"Real" women can't wear fashion...and other fairy tales

An article on the Times' website today irked me beyond belief. The gist was that "real" people should not wear "fashion" to places where it won't be appreciated and/or recognized...and that we should essentially dumb-down our clothing choices for whoever our audience happens to be that day.

A few sentence in particular got my goat...

"Ordinary civilians aren’t meant to buy this stuff, because they cannot hope to carry it off."

and

"Those clothes are meant to make you think, first: the designer’s name. Then: “How much?” And finally: “Best leave that to Sienna. I’ll settle for the bag.”"

A little pessimistic, don't you think? The overall message...don't bother looking at that dress because you can't hope to carry it off...best settle for something dowdy and safe. Aren't we selling ourselves short if we keep falling in with other people's perceptions of what is appropriate? And aren't we selling other people short by assuming that none of them have any interest in fashion and couldn't possibly appreciate what we're wearing? Baseline, if you love your outfit why should it matter what anyone else thinks?

Of course, there are some things that just aren't going to work for every individual...but that's more a matter of knowing what suits you and not hurrying to Brown's website to pick up the PVC leggings by Les Chiffoniers that Kate Moss wore at Glastonbury. It doesn't mean you shouldn't wear a Marc Jacobs dress to a christening (as the writer of the Times' article suggested).

Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to put on something that screams "fashion" and go for a long walk to calm my nerves...