While interviewing third year Ryerson fashion student, Vanja Vasic about the Toronto Alternative Fashion Week (www.alternativefashionweek.com) that?s happening through Sunday I asked her the clich?d yet na?ve question that all designers are often asked:
?What do you think about today?s fashion??
Expecting a feisty and quotable, 200 word rant she responded with a smile, ?I don?t think there?s any such thing as bad fashion?I don?t like the whole criticizing aspect of fashion. If you?ve got the confidence to wear something then more power to you.?
At that point I felt like tripping the server walking past our table so that she?ll forget that I asked that question. But being the incredibly kind person that she was she then asked me what my definition of bad fashion was. And by now loyal readers (all two of you) have come to know my biggest pet peeves: Ugg boots, flip flops, trucker hats, etc.
We both agreed that we?re not fans of cookie-cutter fashions but it?s clear that her ?Who am I to say what bad fashion is?? mantra is beating the crap out of my ?Pleated pants are for sea cows? philosophy.
So I finished the interview pondering if all the previous articles that I?ve written were all counterproductive of what fashion had always been about: wearing anything that you want with confidence without caring what anyone thinks.
If I?m so against everyone looking like an American Eagle store mannequin, then how am I helping people if I criticize and proclaim ?If you have this body type then you should wear this??? Sure, everyone may look better but so do the Stepford wives.
So a revaluation is required for my next article. If I am going to write about fashion I should be focusing on the ?wearable art? aspect where everything is subjective, thus creating a diverse mix of fabrics, colours, fits and maybe even a trucker hat or ?
Wait, what the hell am I doing?
Sorry Vanja, as much as I aspire to have your fashion forward thinking I?m much more comfortable sinking down to the level of Mr. Blackwell. Apox to pleats! Commencement of justifying my shallowness!
Alright when I recommend certain clothes I don?t intend for everyone to look exactly the same. I?ll give you guidelines such as buying pants that have a wider leg if you have wide hips but there is a lot of freedom left over for self-expression. Granted, that doesn?t mean you can just sashay around the city in neon green pants and think that you?re not going to be the subject of my next tirade just because the pants have a wide leg. The pants can be dark, pastel, white, pinstripe, anything as long as they fit properly and doesn?t draw too much attention away from you as a person. Sometimes clothes do make the man (and woman). I?ve seen so many people who are flabbergasted and overjoyed when they finally find a pair of jeans that fits them or find a colour palette that highlights their face. It?s a superficial fix but it generates a lot more confidence that could change a person?s outlook on life. Sorry for sounding like a post-?Extreme Makeover? contestant but I?ve seen this happen so many times.
And besides can?t we all admit that the world would be a better place if we united our forces to focus on our mutual dislike of short shorts? Did I mention that all I ate yesterday was street meat and that I only slept for three hours?
Next week, anyone who wears Lululemon but doesn?t take yoga should be shot out of a cannon.
