softgrey
flaunt the imperfection
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2004
- Messages
- 52,893
- Reaction score
- 319
Nicole Richie is the poster child for the worst of L.A. style.
- Rick Mackler/Globe Photos, Inc.
March 29, 2004 -- IF you've been shopping lately, you can't help but notice massive amounts of (really) miniskirts, shredded T-shirts and midriff-baring tops.
And we're not just talking H&M.
At Bloomie's. At Scoop. At Intermix. Even Barneys is selling $720 shorts. Shorts! (Note to designers: New Yorkers don't wear shorts.)
What's the problem? Los Angeles, apparently.
This week, that city plays host to its second Fashion Week. To kick off the festivities, let's ship back the Paris Hilton-inspired junk their fine designers have been sending us.
A few weeks ago, Laurie Cearley hit J. Crew, the Gap and Club Monaco to get ready for a mid-winter trip to Australia.
"I had no problem finding hot weather, beachy wear - tank tops, linen skirts, flip-flops," says Cearley, a Manhattan performing-arts curator.
"But there was not a lot out there that I would wear to my office."
Therein lies the problem: Most New Yorkers can't - and won't - wear L.A. looks during the week.
"Miniskirts are inappropriate for work," rants a TV producer who has been harassed on 43rd Street for sporting a skirt three inches above her knee, "or anywhere in New York."
She went shopping recently at boutiques in Williamsburg and NoLIta and walked out empty-handed.
"No way would I buy any of this stuff," she scoffs.
Sportswear designer Nonie Sauer was similarly frustrated: "I had to go to Saks for a suit," she complains.
"Even the designers you used to be able to count on for suit pieces" - Chaiken, Tahari, Theory - "are making all of this off-the-shoulder '80s crap."
What are designers thinking?
"To tell you the truth, I don't know!" says designer Julia Neaman, whose feminine, un-L.A. collection sells at Barneys New York, Macy's West, Nordstrom and Fred Segal.
(Full disclosure: Neaman's spring line includes a pair of shorts. They were, she contends, an inside joke.)
"I was at Barneys a couple of months ago looking around and was like, 'What happened? Did all of L.A. move to New York?'" she says.
"With my collection, there's stuff that's cool and sexy, but you could wear it to work if you wanted to."
"Shopping has lost meaning for me," echoes Alexandra Jacobs, the New York Observer's West Coast editor. "I used to take such joy in it."
Jacobs, a native New Yorker, claims she wears sweats in L.A. because "you never see anyone there unless you make an appointment. So there is no risk you're going to get caught."
Recently, she's been so L.A.-ed, her husband told her she looked like a homeless person.
So who's really to blame for the Left Coast invasion?
It's not just California designers - Marc by Marc Jacobs is just as guilty of the L.A. look as Juicy Couture.
It's the people who popularized the trend: stars like Nicole Richie, Kate Hudson, Jessica Simpson - and of course, Hilton herself. And let's not forget J.Lo and her velour sweats.
We say leave those ripped minis on the Sunset Strip - and come back when you're ready to dress like a grown up.
- Rick Mackler/Globe Photos, Inc.
March 29, 2004 -- IF you've been shopping lately, you can't help but notice massive amounts of (really) miniskirts, shredded T-shirts and midriff-baring tops.
And we're not just talking H&M.
At Bloomie's. At Scoop. At Intermix. Even Barneys is selling $720 shorts. Shorts! (Note to designers: New Yorkers don't wear shorts.)
What's the problem? Los Angeles, apparently.
This week, that city plays host to its second Fashion Week. To kick off the festivities, let's ship back the Paris Hilton-inspired junk their fine designers have been sending us.
A few weeks ago, Laurie Cearley hit J. Crew, the Gap and Club Monaco to get ready for a mid-winter trip to Australia.
"I had no problem finding hot weather, beachy wear - tank tops, linen skirts, flip-flops," says Cearley, a Manhattan performing-arts curator.
"But there was not a lot out there that I would wear to my office."
Therein lies the problem: Most New Yorkers can't - and won't - wear L.A. looks during the week.
"Miniskirts are inappropriate for work," rants a TV producer who has been harassed on 43rd Street for sporting a skirt three inches above her knee, "or anywhere in New York."
She went shopping recently at boutiques in Williamsburg and NoLIta and walked out empty-handed.
"No way would I buy any of this stuff," she scoffs.
Sportswear designer Nonie Sauer was similarly frustrated: "I had to go to Saks for a suit," she complains.
"Even the designers you used to be able to count on for suit pieces" - Chaiken, Tahari, Theory - "are making all of this off-the-shoulder '80s crap."
What are designers thinking?
"To tell you the truth, I don't know!" says designer Julia Neaman, whose feminine, un-L.A. collection sells at Barneys New York, Macy's West, Nordstrom and Fred Segal.
(Full disclosure: Neaman's spring line includes a pair of shorts. They were, she contends, an inside joke.)
"I was at Barneys a couple of months ago looking around and was like, 'What happened? Did all of L.A. move to New York?'" she says.
"With my collection, there's stuff that's cool and sexy, but you could wear it to work if you wanted to."
"Shopping has lost meaning for me," echoes Alexandra Jacobs, the New York Observer's West Coast editor. "I used to take such joy in it."
Jacobs, a native New Yorker, claims she wears sweats in L.A. because "you never see anyone there unless you make an appointment. So there is no risk you're going to get caught."
Recently, she's been so L.A.-ed, her husband told her she looked like a homeless person.
So who's really to blame for the Left Coast invasion?
It's not just California designers - Marc by Marc Jacobs is just as guilty of the L.A. look as Juicy Couture.
It's the people who popularized the trend: stars like Nicole Richie, Kate Hudson, Jessica Simpson - and of course, Hilton herself. And let's not forget J.Lo and her velour sweats.
We say leave those ripped minis on the Sunset Strip - and come back when you're ready to dress like a grown up.
i do not dress like this and i spend 60% of my time in LA ! i cant even tell the difference between high end and low end clothing anymore due to the awful mass production of reality tv, california bred, sitcom , hollywood teen, cosmo looks 
seriously. thank god for the lady- like looks back in style, because i just took all my cocktail dresses from (my grandmother's closet ) to the tailor ! 
) and sandals are my casual summer uniform. I've been reconsidering my wardrobe lately (as I'm about to graduate from college and I am doing the job search thing) and I'd like to have some separation between work clothes and play clothes (for a few reasons, one of which is to preserve/extend the life of my work clothes). 
its so comfy and carefree, and reminds me of happy times! And isn't that what clothes should do - make you feel happy? I'm in Toronto, so.... not much shorts and flip flops for me (until the summer) 
). Anyway, JLo is from NYC, hahaha...
no offence LA - tht's good too but NYC has the edge
