Check out the pallette below giving this season Summer '07s MUST-WEAR shades. Dare to sport anything else and your stint in the everyday fashion scene is ka-put....So, are you IN...or are you OUT???
Oh yea, by the way? The primary 'requisite' to BE in the fashion scene in the 1st place, is that you have GOT to be a size, get this, ZERO! (translation: somewhat similar to the skeleton in your biology lab, but with skin..and (not necessarily)pretty features...and hair!) So, if you happen to be (shudder!) anything close to a size 1 or above, Get a Life, you are SO not stylish!
Who dictates the world of haute couture, you may wonder. It is not one, but a plethora of like-minded 'creators' of fashion who churn out fashion regulations by the hour every-single-day of the year. They get paid by the millions for it, their cranky whacky designs get noticed (God knows why), win accolades and all that earns them a place in the Golden Book of Mankind. More often than not, the huge (pun intended) chunk of people, not conforming to the pre-set standards of body architecture, get ignored.
[Below: Sketches by a top designer]
Hollywood in 2006 came out with a comical take on the World of fashion with "The Devil Wears Prada". The Devil, played sophisticatedly and with elan by a high-on-botox Meryl Streep, is a fashion guru, an icon feared by all in the industry for her ruthless ways. Editor of the most coveted fashion magazine 'Runaway', Miranda Priestly (Streep) runs her office mirthlessly, sorely testing her staff all the time. Her office shouts Prada!Armani!Versace! at every possible turn and Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway), her new assistant, finds her self plunged despairingly into a mire of impossibly thin, heart- wrenchingly stylish men and women in hot stilettos and tight leather pants revealing bodies that pledge life-long dedication to the gym! Andrea isn't the type. She's a typical cream-cheese bagel loving, jelly donut freak who, according to her, is a good writer and so, doesn't see why she must keep track of what she eats and what she wears!
[The movie is supposed to be inspired by Anna Wintour, editor of the U.S Vogue magazine]
I loved it, enjoyed every quip, every candid frame of the movie was hilarious but it left me wondering- if Andrea ( a size 8 ) wasn't acceptable, what about ME? I guess I'm entitled to eternal banishment from the very face of the earth for being a (humble) size 14+!!! I do have my moments of deep,dark sorrow when I look into the mirror and see my reflection,yet I do believe that that has nothing to do with who I am. I may not fit into any of this year's pret line from Milan or Paris or whereever, but I am happy wearing my cotton kurtas in fat-concealing colours like black with my inimitable dupatta wrapped around my broad shoulders and neck. THAT is my fashion statement and hence the anti-thesis, The Angel Wears HERSELF..... (not that I necessarily mean that the angel is me)
Style is intrinsic, it emanates from within. You maybe wearing the most elitest gown, but if you carry an attitude to match its price, you're not going to have too many fans! It is all a matter of confidence-how much thou love thyself! Style is comfort- if you like what you wear, it shows. Try it out, wearing your best jeans and your favourite t-shirt always makes you feel good, no matter if the jeans are Levi's or the T- Nike. But when you do dress up to,well, 'dress-up', wearing a short, slinky revealing dress, you may get a lot of winks but you couldn't care less because all you want to do right then is slip out of it.
What you see below is NOT a grizzly bear nor the sketch of a rag-picker, it is infact one of the top designs for the Fall of 2006. I'm sure none of you would want to be caught alive-or dead- in THAT!Now you know what I mean..?? :)
At the recent fashion week in Paris, renowned designer Jean Paul Gaultier did something that shocked the world. As a fitting response to the controversy over the size-O models, he put a voluptuous size 20+ model on the ramp in a daring black corset, proving that BIG is BEAUTIFUL. Now, isn't that admirable???
Rather than join the bandwagon on the season's best colour, pattern, length blah blah, take the time to discover YOUR style. That sets you apart and makes others sit up and notice your unique image- just YOU.
So, the next time you are intimidated by someone claiming to be in vogue (and indirectly alleging that you aren't) let them go to Hell, because The Devil (may) Wear Prada, (but) The Angel? Wears HERSELF...
P.S: Dolz, I know you're laughing at the title..Trust me, it still is funny for me too...but I didn't wanna go back on the few literary bursts that grace my tiny lil brain :)