Thursday, June 5, 2008

Fashion and Grammar Gripes -- yes, I'm back, Sept. 21, 2007

Well kids, this is not going to be a traditionally irritated post because I'm in a fairly good mood lately.

That said, the new fall trends aren't bothering me a whole heck of a lot.

I'm getting used to this whole black-tights-with-everything idea. Looked good in high school with jumpers, looks good now with jumpers, albeit with a more 1960s vibe.

I've yet to buy any, nor do I have any fall-appropriate-length dresses and skirts to wear with the new black tights. But when I can, I will, and when I do, I will wear them nearly 24-7, at least, that's what the back-to-fall magazines predict.

I'm sure I'll end up wearing jeans most of the time anyway.

But really, I don't have any major problems with this fall ... lots of black and gray? Excellent. Both are slimming, both are attractive on everyone.

I don't love jewel tones, but they're not really that big of a deal.

Jeans are all over the spectrum now, which can be kind of confusing, but I like the whole individuality approach.

Clutch purses are getting a lot of attention lately, which is fantastic since I bought a faux-croc one in 2004.

Mary-Janes are back in shoes, which is great. I haven't decided yet if my Steve Maddens from 2002 might pass for new.

Flats are still very in, and so are platform pumps. Stilettos are still OK, but thank goodness they are no longer the only really trendy shoe. My feet are rejoicing.

Everyone's talking about bright colors showing up in various places, but that's been happening since 2003 when red sneakers were near omnipresent.

Which brings me to a slight grammar issue. "Popping."

Why is everyone saying that certain things need to "pop" all the time lately? It reminds me of Bob Ross (the late painter). Let's make the happy trees pop.

"At the end of the day" is still alive and well, but "it is what it is" is inching on it.

My main irritation as of late is not with grammar nor fashion. It's with celebrity "news." I'm a little disgusted after reading some recent interviews with Ashley Olsen and Lindsay Lohan. I no longer feel sorry for these girls, considering that they are millionaires, but at the same time, I feel very sorry for the American people who seem to think it is perfectly normal to be obsessive about celebrity lives. Nobody ever said they were saints -- they're irresponsible, young adults with a lack of education and way too much money and fame to know what to do with. We watch them self-destruct like it makes us feel better about ourselves, like they have no feelings and no right to any kind of privacy. Who the hell cares anymore what purse Paris is carrying? Does it really matter how pregnant Nicole Richie looks or how "fat" and drugged Britney Spears appears to be?

The most detrimental part of all of it is how it is affecting their peers ... I don't know how I would have reacted if this kind of phenomenon had existed when I was in college. All I had to deal with was a lot of nonsense about Britney and Christina and Jessica and Mandy and Backstreet Boys ... basically just a lot of bad music and slutty fashion hitting the scene. Thank God I knew very little about their social lives. Major magazines weren't hurling that info at me like they do today. I think if I were a college student today, I would be all the more aware of my image (do I look too slutty? do I look too thin? too fat? healthy enough? do i look too drunk? do i wear the right clothing to make sure I look rich and sophisticated? am i wearing underwear?) and I would no longer want to major in journalism. Because I would have very little respect for the "journalism" that's hurting these kids.

Which brings me to my major annoyance with fashion trends right now -- fedoras, big sunglasses and scarves. Worn by themselves, they are fine. Worn together, it's clearly the sign of a celebrity in disguise. The irony of so many eye-candy celebrities wearing fedoras with big sunglasses is that now everyone wants to wear fedoras with big sunglasses, or big sunglasses with scarves.

They are wearing these as protection, people. Do you see any paparazzi around you? Then take off the damn hat and shades.

Thank goodness Britney's wigs and hair weaves never caught on.

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