Have You Met the Met?

On Monday night, the biggest annual event in the fashion industry, The Met Gala, took place in New York City at the Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  This year, the focus was on the life and work of the late Alexander McQueen who committed suicide last February. He was an absolute genius, fashion's beloved bad boy who could bathe not only a garment but an entire fashion show in fantasy and the greatest imagination. His designs transported those in their presence and the very lucky few who were FORTUNE-ate enough to wear them to the depths of his creative mastermind. He will never be forgotten and will always be missed.

This has got to be my FAVORITE time of year. The originality, creativity and playfulness of some of these looks is truly amazing. And inspiring. The BEST red carpet. Period.

Have a look at a few (VERY few) of my favorites. Enjoy!

MUST-SEE: check out Vogue.com's AWESOME video with all the red carpet fixtures.

VOGUE + THE MET

Best Dressed Battle

 

images via Google Images

BEST DRESSED BATTLE

By Alexandra Fizer

ATLANTA—Atlanta University Center students have taken to the concrete paved runways of their campuses to express themselves between juggling heavy workloads and extracurricular activities.

Particularly, students who attend Spelman College and Morehouse College have demonstrated a fervent interest in displaying their individual styles during the colleges' busiest time—class time.

Students from each campus note the overwhelming attention paid to one’s style choices.

Spelman College senior Kristina Herring seems to think accessories have no place in academia, “it’s such a fashion show everyday, it’s kind of pointless,” she said. “People really put on their best stuff to go and sit in class for an hour and a half.”

Morehouse College senior Earl Flood sees a more self-conscious effect on his campus, “I know guys who won’t go to class if they don’t have anything fly to wear,” he said. “Or will try really hard not to be seen around campus if they don’t like their outfit. It’s weird.”

While the attention paid to how one presents themselves seems to be of paramount importance to the community, some students would assert that creatively styling their wardrobe is inherent in the AUC culture.

“At Morehouse, you’re told to take a certain pride in how you present yourself,” Flood said, tugging firmly at the collar of polo T-shirt. “It’s all a part of being that ‘Renaissance Man’ that the college shapes you to be.”

Herring sees a similar influence inside the Spelman gates, “you hear so much about being a ‘Spelman Woman’,” she said. “For a lot of people, I think that means the hair, the pearls, the outfit, the whole package.”

To this end, both historically black colleges have multiple student organizations devoted to fashion, such as Morehouse’s Cashmere Club and Spelman’s My Sister’s Closet, an organization that supplies gently used garments and accessories donated by students for their fellow sisters in need.

Additionally, the colleges’ joint homecoming celebration kicks-off annually with a fashion show, which, accordingly to the event's organizers, is always a main attraction for students and visiting alumni.

But the liberal arts institutions are accepting of celebrating fashion in many forms.

Last year, Spelman’s Afrekete and Morehouse’s Safe Space programs hosted WERK, a “drag fashion show” where many of the models were members of the LGBT support groups.

The mission of the show, according to Spelman’s website, was to “debunk the notion of conformity and traditionalism as mechanisms of success.”

But the debunking of these socially constructed norms, to some students, simply cannot be done.

“It’s just the way things are,” Flood said. “Yeah, you can dress any way you want but to a certain extent it has to agree with the college and its core values.”

This deep regard for tradition was first introduced most notably two years ago when Morehouse College issued a controversial dress code after a less than favorable article was published about the feminine sartorial choices of five of the institution’s gay students.

However, Herring insists that neither campus’ dress code prohibits students from expressing themselves, “nobody really pays attention to it, especially if you actually care about fashion,” she said. “All people are concerned with is looking good whether that’s wearing heels, make-up, a weave. They want to be seen.”

This invested interest in one’s outer appearance may signal something larger about the social climate of this particular academic community.

Herring sees the impact of this campus-wide clamoring for the title of best dressed, “ everybody wants to be a trendsetter and stand out from the crowd,” she said. “So if you have that nice piece of clothing or whatever, it makes you feel like you’re affecting how others dress. It’s a competition.”

Atlanta-based stylist Katriesa Raines notes what this reasoning might reveal about the importance of aesthetics to college students today.

“Our society is hung up on ‘looking’ wealthy and having certain merchandise feeds their ego,” she said.

Flood certainly concurs with Raines’s mention of ego, “ you’ve got a group of kids that only want the best, and that just happens to go for their clothes too,” he said.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look the part.”




For more information about Morehouse College's dress code, click here.

Fake It 'Til You Make It

I

 images via Google Images and theCut.com

 FAKE IT ‘TIL YOU MAKE IT
By Alexandra Fizer

ATLANTA—Fashion designers and other industry fixtures across the nation are pursuing stricter legislation regarding the protection and copyright of their original designs.

Over the past year, designers and their respective parent companies have taken legal action not only to ensure that the counterfeits, or “knock-offs”, of their designs are attributed but also that the design house responsible receives their due profit.

Certain areas in major cities, such New York City’s Canal Street, have become unofficially designated for catering to the fashion conscious hoping to score a version of the latest It bag for far less than its actual market value.

An experienced counterfeit buyer, Patricia McCombs doesn’t see the harm of her purchase in the moment, “I’ve become so used to looking for a version of a bag I can’t actually afford that getting knock-offs has become sort of natural,” she said. “Not because I seek them out, but because everybody sells them.”

McCombs isn’t the only member of the fashion crowd to take notice of the now ubiquitous presence of knock-offs.

Belinda Henderson can’t seem to tell the difference, “they’re everywhere now it’s so hard to tell which one is fake and which one isn’t,” she said. “There are some good ones out there.”

But despite the careful detail put into many of these counterfeit items, the distributors can’t fool fashion’s head honchos.

In March 2010, the Congressional Apparel Manufacturing and Fashion Business Caucus was established on Capitol Hill with the goal of passing legislation to help eliminate the manufacturing and distribution of impostor designer goods.

Also, Diane von Furstenberg, famed designer and president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, founded her re-election in her mission to secure copyright protection for designers by re-examining the Design Piracy Prohibition Act.

The significance of this legislation isn’t lost on those playing less central roles in its making. 


Susan Scafidi, the academic director of Fordham Law School focuses particularly on the importance of having such regulations in place to protect designers.


On her blog, Counterfeit Chic, the professor wrote, “law enforcement resources are limited, and pursuing counterfeiters is expensive.”  


“This issue is especially controversial in less affluent countries and in countries without major creative industries that would benefit from enforcement,” she wrote, adding “ and let’s face it, the market responds to consumer demand.”


But some consumers in demand seem to believe knock-offs will live on despite the industry’s efforts to put them to rest. 


“I’m not sure if there’s a way to completely stop it,” Henderson said strolling around a table of embellished accessories at the Inman Park Festival. “Designers are going to keep taking each others’ ideas, now they’re just going to be better at protecting themselves from backlash.”


If the manufacturing of others’ creative designs is, as consumers would believe, unstoppable, what additional action can industry figures take to protect themselves?


Katriesa Raines, an Atlanta-based prop and wardrobe stylist and owner of Olive and Paisley Umbrella boutiques, works around the pitfalls, “I go straight to legitimate sources and boutiques, stores that carry authentic merchandise,” she said. “If I am styling ‘a look’, I choose to do an interpretation of the garment or accessory, not pawn it off as real.”


And when distinguishing between real and almost real, Raines asserts it’s all in the details.


“Knock offs are made in cheaper fabrics, logos are not correct or chopped in half on garments or accessories,” she said. “Knock offs are sold in shady areas like street markets, garages or the back of individuals' car trunks.”


McCombs echoes Raines’s intent to find an equally fashionable alternative to more recognizable brands without purchasing a faux Fendi.


“I try to steer clear of the questionable places to buy them like at a street vendor, at stores that don’t look legitimate,” she said. 


Henderson however takes a less ethical approach to her shopping, “the whole point of getting a knock-off is that nobody can tell the difference,” she said. 


“If people can’t tell, why let the cat out of the bag?”






For more information on the CFDA, click here.

Also, check out Susan Scafidi's blog here.

Finder's Keepers

 Gaia Repossi, Creative Director of Repossi Joailliers

image via James Merrell for The Wall Street Journal

Psycho Sisters in Little Five Points

image via Google images

FINDER’S KEEPERS

By Alexandra Fizer

ATLANTA—The vintage and thrift retail industries are experiencing a spike in popularity amongst the city’s fashion set that are unwilling to sacrifice their quantity for quality.

The growth in customer base is occurring despite the appeal of shopping hotspots that the city is known for such as Lenox Mall and Phipps Plaza. Recently, areas such as Little Five Points and Midtown have gained notoriety for their impressive selection of gently used designer items.

But vintage and thrift shoppers assert that the idea of hunting for gems priced significantly below their actual market value is not new.

Kristina Herring is a seasoned vintage and thrift shopper, “I started in high school probably around 2005,” she said. “It’s always been a way to find pieces that nobody else has or has seen before. I definitely go for the exclusivity.”

That exclusivity may be short-lived. The popularity of vintage and thrift shopping has risen in recent years thanks to the availability with which fashion devotees can access the favored, and often secret, shopping spots of their style inspirations.

Online fashion websites such as The Cut.com, Fashionista.com, and Garancedore.fr have all devoted numerous posts to unearthing the stores that supply the wardrobes of It girls and celebrities from every genre.

Publications such as The Wall Street Journal have taken to the women’s trend. Last month, the daily business newspaper published a piece following Gaia Repossi, 25-year-old Creative Director of Italian jewelry company Repossi Joailliers and frequent style blog fixture, to her favorite vintage shops in Paris.

Angie McLean, owner of vintage shop Psycho Sisters in Little Five Points, details the way they and many other vintage and thrift stores acquire their merchandise.

“Mostly, we give customers money for their clothes,” she said. “We also get them from state sales, from closeouts, stores going out of business and out of state."

But the ease and practicality of this relatively fallow shopping trend comes with a price. Often times, it’s a high one.

“A lot of them are overpriced. They rip people off by saying they buy clothes but pay you $5 and sell it for $45,” Herring said. “They’ll even price something at or close to its original value. That’s not what thrifting or vintage shopping should be about.”

Michelle Moore, a Texas native and practiced vintage shopper shares Herring’s sentiments about the dwindling thrill of the hunt.

“Now that more and more people are starting to catch on it’s losing its appeal,” she said. “Shop owners know that more people with more money are hip to the trend now so they can hike up their prices for those new shoppers that can afford it.”

According to The Economist, the recession that hit the US economy and the retail market particularly hard ended in June of 2009. But when it comes to shopping, it would seem things still haven’t rebounded.

And with the steady increase of fuel prices, customers are perhaps more aware than ever of their spending habits.

Herring can relate, being on a self-described “strict college budget”.

“Students do it more because it’s trendy,” she said. “When you’re older, you want something that’s going to last, that’s not pre-owned and has marks or flaws.”

Though Moore doesn’t let her age deter her from taking full advantage of the shopping trend.

“I’ve found Chanel for $200 instead of $2,000,” she said. "I know friends who’ll look to thrift stores for their kids’ Halloween costumes or something you only wear once."

However, the two women do share a newly adopted strategic approach to their vintage and thrift shopping, a result of the increase in the trend’s popularity.

“It’s very hit or miss. Sometimes you’ll find the perfect thing then others you’ll find nothing,” Herring said. “It’s tricky and has become timed”.

“It’s very time consuming,” Moore said. “You have to be patient, especially now considering you have so many people looking in your best places for the same great pieces you want.”

Pausing mid-sentence to pick up a silk utilitarian blouse in cream buried amongst an assortment of loud shades and sequins, Moore’s eyes focused.

“Persistence is key”.

Here are links to The Wall Street Journal piece, Psycho Sisters's website and a "City Guide" piece from Garance Dore, a popular streetstyle photographer. Enjoy!

The Wall Street Journal shops with Gaia Repossi

Psycho Sisters  

Garance Dore

Long, Tall Ladies

 Top to Bottom: White Linen Jacket, Green Paper Bag Waist Pants and an Assortment of Denim from Long Tall Sally.
images via Alex Fizer

LONG, TALL LADIES

By Alexandra Fizer

ATLANTA—This Sunday, the DoubleTree Hotel welcomed Georgia’s long, tall ladies to a pop up shop event hosted by Long Tall Sally, a specialty retailer that caters to women 5 feet 8 inches and above.

The Buckhead location hosted the event for the privately owned London-based retailer  in its spacious softly lit conference room. The towering shoppers were offered water and orange juice as they circled the racks and white-clothed tables draped with finely tailored garments and accessories all fashioned with the taller woman in mind.

The primary mission of the event was to bring stateside a collection of clothing for those that hover around the 5-foot-8-inch mark.

Tanya Triplett, the pop up shop manager, puts it plainly, “The number one mission was to bring specialized clothing to a customer, to get in touch with as many people as we could to let them know about the show,” she said.

Long Tall Sally is not the first store of its kind but is seemingly the only surviving contender in the increasingly discouraging retail market for tall women’s fashion.

Triplett is aware of the dearth in options. “There were three major tall clothing stores for females that went out of business within six months of each other,” she said. “Tall women can’t just go into any store and buy whatever they want. They just don’t have the clothes, there’s no market for it.”

Though major department stores, such as Macy’s and JCPenney, offer sections designated for tall women, the selection and quality of product is seemingly unsatisfactory to customers.

Gladys Jules, owner of GrandCare Systems, a company that seeks to help older generations become more familiar with new technology, certainly feels this sentiment.

“You can get a few things from JCPenney but even now JCPenney doesn’t have nearly the number of things they used to. It’s very difficult,” she said. “The only time you can get anything tall is just slacks, so that whole arm length thing is a big problem.”

A problem that Long Tall Sally aims to correct. “This is all we do,” Triplett said. “The whole thing—the rise, arm length, bust size, the different types of figures of women.”

Triplett continued to point out where Long Tall Sally differs from other retailers that carry options for the statuesque set. “Instead of taking into consideration the rise for women, they just add the length on,” she said. “The rise is the fit.”

At 6 feet 1 inch, Jules, who comes from a family of tall women (her mother and daughters range from 6-foot to 6 feet 2 inches), can’t help but harp on the daunting task of finding properly suited items.  But for her, the problem area is rather specific.

“Clothes that are made for most people are not proportioned to a taller height,” she said. “Usually the waist is shorter or if you’re tall from your waist down to your knee that’s extremely difficult because you have very, very long thighs so the clothes are not made to accommodate real long thighs.”

The problem of long thighs runs in the family. Exacting the length of the trouble area with her lengthy fingers, Jules continued very precisely.  “All the length is here, which is the problem that both my daughters have and my mom,” she said. “They just don’t cut them to fit them...really there’s no choice. [Long Tall Sally] is the only store available.”

Despite her average 5-foot-5-inch frame, event-goer Sha’ron, Atlanta-based personal stylist and owner of DminJ Couture Clothing, was still able to reap the benefits of the specialized pop up shop conveniently placed in the lobby of her hotel.

“It was so unexpected,” she said. “I didn’t know they were having this but they have some cute stuff.”

With the ability to cater to a specific niche in demand of more fashionable options and appeal to an audience outside of its target, the future looks bright for Long Tall Sally in the States.

“Our home office is in Canada. We only have two stores—one in the Mall of America in Minnesota, and another in Nunica, Mich.,” Triplett said. “ But that’s kind of a month-by-month basis if we’re going to keep that store open but right now it’s going really well.”

What are the company’s long-term objectives? Triplett is optimistic about the company’s aspirations to expand.

“We’re hoping to open three a year,” she said. “Georgia was sort of an experimental place for us. So it’s pretty cool.”

Be sure to check out Long Tall Sally's online site and online magazine.

Young, Fabulous Females

 images via theRoot.com and talkingwithtami.com

YOUNG, FABULOUS FEMALES

By Alexandra Fizer

ATLANTA—Target rolled out its plush red carpet and poured rows of cherry-tinted Targetinis to greet guests of Young, Fabulous and Female, an event sponsored by the megastore and presented by TheRoot.com, an online publication that provides news from various African American perspectives.

On the evening of February 22, the swanky W Hotel in Buckhead welcomed over 200 of Atlanta’s and its neighboring cities’ women of color with the aim of encouraging them to pursue their passions.

The women offered insight on a variety of topics from beauty tips to body image, self-esteem and female empowerment, particularly black female empowerment.

The hotel’s conference room was fashioned with soft lighting and muted blue tones, lending a more intimate setting for the candid conversation between aspiring African American female professionals and their more well-known, and experienced, public figures.

Women from all over the Peach State, the fourth to host a YFF event, nestled into their seats in the conference room, waiting for the evening’s mediator, journalist Jacque Reid, to begin the panel discussion. With their Targetinis resting near their stilettos and camera-phones ready in hand, the audience peered at the similarly decorated stage.

21-year-old student and Ohio native Ashley Harris was excited about participating.

“It’s successful black women talking about their struggles, success, fears and hopes for the future," she said. "It’s awesome to sit in a room of determined black women and have the opportunity to network with everyone afterwards."

Reid greeted the crowd with frantic waves and a wide smile. After a few minutes of light joking and slight crowd hyping, Reid informed the audience that the panel discussion was designed to be casual and conversational.

She introduced the four panelists: “The Steve Harvey Show” and “Meet the Browns” actor Terri Vaughn; disk jockey and Black Girls Rock! Founder Beverly Bond; member of R&B group SWV and author of “Player HateHer: How to Avoid the Beatdown and Live a Drama Free World” Taj George; and Jones magazine Founder Tracy Ferguson.

Audience members wasted no time in asking the women about an array of topics. Most frequently, the women asked for advice on how to remain positive despite ill wishers, further their careers and what motivated them to participate in the event.

Each panelist offered their wisdom but actor Terri Vaughn delivered her words with fervor, “I am here at Young, Fabulous and Female because first of all that’s what I am,” she said.

“Second of all, I’m here because this is what we’re supposed to do, we're supposed to help each other to feel fabulous about ourselves all the time." 

“I’m very blessed with really great friends and so I try to extend myself to be that friend for young people, young black girls because they need to know how fabulous they are,” Vaughn said, noting that it’s a conscious decision to be fabulous and participate in what makes the aspiring professionals feel good about themselves.

21-year-old aspiring documentary filmmaker Blaire Smith appreciated Vaughn’s encouragement.

“It’s nice to be able to go to an event that is just for you," she said. "It’s a room filled with other black women who have similar goals for their lives."

As she stole a sip from her crimson cocktail, Smith added that all the women attending the event are seeking to be successful in their individual endeavors and passions.

“It’s really motivating to hear from women who have already accomplished so much and can share their advice with us and support us,” Smith said, as her eyes trailed the path of panelist Beverly Bond’s platforms.

“And it doesn’t hurt that they actually are fabulous.”

Jacqui Banaszynski's Six Paths to Story

Jacqui Banaszynski's "Six Paths to Story" outlines the multiple approaches a writer can take when contemplating how to structure their story. She outlines six paths in particular that a writer can take to present their information, or story, in a striking manner.

The following are two articles that follow on one of Banaszynski's paths:

1.) Issues and Trend Stories
New shopper for First Lady's fashion-The Washington Post

The fashion crowd has largely taken noticed of first lady Michelle Obama's satorial choices since President Obama entered the race in 2008. Fashion critics from every form of media have meticulously followed and analyzed Mrs. Obama's fashion. But with her recent choice to wear a British designer, the late Alexander McQueen, to the State dinner made Lady Obama supporters uneasy. This article from the Washington Post discusses what changes Obama-fashion devotees can expect with her popular stylist from Chicago, Ikram Goldman, turning over the reigns to one of Mrs. Obama's assistants. This fits into the issues and trends stories category because it discusses not only the first lady's role as trendsetter on a global stage but also what her satorial choices reflect about our country and how one of her assistants has now taken over the job of a skilled stylist with a certain trusted taste level.

2.) Issues and Trend Stories
Oscar Wins Considered Questionable

With the Academy Awards airing in less than four hours, viewers will be tunning into to see if their favorites stars win their well earned and deserved recognition for their exceptional contributions to film this year.  Or, for some, just watching the red carpet to see the glitz and glamour. This story, also from The Washington Post, discusses the Oscars seemingly favoritism towards actors who have gained or lost weigh in order to give  more authentic, visceral portrayal of their character. This articles falls into the issues and trend stories category because it discusses the habits of the Academy, over a period of time, in selecting the winners of the acting world's most prestigious award.



Check out all of Banaszynski's paths here.

As the Story Unfolds...

 Looks from Alexander Wang's Fall 2011 collection; Alexander Wang

(images via style.com)

BEFORE: 'Tis the season. New York Fashion Week began this past Thursday exhibiting all its suspecting traits of frenzied schedules, high anxiety, and of course, droves of industry insiders rattling their Blackberrys and venti Starbucks usuals in anticipation of designers' collections for the upcoming Fall 2011 season.

Alexander Wang, New York fashion's prince of downtown cool, attempted to feed fashion gatekeepers' thirst for something new while managing to maintain his now signature aesthetic. And boy, did he leave them satisfied.

AFTER: Alexander Wang, a young, Taiwanese-American designer and New York City's reigning prince of the downtown tough-chic aesthetic, presented his Fall/Winter 2011 collection during New York Fashion Week on Friday in Lincoln Center.

Robin Givhan on Franca Sozzani

 From the top: Franca Sozzani of Vogue Italia,  Fashion Critic and Style Writer Robin Givhan and Vogue Italia's collectors' Black Issue

(images via The Washington Post, robingivhan.com and vogue.it)

Robin Givhan of The Washington Post has long been a source of journalistic inspiration for me. She writes so concisely and with so much character. Her critical analysis of American society and how it translates in the fashion industry is distinctly impressive, so much so that she was the first fashion critic to win a Pulitzer Prize.  She presents the fashion news in a smart, informative way. Her article on Franca Sozzani and how she has become a crusader for diversity in an industry dominated by white faces is particularly compelling. Sozzani, the editor in chief of Vogue Italia, has gained more recognition since publishing the Vogue Black issue in 2008. The issue later became a collector’s item.

Givhan introduces the news story’s topic in the first sentence. Immediately, the reader knows who and what this piece is about. The first quote in the article comes in the first line of ninth paragraph. It is from a trusted colleague of Sozzani. Ambiguous language is used to introduce or close the quotes, such as says or recalls. If it is clear who the speaker is the author seldom mentions their name again and will instead proceed with the story.

Givhan is a master at providing context. As a result, her introductions to quotes are minimal. Also, she provides information about the speaker after their remark. It is a natural progression and allows the reader to focus on what the source is saying. Givhan uses quite a bit of paraphrasing and sticks to a well-balanced amount of quotes—about four or five a page. The paragraph lengths range in length but never exceed six sentences. Most stick to a healthy two or three. The article ends with one nice, short sentence. It is just enough—summary-like and smart.

Check out the story here.

Daily Obsessions

Here's a quick list of my must-check blogs. I check each of these pretty religiously. They give me such inspiration! Love 'em. Enjoy!

www.thecut.com
www.fashionista.com
www.vogue.com
www.jakandjil.com
www.thesartorialist.com
www.garancedore.fr.en
www.intothegloss.com
www.thecoveteur.com
www.landoftheloud.com
www.whowhatwear.com
www.citizencouture.com
www.hanneli.com
www.annadellorusso.com
www.netaporter.com