(See what we did there? Like the love child of ‘Got milk’ and ‘You’ve been tangoed’)
Laura Reynolds looks at the hype surrounding the collaboration.
Just a week to go until the man in red arrives...
The clothes that grace the catwalks every season are not accessible to everyone, they are expensive, sometimes one off pieces that are supposed to grab our attention and importantly advertise the brand. Often clothes on the catwalk would not be wearable in any practical real life situation, especially on anyone who is not a size 0.
Something has occurred to me in the wake of London Fashion week, I don't have to like the clothes. Looking through various magazines and online sources I am surprised by how uncritical fashion editors seem to be. If I read the words 'sharp tailoring' and 'the juxtaposition of harsh and feminine' one more time I may have to scream. What is so wrong with saying we don't like it? Why can I not, despite my rudimentary knowledge of garment construction, argue that a collection is boring and lacks imagination?
The wonderfully eccentric, 14 year old fashion blogger Tavi aka Style Rookie, is certainly ahead of her peers in her love of fashion. In one of her most recent blog updates she argued, without hesitation, that the first few looks in Jil Sander's new collection were repetitive and had been seen before. Perhaps it takes a fresh eye, the young and unrestricted mind of a teenager to properly explain a collection for what it really is. In today's fashion obsessed world it seems too childish or to annoyingly immature to say 'I thought the red dress was nice' instead of 'I like the silk bandage dresses and the alluring hint of lace that gave the look a rich romance'?
I Love Burberry. Not the beige tartan that adorns the teens hanging around the post-box but the wonderful designs of Christopher Bailey. His collections are intelligent with a continuity that runs from season to season and a wearability that makes his clothes truly covetable. He knows the modern, fashion forward British woman and he isn't afraid to show it. His most recent collection which has just been displayed at London Fashion Week, is extensive and interesting with flashes of colour and incredible detail, but is it any good?
Instead of resorting to the opinions of others I decided to look at the whole collection myself. By avoiding the carefully chosen words of Vogue I was able to piece together my own view, not influenced by reputation or how many celebrities were sat on the front row. Although I disliked the thigh high snake skin boots, the oversized furs and the lace blouses; I really liked everything else.
Perhaps then fashion is available to everyone, because whether we can afford it or not we can all scrutinise a collection with the same interested intensity. I do not have to be a fashion student or a fashion editor to say that I liked Burberry but disliked Alexander Wang. I am standing up for my right to say I hate it. I don't have to be a high paid actress to think that Keira Knightley can't act. I do not have to be a best selling author to think that Twilight is the most sexist and degrading story ever written. I do not have to be Anna Wintour (of American Vogue) to express my opinion on a selection of clothes, on a pile of material that has been sewn in a way adverse to my particular tastes.
My point is simple, fashion is personal, it is unique and just because I can’t afford to buy a Burberry trench coat does not mean that I can't argue that the collar is too big. We should all loose our fashion pretension, scrap the fancy jargon and ask ourselves, do we like it?
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