Leandra Medine's Blog, page 609

MR Writers Club Prompt: Write Your Own Fashion Week Review

In a recent post prompting ya’ll* to ask us anything about New York Fashion Week, one commenter asked what the thought process was like when it came to writing a show review.

Sitting through a show, we have done. The thought process of actually writing about it — formulating the words and brain blurbs and observations that attempt to make sense of someone else’s creativity — we have not.

That’s not to say we won’t! If we didn’t talk out all our thoughts then what the hell is wine for, you know? (We’ll probably make an attempt to answer this question via Snapchat, too — @man_repeller.) But for now, know that the process involves a lot of paying attention, connecting the dots, picking favorites without getting too personal and trying to make a modicum of sense. You guys would actually be quite good at it.

Which is why the prompt this week asks you to write a show review.

In less than 500 words, write about your favorite designer’s most recent collection. Write about how your least favorite designer ended up surprising you. By all means, feel free to go utterly buck-wild and make this shit up — I have no doubt that will be fun to read, too.

Maybe submit a video! Or an illustration. I know this is the writer’s club, but if we’re critiquing art today then no way would I limit yours. You can’t go wrong here…unless you just completely miss the mark and write about the importance of watering your indoor ferns. But you know, it happens. You just pick yourself up by your bootstraps and carry on. Send your stuff to write@manrepeller.com by Thursday, September 17 at noon. Can’t wait to read it.

Except for the riveting piece on ferns.

*Has anyone else noticed that she/he/ya’ll can’t stop saying ya’ll despite the fact that there’s no way all of us have a Southern drawl? I blame mine on Connie Britton. Leandra, what’s your excuse?

Photograph via 1969 Olivetti advertisement.

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The One Sentence Recap: BCBG Max Azria and Creatures of Comfort

At fashion week’s new home on 33rd and Eighth, BCBG Max Azria opened the season in a Wifi-free zone where the vibe, in a sentence, was a literal take on the California beach life — surf pants and shorts and even the bucket hat — mixed with an element of grunge (cue tie dye t-shirts) and some airy 90s dresses that looked like Julia Styles-wear circa Ten Things I Hate About You.

Oh! And I know this is a second sentence but in case you’re wondering: there are like, zero high heels adjacent to the runway; commuter shoes shall prevail!

Creatures of Comfort is exactly the kind of California slouch all wardrobes crave but don’t always actually have, like Pistachio knits and white, wide leg pajama pants or an ivory jumpsuit with dark buttons plus off-the-shoulder almost everything…and when it wasn’t off-the-shoulder, it was jacketed in the kind of light-but-good-weight fabrics that one can miraculously tie at the waist without getting hot. How? I don’t know. But maybe it’s because the brand’s creative director, Jade Lai, is so damn cool.

Images via Vogue Runway

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Abercrombie & Fitch May Be the Comeback Kid of 2015

For an otherwise under-the-radar species, moose had a great early 2000s. They were the mascot of Abercrombie & Fitch in its heyday, back when Bruce Weber shot the naked campaigns and the OC personified its lifestyle.

However, nothing gold can stay: stitched elks on pique polos went the way of double-popped collars, AIM profiles and Marissa Cooper (RIP) as customers peaced out, moved on and grew up.

Like the OC, the retailer’s decline was not without dropped-sales and drama: Abercrombie stripped former-CEO Mike Jeffries of his chairman role after quotes began resurfacing in the media of things he’d said in beyond-poor taste. He officially retired in December 2014 and the brand starting working on their makeover.

Cut to…

A few months ago an Instagram ad prompted me to scroll back up and see what “those jeans” were. The answer: Abercrombie & Fitch. Separately, a friend texted me that she bought a suede A&F jacket on a window-browsing whim. Savvy fashion fans began making quiet visits to the store’s website to purchase henleys — those ribbed, half-snap tops synonymous with the heady smell of 8 and Fierce — once Altuzarra showed them on the runway.

If I were Summer Roberts, here’s where I’d begin to wonder if Abercromie & Fitch was having a bit of a comeback.

Said Instagram-ad jeans arrived at our office as a press gift. Their high waist hit in just the right belly-button spot. The wash was flattering, the fabric soft but not gross-stretchy. They were cool. They were good. I asked the press office if they could loan a few more items: a suede skirt, 90s-shaped tops, a classic oxford, a pair of wildcard plaid wide-leg trousers and of course, a henley. My objective was simple: to see if my reaction was purely nostalgic, or if I’d actually wear this stuff.

Test one was the aforementioned jeans. They passed the Dazed & Confused litmus test: consider them added to my wardrobe.

Test two was putting together a whole outfit that didn’t read neck-to-knee ‘Crombie. What it ended up looking like — and a lot of the new stuff does — was that I went shopping at Topshop or The Reformation: a little bit trendy but not in a schizophrenic way.

Test three was to figure out what the hell to do with these pants, because they looked cool online but I wasn’t so sure how they’d fare in person. Though I styled them a little more ( a lot more) Joni Mitchell than I’m inclined to dress, I felt great in them. Consider these added, too.

What “the new Abercrombie” no longer has is that recognizable-from-anywhere A&F look; no iconic silhouette for similar high street brands to emulate. That day is gone. But for a brand that once pushed away its customers by strategically making others feel excluded, this new open-arms style similar to Zara or H&M — Come in on a whim and possibly leave with an outfit for tonight! — is a smart move. It will cause nostalgic shoppers and potential new buyers to pause by that intoxicating blend of too much cologne and too much music and think, “Why not? Let’s go in.”

As for the moose: not present on a single item above, save for the hidden tags. It prefers a low-key life. But it says hi. So does the teenage you.

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Is Getting Street Style Photographed Considered Fashion Week “Basic?”

Getting dressed for fashion week fills me with dread.

Truthfully, getting dressed for anything fills me with dread. Except getting dressed for bed, where I wear a faded t-shirt I got for free at a perfume launch party four years ago.

Here’s the problem with fashion week: if you go dressed in a normal outfit, like this show is any old gluten-free Noho brunch date, you’ll end up walking past street style photographers in silent embarrassment as they stare at you and decide you’re not worth photographing — before freaking out over the way more fabulous outfit behind you. (Note: this rule does not seem to hold for the French, who can seemingly arrive at shows in a free t-shirt from some perfume launch four years ago, with a Givenchy bag slung over their arm, and, in a whirlwind of epic chicness, cause everyone lose their g-d minds.)

Conversely, if you go dressed in outlandish, recognizable designer things — because, after all, if you can’t wear the Zoolander-y part of your wardrobe to a fashion show, where else can you wear it? — you’ll be swarmed by street style photographers but derided by your peers, who think posing for photos is a desperate bid for attention. Meanwhile, the industry and those who follow it have no problem showering adoration on celebrities who show up to red carpets wearing something no one but them would wear for the very purpose of getting photographed.

Clothes are supposed to make us feel confident. At fashion week, they often make us feel anything but. With the onslaught of street style photographers, the shows have become a game of sizing one another up, judging who is trying too hard, who isn’t trying hard enough, and who just looks straight-up confused. It’s turned fashion week into a petri dish of newly bred insecurities.

Are we dressing for ourselves or the photographers? Once, when I was a staff writer for The Cut, I undertook an experiment to see if I could get shot by street style photographers. (You can read the extended version of this ridiculous story in my book, Tales From the Back Row.) Stella Bugbee, the Cut’s current editorial director, recently reminded me that even though I pitched this idea, when my editor assigned me to the story, I became embarrassed. I refused to do it until she convinced me that it would be worth doing.

But she was right — the experiment worked. I got photographed. All it took were some Miu Miu shoes, a Chanel bag and shamelessness. I learned that walking into a show feels better when a dozen photographers don’t treat you like a walking tampon.

People shun street style now because it’s become “basic.” The idea of being basic – thinking your taste makes you unique or quirky in some way when in fact your taste also defines just about everyone else – goes against the notion of fashion. When we think fashion, we think either effortless Parisian woman with perfect front-tucked blouse or runway looks that are objectively ugly but also positively BRILLIANT because they’re clothes that you’ve never seen before. Basic is putting on something you think is unique, showing up to fashion week and then realizing everyone around you also looks like a walking circus tent.

But, so what? I love the movie Clueless, mocha Frappuccinos and comfortable pants. You’ll frequently find me with a hair elastic around my wrist. If I owned a fascinator, I would definitely wear it to fashion week because the reality of my life is that I’m not going to the races with Kate Middleton any time soon. I’m basic. That’s just who I am. You can’t wear chiffon shirts with trainers or avant-garde sweatpants or other conceptual clothes to brunch because it’s unrealistic, and besides, those clothes just don’t fit on the tiny metal stools in every #cool restaurant now. Fashion week is their home, no matter how basic it’s become. Weird shoes are meant to be on display. So I plan to wear all of mine to fashion week.

I write in my book about how fashion is, at its heart, a study in how deeply we long to stand out in order to fit in. Because even though people sneer at the street style scene, there is one thing no one really wants to see you wear — and that is comfortable pants. So if you’re looking for me, I’ll be one of the women in high-waist suede culottes.

Amy Odell is the author of Tales from The Back Row and the editor of Cosmopolitan.com.

Photographed by Krista Anna Lewis.

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Has the Ultimate Luxury in Fashion Become Convenience?

Today, on the ritual Thursday that follows Labor Day’s long weekend, another fashion week season is set in motion. It’s just like the first day of school. You see old friends, reflect on the summer, lament about the trek to the Upper West Side — but wait, unlike the seasons of yore, we’re no longer traveling to Lincoln Center. Instead, the nucleus of New York Fashion Week will be called “downtown,” with two Skylight Group-owned locations (one on 33rd Street, the other on Washington) as the dominant headquarters. Most shows will occur within a 15 block radius of one another, which will vary tremendously from the exhaustive 60+ block commute editors endured last season.

The shift makes sense given the recent migration downtown (One World Trade Center is the new home to Condé Nast and therefore several fashion publications and their editors). The gravity is moving further south, so why wouldn’t designers accommodate the relocation?

In its final seasons, Lincoln Center became an exploitative marketing hub. The abundant sponsorships and collaborations left a bad taste in the mouths of those who cut through the clutter of promotional hashtags on free coffee and charging and coconut water stations, almost forgetting they were there to see shows. But this transition denotes an even more more salient condition in fashion and culture right now: we’re just not wired to tolerate inconvenience anymore.

Our reliance on smart products — phones, tablets, watches and even t-shirts, and the multifarious conveniences they present: service apps and profound artificial intelligence geared towards making our lives easier — indicate that we don’t just yearn for but expect ease and efficiency.

Why take a taxi when you can contract a personal driver through the mere tap of a phone screen?

You’re still grocery shopping? But you can have a TaskRabbit or Postmate do that for you. Amazon will even deliver your toilet paper without your having to tell it to — just schedule it, like an alarm. We’ve developed a codependent relationship with convenience in our lives and that sentiment is bleeding into fashion —  proclaiming through the most recent geographic jigger that now, the ultimate luxury is defined by expediency.

And with that, of course, comes comfort.

Look at the proliferation of some recent trends as proof. We’re seeing structured suits that resemble pajama sets, heralded by the exclusive pairs Michael Kors designed for Vogue staffers for last May’s Met Ball as a literal, granular example of this comfort. Echoes of normcore still litter the streets, providing less fodder for photographers, and heels have become the exception, not the rule, among those who walk through the litter.

Fashion has long been a window into the cultural zeitgeist, a physical, if not urgently frivolous manifestation of our lives. If the comfort factor has made it easier to focus on what’s in front of us on the runway as opposed to what’s in front of us on the sidewalk, perhaps it could be said that with the convenience-switch flipped on, the kibosh on small talk chatter around getting from the Upper West Side to Milk Studios will leave more room for meaningful conversations about the clothes.

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Cross “Coat” Off Your To-Do List

I have been angry with drug stores for years. Their incessant need to rush seasons perpetuates our inability to live in the present; how am I supposed to embrace the moment when Aisle 5 is pushing Valentine’s Day plush animals on me months in advance? I do not have a Valentine yet, let alone a 2016 calendar. That is a lot of pressure.

However, a recent self-made contradiction has forced me think think otherwise. Upon missing Don’t Step on a Bee Day, I blamed drug stores for not informing me of imminent random holidays, lamenting that it was their job to do so while ultimately admitting I rely on them for calendrical notifications. You see, I am a procrastinator — many of us are. All drugstores want is for us to be prepared.

I tell you this because now I want you to be prepared. Without getting mad at me. Ready? Though summer is not technically over until the 23rd and the North Pole has yet to be represented in your local apothecary, now is the time to deal with a winter coat. Cross it off your list so that you can relax.

Of course, as with showers and other things we put off, the reason we procrastinate is because we assume the task at hand will be hard. Showers are hard, yes. But coats are not. You just need this handy guide and some visual aid, the latter of which is illustrated by Manhattan-raised, Brooklyn-residing director of marketing at Mangia, Olivia Muniak. Note her location, then remember our situation last winter: the girl knows what it means to be cold.

Step 1: Admit that a winter coat means warmth.

You probably already own your “fashion coat.” It will look phenomenal on Instagram and go great with your runway small talk. What you need now is the kind of coat that is equipped to keep you warm. And looks cool. Think on-foot commutes and snow fights. The above Spiewak coat works toasty wonders. You will sweat while trying it on in September but you will sing while wearing it January.

Step 2: Consider it a part of your wardrobe, not just your coat rack.

You should be able to mentally style your winter coat with at least three outfits. If you think of coats as mere vehicles to get you from car to door, you’ll never be excited to wear it. I asked Olivia here to bring her favorite outfit in order to “test” that it would work with this coat, also Spiekwak. It did. And remember: this is why stores have return policies — take advantage of the fact that you can buy then try at home.

Step 3: Treat the process like Wedding Dress shopping.

AKA, don’t exceed your budget, but when planning your budget, keep in mind that an investment in the fight against hypothermia is an important one. Other things to keep in mind: you only need one (so make it good), and you need to own it before for winter. Shopping for a coat mid-frostbite is a bad idea, like going to the grocery store hungry.

Still think it’s too early? Think of me and CVS as that friend who texts you the wrong reservation time on purpose to ensure you arrive on time. I’m only looking out for you. Like your new winter coat, I’ve got your back.

In partnership with Spiewak. Sign up for their newsletter to be notified of new added styles.

Photographed by Krista Anna Lewis.

Like Oliva’s styyyle? Follow her on Instagram.

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Ask Us Anything About NYFW

With a straight face and zero irony, a friend recently asked me if he could win backstage tickets to New York Fashion Week through any popular radio programs. Do not get me wrong: I love a good radio contest. I called the Bay Area’s Live 105 at least 100 times to try to win Weezer tickets back in my youth. It’s just that very rarely do we consider the possibility that those around us don’t know everything about that which consumes our own daily lives.

People who watched The Bachelor in Paradise, for example, assume everyone else does too. They are probably talking to you/me on Gchat this very second about Jade and Tanner. What I would like to know is: who is tanner between the two?

Let that #dadjoke sink in.

Sunk.

Just like ma joke.

Here’s where I’m going with this: even though you guys know basically everything (including how to sew better than I do, for sure) it’s possible you have a few questions about New York fashion week and how it works. Or maybe you’re more curious about how we work during it — as in, what the hell we actually do.

Or maybe you want to know: about the outfits, about the snacks, about the sounds,  about the sounds Leandra makes, about the camels, about the fruit baskets, about the, uh, HELLO, the fashion. 

Well great, because we want you to ask us. Write questions in the comments below and we’ll answer them throughout fashion week via Snapchat. Follow us on Snap chat @man_repeller (use the underscore!) and get ready for Mr. Toad’s hella wild ride.

Photograph by Krista Anna Lewis.

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Serena Williams Proves It: You Can Be a Feminine Athlete

When I was 16 years old, I wanted to be a competitive junior tennis player. I wanted to win, to be the best, to be the next Serena Williams — but I refused to lift weights. Lifting weights would have given me the edge I needed to excel, yet despite my coaches’ instructions to up the ante, I was afraid I’d look like “a guy.”

For most of my life as an athlete, choosing between being better at my sport or looking archetypically feminine was an easy choice for me — the latter always won. I am not proud of this. I wish I could go back and change that mindset. But how did I get it in the first place?

The U.S. Open is in motion. If Serena Williams wins this tournament, she will have won all four of the major tennis tournaments in a calendar year, making her the greatest female tennis player of all time and arguably the greatest athlete of her generation. Yet, for almost her entire career, she has heard criticisms that she’s too muscular for women’s tennis. Some have even said that the reason for her success is “manly” build. These criticisms have made Williams feel uncomfortable; she’s admitted to avoiding the use of weights to prevent her muscles from looking “bigger” or “more cut.”

The thing is, the argument is bull. A woman is a woman is a woman (is a woman). And when we air out our discomfort, when Williams is made to feel like she shouldn’t be “bigger” or “more cut,” young girls hear these remarks.

They read the tweets, too. Ronda Rousey is the current UFC Women’s Bantamweight Ultimate Fighting Champion, but it’s not enough for the unsolicited judges. Here are some tweets she received leading up to and following her most recent win:

“Ronda Rousey is disgustingly manly. How can people find her attractive?”

“I’m sorry but Ronda Rousey is far too masculine for me to think she’s even remotely pretty.”

In the eyes of these critics, Rousey’s focus should be on looking more “attractive” and less “masculine.” But what if the body Rousey needs to be the best in her sport doesn’t conform to societal ideals regarding that which constitutes an attractive, feminine woman? Certainly that doesn’t make her any less of one. Rousey — and all other female athletes — shouldn’t have to choose between the traditional standards of beauty and that which is essential to their success as athletes.

Women who prefer to cheer from the couch shouldn’t have to choose either.

Who even decided what it means to look feminine?

Rousey has stated she now thinks the criticisms are “hilarious.” In fact, she’s “really proud” that her body has developed and isn’t “just to be looked at.” This past month, Williams posed for New York Magazine, showing off her body. “I’m really happy with my body type, and I’m really proud of it,” she said.

These are important messages to help prove a point about the manifold iterations of femininity. There is no finite standard, there shouldn’t be a finite standard. Lift weights if your coach tells you to — then look in the mirror. A female athlete will be staring right back.

Also by author Brittany Berckes: I Can Practice Law, But It’s Not Like I’m Getting Married, Right? and The Mile High Club Finds Middle Ground.

Photograph by Norma Jean Roy via New York Mag. Carousel Photograph by David Vincent via Buzzfeed. 

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Anarchy in the U.K.

Probably the least punk rock thing I ever did was ask my dad to drive me to the Warped Tour. I was 12 and didn’t have a license yet, but I did have NOFX lyrics memorized, spike bracelets and half-pink hair.

My greatest act of rebellion that day was wearing a black Misfits sweatshirt despite the 90-degree temperature and oppressive humidity. Anarchy is tricky when it’s that hot. It was so hot, in fact, that item one on my punk rock agenda — Drop Dad Off at Air-Conditioned Parent’s Tent — was easier than I’d planned. He went quietly and gave me $20 for lunch.

With Eric Diamond ditched, my best friend, her brother and I stormed the stages. We skanked to ska bands and moshed to metal and jumped up and down like hyper beans in front of skate rock. At that age, it was freedom. I felt cool and independent, part of this community of self-proclaimed punks — a title regardless of the malls in which we shopped.

Then I ran into my dad.

“Running into” your dad between pre-Broadway Green Day and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones is even more mortifying than one might imagine. Arms cradling a pile of stickers and pins and patches sporting the names of various bands, my dad shouted loud enough for everyone to hear, “Hey Bug! Look over here! Look at all the free stuff I got!”

Super, super un-punk.

Though I lived it down, my punk-PTSD has once again been triggered by the looming onset of London Fashion Week. Similar to the Warped Tour, it’s essentially a giant venue where mass quantities of people with similar interests dress up and rush around and try to not be late to things. Ironically enough, my dad has even been known to drive me to certain shows.  Man Repeller partnered with SunglassHut to punk up London fashion week (brace yourself), and because I already failed in my attempt as an anarchist, we were kind of hoping you could help.

So. What Fashion Week rules would you break? (Besides guitars!) What would you change for the better? (Leandra wants to be allowed on the runway, naked, without getting yelled at, for once.) How would you punk up LFW? Comment your ideas with #punkitup — not only will the top 5 submissions be reenacted on Instagram, the spiked heads behind the winning submissions will receive the official VIP LFW / Sunglass Hut tote bag designed by British designer Gareth Pugh.

Are you listening, dad? FREE MERCH.

CBGB Photographed by David Godlis.

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Annie Get Your Glue Gun: The Ultimate Miu Miu DIY

I have expensive taste and a light wallet — the same plight of many girls who work in fashion. So every season, there is at least one runway piece I try to make myself. Last year, it was a baby-blue bustier top with draped sleeves by Balenciaga. The season before I faked a splotched blouse from Céline’s Spring collection. I’ve made a Kenzo mini skirt and a Dries Van Noten pencil skirt with feather embroidery. This season I cast an eye on the blue Prairie style ruffled blouse by Miu Miu. It’s extravagant (Amelia correctly compared it to a sci-fi gecko with a colossal neck brace), which costs $1185.

To be clear, I am not an excellent seamstress. I’m often impatient and inaccurate, but I managed to sew ruffles onto a top. This gives me confidence that you can do it too, which is why I’ve made this step-by-step tutorial. Let’s begin!

What you’ll need:

• A shirt (bought new or stolen from a man near you)

• A folded piece of fabric in a matching color (you can also go wild and make a color-contrasting ruffle). The fabric should be folded lengthways, have a width of 2 x 30 inches [2 x 75 cm] and a length of 20 inches [50 cm]

• Scissors, sewing thread and a needle

Step #1: Prepare the fabric

Cut the fabric into three strips: one strip for the front right ruffle, one for the front left ruffle and one for the back ruffle. All three pieces are 6 inches [15 cm] wide. For the shirt I used, the strip for the left ruffle was 33 inches [84 cm] long, for the right ruffle, 34 inches [87 cm] and for the back ruffle, 46 inches [118 cm].

Step #2: Make the left ruffle

Take the fabric strip for the left ruffle and loosely stitch along its upper long edge. Leave long tails at the beginning and end of your stitch line. Now pull the thread gently from both sides. The fabric strip will begin to gather. Keep pulling the thread tails and work the fabric down until the entire strip is evenly gathered and has the length you need. The finished left ruffle should be as long as the curved line on your left shirt side (marked as a red dotted line in the illustration). For the shirt I made, the left ruffle had a length of 11 inches [28 cm].

Bonus step: In order to fix the ruffle, you should iron it so the frizzles stay in place and the ruffle stays the desired length.

Step #3: Sew the ruffle on the shirt’s left front side

Now place the ruffle right side on right side on the shirt. Its ruffled edge lies on the red dotted line on the shirt. Leave 0.4 inches [1 cm] of the right (lower) short ruffle edge as seam allowance. (In the end, you will seam this open edge). The ruffle’s left (upper) short edge should be placed where the shirt’s shoulder section meets the sleeve. Leave 0.4 inches [1 cm] of seam allowance here as well. Pin the ruffle on the shirt and start sewing. Then turn the ruffle downwards so the seam is hidden. Your first ruffle is finished!

Step #4: Make the right ruffle

The next steps are easy: You simply repeat what you did in step #2. For my shirt, the right ruffle had to have a length of 12.6 inches [32 cm] once it was finished. (The shirt’s right front side is 1 inch wider than the shirt’s left front side because it also includes the button border). Just like in step #3, you place the right ruffle right side on right side along the red dotted line on the shirt. The ruffle’s right short edge must be placed where the shirt’s shoulder section meets the sleeve. Don’t forget the seam allowances like in step #3! Pin the ruffle on the shirt and start sewing, then turn the ruffle downwards. Hurra! (That’s a German expression for excitement.) Your ruffled blouse is taking shape! Isn’t this fun?

Step #5: Make the back ruffle

You’re on the finishing line! To make the ruffle for the shirt’s backside, just repeat what you did in steps #2 and #3. I made a back ruffle with a length of 24.5 inches [62 cm]. Place the ruffle right side on right side along the red dotted line on the shirt. Again, the ruffle’s short edges are placed where the shoulder sections meet the sleeves. Leave 0.4 inch [1 cm] of seam allowance on both short edges. Sew the ruffle on the shirt, then turn it downwards. Almost there!

Step #6: Close the open ruffle hems

To connect the left and right front ruffles with the back ruffle, pin the ruffle’s short open edges above the shoulder section together (this is what you left the seam allowance for on both sides) and sew along the red dotted line. Don’t forget to seam the ruffle’s short edges on the front side as well as the long edges. DONE!

Now post your versions below.

Follow Berlin-babe Claire on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Go check out her website C’est Clairette, too. Photographed by Sandra Semburg.

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