Attention whores...love em or hate em...?

[daniellat]

i love ADR, she is fun to watch and hear but the website dedicated to only her personal style, the elaborated frames on every picture and the jewerly, the posing it just seems too narcissistic to me. She doesnt need all that, she has a cool job and is actually good at it, so why bother? for the attention that is.

 

[Drusilla_]

^ I have to agree with you on one aspect, that I love seeing someone make an effort with the clothes they wear. I do respect that they can continually dress up for an occasion, it seems like so few people do now days, however overall attention whores annoy me to no end.

I agree- I think the pursuit of an "effortless" look is overrated if it automatically leads to anyone who's actually made an effort getting called names for "trying too hard". How much "trying" is "just right", anyway? And what's wrong with people having some fun with what they wear?

And not everyone who dresses differently from the average person looks like an attention wh*re- Anna Piaggi is one great example, Iris Apfel is another, and on the younger side, I've always had tremendous admiration for Susie Bubble. All three ladies have a rather offbeat sense of style, but whenever I see a picture of one of them wearing something that's a little quirky, I don't get the feeling they wear it because it's weird- they wear it because it's them.

I think its not so much the clothes they wear but their attitudes, they think they are all that when in reality they aren't. I don't have a problem if someone wears a loud outfit but I do have a problem when they try to get as much publicity from it as they can and that I think lies in the differences of the Anna Piaggi's and the Anna Dello Russo's of the world. Piaggi isn't looking for publicity for her looks whereas Dello Russo most certainly is.

At least ADR is up front about it- I still remember feeling absolutely boggled when she spoke of planning outfits six months beforehand, even though I knew that streetstyle for fashion editors isn't 100% spontaneous.

But I agree with you on attitude being what determines whether someone is an attention wh*re or not. Like I said earlier, Susie Bubble might dress off-kilter sometimes but she really doesn't come off as an attention-seeker, it's just the way she likes to dress and it's intrinsic to her. Or the girls in FRUiTS magazine, it's rather brilliant to see people who really do seem to dress a certain way because that's what suits them and not just because they know it'll catch a photographer's eye.

 

[LesFauves]

i love ADR, she is fun to watch and hear but the website dedicated to only her personal style, the elaborated frames on every picture and the jewerly, the posing it just seems too narcissistic to me. She doesnt need all that, she has a cool job and is actually good at it, so why bother? for the attention that is.

I guess the fact she is good at her job is subjective, but every editorial of ADR's I've seen is pretty much a carbon copy of looks she would/could do for herself. Whatever, if you like that look, but her work definitely isn't about creating a character or telling a story...that character is HER.

 

[softgrey]

I agree- I think the pursuit of an "effortless" look is overrated if it automatically leads to anyone who's actually made an effort getting called names for "trying too hard". How much "trying" is "just right", anyway? And what's wrong with people having some fun with what they wear?

first, let's hope everyone is having fun!...

as far as trying too hard...
i think that it is trying to hard when one has obviously put a lot of effort into a look and fails to pull it off...
that is when it's not cool...
it's like...
you tried so hard to look cool by wearing something VERY trendy or VERY weird...
and you just end up looking silly...either because it doesn't suit you or doesn't flatter...
or simply isn't authentic...


that's what i think anyway..

 

[pinksequins]

who's really to know what's too much? we all have different tastes. the attention wh*re to you may not be so to the next person. I really neither love them or hate them.. I'm usually like, "huh... interesting." live and let live

 

[Zazie]

Interesting how this thread has grown. I would consider "attention whores" to be synonymous with one aspect of being a "fashion victim", when your life is consumed by fashion to the exclusion of everything else, that you might actually be a dull person but for the clothes and accessories that you pile on yourself. You become victim and perpetrator of a system of "spectacle", of consumption. It's the old onion or artichoke question - when you peel off the beautiful layers, do you find in its core a rich beating heart or emptiness?

 

[WidowOfCulloden]

Love them? No!!!
Hate them? No!!!
Pretend that they don't exist! That's what kills them!!!

 

[fashionknows]

I don't think ADR is an "Attention wh*re" at all; she's very true to herself and I can see her passion in the way she dressed. I admired her deeply for wearing whatever she wants with a big smile! Who cares when someone says she's an attention wh*re? She's having fun and that's all that matters.

To me, an attention wh*re is someone who is loud, obnoxious and don't have any clear idea of who he/she represents. If you look at people who dressed differently, you can tell who is wearing it with confidence and who isn't.

 

[Susann]

First of all "attention whores" dont make me angry...I rather pity them. I think you can either be an attention wh*re by the way you dress but mostly by the way you act.
Dressing unconventional or very "loud" does not necessarily make an attention wh*re for me. I think it simply shows if you dress or act the way you do because you desperately need attention or if this is actually the real you.
People who act or dress in a special way to provoke reactions from others always make me sad. Because they are obvioulsy not confident with themselves and need others to attest that they matter and are somone.

While checking the model's threads here on tfs, I've recently noticed that there are the ones very "loud" and attention seeking and others very laid back and grounded.
For me the grounded, laid back ones ( a la Constance Jablonski) catch my attention much more easily and fascinate me, while the attention seeking ones turn me off. Still I am not saying that extroverted quirky models (or generally people) are always attention whores. But I think you notice if someone is "real" or just trying to get attention.
An "attention wh*re" for me is someone who desperately needs a lot attention and cant concentrate on others and thats sad.

 

[JulieTao]

I agree with the two posts above me.
So are we talking about models? People in general?
Yes. I do get irritated by people who dress for attention, attention being the only reason they are dressed that way. I think if it's obvious that you are being driven by attention, I lose respect for you.
BUT sometimes, for some people, when they are doing things because they have gotten attention, it can be very fun to watch, especially boys, or people who are good-natured in doing whatever...
Does anyone get what I mean? lol
but yeah, I think in terms of fashion, everyone who dresses a little out-there, does it partly to see what reactions they'd get, including me.

 

[softgrey]

well---
we have a whole bunch of attention whores in pop music as well now...
nicki minaj, rihanna, katy perry, gaga...etc...
all trying to out-crazy the rest...

i mean...
did you see katy perry at the VMA;s???

she had PINK hair and a (cheese-like) yellow CUBE on her head for crying out loud!!!
and the funny thing is that the media didn't even make a big deal of it....
...


i think it's all backfiring now...
it seems that people have gotten pretty accustomed to this over-the-top, attention-seeking way of dressing...
and they aren't that interested anymore...

the big story at the VMA's turned out to be GaGa...
mostly because she didn't dress up and didn't change once...
go figure...
...

 

[FelipeV]

Sadly, extravagant is the new normality.

And Gaga... oh god. She have some talent, but she's NOBODY without her disgusting looks and scandals around her, i think she's the Mother of the attention whores.

 

[Zarina]

In general pop stars are very bad musicians with very poor skills so they need to do something with their looks to make people buy their music. The music means almost nothing.

 

[iluvjeisa]

In general pop stars are very bad musicians with very poor skills so they need to do something with their looks to make people buy their music. The music means almost nothing.

That's not really true IMO. Well, maybe the last ten years - but who would say the people singing Motown were bad musicians?

 

[y0shi]

Sadly, extravagant is the new normality.

And Gaga... oh god. She have some talent, but she's NOBODY without her disgusting looks and scandals around her, i think she's the Mother of the attention whores.

I'm sorry but I don't agree! Gaga is not an attention wh*re, Gaga is just being herself! The fact that she doesn't conform to the standards of normal dressing doesn't make her an attention wh*re. It makes her courageous and unique.

 

[iluvjeisa]

I'm sorry but I don't agree! Gaga is not an attention wh*re, Gaga is just being herself! The fact that she doesn't conform to the standards of normal dressing doesn't make her an attention wh*re. It makes her courageous and unique.

...and an attention wh*re Is there anything wrong with it? If you walk around dressed in meat, you do it mostly for attention.

 

[y0shi]

...and an attention wh*re Is there anything wrong with it? If you walk around dressed in meat, you do it mostly for attention.

She did it to make a statement. Minaj and Katy Perry on the other hand dress in outrageous outfits with no thought whatsoever...that to me is what makes and attention wh*re. An attention wh*re is the wrong word to describe Gaga because it has negative connotations, so yes, there is something wrong with it...

Gaga's outfits convey something, they are an extension of her art, of her voice. She's not dressing up because she wants attention, she has all the attention an established artist could ever have and more...The meat dress aimed to provoke people to think about why she wore that dress, and it's a shame that most didn't have the intellectual capacity to see past the meat and focus on what she was trying to express. Katy Perry's cube or Minaj's Givenchy catsuit for instance were no more than a furthering of their superficial physicality...That to me is attention wh*ring. Doing something/wearing something just to be seen, with no depth or meaning behind their action or expression

 

[softgrey]

I'm sorry but I don't agree! Gaga is not an attention wh*re, Gaga is just being herself! The fact that she doesn't conform to the standards of normal dressing doesn't make her an attention wh*re. It makes her courageous and unique.

i don't care much about gaga...
but i am really sick of people talking about how 'unique' she is when she even admits to copying other artists---both musically and visually...

and she isn't even doing a good job of it anymore...
she hasn't done anything good- visually- since bad romance actually...
...

that video was the one moment when everything was cool and unique and really well done...
everything since then has been trying to reach that level and really falling short...

and seriously---
if you're going to do a meat dress---it damn well better be the most amazing dress that ever was!!!...


meat dress---*sheesh*...
*i am not a piece of meat*...
blah blah blah...such a cliche....bo-o-o-rrring!...
total art school BS...

just because you call yourself an artist doesn't mean you have any talent...
people paint dogs on velvet all day and call themselves artists too...
but you're not gonna see that stuff when you go to a museum!

and don't even get me started on the rest of them...
...


i love that there are so many women on the charts these days...
but it's kinda disappointing that there aren't more adeles...


* frankly---i think the only really unique thing about gaga is her lack of plastic surgery...
and if that makes her courageous---then most of us are heroic!...

 

[Pastry]

^good post.

Yes. These conversations tend to center around an argument between a more, say, enlightened or learned type of person and someone who consumes imagery like it ain't no thang (probably because it's the only way they know how to deal with visual language).

But I found this to be a particularly good point.

i love that there are so many women on the charts these days...
but it's kinda disappointing that there aren't more adeles...

I haven't been in design for long, but I've come to understand trends as cultural and that they can also act in terms of backlash..i.e. saturate people's minds with enough extravagance and we crave minimalism. (Mind you, some people make up their minds as to what they like pretty early on)

Anyway, certainly Lady G's team has realized that and their next step was her male alter ego...

Adele on the other hand, is here at a good moment. She's from the block, she has a great voice (let's hope she takes care of it, because sometimes I worry), she's a hard worker, and she touches us with her polite, classic style (which is a nice contrast to her essentially human ways)
She is to the music industry, what an outsider artist is to the art (dealer) world. She's rare and special.

Once, the hype is over, I think people who are true to themselves are always the ones left standing. It can be applied to any craft and it's always going to be the case. No matter what.

 

[franki]

whilst i do agree that some of Gaga's outfits are conveying a 'message' rather than just throwing a yellow cube on her head, i also agree that she is still doing it for the attention.

i mean, her airport outfits aren't conveying any message, yet they are attracting a lot of attention.

my biggest problem with Gaga though is that she isn't individual or unique at all, and she is not even being true to herself.
go back to her Just Dance video and those early days and she just looked like any trashy, over-sexualised (in the 'bad' way, not in the 'artistic' way that she tries to be sexual now) cast member of Jersey Shore