I’m not exactly a follower of fashion. I tend to regard men’s and women’s clothing fashions as nothing more than a legal means of ripping off those who have far more money than sense, and who wouldn’t know true beauty or functionality if it bit them in the ass. Moreover, it’s great comedy sometimes.
However, sometimes fashion oversteps its boundaries to such an extent that it makes me really angry. This happens particularly when it degrades human beings, treating them and their innate humanity as nothing more than a sales gimmick to be exploited. Examples would include the use of sub-sized anorexic models, wasting millions on fashion extravaganzas in areas where poverty, violence and disease are rampant (yes, Asian sub-continent fashionistas, I’m looking at you!), and the like.
A good example of fashion gone ludicrously wrong – infuriatingly so – was a show put on by designer Charlie le Mindu at the London Fashion Week yesterday. The Daily Mail reports:
As a wigmaker, it was certainly one way to draw attention to his model’s headwear.
Designer Charlie Le Mindu broke the last taboo in the fashion world yesterday by sending models down the catwalk stark naked.
The 24-year-old whose creations are worn by Lady Gaga – caused a stir at London Fashion Week with a show featuring models clad in hot pink high-heeled boots, hats, bags, wigs…and little else.
In a scene reminiscent of the Emperor’s New Clothes, many of the assembled fashionistas did not know where to look.
French-born Le Mindu, his real name, launched his label just a year ago but has managed to grab plenty of headlines, and not just for his outlandish headgear which has included wigs in the shape of the Eiffel Tower.
At last year’s Fashion Week, he unveiled a full face headdress made of real mice and rat carcasses, outraging animal rights activists.
Asked if he was worried about the public’s reaction, he said: ‘It’s better to make them (the rodents) beautiful than give them to the snakes.’
There’s more at the link.
I’m not going to put up pictures of his nude models on a family-friendly blog like this, but for those of you who want to know what they look like, here are two examples taken from his Web site report on the show. Click on the links to see the pictures, but be warned, they are not, repeat, NOT work-safe!
Friends, I may be old-fashioned, but I can’t look at those pictures without thinking that those ladies (?) were born to parents who (presumably) loved them; were brought up in homes where they were (hopefully) taught to place a value upon themselves as human beings; and are living in a society that (supposedly) places considerable emphasis on human dignity and individuality. Why, therefore, are they parading around like sides of beef in a butcher’s shop? Where’s their dignity, the intrinsic value of their humanity, their individuality? Gone for good and all. They’re strutting around selling hats and wigs by displaying themselves like porn stars. I don’t find it attractive or enticing in the least – I find it nauseating! Given the chance, I’d send them to bed without any supper, like naughty children (but wearing pajamas!) – and I’d horsewhip the designer!
*Sigh* . . . I think I was born in the wrong generation. Does nobody care about basic, common decency anymore?
Peter
I think both of those girls could use a sandwich, or ice cream or something with about 1000 calories.
No, decency is no longer 'common' … to our shame as a society.
….Okay, an adult woman should NOT have a visible and defined iliac furrow. If they don't respect themselves enough to eat enough to maintain fertility, why should they particularly care about being naked in public?
The only ribs I want to see on a woman are those for supper.
Also, haut couture foolishness like this is just rich people making new problems for themselves so they don't have the same problems as poor people.
Jim
With all due respect, Peter…seeking basic, common decency at a fashion show is just about the same as looking for it in the Rialto(XXX!!!)Theater in the seedy part of your local downtown.
Between the models who've starved themselves to the point where they'd look 8 months pregnant if they swallowed a grape, and the bizarre costumes meant more as an insult than an accent to femininity, 'fashion shows' have devolved into 'misogynistic freak shows.'
The best way to deal with them is to not care. I've found that a wonderful way to save my sanity–plus, none of my friends and family have to hear me rant about the subject. 😉
Were any of them coerced into it? If you've ever seen any fashion show at all, Peter, you'd know that it isn't about individuality or dignity.
Models are walking mannequins. They are clothes hangers. You aren't even supposed to see them, really, just the clothes. Why would any young woman and I mean between 12 and 17) put herself through that, you ask? Because they get to see Paris, London, Milan and many other cosmopolitan cities, and be paid to do it. And maybe be the next "It Girl"–the one who gets to put "Super" before her job title.
Antibubba