CALL TO THE INNER (OUTER) MALE

                                 

Acne Fall 2012 

Conversations about fashion with a bunch of seventeen year olds is perhaps an eye rolling experience for me, as it would be for many others.  But being seventeen these conversations are somewhat inevitable, occurring almost daily.  I am not trying to butter myself up, but my heart often drops with despair at the fashion faux pas that my peers often display.  I blame my overcritical nature about fashion on my mother for letting me read Vogue at the age of nine.  So, I regularly metaphorically shoot myself in the head when close friends of mine, although with kind intention, tell me I dress like a man.  In some ways, yes I would tend to agree, however didn’t your mother always tell you to ‘leave something to the imagination’. 

I often question my own fashion sense also.  I have not always been so boyish in my fashion endeavours, so what does this all mean?  Has womenswear grown to be uninteresting?  I highly doubt it.  Have I taken a turn for the uninteresting? Maybe.  But perhaps it is more complicated than that.  I like to think of it as me puckering up my equality.  The suffrage of the 21^st century for women to be able to mens sweaters. Hell yeah!  My heart is definitely with the male sweater – no matter what brand.  Finding myself pondering over a selection of white shirts in Acne in my non-shopping trip to Melbourne a few weekends ago, I could not bring myself to feel comfortable in sharply rendered women’s white shirts, so turning to the male section I found the perfect, slouchy white shirt I had been looking for in womens’ departments everywhere.  If I wasn’t looking for something oversized, like I often joke, I should have turned to the little boys section of the department store.  Yet, in reflection, maybe it would not be such a bad idea – next weekends escapades are planned, I’ll simply pretend I’m a teen mum shopping for her son (large son) – check!

This turns my interest to the ‘woman suit’.  Yes, I may dress like a man from time to time, but I can bring out my inner woman and add a little sexiness, or more appropriately pazazz, to my outfit.  So yes, the empowerment for the woman-suit, was reinvigorated in my wardrobe after seeing Alexander McQueen Resort 2013.  Holy Moley! Sarah Burton’s feminine touches certainly have made McQueen signatures blossom with a gentleness that it desperately needed.   And with that she has pleasantly surprised me with the Resort range fully packed out with exceptionally polished, elegant tailored suits. Flares are back baby!  I finally have a relief from the skinny pant/trouser and will be able to combine both my boyish Acne shirt with these elegantly feminine flare pants.    At least I’ll be slightly relieving my friends’ despondence to my recent manly takes on the fashion world. 

So ladies, those looking to flare up options for their lower half– and need to convince their friends they are not a man – go for something high-waisted, luxe and polished on the sides for an elegancy that will blow them away. 

FOOTLOOSE

I got a bit worried the other day when my grandmother attempted to tell me that a wedgie was a pair of high-heel shoes and that she REALLY liked them.  In her attempt to convince me that a wedgie was a wedged shoe after several minutes I turned her attention to recognise that a wedgie was in fact the term for a pair of underpants being wedged in your nether regions.  It got me thinking, what would the average outsider think of some of the trends that rock out of 21^st century runways.   I do not have to question my own willingness to wear some of the things, because yes, I will almost try any trend to see if it fits with me.  So yes, reactions often run the gamut at some of the more peculiar clothing items I aspire to wear.  

So, how can we explain to others that maybe sneakers are coming back as a footwear fashion item?  No, I am definitely not giving my father the all clear to wear his crusty old trainers with his straight leg denim jeans.  I am talking about the aesthetic qualities of sneakers. Seriously, it took me a good two hours to settle on the pair of Nike frees I recently bought online.   And let me tell you now, I was certainly not deliberating on which pair were ranked the best in terms of quality, but rather my mind ran rampant with how many outfits these eccentric shoes would go with. 

It seems the humble sneaker is moving its way up in the forever mad fashion world, and furthermore is making life a lot easier for the female foot (also very grandma friendly, maybe I should buy a pair for her??).     However to my grandmother’s discontent I am going to ditch wearing my wedgies for the time being and slip my feet into a pair of sneakers.   However, I could please both foot delicacies and wear Isabel Marant wedged sneakers, very effective!