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TrendSpark: Head Pieces

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When I hear the phrase head gear, I think of the awful contraption I wore as an adolescent to realign my jaw. Thankfully, designers this season make head gear look much more fashionable than a rubber strap and two metal prongs. The Junya Watanabe, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs and Nathan Jenden are a few runways that were full of outrageously daring head pieces. Some were simply adorned with feathers while others had structural objects towering a foot above the hairline. The trickle down effect has already come into play, and toned-down versions of these pieces can be found virtually anywhere. There are also the feathery accessories we’ve been seeing everywhere.  I know what I’m wearing out tonight, and it has nothing to do with straightening my teeth.

Has Fashion Gone Ugly?

Judging by the latest spring/summer collections, the fashion industry has taken a deliberately ugly turn. Dowdy or even monstrous silhouettes, discordant combinations of fabrics and colors along with unsightly hair and makeup ruled the runway, while show-goers frequently hid behind oversized glasses in a mock-display of concealment.

An abundance of looks featured odd shapes, such as Hussein Chalayan’s fierce molded latex spikes and Alexander McQueen’s skirts with colossal hips and body suits set off by sharp winged shoulders. Many collections also featured grossly oversized garb—a bulky, rigid white dress at Calvin Klein draped over the model as naturally as a cardboard box, a bulbous top at Fendi shifted stiffly from side to side with the model’s steps and a model swimming in a huge top and cuffed capris at Isaac Mizrahi resembled a little girl dressing up in her mother’s clothes.

Jumbling together unexpected materials was another trend: Junya Watanabe layered rich African-print skirts over baggy cuffed jeans; Gaultier mixed things up by showing a body suit worn on top of a pair of pants; and Christopher Kane had a garish, transparent pumpkin-orange dress trimmed in black fur. Some styles were more sinister in their hideousness. The unsettling, aggressive silhouettes at Comme des Garàons featured cutouts that revealed a misshapen, unattractive portion of the model’s stomach. Maison Martin Margiela’s spectacular and spooky collection featured decidedly unsexy nude-and-white body suits, and disturbing looks such as models bound in ribbons of fabric, their faces concealed by stockings or a cascade of hair.

The unsightly trend even extended to accessories and beauty. Gaultier featured a fur stole, complete with all four legs, while Rick Owens had his models’ feet wrapped in trash bag like leather fabrics. Behnaz Sarafpour and Balenciaga showed models who looked like they hadn’t slept in days, their eyes rimmed in shiny brown shadow. At Fendi, runway mane had been teased into spikes, and a rats nest was the hairstyle of choice at Alberta Ferretti.

This ugly aesthetic is also reflected in everyday society. Too—chipped nails are being flaunted on the streets of Manhattan as well as the fingertips of celebrities, while dentists report that patients are requesting their veneers appear less-than-flawless (adding a rounded corner or slight rotation of a tooth here and there, gradating their shade instead of making them snow white). More women are also opting to go sans makeup, wearing baggy tops or pants that disguise rather than show-off their shape.

It doesn’t take more than an awkward smile from Ugly Betty to prove that perfection is pretty boring in its stagnant singularity. The real intrigue sets in when you let yourself branch out from the paragon and explore more multifaceted possibilities. Even if the look isn’t “pretty,” it grabs attention and penetrates the surface—you can’t just glide blissfully by.

Written by Molly Triffin of JC Report

What do you think indies, has fashion gone UGLY?

The Bashed: Junya Wantanbe for Lacoste

The Satchel said it best. The new collaboration with Junya Wantanbe MAN and Lacoste is by far the most laziest, lamest and unnecessary partnership in the history of design. They must have beat Junya over the head with a hammer before asking him to come up with these unoriginal polo’s.

“Yes, I will change the color of the alligator emblem and then sell the polos for $100 more than traditional retail.”

You would think Junya would have made a better effort on this line, but sometimes it’s just about the name and has nothing to do with making good fashion.  Or maybe they just didn’t want to send their overstock of polo’s to T.J Maxx or Marshall’s and figured a collaboration with Junya would have been cheaper than paying for shipping?

Source: SatchelofGravel