still cookin

we're now about six weeks into summer, just enough time to settle into a steady wardrobe for this funky (leaves falling everywhere?!) season. it's all about looking light and flowy. and sexy, why not. i don't mind that everyone's still feeling the little-girl dress cuts that chloe brought back a couple of years ago, but it's getting a bit out-of-hand. some girls straight look like they're wearing a duster. you know, the kind of dresses that old ladies wear all day around their house? there's no form or shape. i guess, like muumuus? in tagalog we call them pangbahay. and i really don't get this scarf trend where i'm catching women pairing long, drabby-curtain scarves around their necks with tank tops. anyway, i'm not here to criticize anyone's sense of fashion. do your thing, but i'd have to say there are just some things you shouldn't wear in 90-degree weather. like heavy jewelry. or a lot of makeup for that matter. another thing that's not quite right is legal lohan being on the september cover of elle mag again. one of the quotes that huffingtonpost.com took from the article is: "I just want to be nominated for an award for all the work I've done. It's so funny - people forget that I played two characters in Parent Trap when I was twelve years old." okay, i'll stop there.

let's get back to not judging. i went to bread and butter in july to see if this would be the year that euro fashion surprises me. unfortunately...no. the higher-end fashion market didn't show anything mind-blowing, but at least they stayed in line with their rank by using fancy materials (cashmere and silk!) on classic cuts. one classic look i do love - and is a successful detail for a girls' night outfit - is décolletée: low-cut, sexy, yet very tasteful (no wonderbras allowed).

what else. denim is always cool. there are so many different denim brands that exist. but i love to observe jean brands because their marketing budgets seem to flow like honey.. i mean, aside from creating another wash or pocket design, jeans are jeans are jeans. so how do you compete? through branding and marketing. gap hit it in the 90s. today, it's a little harder as advertising has become more celebrity-hyped, e.g seven for all mankind, hudson. i don't know, really. but if you're in fashion marketing, denim seems like it would be a fun biz to get into.

where it really goes bad is in the younger markets. "streetwear." boy these brands are just riding this neon, all-over, bad-pucci-knock-off, ice-cream, and other hyphenated-word looks until the last dawn wiener of the world pairs a hundreds tee with yet another desperate re-issue shoe/unreasonable color-way.


"let's get back to not judging." ha ha. for real though. fashion, schmashion. it's fun. and you know i love it. it was good fun walking around, looking at people, and checking out the booths. i think i mentioned this when i wrote about going to b&b berlin, even though going to a fashion tradeshow in europe is just as typical as your asr or magic in america, a standard booth for a euro brand has to have a bar area installed in it, i.e. mini-fridge, beers & champagne. and a plus in the streetwear area is that a lot of the reps and retailers pass joints. no five-o breaking this party up.