I Really Am

And I want that shirt. Designed by Walter Van Beirendonck, its sold out and all gone....clearly an indicator that I'm not the only one sick of easy fashion. Hat tip to Susie Bubble at STYLEBUBBLE for her blog today featuring her sporting a Walter paper dress, reminding me to revisit his site (and covet in vain).

This is not to say I dress edgy or high end couture or anything of the sort. I'm as guilty of easy "fashion" applied to daily wear as the next busy Mom & biz owner. What I am sick of is laziness when it comes to design. Designers taking something of someone else's and calling their own, perhaps changing a seam, adding a button...whatever it may be, they call it design and I call it lazy. A skirt made into a halter dress is not a design, its an alteration. A cape with an unusual closure added to it is still a cape. A shirtwaist dress hemmed up to micro mini length is still a shirtwaist dress. These are not original thoughts, nor do they require the kind of talent and skill a great designer should possess.

After watching the finale of Bravo's "Fashion Show" I kept thinking about Anna McCraney's signature dress, that of the multicolor pleats and folds. Today when I saw the above shirt by Walter and considered how much we see today that is utterly unoriginal and lacks intellectual as well as physical effort, it made me think of that dress again....the originality of the design, the selection of textile, the execution of said design and the intense attention to detail. This is not easy. This is a work of art.

~Ang