February 25, 2007
"The anger was palpable. The objectification was extreme. The clothes were mean. And it was always the men who were responsible."
Robin Givhan writes about the latest Milan fashions. This is a beautifully written article, and yet the central point is one I've seen many times, for decades. The life of a fashion writer is not easy! You have all these complicated details to describe -- "headgear that looked like slabs of plaster that cracked off the ceiling" -- and then when you try to resolve it into some general insight, it's always the same.
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13 comments:
Fun article, but no pictures. How can she talk about fashion without pictures?
Here's a story with a link (under the model) to 456 pictures.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070225/lf_afp/afplifestylefashionitaly_070225023645
it's always the same
Male designers hate women.
The only "raves" in this review were for Donatella Versace [female] and Angela Missoni [female] and Gucci's Frida Giannini [female].
Maybe it's always the same--Robin Givhan hates men--but without photos to make the judgment, I cannot say so unequivocally.
I looked through the photos in Yahoo and came to the conclusion that most of those outfits would be unwearable unless they were perfectly cut and stitched and the person wearing them did nothing.
And anyone who has ever been to a dinner party in Paris, knows that's perfect for their purposes.
Victoria imitates a Parisian girl at a party. Ready?
Smoke, puff, smoke, drink champagne, smile vaguely at person waving animatedly, smoke, puff, puff.
Cheers,
Victoria
And it was always the men who were responsible.
Just as a thought experiment: Does Robin Givhan know - or even care - how many women are in the front two rows of these shows for a reason? Much of the 'unwearable' stuff that goes down the catwalks in Milan, Paris, London, New York etc. is never going to be worn by an actual woman - but with a little bit of luck, and a lot of industry politics, the Anna 'Nuclear' Wintours who edit fasnion magazines overwhelmingly purchased by heterosexual women might give their collection a big fat spread.
And was I the only person who was mentally inserting 'gay' between misogynist and men? Because we all know fashion is controlled by faggots engaged in a cunning plot to eliminate women by giving them all eating disorders, low self-esteem and fatal platform shoe-related head injuries. And it would have worked if it wasn't for those meddling WaPo kids!
Craig: I was going to say something like that in the post. Years ago, when I heard this standard fashion commentary, it did have that extra dimension: gay men hate women. No one says it anymore, not in a high quality newspaper anyway. Not only is it not politically correct, but it doesn't seem that gay men hate women any more than heterosexual men do.
again victoria slips her leash
Ann:
And if fashion is a misogynistic conspiracy by the homosexist dictatorship, how the hell do you explain the menswear collections. They're no more 'wearable' for your average men - I certainly couldn't pour my big gay ass into the Milan collections this season without some extreme liposuction, a corset and a strict diet of vodka and diet pills.
In future, perhaps Robin should decline the next assignment to cover the collections while the WashPost sticks to the real news - like the sociopolitical implications of the Secretary of State wearing kinky boots in Germany, or another stunning think piece on why Republicans throw such sucky parties.
...but how many straight male fashion designers are there?
Robin Givhan should stick to mocking the children of Supreme Court justices.
Well, there's more than a few fashion designers - male and female - who may sell polymorphous perversity for fun and (vast) proft, but will sue your perfectly rounded asses off if you even hit they're swinging all over the show. :) Funny old world, isn't it?
Are you talking about how women are treated in the Arab world or Paris fashions?
When I was a photographer, I noticed the hostility between the powder fairy and the talent. Hate seems too strong a term, perhaps bitter jealousy is more accurate.
YMMV.
Trey
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