Style blogs and freebies

[FallonColby]

Is it just me or does anyone else get annoyed with the amount of freebies style bloggers get. For example, one blogger was berating the fact she had nothing to wear to an event, unsurprisingly she was then contacted by a company who gifted her a dress. I am sure this was not the bloggers intention but I am annoyed at seeing blogs I have previously enjoyed turn into a constant advert. It just takes the reality out of it.

Frugal

I love that geeky fashion chat. Always up for that . Interesting comparison between Vreeland's last years and AW's. Vreeland didn't get the American sportswear luxe look did she? Didn't predict how influential it turned out to be.

You have to be part of the game in more ways than merely editing a magazine and organising the equivalent of trade fairs (Met Ball) and FDA meets. I'm not interested in endless photos of Lisa Airan/Aerin Lauder/Lauren Santo Domingo at another PR infested event.

I like reading about new designers, about new techniques (an article on the challenges of cleaning these new techno fabrics and intricate techniques was brilliant-Geek-heaven). Even some of Plum Sykes articles can be great. I am thinking of her musings on finding long and long enough sleeves, getting shoes for big feet and the issue she has with buttons dropping off 2 thousand dollar pieces of clothing.,

Grace Coddington hates the influx of actresses and personalities onto the covers of fashion magazines. She is old skool enough (and an ex model too) to think that these are a models career progression, like a sign posting of their worth and that reducing the opportunities for models to get a cover (after all it is what their are good at - displaying clothes) is a retrograde step.

I agree with her. Nothing looks better than beautifully crafted clothing on a model who knows how to use her body to display them to good effect, creating and implying mood and nuance and referencing great shoots that have gone before.

I'm not sure when I last read Vogue.

But I want writing like Hadley Freeman in Ten Mag, and Man R on the blog. Fresh, clear and with a certain sharpness.

And excellent photography. Not the same old model jumper in the air with jaunty angles. But really good photographers that shoot beautifully.

Of course it all costs so much. And we access a lot of it via free places (pin etc) which makes it harder for magazines to recoup the expense. I'm not surprised at all the advertising - it's a good thing that luxury labels know that glossy paper creates a better image otherwise they would have folded ages ago.

Love Hadley Freeman- she is so talented.

I too get tired of six photos of a shoe from six different angles. Same with food blogs that photograph every single ingredient artfully arranged on a chopping block

I kind of like looking at the adverts too. When I go through my old copies of Vogue I can see in retrospect, the way some photographers and stylists have totally changed the aesthetic. Jurgen Teller did it with the Marc Jacobs photos of VB in a bag (eg), then there was that Versace Palm Beach crossec with Valley Of The Dolls campaign- Amber Valletta with Sharon Tate big hair. Then the actresses started muscling in.

Violet Grey is a fantastic beauty/style/art blog that has the highest levels of access to collaborators. The amazing shoot with Eva Mendes where she channelled Dolores Del Rio was one of my faves.

It's funny that great sportwear (not talking about velour trackies a la Juicy ) really defines what is great about American fashion to me and it's been in a way as liberating and influential as anything that Chanel invented. (I mean, look at mass fashion now.) But yes I think DV missed some of that though she may have had a very big behind the scenes role in inventing American fashion when it really got started. The bio I read (a good read - DV 'found' Andre Leon Talley too) explained that American fashion used to be picking apart French couture outfits and then mass-producing them but I think during WW2 and after (initially because of war-induced trade limitations) a new homemade style emerged and DV was a big force in that.

I used to collect period dressing paper dolls as a child and love technical aspects of clothing (was a hobby seamstress as a teenager and designed my own faux Lacroix and Chanel outfits - even a swimsuit ). I've never found a better source than late 1980s / early 1990s Threads magazines that explained couture construction tricks and went technical on what constitutes a Halston or Norell dress. I'm also nostalgic for the early 1990s supermodel era and the sheer and extravagant beauty of fashion shoots back then... At that time, I was also a regular Interview magazine reader and I think they were great back then. But I think there has never been anything more beautiful and powerful and daring than some of those 1960s Veruschka shoots.

Marsha I miss fresh and edgy writing and should perhaps look at more limited-circulation magazines - Vogue et al feel corporate somehow...

Mig I let go of my Vogue collection during our last move. This was one of my favorite covers ever, it defines an era for me I miss the time when there were few words on the cover and the pics itself spoke volumes...

I cannot sew at all although I enjoy the technical chat. I read Selvedge and find it such a beautiful magazine to browse.

I too had those paper dolls Frugal and used to draw and cut out my own outfits with little hanging tabs. Used to 'write' my own fashion magazine like I suspect a lot of 60's/70's kids did and bored the pants off my family with my insistence that they read it.

I have been reading about those post war American designers- Mary McFadden, Galanos, Holly Harper, Norell, Pauline Trigere, Hattie Carnegie and Bill Blass. I once saw a gorgeous McFadden hand painted sack style dress/tunic. Gorgeous. My Mother used to wear a lot of Lilly Pulitzer and also owned some Galanos.

The couture houses used to have to keep a look out for US 'industrial spies' at their shows and buyers meetings and their decision to not allow full sketching at their shows for decades was fueled by this. You could sketch a detail or a suggestion of a shape but anybody trying to do anything more detailed would be swooped down upon, have it confiscated and end up blacklisted by the Chambre Syndicale (you likely know this already ). That links in to what you wrote about deconstruction and reconstruction of European fashions for the domestic market.

Funny how initally US design was led by the film industry costume designers,, Edith Head and Adrian Head- wasn't Norell a film costume designer too at one point? Adrian had his own line didn't he? It has kind of gone ironically full circle in that it is now Hollywood actors that are influencing fashion and style.

Frugal

That cover is lovely and it definitely references an old Jean Shrimpton pose. Will try to find it.

Mig I feel the same about adverts. A great shot is a great shot, it's usually a very minimal bit of text on top anyway. And also they usually have a very clear direction which the usual clothes spreads might not have.

And yes to old ads, I could only find the one I wanted, but there are some great Chanel 90s ads out there. There are some better ones, but the 90s was so positive and happy for a while. Funny to look back and see the difference.

Frugal I visit and buy from a very small art book and magazine shop in London and I am amazed at the sheer amount of magazines, and new ones too. I don't know how they are funded, new ones like Acne Paper, Lady (not sure how new, first time I had seen them), then more established ones Self Service, Citizen K and Ten. Loads and loads more I can't recall. I love it in there.

Marsha I was in New York last week and found amazing indie fashion magazines in my old favorite bookstore, Spoonbill & Sugartown in Williamsburg. I was there with a younger friend and she was amazed to see a smart fashion magazine. Italy is not great in this respect or maybe I just haven't found the right places but street style and even playground style here is pretty interesting anyway...

Mig oh love your vintage American designer talk... To me, Galanos is synomous with Nancy Reagan I read far too many fashion books and one of them had a really entertaining account on old school Hollywood fashion - it has always been cheesy. Possibly Schiaparelli was bored out of her mind there... (Her autobiography is incredibly well-written, reads almost like a good novel.) Another book explained how Armani was one of the first to understand the power of movie star endorsement (remember American Gigolo? - I think the suits had a starring role in that one...) and how systematical his approach was so we can blame him.

Has anyone seen the Italian designer exhibit at V&A yet ?

Wow look at Linda E in that ad!

Frugal true, Italy has great street style. Can you remember the mags in NYC you loved?

Mig. oh no really. I completely agree, and I imagine it's different people responding to Lily Allen with an it bag (sob). Interesting about social media contracts for models.

That sob was not to keep people out of liking fashion, any one can. More that I would not like the product placement to take over the current method.

Oh yes Armani branded Richard Gere and then Jodie Foster -good choice with the latter.

Galanos was VERY Nancy Reagan and I think they supplied Dynasty and Dallas with some clothing along with Linda Evan's Norell. It was all very drapey, should pad-y and glittery epaulettes. My Mothers best Galanos was a snaked mermaid sheath covered in black bugle beads and sequins. It had a midnight blue net and silk satin sheath underneath. Very glam and would probably go for thousands in Decades now.

I have read excerpts of the new bio of Schiaparelli and recently read an old US Vogue containing an interview with Marisa Berenson who was the Grandaughter of Schiapp. She spoke of growing up visiting her, playing with the eclectic stuff in her apartment and about the death of her sister in 9/11 who was one one of the planes that flew in the WTC.

I need to find that now. I also need to develop an archive system of contents because I waste hours ferreting through back copies for various people.

oh god I need an archive system. Do you know how hard it is to find an image when flicking through mags. Even on pin it takes ages.

Nightmare.My archiving system is in my head which is rapidly failing as I age .

I was amazed that Anna W didn't even have all her back copies. Her daughter said she had to go out and find them for her.

Can you imagine? And gives even more credence to the idea that she 1) doesn't read it and 2) looks forwards not back.

Good on her. I'd be the same, no point in looking for references in old issues when you've got to think of something new.

Quite right. My problem has always been looking back rather than forwards. I am therefore a responder as opposed to something more creative.

I do hope she pulls US Vogue back though. It was so great a few years ago. Loads of interesting articles and less overtly PR driven.

Marsha I was so jet-lagged that my memory was not functioning properly and really stupidly I didn't purchase them and bring them home that was before I bought the extra suitcase. But one of the lovely indies was a brainy fashion mag for 40-50 sths Think it started with a V but might as well be hallucinating Anyway, that shop is a gem and well worth a visit. Need to go back...

Mig when I was babbling about Armani I totally forgot the Givenchy & Audrey Hepburn partnership that really started the movie star and fashion designer collaborations At that time, other French designers shunned Hollywood, Chanel was bored to death and Dior thought it was too crass and vulgar for him. And Schiap got caught in an earthquake and spilled her martini Yet some of the most memorable outfits ever made were designed by those relatively unknown Hollywood costume designers. Did you know that Dorothy's red ruby slippers (now on show in Washington DC) were by Adrian?

Who loves Peter Lindbergh smudged eyes?

I had to google, but yep looks good!

I have been happily working on mac and chatting about fashion, got to go out now, has been fun.

Peter Lindbergh's shots of Helena Christansen are some of my favourite pics ever. He did that lovely Vogue cover of Tatjana, Christy, Cindy, Naomi didn't he? They were wearing simple ?Alaia bodysuits and jeans I think. The smudged eye was very much a feature.

Laughing at the idea of Schiap spilling her Martini! I always had the idea that Isabella Blow wanted to channel that iconoclastic Dada spirit but sadly her mental health problems meant she was never wild and free .

Thanks ladies for the lovely fashion chat! We are going out too, to the playground that is like a runway. Last time one mom was wearing a Chanel belly chain Curiously long-john like gray slim-fit joggers seem to be an ascending trend as well... I'm channeling normcore in my sweatshirt and mom jeans, haven't embraced a fanny pack and white Reeboks yet but will any day now

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Am imagining all kinds of play equipment catastrophes involving a belly chain

DMBL40 has obviously read this thread if you read today's post

Thanks Lord P - I of course will take every thing you say with the grain of salt it deserves. Can't wait to see your blog - your style must be amazing. Maybe if you stopped bitching about everyone and everything you'd have more time to start one? You sound like you don't have much to be happy about. Very informative thread.