Fashion Police

[gerisullivan]

This post started out as an email to smofbabe, debgeisler, and elaine_brennan, but before I finished it, I decided to inflict it on anyone who dared click on the links:

I'm not sure what body shapes this dress would look good on, but I'm certain none of them are plus size. No wonder it's on clearance....

On the other hand, the front view of this winter jacket strikes me as fashionably cute (in a good way), even with its super-wide lapels. I bet it would fail the warmth requirement for this climate, and the back view from the waist down is questionable...if I'm being overly generous.

Great Ghu, there are a lot of ugly clothes out there right now.

The entire "let's bring back the '60s and '70s, but make them worse" trend is disturbing. Here's a typical, gag-prompting example. I noticed this trend several years ago, and immediately hoped that it would sink within a season. No such luck.

Over on the shoe & boot front, Deb will be relieved to learn that even I think these are ghod-awful.

"Plaid wool and rich suede intriguingly mix on a lace-up ankle boot balanced atop a stacked heel and hidden platform." No, that plaid on that heel is not balanced or intriguing. It's revolting.

While we're reshaping the economy, is it too much to hope that designers and manufacturers will learn that one good way to persuade consumers to part with their hard-earned and limited funds is to offer attractive merchandise? Good quality and reasonable prices don't hurt either. With those in place, merchants will have a better chance of selling things before everything in their stores and websites hits the clearance racks.

Comments

[cynthia1960.livejournal.com]

Sweet Mother Goddess above, those clothes are fugly!

[kaffy_r]

Oh dear. Your Faithful Correspondent must acknowledge, or admit, her love of both sets of boots, most particularly the plaid ones. And she must say she really likes the first dress, for reasons even she cannot quite parse, unpack, or grok. The brown skirt, on the other hand, looks like a 7th grader had the flu when she was trying to finish it for her Home Ec sewing final. The peasant blouse looks like it wandered into Nordstrom from Sears, and is being kept warm and fed by the kindly other clothing pieces, who don't quite know what to do beyond that.

[kate-schaefer.livejournal.com]

An open-toed winter boot definitely wins some kind of dysfunctional clothing award.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Golly, that first dress may be the best of the lot. The problem with the winter jacket is the pleating on the pockets is going to accentuate the heck out of any extra width of person at the hip line. Not so good. That skirt, though, is mind-boggling in its desperate awfulness. Ye gods.

While I agree with you that retreads of the '70s are a bad idea, rendered worse by most re-designs, I have to say I rather wish Jessica McClintock would re-visit her Gunne Sax designs, and bring some out for plus sizes. I've recently discovered that there are all sorts of Gunne Sax clothes on eBay, and they've held their value remarkably well (the damn' dresses are *still* $150-200), but of course, they're even more woefully too small for me than they were in 1979.

But I am starting to think that I can borrow the design elements and make contemporary knockoffs of my own, that fit me. Then I can finally have that Senior Prom dress I never could have back then.

[wild-patience.livejournal.com]

Actually, I kind of like the first dress. On the other hand, the other stuff is really, really ugly. That skirt looks like the cat tried to sew. I see all kinds of shirts like that in the stores. I hate both the fabric (the print) and the style.

[drpaisley.livejournal.com]

Mother of Ghu, Puss-Puss!

That's a whole lot of hideous there, I must say. One obvious problem: a complete lack of paisley.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what body shapes this dress would look good on

She's grown a carapace!

Here's a typical, gag-prompting example.

She's pregnant, and both her arms have been tied off to take blood samples.

No, that plaid on that heel is not balanced or intriguing.

It's a disguised container for carrying Scotch.

[lauriemann.livejournal.com]

Yeah, clothes for over a year for women have been hideous. I buy stuff on sale (and lots of stuff was on sale today at the mall) but it was all too ugly to buy.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

It's really hard to pull off a bandage dress; you tend to need a figure like this.

B

[haniaw.livejournal.com]

I like the first dress - even though I could never wear it. Everything else you've linked to is hideous to the extreme. My gut reaction to all of them was "yuck".

[kgkofmel.livejournal.com]

Both sets of boots would be great for steampunk costuming... except for the price...

[debgeisler.livejournal.com]

Hates it all, we do. Uglllllly.

[eackerman.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. One wonders what some of those designers were thinking.

[elaine-brennan.livejournal.com]

Despite the temptation, I am not going to put my eye out with a stick.

But it's a serious temptation after looking at some of those things.

[galtine1.livejournal.com]

Agree, dress #1 nothing over size 12 or 14, as long as there is an hourglass/or flat shape happening. No extra buldges.

The skirt...left over from the parachute fad or the safari fad. ick

suede boot...over-done. Close the toe, and gills on one side, maybe. A Firefly costume boot for sure, but that's about it.

plaid. I liked a link to a plaid pump that they had, but for costuming, not everyday or fashion wear. The boot would take work to costume to, for me, as it's not a color-tone I can wear (too warm-yellow).


The coat. Not a warm coat, it's a fashion coat for color wear. Like my Zebra from Lane Bryant this season. I have to wear a solid color shawl over it for warmth.

I've got a pair of Madden Girl pumps that I picked up at Mervyn's closing days that for most people would be hideous shoes...but for me they are perfect: one's become an everyday Event Planner meeting shoe at 3.5" and a toe platform of 1/4" (http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/41844123/c/3.html)and the other are black patent shinys for jeans and night time with spikey heels (photo link not found).

[thette.livejournal.com]

I'm glad the sixties, seventies and early eighties are back. I've become fond of tunics with big, bold patterns in bright colours. (Currently wearing one with irregular squares and rectangles in white, black, brown and red.) It's something of a style for me, and it looks good even on a full sized body. I just wish they'd do something sensible with the sleeves. Short or full, not 3/4, and no elastics or anything in the sleeve hem, please.