 | Chako
Street/Urban Wear Expert
The word on the street is... fashion! Our sassy Street Wear Expert Chako is the urban outfitter you need to sport serious threads, G. |
Affluence and Avarice in Fashion
11/6/00
My article for this week is going to be more of a rant. Recently, while flipping through the various
fashion and anti-fashion magazines, I've noticed that the big theme right now is Affluence and Avarice.
It's nearly winter and Vogue is already presenting it's "Cruise and Vacations-to-Expensive-Islands
Wear." I'm thinking about finals and they're already thinking about the Bahamas! Then again,
when is fashion *not* about these things? There has been a surge in fur production with the rise
in popularity of everything from fur bikinis to ridiculous fur cell phone holders. This I find
completely repulsive! Faux fur is one thing, but bringing back the fur industry is completely
inhumane and expensive! Everyone seems to be pushing leather, furs, gold jewelry and expensive
handbags of which much of this is influenced by the punk rock 80's and the disco era. The ironic
thing about this is that punk rock was not about mass consumerism, conformity or labels but about
rebelling against them.
The new Versace ads also tout a ridiculous wealth and Bourgeois setting
with two very blonde and hairsprayed models perfectly poised in a "Dallas" type setting. What is
the message here?
In the latest YM magazine, a panel of teen judges were chosen for an Awards show
and many of them described themselves by what they owned ("carries a baby blue Vuitton bag," "wears
cashmere", Dec. 2000/Jan. 2001, pg. 101). It's frightening to see that America's youth is choosing
to present their personalities through the expensive labels that they own. Whatever happened to
"likes to hug" or "has a goofy laugh"? I guess what is uplifting is that you can sift through a
couple of thrift stores and find pieces that provide the mold for the designs for Prada and other
big fashion houses and laugh at the people who went out and spent all their money on something that's
going to go out of style in a season anyway.
Chako S.
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