The Models of the Future: Unobtainable or Representing?

Hello lovelies! Right before I start this blog post I feel the need to state that the subject is a rather touchy one, I do not intend to offend but I do blabber on and on (hence why I started a blog) and sometimes the key points can be misconstrued! 

So there are two brand spanking new models hitting the catwalks at the moment, Lea T (pictured below) and Andrej Pejic (pictured above). They model womenswear, however they were not born women. I think that this is amazing news for the transgender (if I am using the correct terminology, if not please correct me) people of the world. However this puts a big ass question mark over the fashion industry... Should women have the physic of a slim and feminine male? 

This concept of unobtainable beauty started when models began getting younger and younger, for example Thylane Lena-Rose Blondeau, the ten year old model featured in Vogue, and therefore had less of that thing I like to call hips and bust. It simply cannot be argued that 10-14 year old girls have not yet reached the peek of puberty and therefore look like girls, not women. 

Through my FDA degree the importance of understanding the customer has been continuously raised, so how does the luxury fashion designer industry condemn using teens, who the majority of cannot afford a £2,000 jumper, and transgender models to advertise their garments. I don't know any transgender people, however I am aware that they are in a minority, therefore it would be assumed that they can not ALL afford these luxury items either. 

So my rather long winded point here I guess is that when men and women alike turn to fashion for their inspiration for appearance, why are they demonstrating these unobtainable figures. A little food for thought I guess... 

 whilst on the topic of food, Crystal Renn, the (former) plus size model (see pictures above and below), who always looks fab anyway has slimmed down! Now I don't feel that plus size models have a more obtainable figure than that of size 8/6 models, however there is always a part of me that becomes saddened when i find another plus sized model who is now just a regular run of the mill model. (she still looks amazing though!)

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and i doubt models are forced to work, they enjoy it, so they should be doing it, regardless of age, gender or weight. But, unlike films, when you know what happens isn't the norm, the fashion industry is the aspiration for many girls, boys, men and women and these designers need to be aware of this. Film happy endings are just as unreliable as the figures on the catwalk, are they realistic? are they true? are they obtainable?

 Its a shame that fashion isn't about representing and presenting yourself but the models in which the fashion designers display their art on. 

H. x

The Best Things in Life are Free (or very very very cheap)

ok peeps, so the topic of the week is......Charity shops! Oh yes, there i said the dirty word (or more implied the dirty words) SECOND HAND! dun-dun-dunnnnnnnnn!!

I am a frequent shopper of the second hand, and i must say, with the current state of my local topshop, i cannot say i really have a choice in the matter! I must say a lot of my friends comment on the lack of 'finds' in their local charity shops, but fear not my feeble finding friends! London is amongst the most prosperous place for charity shops, the general Islington area is rife with vintage clobber and in comparison to other areas the prices are a lot less! (its the most painful thing when you find that amazing dress in a 'highend' charity shop just off regent street only to realise it is out of your price range). Epping, at the end of the central line (east) is also bursting at the seems with finds! 

I am so very lucky that as well as my local town having the highest rate of childhood obesity in the whole of essex but it also has the most amazing charity shop. They call it the YMCA. Some wonderful woman who works there has somehow managed to wangle a deal with Rokit and Beyond Retro and gets all their cast offs, which she sells for charity shop prices! I cannot stress how much this completes my life.

For you non-believers in charity shop finds, i will demonstrate my most prized charity shop possession! My Mark Jacobs cocktail dress, and just to add salt to the wound of any other person who also has to live off of £250 a month in london, it was £35! Now obviously I didn't find this is the YMCA shop, it was in a BHF (british heart foundation) in Chelmsford! 

Those who are charity shop virgins, i suggest a St Claires Hospice, they are the cheapest around, so even if you end up never wearing your purchase it is just as if you donated £2 into one of their buckets. I find this particular chain great for books (on average 20p a pop) and jackets as they put mens with womens and girls, nothing is hipper right now than tailoring, mens blazers are sex on fire!

So this is part one of my bid to get more people charity shopping, my camera is currently in a box labeled 'shiz to unpack' as im moving, but i will put some photos up in the next few weeks of my recent and most loved charity shop purchases.

So adopt, foster, kidnap, donate and give back through the art of retail!! besides, if you end up spending £50 over the space of a month shopping second hand, you can justify the spend as you are 'donating to charity' (this is often how i explain it anyway).

ENJOY! 

H. x