Do you think...? + OMG - YouLookFab Forum

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Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

Do you think...? + OMG

rachylou

Veteran

Fast fashion *houses* could overtake the designers? Or do they rely on their lead? I was just surfing and I don't see that much difference- not in terms of what I want to wear (ie, excluding ball gowns)... Jus saying....

Plus omg, my ankle puffer just bit the dust. The pocket zip came off!!!

General

30 replies

Latest reply was from rachylou

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Hmmm … I thought fast fashion depended on the collections for ideas. As well as street style.

During this year's fashion week, I've already spent more time looking at street style pics than the shows. Something about the runway look -- the alien beautiful models, the thematic (repetitive?) nature of the collections -- it all kind of lulls me. Whereas with street style, each subject is so different. There's tremendous variety. Different sizes (even short girls!), different ethnicities, and people who wear jeans. I never see jeans on the runway.

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Too bad about the puffer, I can see the fine feathers floating around you. (What happens to puffers when they die?)

Archer

Veteran

My thoughts are of course they would - its not the lead it's just the 'right' to do it first. Construct ladies.

Anonymous

Sending sympathy on your puffer. This is no time to lose such a friend, with the weather we're having. I am feeling rather tired of my own ankle puffer but will send it some love as I put it on this morning for what seems like the 90th day in a row, thinking of your loss.

Summer

Veteran

I would think that the designers lead from the front as they always have, but that we consumers no longer need to bow and scrape to their dictates. We can pick and choose from the trends that filter down from the top, or ignore them completely. People watching has become so much more interesting now that everyone mixes things up to their own recipe, rather than following fashion to the letter as was once the case. Hooray for street style, I say.

Bad luck about the puffer, by the way, What rotten timing.

krishnidoux

Veteran

Sorry about your puffer... winter has lasted too long already! It killed your puffer: it didn't survive it.

kkards

Veteran

hmmmm…..can some emergency surgery save your puffer?

as for fast fashion vs the designer houses, i think that fast fashion is winning. i remember reading something about how the fast fashion retailers were putting pressure on the fashion houses, so that now they are producing spring, fall, pre-fall, cruise etc….the cycle is endless and the time for creativity shrinking.

Olivegreen

Apply duct tape and take to the nice alterations person
We use duct tape on everything that blows out on camping trips. Everything. It works!

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

It sometimes looks like Zara anticipates the collections, or maybe Zara is just copying from the same older ones! And OMG - but can't a zipper be fixed?

jackiec

Veteran

Good question to ponder. Hmmm.

So sad about the puffer. Like the duct tape idea...

Thistle

Veteran

Duct tape! It works until you can get it to an emergency room. Seriously, in this weather, a puffer is a must!

As for fast fashion versus the fashion houses, I am not sure. Fashion has become more open and less exclusive as of late. Instead of a single "it" thing, there are many to choose from. I read somewhere about the deomocratization of fashion - basically the people taking it back from the elite and us deciding what is and is not fashionable. The internet and blogs have had a huge impact on this as we can now connect with people and have give and take feedback real time. I think the trend in flat footwear may be part of this.

rachylou

Veteran

I think that's interesting about designers feeling the squeeze from fast fashion and why the explosion of "seasons."

Re. the puffer: ALL the zippers are kaput on this coat. I hate the hassle of going for alterations (parking, being without my coat, the fact that it will cost more than the coat - which I got on sale). But there may be nothing for it. It was incredibly hard getting a full-length puffer here this year. I can't just go get another one.

Maybe I should just duct tape myself into the coat...

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Sobbing about your puffer. A new one goes straight onto your shopping list, Rachy.

To answer your question - no. Fast fashion relies on the input of designers. Trends are lasting a lot longer these days, so you will see a lot more cross pollination at retail level at any given time.

Denise, you might find this interesting. For two years in a row now - I've tired of watching the slide shows of the street style at fashion week. Although the details of the outfits are different - the look seems the same. Hectic layering and juxtaposition of designer pieces with RATE hair. I'm not criticizing the look. It's fun to watch and definitely a part of fashion week. But the eye cannot rest, until someone like Emmanuelle Alt is featured (in a simple pair of jeans with heels, shirt and jacket). I think it's a question of photographers capturing only THOSE outfits, which leads to a certain degree of monotony. When you are at FW, trust me, you see lots of simple and relatable outfits too, which makes for an excellent mix. Sadly, those are not what captures the eye of the street style photographers - hence we don't see them in slide shows.

The fashion shows, on the other hand, offer a lot more variety in my mind.

AM

Veteran

Poor puffer. My thoughts are with you.

Great question. As someone who hasn't shopped much in the last several years -- and am now crawling out from under a rock, I was thinking that everything is looking very similar at hugely different price points. It is really making me consider how to spend my money.

Reading this thread with interest (and a much needed education on how fashion hits the stores.) Fast Fashion is so new to me and it feels like it has really blurred the lines of what is and isn't accessible (in terms of design.)

Keturah

Veteran

Oh no! Sending you puffer condolences and love <3

Angie, very interesting! Thank you for the insights into street style photography and FW! I for one am over-saturated with street fashion. Some of it seems like they're trying to be weird (or avante garde?) for the sake of being noticed. And I don't mean that as criticism, just observation. But I am loving the fashion shows. Lots of different things for the imagination to be inspired and put to work in the closet!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Keturah, some go to fashion week precisley to be a street style spectacle. Others haul out their most creative and over the top outfits just for fun. These looks are definitely part of the vibe around fashion week, and I would hate to see them go. The point is that spectators from afar are left with the impression that this is the only fashion you see - when this is not the case. That to me is a pity. And our views of the outfits lie in the hands of the street style photographers unfortunately, unless you are physically there.

Keturah

Veteran

Angie, aaaah! That makes even more sense! I could see wanting to wear my my most fun clothes for FW. Why not enjoy a week entirely devoted to the love of clothes and fashion!

I hope it doesn't sound like I want SS to go away entirely. I just wish FW was better represented by the photographers -- it's the pity of it, as you pointed out. I have always wanted to attend FW somewhere grand. But have to rely on photos until I can make it.

rachylou

Veteran

Waah, Angie! Waaaah! 8...( It's on the list now with like 50 exclamation points. Waah!

lol.

Thanks for your insight on fast fashion and designers. I do wonder a lot about the meaning of designers today. How they can make themselves special and desirable. Cache is word that comes to mind - how they can retain that for themselves.

Interesting about street style. I wonder how often we get to see pics of genuine street style. A lot of things seems worn for just the photo shoot. Maybe that's why it's not inspiring.

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Angie I agree street style can be very maximal. Especially from Milan. It's crazy. The NY street style photos are saner. You can also get a different sense depending on who takes the pictures. I find more pin-able shots from Stockholmstreetstyle than other outlets, because the bloggers have their own editorial perspective as to which pictures make it on their blog. (They don't just photograph in Stockholm, they travel to all of the shows.)

But overall it's interesting that you are tired of street style during fashion week and I am weary of the shows. I find I have to watch the collection slide shows very slowly, as in, over months. Then I might go back to them when the season actually starts. The shows require much more concentration, because there are themes, then slight differences. Whereas the street style is easier for me to absorb.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Rachy, as Denise astutely points out - some FW street style sites are easier to absorb than others (like Stockholm Street Style). And BEST of all, are the street style sites that capture regular day to day people on the street with no connection to fashion week. Those are the most inspiring in my mind because people aren't deliberating "parading" (for lack of a better word) for FW. Although - again - I must reiterate that the parading is part of the drama and theatrics of FW. It would be less rich without it.

Denise, did you see this?

http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....ith-photos

As for the shows for F&W 2015 - WOW. There are more than ever, and trends are all over the place. I'm having a harder time structuring my thoughts on the trends going forward. And Gucci's show went straight over my head, (I didn't like it at all). What was their message, I wonder ?

http://www.style.com/fashion-s.....collection

rabbit

Veteran

Speaking of the Gucci show -- what is with the ironed in horizontal pleats near the pants ankles and and the jacket tails? http://www.style.com/slideshow.....lection/44

rachylou

Veteran

That made me laugh, rabbit. And all these years I thought that was to be avoided...

This is what I mean about there being no brands for life. Gucci is so near and dear to my heart, but it's for things from times past. My only take away is big giant fluffy bows, which will not happen.

Angie, Denise - I have to wait for the YLF digestion of shows AND blogs. I confess that Stockholm Street Style gives me a headache to look at. If I want to see what's on Stockholm, I log into tumblr... and I don't log in to tumblr. I don't get a picture feed that doesn't feed.

Echo

Veteran

I find it interesting to ponder "fast fashion" overtaking fashion houses. Exactly how would they do this? There is essentially no "road" built forward until the designer shows, at which point every fast fashion outlet follows the lead of the designers. Fast fashion might even have the new trends in the stores prior to the designers, and they likely make more in retail sales. But they would have nothing to make/imitate without a fashion house's lead.

Many designers have given up couture completely and gone completely RTW. Many designers offer lower cost brands as off-shoots. Those are the things that make them money. But fast fashion is still entirely dependent on designers for ideas and trends for each approaching season. So fast fashion has probably overtaken many designers in profit, but IMO they will never drive fashion. They are dependent on someone else to steer the car and build the road. Once that road is built and there is a driver (they can see what trends designers are going for), they can sometimes overtake designer houses in speed and numbers sold and overall money made.

Indeed, most people shopping fast fashion and even department stores are unaware of where the trends and ideas came from. Virtually everything "affordable" is a copy of a copy, and most consumers don't even care who made something first. Unless an item becomes an "it" thing, most people neither know nor care where a trend came from. Heck, items from Target (and I love Target, so I am not criticizing them) can usually be compared to mid-line department store lines, which can be compared to designer RTW lines, which came in some way from the runway shows.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

YES, rabbit. I guess they are deliberate crease lines. That means that our creased boxed online orders are fashion forward. After all - Gucci said so.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Rachy, you're a scream. Did you see in the Gucci show that the differentiation between the men and women models is more slight than ever.

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

I love conversations like these.

Echo excellent point that fast fashion can take what's been seen at a show and make it faster. I have read Zara can take something from idea to shelf in 2 weeks. Whether this harms the designer is debatable. It could harm their RTW business. On the other hand, don't most design houses make their profit from fragrance, cosmetic and most importantly, leather goods? To that point, have you ever noticed that when a blogger high-low styles an outfit, the high end pieces are often shoes and bags. And the other pieces are vintage or fast fashion.

As for trends being all over the place, it seems even more pronounced than 2014. For example, I was looking around for pants hemline trends on Stockholm Street Style (use their tags to edit the many pictures -- their tags are really well organized! Jeans, New York, Milano, capes, etc…). And I saw the expected cropped hemlines with wide leg bottoms and skinny legs. But I also saw what I thought was a frumpy 2" off the ground length on people like Caroline Issa. Then there were floor sweepers/draggers, and some PPLs just 1/4 " off the ground too. It seems like there are 100s of fringe trends with just a few that go big. In a way it's liberating but it's also noisy and makes me want to just stick to a uniform of sorts. As a result I find my style going more classic this year.

Angie -- how could I miss the HK street style thread! Sometimes I miss a few days on YLF. Now off to read it.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Enjoy, Denise. And YES. It is a bigger melting pot of trends than EVER in 2015. More and less pant length apoplexies for me. (Zara's supply chain is indeed 2 weeks).

Echo, I always enjoy your thoughts. I wonder whether fast fashion is more profitable that RTW. It would be an interesting comparison.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Ha ha, Angie I loved your comment about the Gucci show and the shows in general. I loved the Gucci pre-season show but found the fall show needed a sort of crib sheet. I mean it looked like androgyny turned on its head and no, I am not sure I know what I mean by that. I also found the shows I have seen lacking in the cohesion. Interesting. I made a comment on an earlier thread to the effect that all I have noticed so far is platforms are back and now I will add bits of fur.

As for street style, I find it easier to follow an interesting person rather than random shots. I like to see how different ideas work on one person. Well, of course I also have YLF for that!

Rachy, how's your poor puffer doing?

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

GOOD GRIEF. Jaime, I LOVED Gucci Pre-Fall. What the heck were they thinking for Fall 2015? I'm quite perplexed about it. Androgyny turned on its head and inside out. I'm also finding that the shows right now are generally lacking cohesion - although I still have many to see.

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