For my English class, we had to create a websay (web + essay) combining text with images. It requires a lot of background knowledge on CSS and therefore a lot of patience. I decided to do my websay on my road trip to California in March because I thought it would be cool to tell people about my trip and include my personal images. If you are interested, check it out at:
http://thefashionworld.umwblogs.org/134/
In the past years, younger models have been more popular then ever on the fashion runway due to their small size. However, more runways are now looking for more “mature” looking models who are older and have curves. Designers also want customers to recognize that these models are adults with their own kids and lives. According to Yahoo News, Chanel Iman started on the runways at 15 years old and was told she wouldn’t be able to come back until she was older and grew curves. And this is exactly what she did. As I’ve stated in previous posts, I couldn’t be happier with the fashion industry. They are finally understanding that the average girl doesn’t weight 100 pounds, and that not all models can look like this. We take after what we see, and when we see skinny models, we feel the need to be skinny as well. Older models with curves are now allowing more girls to be content with their bodies.
As of this week, ebay is starting a fashion site working with several different brands. Though the idea is good, I have a feeling it won’t be much of a success. Personally, I don’t use ebay because I think it’s confusing. The whole idea of auctioning for a product throws me off because there is no guarantee that I am going to get the product. If I am going to shop online for clothes (which many people don’t even do), I would rather just go to the actual website of a store and be guaranteed my purchase. However, some people might be excited about getting expensive items for a cheaper price. Also some people are more comfortable with using ebay and may prefer this method. It will definitely be interesting to see how the site plays out.
Lesley Hornby, also known as Twiggy, is a well known 60 year old English model . At the start of her modeling days, she felt she was too skinny and was a strong believer that people always want what they don’t have in terms of their bodies. For example, because she was skinny, she wanted curves and hips. As a result, today she has a fashion line that includes all sizes which encourages “genes- not starvation.” I think that what Twiggy is doing is great. The more sizes there are available in stores, the better people will feel when they find the size they want. Often sizes run small at stores and the size people need isn’t even available. If there is a larger variety of sizes, people will not have doubts about their weight and therefore will not be as likely to want to lose tons of weight as soon as they leave the store. In addition to adding more sizes, Twiggy is also creating a line of affordable skinny jeans. She believes fashion should be for everyone, not just the wealthy, and that everyone deserves nice things. I completely agree with this. In today’s day and age, clothing is a major representation of wealth and this should not be the case. It is not fair that only people with money can afford designer items. Overall, Twiggy has achieved some great accomplishments and hopefully other fashion designers will follow her trend.
According to Yahoo News, many well known brands are using the internet often now to advertise their products. “Of the different advertising platforms, the Web is expected to have grown 9.5 percent in 2009 followed by 12 to 13 percent annual growth through the next three years.” Most people are so connected to the internet now that they are searching for clothes and fashion items online rather then just looking in magazines or going to the stores. The article also explains that all of the social networking websites like Facebook have made consumers more comfortable and confident with the internet and are therefore using it to shop. One of the major plusses is that Internet shoppers can instantly see what is “hot” without stepping outside a doorway. In my opinion, I think it is a great idea. At school, I often find myself searching for clothes online because I feel that we don’t have the best clothing stores in Fredericksburg. I can often also find a greater variety of clothes online and it is easy to compare prices. The major disadvantage however is not being able to try an item on. You don’t know how something will look and if it will fit right, often resulting in exchanges (which is a complete pain). You also have to pay for shipping which adds up if you are constantly shopping online. All in all, I think surfing the web online for clothes is a good alternative if you need something you can’t find in the stores. But for everyday use, it is better to just go the stores and see the product in person.
In the past couple of years, there have been many efforts made in order try and save our environment from global warming. At last it seems that the fashion industry is truly making an effort to make clothes eco-friendly. In recent news, tons of models were walking down the runway with fake fur at the Chanel show in Paris. One of the designer’s quoted “Global warming is the issue of our times. Fashion has to address it.”
In addition, H&M, a popular clothing store for teens, just recently started offering organic and recycled floral prints for the spring. The polyester is recycled and the cotton, linen, and Tencel is organic, supposedly produced with minimum environmental impact. I think it is great what the fashion industry is doing. Anything we can do to save the environment will make a difference. The more eco-friendly clothes we have, the more popular and trendy it will become. All in all, clothing is great way to get people to make an environmental impact with little effort. Bravo!
This quote was by Paul Klee, a well known swiss painter.
With an African-American president, one would think there would be a greater acceptance of blacks, especially at this day and age. However, this is not the case with models in the fashion industry. A recent study on essence.com has shown that “about 16% of the nearly 4,000 models hired at New York Fashion Week were women of color. Of that figure, only 8% were Black.” There are probably only a handful of black models that are very well known, one of them being Tyra Banks. Part of this is because whites are seen as “higher class” and therefore advertisers think that people will want to wear clothes whites wear as opposed to blacks. I do not think this issue is not very representative of our society today. The gap between white and blacks is only getting smaller and I think it’s very strange that this has not effected models in the fashion industry. Perhaps only time will tell…
Over break, I road tripped with my friend from LA to San Francisco and kept a close eye on the fashion. Even though there were many “stylish” items of clothing in LA (as expected), the Haight-Ashbury area in San Francisco is what really sparked my interest. As many of you know, Haight-Ashbury was at the center of the hippie movement in the 1960′s. It was associated with the Beat movement and the “Summer of love.” However that was many years ago and one would think that the fashion would be more representative of today’s culture. Surprisingly, it was the opposite. As soon as I got there I immediately felt the hippie “vibes.” Up and down the streets were peace signs, Victorian style houses, and cool vintage stores. Naturally, I found myself in the vintage stores within seconds. A lot of the stuff consisted of tie-dye t shirts, worn out jeans, and flannel items. I thought it was really cool to see people purchasing clothes like these even though it is 50 years later. It represents that some people still support anti-violence, peace, the environment, and a love for friends and family. In other words, not all clothes that people wear today are an accurate representation of our society. Some people still believe in the ideals of the past and clothing is often worn to show they still have these beliefs.
Last Saturday in London, plus-size models took over the catwalk. The clothes worn were less revealing then usual, and women’s natural curves were very noticeable. Meanwhile, a department store “won praise” when it released size 16 mannequins in the shop windows to represent that the regular women there is about this size. The head of the department store stated, “We are proud to offer a broad and varied choice for women of all ages, shapes and sizes in store. So we thought we should reflect this in our window displays…”
Plus-size models are not just gaining popularity in London but in the United States as well. More and more we see plus-size models displaying different styles of clothing and fashion on tv, in magazines, and more. I think it’s really a great thing. We all aspire to be what we see on the media, and because models before were so skinny, many females wanted to be the same way which led them on the path to eating disorders. Now that plus-size models are more popular, I think that females will start to become more comfortable with their bodies. If something is constantly shown on the news or the media, then it is automatically “acceptable” in our society. The big question is if this trend will last. Will our country continue to follow the path of plus-size models or will it eventually go back to skinny models only?
Plus Size Models vs. Typical Fashion Models (YouTube Video)
