I did it first
You know how annoying it is when a trend goes mainstream and someone says, oh yeah, I’ve been wearing that for years’? Well, guess what? I’m one of those people. So I thought I’d do a post where I get it all out of my system.
Number one, the Chanel 2.55 bag
I invested in my candy pink one years ago before the OC was even a blink in the producer’s eye. I wear mine with sweatshirts and second hand tees for a deliberate scruffy-posh effect and then what happens? That Mischa Barton comes along and steals my look right before my eyes. Grrr. Result? I look like a Mischa clone.
Number two, Converse
These have been my wardrobe staple since about 1993 (uh oh, maybe I do need a change…) so how galling is it when every emo, chav and tory party leader decides to muscle in on it as well? Thankfully the move is going towards old skool £4.99-from-Woolies plimsolls now so I can reclaim Converse as my own.
Number three, aviators
I’ve had my mirrored Cutler & Grosses for at least ten years and now, NOW, everyone’s wearing them –how DARE they! Luckily, they’re also wearing comedy oversized shades and coloured wayfarers so the aviators may be on the wane. Please let it be so.
Number four, pink jeans
I bought my fuchsia Silas jeans three years ago to wear Matthew Williamson-style with turquoise and yellow. Now every nu-rave wannabe is on my patch so mine are staying firmly underwraps until the 90s all-black revival kicks in.
Number five, Edie Sedgewick/Andy Warhol
Edie was my secret muse for years and like the snob I am I liked the fact others hadn’t heard of her. Now she’s everywhere. Stripy long sleeve tees and short hair are my thing ok, so back off people!
Er… do you think I’m being a bit childish? OK maybe I’m being a tad territorial but it does grate when you spend a lifetime nurturing your look and thinking you’ve nailed it and along comes a wave of Converse, pink jeans and stripy tops and suddenly the look that was “so you” has become mainstream and ugh…common! But hey ho, on with the show, I guess that’s the name of the fashion game, no? But before I go I just want to trademark the following three looks:
Chinos
Chinos, khakis, utility pants, whatever you want to call them I’m on a quest to find some slim-but-slouchy ones as an alternative to jeans. Can I find any, even in Gap? Hell no. But when I do I’m making sure I snap up every last pair.
Sweater-over-the-shoulders
There’s something a bit geeky about this euro-styling which is what I like about it. So I’m going to be hopping mad if I see even one under-30 Shoreditch hipster rocking this in the Hoxton hood this summer.
Judith Leiber/Kathrine Baumann minaudiere
Oh my god, I have wanted one of these for absolutely years. They are so OTT and blingy that they’re just begging to disco-fy a scruffy jeans-and-tee outfit. Is it so wrong to want a Mickey Mouse minaudiere so badly?
Pics 1: Judith Leiber
Pic 2: Judith Leiber
pic 3: Kathrine Baumann
6 June, 2007 @ 12:46 am
yay expensive bags and vintage clothes!
6 June, 2007 @ 2:53 am
ohhhh gitter shiny! I love it!
6 June, 2007 @ 8:41 am
That Mickey Mouse bag is sooooooo cute!
6 June, 2007 @ 2:16 pm
I’ve been feeling the same way about all the sixties style dresses that have been everywhere for the last year or so. That was very much my thing – now its everyones.
David Cameron’s Converse-alikes also annoy me – I’m pretty certain they aren’t even real Converse, which makes it worse.
6 June, 2007 @ 6:35 pm
no mate,when you’re as old as me you’ll find you’re always saying ‘been there,done that!’ ;-0
6 June, 2007 @ 6:46 pm
Rollergirl, I hear ya.
But the Converse – you haven’t been wearing the same pair since ’93, have ya?!
Mrs F x
7 June, 2007 @ 3:11 am
ADORABLE SPARKLEOCITY. God, I feel the same way about colorful tights. They’ve spread like a bad case of mono, and at one point they were MINE.
9 June, 2007 @ 3:39 pm
I love te ‘sweater overthe shoulder’ look, it’s a bit like the French’s ‘la style L’Anglais’ in which they wear chinos and polos with a Ralph Lauren plaid
sweater placed jauntily over their shoulders…I haven’t seen many English people rocking the look, but it’s fab in an ironic Brideshead Revisited kind of way.
I have been wearing smocks and loose cheesecloth blouses for years, and am slightly annoyed to see millions of others wearing them, but at least there is more choice for me in the shops. It’s the same with trench coats, I have been wearing them for ages and now every high street store has them. I know they’re classic, but when everyone is wearing them, I feel a bit miffed!
Great blog btw.