Condé Nast

Do you remember when Miranda Priestly says this in The Devil Wear Prada?

‘This… stuff’? Oh. Okay. I see. You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select… I don’t know… that lumpy blue sweater, for instance because you’re trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise. It’s not lapis. It’s actually cerulean. And you’re also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent… wasn’t it who showed cerulean military jackets? I think we need a jacket here. And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. And then it, uh, filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you’re wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff.

Well, The Devil Wears Prada is not as fictional as you may think it is. In fact, what Miranda says here is a quite accurate description of the fashion industry’s grip on our real world—sans Meryl Streep at the top of the food chain.

Whether you’re aware of it or not, everything we wear has been at one point selected by “Nuclear Wintour” or one of her acolytes. You are most likely familiar with the formidable Dame Anna Wintour, editor-in chief of Vogue, Condé Nast artistic director and editorial director and Met gala host. The woman is unstoppable and the shadow of her power stretches well beyond fashion into the  very fabric of our lives, skillfully manipulating not only what we wear, but who we like or dislike, who we vote for, who deserves our forgiveness and who doesn’t.

While I am not a personal fan of the unapologetically power-hungry Ms Wintour, I can’t help but admire her skills and, to be honest, simultaneously fear her influence. If you think you’ve escaped her influence, think again. Bargain hunting, sample sale shopping, and being the smartest consumer may give you a false sense of power; but the truth is your choices are not free from her influence either.

Take the upcoming Marchesa sample sale for example. The label was co-founded by Georgina Chapman, the wife of now “persona non grata” Mr. Weinstein who was instrumental in its success.  Ms. Wintour has been known through the years to promote Mr. Weinstein’s stars of his films on the cover pages of her magazine and by often featuring Marchesa frocks in its pages. She was responsible for giving the nod of approval to celebrities wearing the label to the Met gala—meaning she’s been responsible for making people like us want to look just like them.

When Hollywood was rocked by allegations against Harvey Weinstein in October 2017, Anna skillfully distanced herself from her long-time friend and his behavior with a statement that read “Behavior like this is appalling and unacceptable,” but stood by his wife saying, “My heart goes out to them[victims], as well as to Georgina [Chapman] and the children.”

After an appropriate time for the dust to settle, Anna has started the rehabilitation of the Marchesa label using her recent guest appearance on the Colbert show to declare her support for Scarlet Johansson’s decision to wear Chapman’s label at the Met gala: “She wore it as a statement that Harvey Weinstein’s wife, who is partners in this company, shouldn’t be punished for the sins of her husband.”

Of course she supported Johansson. It was likely her idea! It’s well known that celebrities need Anna’s approval for what they wear at the gala, so we’ll safely assume Scarlet Johansson’s decision had something to do with Anna’s campaign to save the Marchesa label.

And here we are—many of us believing ourselves to be quite separated from celebrity culture—excitedly grabbing a dress during our lunch break at the Marchesa sample sale in preparation for the fifth wedding this season (ugh), naively thinking that our choice is dictated exclusively by our extraordinary sense of style and our limited budget. Oh, how wrong we are; the dress we picked, its color or style had at one point won Anna’s approval, and the power of the label (and its mere existence) depends on her willingness to support it.

That might make you feel powerless, but you can only be powerless if you lack awareness. With awareness, your action becomes less of an inevitable result and more of a conscious decision. So with that in mind, go browse the Marchesa sample sale knowing what your purchase means on a much larger scale. You make a statement with your dollar. In this case, it’s a statement of support for yet another woman who’s been screwed over by the patriarchy. All in all, I say that’s worth a swipe of my Amex.

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Fashion in its purest form? Love it. Assembling an outfit is an art form. It’s my creative expression of choice. But the industry that surrounds fashion—that packages it, labels it, sells it—is a sick one. Even more so than other creative mediums, the fashion industry is particularly poisoned with intrinsic hypocrisy.

Shocked I’m not here to give you shopping advice today? Hey, sometime I surprise myself. I’m feeling particularly fiery today, so I want to step up on my soap (shoe?) box and state that retail is honest but the fashion industry is not.

The fashion industry doesn’t care about models or influencers or even consumers. Its political views are not spontaneous dialogues but rather carefully curated campaigns that match the societal trends of the moment and are carefully choreographed to lead to money in their coffers.

There are some recent events that led me to this observation… and to binge-watching two seasons of The Good Place. By the way, I really hope with this article I am moving the needle towards guaranteeing me a spot in The Good Place.

Transgender models are the talk of the industry, with some publishers going as far as to say: “The Future of Fashion is Transgender Models.” I am grateful and thrilled for these courageous men and women who fought hard to be where they are. I can’t imagine how much harder life must be for them. On the other hand the fashion industry bigwigs seem so abruptly “woke” that it makes one wonder how selfless their motivation actually is.  An industry insider admitted after all “And not to be cynical, being inclusive and being diverse is actually in fashion right now… ” Mm-hm. That’s what I was afraid of.

Terry Richardson is finally cast off by Condé Nast. Now, everybody in fashion knew that “Uncle Terry” was a pervert, the same way everybody in Hollywood knew that Harvey Weinstein was one. Not only have there been countless allegations about Terry but the man himself is pretty open about who he is. Just open his book, Terryworld, and feast your eyes upon full-frontal nudity and (both simulated and actual) sexual acts.  The timing of the Condé Nast awaken moment makes me doubtful again of the real motivation behind the industry move. They’ve always known the truth, so why do something about it now? Because it is trendy to do something about it now.

Computer-generated fashion influencers… exist. The latest darling of the fashion industry, Miquela Sousa, or @lilmiquela on Instagram, does what any influencer does: shares her outfit-of-the-day, goes to events with friends, touts her political opinions, and counts her followers—pretty successfully, I might add. She’s amassed over 545,000 followers in a short period of time. Miquela is a 19 year old model and musician, probably well off since her outfits are of the Chanel, Proenza Schouler caliber. And while those labels are real, she herself… is not, at least according to the Business of Fashion.  Does it matter? It does to me. Wasn’t it bad enough labels were bribing influencers to wear their frocks and take pictures so we all feel we have to have what the cool kids have? Now they create imaginary cool kids that we have to copy too. They’re not just too cool for school… they’re now too cool for this plane of existence. Um, not cool if you ask me.

What is cool?  Well sample sales are good, honest opportunities to bring some guilt-free joy into your life. Here are some you don’t want to miss this week:

HEIKE JARICK Sample Sale
Rituals Sample Sale
SGN Showroom Sample Sale – Know THIS before you go

Long live fashion. But the industry? Meh…

Happy shopping.

XOXO

In the grand scheme of the world’s existence, blogging is still an incredibly new concept. After all, the widely available World Wide Web as we know it only became accessible in the late ’90s, but even then less than half of the United States’ population was using the Internet. It wasn’t until the early 2000 when we first saw people talking online about what they were wearing — and what others were wearing — in any serious way.

These days, though, bloggers are a dime a dozen. Some may argue that’s both good and bad. Good because it gives everyday people an outlet to express themselves and their interests; bad because it’s harder to sift through the mass of bloggers to find quality material.

The Stylish City is going briefly going back in time — before insta-post sites like Tumblr or Instagram — to highlight some of NYC’s most Influential fashion bloggers. This mini series features writers who were ahead, perhaps even pioneers, of the fashion blogging boom. Some of the below have reached levels of fame they seem worthy of. Others we can’t help but ask, “Why are these bloggers so successful?” Either way, they all have something in common: they’ve influenced the fashion world.

For today’s installation, we’re featuring The Sartorialist. Stay tuned for features on Manolo’s Shoe Blog, Bryanboy, Man Repeller and Advanced Style.

The Sartorialist

NY native Scott Schuman became an Internet sensation with his world-famous street fashion blog, “The Sartorialist“, launched eight years ago in the September of 2005.

Schuman had previously worked in fashion sales, but left the job to take care of his daughter. The dad originally set out to meet and take pictures of people he met on the streets of NYC as a hobby, but the blog picked up a lot of steam and catapulted him into a full-time career of style photography. In fact, shortly after the blog’s inception, it began receiving a whopping 3 million hits per month.

Thanks to Shuman, people don’t just look to carefully crafted magazine glossies for their fashion inspiration fix; they look to everyday people who wear clothes in extraordinary ways.

The man credited with pioneering fashion photography in blog form has since inspired myriad street style blogs and visitors continue flocking to his website for both fashion inspiration and pure entertainment.

Where is The Sartorialist today?:

Schuman’s still taking to the streets today, but he’s become quite the world traveler. The Sartorialist now features pictures from all over the world’s hottest fashion capitals. He’s also published a book titled “The Sartorialist: Closer“, which features prominent style authorities and everyday people whose outfits deserve a closer look.

Since he was catapulted to fame, he’s collaborated with myriad fashion campaigns, not limited to DKNY Jeans, Burberry and The Gap. He also does work for Saks Fifth Avenue, Conde Nast and French Vogue.

It should be noted that Garance Dore, Shuman’s girlfriend, is also a pioneer in the burgeoning field of fashion blogging. Like Schuman, Dore photographs street style and the two serve as a sort of power blogger couple.

Why is this blogger successful?

Clearly, Shuman knows how to wield a camera. His camera know-how, paired with his eye for fashion and ability to get strangers to pose for him, makes The Sartorialist an automatic hit. The fact that he’s a pioneer in the world of impromptu “street style” fashion shoots made — and continues to make — his blog a wild success. He’s given a voice, of sorts, to everyday people doing fashion well, and we love that.

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By Wendy Rose Gould

WHAT: The Conde Nast Collection Online Sample Sale @ Ruelala.com

WHY: The Conde Nast Collection: Wall Art up to 60% off!

WHEN: 8/7 3pm – 8/9 11am

WHERE: RueLaLa.com

*To sign up & access the sales, please click here.

RueLaLa.com