Lit is a stretch, and I may not be Jane Austen but I’m working on it. Check out my first post as a fashion contributor for the Austinist - “Experiments in Porcelain and Silk: Finery at IF+D”.
Archive for April, 2009
Courtesy of photographer (slash street style maverick) Wayne Tippetts
Contact: Wayne@waynetippetts.com
Uh huh - looks far better than Barcelona! Ugh, ENVY!!!!!!!! Enjoy it New Yorkers!
Call me a mean girl, but I was whole heartedly turned off by this article from the Times Picayune in New Orleans - “Fast on her Feet”. Long story short - Louisiana native decides to create footwear line to rival Louboutins. Granted, the shoes are G-G-Gorgeous, obviously there is talent there - and I would definitely drool over them did I not know the back story, or rather I will still drool but silently condemn them and hold a grudge anyway - but I can’t help but be turned off coming from FIT knowing so many talented, penniless peers.
That being said - I live for meritocracy. And yeah, perhaps I’m not in the industry where that is best utilized, but I still have a huge respect for people who aren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth and still manage to beat out all of those who were. So, the line, “When her law firm salary wouldn’t cover the three- and four-figure accessories at the store, she relied on her parents’ generosity”. We are talking Marni & Giuseppe Zanotti. Let’s just call a spade a spade and recognize that a working adult was given a shopping allowance. I also can’t get over how this is viewed as normal, commonplace, even commendable by the writer. I could go on about how said generous parents were generous in other ways contributing to the growth of her business, but I think you get the picture.
Sometimes I wonder, does one have to win the genetic lottery in order to REALLY thrive in fashion?
Signed,
Easily offended in Austin - Times Picayune “Fast on her Feet”
The Top Shop opening party was in New York this week - and the city is in a complete frenzy over it. My best friend emailed me the other day to say that there was a Top Shop van at FIT giving out gift cards (of undisclosed amounts) and totes. Ugh, anywhere but here. The Times also wrote a feature on it that included absolutely no low points. Essentially, all anyone wants you to do right now is spend, spend spend - and to a lot of people Top Shop is dirt cheap, so they think it will work.
To me, Top Shop is a great source for fast fashion, but it isn’t some place I regular or count on to have much inventory for long. I first visited a Top Shop in Barcelona, and wasn’t entirely impressed - buying only a headband and belt. Online, there has been a little more excitement, except everything I like is either over priced or out of small sizes. I can only imagine New York’s assortment will be what dreams are made of, but I hope it can live up to the hype it’s built up after 2 years of anticipation (it was supposed to open in 2007). I also wonder how Top Shop will change the fast fashion climate not only in SoHo, but the rest of the city where you can find an H&M almost every 20 blocks, and sometimes 10. And - is the assortment’s price point offered different than overseas and what’s offered online like Zara is known to do? Hopefully - because in SoHo if you can’t find that perfect silk harem pant in your price range at Top Shop, you’ve got H&M, Forever 21, Zara, Armani Exchange, and American Apparel all within a literal stone’s throw.
I won’t be able to visit this magical land until Summer, however, but lucky for all of us outside of New York, Top Shop’s online store has gotten the hint and is offering free shipping all week! So, hop to it.
NY Times article “Top Shop in New York”
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Courtesy of photographer (slash street style maverick) Wayne Tippetts
Contact: Wayne@waynetippetts.com