes haste the development of who we are as people. Popular things, beautiful things, It things are fed to us as gospel and we eat it up and suddenly want to buy into it too. It’s so much harder to be an individual in this day and age when everything’s been done and redone and then redone better. But you know what’s truly individual? Simply being you, even if what you are is the same as the person next to you. The courage to not try to be something you’re not for fear of falling behind. Your It Girl - do you want to look like her or do you want to be her because she really is someone noteworthy?

  Not only as a reader, but as a person, I think it’s prudent to question everything. Questioning someone isn’t insulting to the person (well, depending on your intentions), but rather a means by which you gain perspective on whether they’re really worthy of your admiration. Questions lead to answers and answers lead to clearer pictures. Why wouldn’t you question me, a stranger on the internet, and wonder why my life seems so great? (Does it?) Why I have an endless closet? (I don’t.) Why would you accept that everything on your screen is the god’s honest truth? The easiest way to know yourself is to be aware of what’s around you and to pick up on the subtle distinctions between things that others may not see, to know how you are aligned with those things.

  There is a lot of identity in fashion. Do you know who you are?

  — http://stopitrightnow.blogspot.com/