In Spades

Style... in abundance

Has Fashion Jumped the Shark?

Has Fashion Jumped the Shark?If you missed my Fashion Friday on Instagram, I talked about two big drops that debuted last week.  Yeezy for The Gap and Balenciaga’s second collaboration with Crocs.

Both received a lot of press, and as I found out via Insta polls, they are both quite polarizing.  You either love Kanye or hate him.  Wear Crocs or wouldn’t be caught dead in them. Victoria Beckham famously said…

“I think I’d rather die but thank you anyway @justinbieber 😂”

… in response to Justin Bieber’s collab with Crocs.

Let’s break down these two collabs.

Yeezy for The Gap

The only thing shoppers were privy to when this puffer jacket appeared on The Gap’s homepage was that they’d need to fill out their personal information, sizes and then… be put into a waiting room.  After a $200 commitment, they were informed Yeezy’s first piece for The Gap would ship sometime this fall.

Do I like Kanye?  No.  Do I hate this jacket?  Also no.  But let’s unpack that.  It’s a puffer coat.  As a huge fan of both Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia puffer jackets) and Norma Kamali (the sleeping bag coat) – both created in the 1960’s – it’s clear where his inspiration came from.

It’s a fun color.  But I (of course) will not be buying it.  How about you?

Balenciaga for Crocs 2.0

Balenciaga previously gave us a platform Croc in 2017.  This past week they debuted a stiletto Croc.  Who needs stiletto Crocs?  That’s right, no one.

But here’s the catch.

Demand for Crocs increased 64% in the first quarter of this year alone.  Revenues are through the roof.  So what may seem like an “are you kidding me?” move, is actually smart marketing.

The stiletto Crocs are part of the Spring/Summer 2022 collection and will retail for approximately $1000.  Who will be buying them?

Where do we go from here?

Both of these drops have me begging the question.

Has fashion jumped the shark?  

I love small, indie brands because they stay true to their DNA.  They know what they do well, stick to it, and do it in spades.

I love big luxury brands too.  And you know I love a ridiculous fashion moment.  But when are we going to reign it in from shock value to functionality?  The pendulum hath swung too far, methinks.

The History of Fashion: Denim

Oooo, I am excited for this post!  If you’ve been here before, you know I’m denim obsessed.  Jeans represent my truest form of sartorial expression.  Over the course of my life, I’ve owned and sold hundreds of pairs.

At their core, jeans are profoundly American.  From their inception during the California Gold Rush, to the advent of designer jeans, denim DNA is trailblazing.

Denim Origin

So how did this all begin?

Denim as a fabric was first created in Nîmes, France.  Its original name was “serge de Nîmes” which became known as “denim.”

It was, of course, Levi Strauss who took this to a whole other level by creating blue jeans in the mid-1800’s.  The durable fabric was meant to be worn by gold miners – the pockets were made large to fit pieces of gold – and were adapted by cowboys in the 1920s thanks to Strauss’s genius mass production and marketing.

Fun fact: Outlaw Peart Hart was arrested for wearing jeans in the early 1900s.  Not considered appropriate dress for women at the time, they forced her to put on a dress for her mug shot.

That’s my kind of gal.

Denim Trends

When it comes to jeans, my preference is very cyclical.  I’ve been on (and off) just about every denim bandwagon, but after decades of research, I’ve finally found my holy grail.

100% cotton, straight leg, cropped jeans

I love a wide leg or a flare every now and then, but my M.O. from here on out is 100% cotton or bust.  I recently cleaned out my closet and as I was going through what to toss and what to keep, I couldn’t believe how strange my stretchy jeans felt.  They all got donated.

The best thing you can do for 100% cotton jeans is never wash them. Yep, I mean it.  As a mother of a toddler, I occasionally have to break this rule, but I try VERY hard not to.

Levi's 1950 501s
Denim Resources

If you’re denim obsessed like me, check these out.

This Instagram account is fabulous for vintage Levi’s, exclusive drops and true denim nerds.

Jeff Goldblum did a documentary on jeans that covers enthusiasts who go searching through mines and those that pay thousands for vintage threads.

Download the Levi’s app for exclusive deals on vintage denim.  I just scored an authenticated vintage pair of 501 cutoffs.

Check out Levi’s most well-known and respected collector Brit Eaton.  He has a private Instagram account where he sells vintage Levi’s he finds throughout the world.

My Favorite Everyday Jeans
My Favorite Designer Jeans
Barrel leg jeans

Fashion Friday

It came to my attention that this month marks the 10 year anniversary of the Mansur Gavriel bucket bag.

This was a significant bag for many reasons.  First, it debuted during the peak of the “It bag” era.  Because it was a new indie brand on the scene, there were no boutiques; no retailers with long-standing brand relationships.  It was incredibly hard to get.  And everyone wanted one.

Mansur Gavriel was the proverbial fashion unicorn.

I, of course, was not excluded from this group (I own 4).

Back when they were extremely hard to come by, I wrote a post, How to Score a Mansur Gavriel Bag During Restock.  To this day, it’s one of my most popular blog posts of all time.

I think what really set this bag apart – besides its elegant, simplistic design – was the pricepoint.  Coming in between $500 – $700 depending on the size, it was accessible luxury.  Louis Vuitton was just as coveted, but in a totally different price category.  Mansur Gavriel had the same frenzied popularity, but it wasn’t that far out of reach for the average woman.

And thus a perfect storm was born.

Did you own one?

Helen Ficalora Initial NecklaceIt’s crazy to me to look back at some of the retailers that carried Mansur Gavriel – like Barney’s.  It truly makes this “It bag” phenomenon feel like an eternity ago.

While Instagram has paved the way for a new era of “It bags,” I don’t think I’ve seen a 2013-Mansur-Gavriel-level-frenzy in modern-day.  The closest I can come up with is the Bottega Veneta pouch (I have one of those too).  Both with the two pricepoints being so different, I think the Mansur Gavriel bucket bag remains in a category all its own… 10 years and counting.

Mansur Gavriel’s Memorial Day sale will get you 20% off with code RAINBOW20.

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Fashion Friday

Today’s Fashion Friday highlights three exciting designer collaborations launching this month!

Prabal Gurung x Etsy

The womenswear designer teamed up with 11 Etsy top-selling artists to bring us a line of beautiful home goods.  From accent pillows, candles, planters and table linens, there’s something for everyone.

Priced between $40 – $250; available now.

Target x Designer Dress Collection

Christopher John Rogers, Alexis and Rixo are the three brands lined up for Target’s next collab.  I’m adoring the vibrant prints for summer.

Priced between $40 – $60; available May 16.

Prince x Urban Decay

Urban Decay is releasing a line of makeup modeled after his royal highness.  Collaborating with the Prince estate, the brand worked with Trevor Guy, Damaris Lewis and Randee St. Nicholas who were all very close to the late music legend on this fantastic line-up.

Available May 27.

Remembering Alber Elbaz

I sat down to write this post fully intending to share a History of Fashion level tribute to the life and career of Alber Elbaz.

The Moroccan-born, Israeli designer passed away this week at the age of 59 due to complications from COVID-19.

But instead what happened was a scenario my Yiayia would often recount to me.  She had a rolltop desk in her kitchen.  And every year or so she would vow to clean it out.  But every time she opened it, ready to organize and purge, she came across a memory.  A letter.  A ticket stub.  A Post-it note.  And a worthwhile endeavor turned into an entire day of reminiscing.

The desk never got clean.

I have collected so many editorials, runway images, interviews, speeches and anecdotes that Alber has shared, I simply fell down the rabbit hole revisiting them.  I guess I’m not ready to write his History of Fashion.

Instead, I will share a very limited number of quotes Alber gave over the years.

May your memory be eternal, kind soul.

“My conclusion today is that fashion is very important, today maybe more than ever, because we fashion designers maybe have a role. We have the duty to bring beauty to the world, to make women feel better, to make women feel good, to uplift them.”

“Fashion is not a reality, but it can become a reality if there’s nothing else in your life.”

“… this is why his clothes are always so wearable and so loving. They are always a step short of theatricality. With the same vocabulary, a designer could do something theatrical; he does something emotional.” — Izhar Patkin

“We designers started as couturiers with dreams, with intuitions and with feelings.…Then we became creative directors, so we have to create, but mostly direct. And now we have become image makers, making sure it looks good in pictures. The screen has to scream, baby…loudness is the new cool. I prefer whispering. I think it goes deeper and lasts longer.”