Instagram Envy: Barbie

With so many social media apps at our finger tips, we spend our days envying the lives of so many, getting inspired and sharing loads of cool things. But I never expected to follow my eldest friend Barbie.

The 55 year old has joined the realms of social media, trying a new job as an entrepreneur because her other 150 career choices weren't good enough.

Her insta is like a really awesome, ultra tiny version of everyone else. It her includes flat lays, photos of her food, selfies, her bffs and even snaps of her going for hikes at Runyon canyon.

Oh, she did get to jet set around the world for fashion month, so you will see snaps of New York, London, Paris and Milan Fashion Weeks. She also has some pretty cool friends like Karl Lagerfeld, Jeremy Scott and Rachel Zoë. I swear I'm not jealous!

If you are ready to lust over someone else life then defs give @barbiestyle a follow.

Cultural Appropriation + Fashion

 

Spring is in full bloom with many companies releasing simular lines it’s time for marketing teams to get creative and market their product in an eye catching way. This week Sportsgirl have given us a quick lesson in how NOT to market a product; do not try and appropriate a culture. Their collection ‘Polynesian Girl’ has created a buzz on the internet with consumers concerned off their blatant disregard for another culture.

Now you may be thinking ‘isn’t it a good thing if you are trying to take influences from the world around us?’ nothing is that simple, unknowingly we can take something of importance and make it into something trivial. According to Who Owns Culture? Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law cultural appropriation is defined as: “Taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artefacts from someone else's culture without permission. This can include unauthorized use of another culture's dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols, etc. It's most likely to be harmful when the source community is a minority group that has been oppressed or exploited in other ways or when the object of appropriation is particularly sensitive, e.g. sacred objects.”

By naming their collection ‘Polynesian Girl’ Sportsgirl are capitalising on someone else’s culture. The choice of using a white blond-haired, blue-eyed model over an islander girl; using words such as ‘novelty print’ are culturally inappropriate. With a little research they could have easily avoided the backlash of this marketing mistake.

Sportsgirl weren’t the first to go down the cultural appropriation path. Celebrities and brands, looking at you Urban Outfitters (Star of David Shirts, inappropriate comments regarding St Patrick’s Day, the list goes on and on) have been trying to make money of various cultures for years. Victoria’s Secret are another company that struggle with cultural appropriation boundaries. Native American headdresses have featured in their runway shows and in 2012 they marketed an oriental inspired lingerie set as ‘sexy little geisha’. In doing this they have modified and sexualised a culture in order to make sales.

Ayesha Siddiqi, Ideas Editor at BuzzFeed, Contributing Editor at The New Inquiry, featured in an article last year on Bullett about cultural appropriation: ‘Ghetto Fabulous: 13 Voices Speak On Fashion’s Appropriation of Urban Culture’. Her quote was extremely powerful, showing how oppressing and harmful cultural appropriation can be.

“Rarely do the original communities benefit from an acceptance of ‘ethnic’ styles in the mainstream. White America has always wanted our look, not us. When South Asian bangles, embroidered flats, and paisley print became accepted in the mainstream, it wasn’t South Asians who suddenly became cool. When a Pakistani woman wears a headscarf or an Indian woman wears a bindi, she is subject to everything from scorn to violence; they risk being seen as ‘unassimilated.’ Since the launch of the ‘war on terror,’ Muslim women wearing the hijab have been subject to public beatings, harassment, and workplace discrimination. Our cultural artifacts become identity markers and those markers become targets. I love the hijab, but the last time I wore it a man in a pickup truck followed me screaming slurs. Meanwhile Rihanna poses in one, Madonna models under a niqab, Lady Gaga sings about burqas.

Appropriation occurs when bodies, typically white, popularize styles that didn’t originate with them, across a matrix of power: the power of visibility, the power to define what is ‘ethnic’ in the market. The gains that follow are reserved for the appropriator, not the appropriated. When the participation of poc in mainstream culture is relegated to trinkets Urban Outfitters can sell, what are we supposed to do, be grateful? While our communities are mined for the latest hip accessories that are lauded on white bodies while suspect on ours, it’s a valuation of whiteness above us. Above our history, dignity, and humanity. I want to see dreadlocks be appreciated because of the black people wearing them, not the corny white dude who doesn’t have to worry about looking ‘too ethnic’ at a job interview. I want to see Bollywood dances appreciated from our current Indian American Miss America, not Selena Gomez’s mangled approximation in her VMA performance of “Come and Get It.” Guess which one of them was subsequently called a terrorist.”

Its 2014, its time for us to make smart decisions about the world around us, to make a change so the world is a better place for everyone not just those in the majority. We can respect and appreciate cultures but we need to remember that they aren’t ours to take and they’re definitely not there for large companies to make money from.

PFW: Chanel SS15

Paris Fashion week is when the whose who of fashion come out to play. It's where you will see shows like Guiltier, Burberry and of course Chanel. We expect big elaborate themes and collections which have us crying into our wallets, this year was no different.  Karl Lagerfeld, the genius that he is, created his own version of a typical Parisian street 'Boulevard Chanel' which even included puddles by the curb.

Models spilled onto the street, walking either alone or in twos and threes casually chatting to each other. It didn't have a runway show feel, instead it was like you stumbled across the world most stylish street with stylish people just living there fabulous lives. Although I would have liked to see models in stupidly high heels trying to get up the curb, tripping over the rivets in the road and various other things you see in city streets, Karl choose not to feature high heeled shoes “It’s not the red carpet, It’s the street.”

Lagerfeld managed to create a collection that could be easily worn by everyone. There was pin stripe pant suits, micro minis and fabulous coats. But he did it in an eccentric way, shirt dresses styled over skirts, crisp shirts with strange detailing  and minis over pants. Not to mention a cocktail dress made out of rectangle pewter tiles arranged into a stunning mosaic pattern. It was all about layering and details - any outfit can be completed with a Chanel bag.

The collection had all the Chanel elements we know and love, the striped cardigan dress made a comeback and so did the oh-so-famous tweed. Tweed was Lagerfeld's choice for coats and my favourite garment in the collection. It was colourful, bright and reversible, boasting a hand painted floral-esque silk print on the inner side. The print also appeared on boots throughout.

The show was more than just about the latest Chanel collection, Lagerfeld use this show to make a point; we are all different, we have different background but we all have the ability to make changes. Lagerfeld showed this by using models of various ages and backgrounds. Showing that the runway, like the real world, can be diverse. But why stop there? The show ended with a demonstration complete with pro-fashion, pro-feminism placards such as 'make fashion not war', 'free freedom' and 'her story'. Of course a Chanel demonstration isn't going to change the way we all thing but it's awesome that designers are trying to make a stand, it's 2014 so let's make the world a better place for everyone.

NYFW: Thom Browne SS15

There is no hiding my love for anything 'Wonderland' inspired -I have the white rabbit tattooed to me, endless amounts of drink me necklaces and my ideal wedding is fit for the Mad Hatter - so when designers send us down the rabbit hole with their art direction I am instantly a fan. At NYFW Thom Browne channelled his inner Lewis Carroll and threw a garden party.

The creative direction for this show was amazing, surrounding the runway was fake grass, shrubs and models dressed in sartorial interpretations of flowers, butterfly's and lawn-sports. Although miraculous in itself the set was merely a backdrop for the collection.

Browne kept the silhouettes of his garments simple which was a surprise to many as for once garments could be easily worn off the runway. The collection featured tailored trouser suits, jackets, coats and flaring skirts.  

The variety of textures and fabrics gave the collection the Browne touch. Dresses were made out of woven fishing line with mink trimming; Jackets were composed from 180 separate pieces of oxford cloth; and feathers were arranged in floral patterns to form Coats.

The was the different garments were styled together was brilliant, it was bright, playful and wondrous. My favourite part of the show would have to be the head gear which complemented each outfit. The headgear included hats in the form of dresses and handbags was a collaboration between milliner Stephen Jones and Browne.

Oh, to make the collection truly fairytale-esque there was even a narrator. Such a well thought out runway show. Thom Browne, you are a genius.