Does fashion kill movements?

So, I just finished watching SLC Punk. I remember I first got into punk fashion when I started listening to the Sex Pistols in high school, and then the New York Dolls, and so on and so forth. That's when I discovered Vivienne Westwood. I had never really cared about fashion designers before I discovered her. I guess you could say the Sex Pistols are who got me into fashion, oddly enough. An anti-fashion, anti-conformist band influenced me into fashion. I guess that makes me a poser? Anyway, I looked at Westwood's collections and studied her earlier influences and whatnot. Good stuff. Vivenne Westwood worked with Malcolm McLaren, who was the Pistol's manager for a while, and they opened a store to sell clothing geared towards this punk rebellion crowd.

This is where I open a debate in my head. If punk rock is "a youthful reaction against older generations, considered oppressive and outdated, as a product of the newly recognized and influential youth culture," why would punk rock anarchists, partically punk rock bands that are there to spread the anarchist word, want to create this subculture? Anarchy is chaos, and chaos does not mix well with subcultures.

<sup>The answer? To make money. That's where fashion comes in. If entrepeneurs, such as a young 1970's Vivienne Westwood, can make a killing off of selling punk rock clothing to an up and coming subculture of people, why wouldn't they take advantage of it? I'm not saying that I don't adore Westwood's designs any less, I'm just saying she was part of the reason that punk rock anarchy turned into punk rock fashion, thus no longer allowing it to be anarchy.

That's what happens when fashion gets a hold of any kind of political, artistic, or cultural movement. Look at the 1960's with the hippie movement, the civil rights movement, and the Native American movement. These all influences fashion trends that we see today, such as tie dyes, peace signs, natural black hair, fringed boots and feather earrings. These are great trends and all, but are the followers of these trends wearing them because they like what they stand for or just because Vogue told them to?
I wear moccasins because my father is Native American, and my good friend wears her African American hair natural because she wants to embrace her natural self. What's everyone else's excuse?

Quote from: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/vivw/hd_vivw.htm
Sex Pistols image from google images
Fringed boot from Bestey Johnson</sup>

What I want this moment: Floppy Hat

Last summer, I really wanted a floppy hat. The huge kind that keeps the sun off your face but is worn more for fashion than function. I never got that hat, and now I keep seeing it everywhere this spring and I still want it!

American Apparel has a wool one that is darling and perfect. If it wasn't $40, I'd march down there and get it. The stats from AA are:

100% Wool construction

Diameter: 16" (40.6cm)

Circumference of brim: 50 1/2" (128.3cm)

Circumference of crown: 21 1/2" (54.6cm)

Height of crown: 4 1/2" (11.4cm)

Made for American Apparel by Baron Hats

For now, because of financial reasons I will just admire from afar and continue to search thrift stores for the perfect floppy sunhat.

Deseo

As someone who only somewhat got into the Jennifer Lopez fragrance franchise, I was wary of her newest product, Deseo. Whenever a new fragrance hits our beauty counter at work, I have to sample it as part of my job. Sometimes I like them, sometimes I don't. Since most celebrity fragrances are geared more towards teenagers and young adults, I was expecting the flower notes, but not the woodsy notes. That's when I read the information packet from Coty.

Deseo is inspired from "a midnight walk in Lopez's garden moments before a thunderstorm set in." Apparently, Jennifer Lopez called some representatives from Coty to her personal backyard garden and said "I want a perfume that smells like this." The notes used in her perfume are the watery bamboo leaves, yuzu, bergamot, freesia, star jasmine, pink geranium flower, orange blossom, mimosa, warm amber, oak moss, musk, sandalwood, cedar, patchouli and mineral accord. The first note to hit the nose is a citrus smell, sometime that can be recognized in most of Lopez's perfumes. The scent fades to a heart of floral notes which have a sweet, but still woodsy, scent to linger on the skin.

The bottle is a real beauty, too. It's meant to resemble a diamond in the rough. The top was a little tricky to open at first, but maybe it's just me. (It's a twist off, not a pull of top.) I'm also in love with the advertising, but that may be only because I think this is the prettiest Jennifer Lopez has looked in a long time.

All in all, I adore this fragrance, and if I weren't a broke college stuent, I'd buy it. It retails at about $50.

Long necked ladies have it easy.

If you have a long neck, I envy you. No, really, I wish I had a long neck so I could wear big earrings without it looking weird. I have a really short stature, short arms, short legs, short waist, short fingers, short neck. I love big earrings, though. Big, bronzed, dangling earrings, or long feathery earrings, or long strands of beaded earrings. It doesn't matter, the bigger the better.

Edie Sedgwick, who I've mentioned before, was infamous for wearing larger-than-life earrings. She was a petite girl, which means her neck couldn't have been very long, but somehow she pulls them off with ease. They look great with her short hair. I have long hair, and on the days I wear it up I feel like I need the big earrings to make up for the lack of hair.

Despite the earrings not always looking right on me, and despite that they create an odd feeling when I tilt my head only to be stopped from tilting all the way by my earring, I still like to wear them.

I'm not too crazy about Target's jewelry selection right now, but they occasionally have cute earrings for a low price. This pair featured is only $9.99 online. They're not my favorite, but for the price I'm sure I could find something to wear them with.

What annoys me...

Don't you hate when you start wearing something random only to find out a few months later that it's mainstream? I do!

I remember when I could pick my boyfriend's flannel western shirt up off the floor and put it on without trying to be fashionable, just trying not to freeze! And then I'd run to the Harris Teeter in it and pull it off fine. Now, everyone has one of those red or yellow flannels from Urban Outfitters or Forever 21, or whoever else is selling them. Now I can't even wear them out in public without being just one of the other "trendy" girls. What's worse, they're wearing it like it's supposed to be a boy's shirt. Go get a shirt from a real boy, not a mannequin!

Same thing with the hippie headband. Not that I sported it, but I would occasionally do the braids, creating the same effect. I technically could still rock the look, but I don't even want to anymore.

This is different than my being excited about flared jeans coming back. I don't care about that because jeans are a basic item. These shirts and headbands, although they are just examples, are more underground items that have no place in the mainstream world. Maybe I'm overreacting, but it just aggravates me.

(Both images from that annoying urban outfitters, grr!)

Handbag search continues.

I am not an easy shopper. I can't just go into a store and find something. Yes, sometimes I have my impulse buys, but most of the time I have a whole list of criteria to go through before I buy something. One of the items that suffers this list the most? Bags.


Prada handbags - by Norma M on Polyvore.com

I love a good bag, I really do, but you wouldn't know it if you met me. Right now I have this granny looking low-slung braided brown bag that really looks like I wove it together myself. I'll admit I'm tired of it, but right now it's just so perfect for all my needs, and I haven't been able to find another to replace it.

For one, the strap is long so when I wear it over one shoulder, it hits right there my hand does and I can keep a nice grip on the opening. It's really easy to reach in and get my keys or cell phone. There's a smaller inner pocket that can stay open or zip closed which is perfect for storing the smaller items (keys, phone, flash drive) and I can clip my school badge onto it and never worry about losing it. It also has a snap closure on the inside which makes it easy to close and open, no annoying zippers. Another reason I can't give up this bag is the space inside. It's a rather small bag in comparison to the huge monster bags that some girls carry around, but I can still fit my wallet, checkbook, a bottle of water, a bunch of crap, and a snack in it without it looking bulgy. Perfect fit.

Right now I think the only other kind of bag I'd get is a nice fringed hobo. I thought I saw one I liked at Target, but when I went back to give it the ol' critique it totally failed. So now I'm still searching, and still using my granny bag.

Woah, Charlotte Russe!

I remember going into Charlotte Russe about two years ago, looking around, and not really finding much that interested me. Although the prices are great, it just wasn't my style. It was just too "high heeled and tight shirted" for me. So, imagine my surprise when I go onto their website (out of plain curiosity) to find a totally different look. Hippie beads and boho skirts?! In Charlotte Russe?! Now they're starting to look like their main competitor, Forever 21. Coincidence?

No, not a coincidence. I read an article in WWD yesterday that stated Charlotte Russe has just redone their merchandising for spring to a more "boho" trend. This was meant to increase sales (since not only the economy sucks, but apparently their sales sucked to begin with) and attract a new crowd. Hmm, could that be the crowd from Forever 21?

Looking deeper into the website, I found that not all their merchandise has changed from teenage cocktail dresses to boho just yet. I doubt that everything in their store will make the switch, which is good for keeping the customers they already have. I'll have to keep an eye out to see just how many of these boho items do grace their sales floor. I might even have to make a trip out to the mall!

(Image taken from front page of Charlotte Russe's website.)