Subterfuge.

Definition: Something intended to misrepresent the true nature of an activity; used to evade a rule, escape a consequence, hide something, etc

Bonjour mes amies, hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. As you know, I like to have a rant every now and then and aim for the blog to be a perfect mix of talking about frivolous and superficial aspects of the fashion industry and debating and writing about the more serious, controversial side. I wanted to get your thoughts on something which as outraged and anoyed me and to draw attention to the issue for those of you who may not have heard about it.

 

For those of you who don't know of  her, Crystal Renn is a 24 year old, super successful, plus size supermodel (one of the first of her kind), famous fo turning her back on the 'size zero phenomenon'. Her pioneering success, confidence and vocal message that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes is made even more inspiring when you consider the fact that for years in her late teens, Crystal suffered from anorexia. After being told to lose over 5 stone or a third of her weight at just 13 years old before she would get signed, she commenced down a path of starvation and extreme excersizing until one day, she'd had enough. 

When she realised that being a successful model didn't have to mean being rail thin, she chose life and health over unhappiness and self-destruction. For those of you that want to hear more about Crystal's inspirational life story, she wrote a bestselling book 'Hungry'  which makes for a truly great, inspiring read.

 I am of course summarizing what is a very serious, long, complex and inspiring story. I am painfully aware that overcoming eating disorders is an extremely lengthy and slow process, but I am only skimming because this isn't a post about Crystal Renn herself, eating disorders, or about the use of plus size models in the industry (an issue which regular readers wll know has been discussed extensively on the blog).

This post is about a recent controversy involving airbrushed photos that appeared of a T shirt charity campaign, Passion for Fashion, for photographer Nicholas Routzen. Routzen had asked Crystal, in the full knowledge of her plus size status, to be a part of the campaign which she gladly agreed to, however when the pictures came out, I think it's fair to say that Crystal, and the thousands of people who looked up to her, were less than pleased with the end result. Mass hysteria ensued and Crystal fans felt that she had "betrayed" them. The problem? In the photos (below) Crystal Renn bears more resemblance to her anorexic days than her present appearance.

Routzen had airbrushed the images of Crystal to the point where Crystal, an American size 10 (UK size 14) was made to look like a size 2 (UK size 6) "at most".  Crystal has expressed her outrage in various interviews and on US talk shows such as ‘The Today Show’. Of the airbrushed images in question, she said; "When I saw the pictures I was absolutely shocked, I sat in silence for a good five minutes. It was not an accurate portrayal of my body in any way.”

However Crystal can’t be accused of not knowing the industry she works for: “I understand a certain amount of retouching - if there's a zit or you want to smooth things out - but to change my body completely, that's not what I'm about and that's not the message I want to give."

“I don't want young women to think being thin is the only way to be beautiful. Beauty is not a pant size. I'm known for my body and I'm proud of my body.”

She admits however, to losing a bit of weight recently but puts it down to healthy exercise which she is now in a "safe and healthy" place to do, with no plans to lose any more weight.

 After admitting that he "shaped her", Routzen insisted in his defence that "I did nothing that I wouldn't do to anyone. I'm paid to make women look beautiful." Not exactly an apology or at the very least, a recognition of why there has been so much controversy.

Now for my two cents. I am 100,000% behind Crystal Renn and I think that the fact that she has gone on television to express her outrage makes her even more of a role model as she is letting insecure, impressionable girls and women everywhere know that it is not real, and it is not acceptable.

My support of her is increased further with the knowledge that she was not naive to the fact that airbrushing in the industry takes place. She expected the pictures to be airbrushed slightly, just not to the point where she is barely recognizable and looks like every other skinny model, something which she prides herself and inspires others, on being the very opposite of.

I understand that the use of plus size models in the industry is highly controversial and divides opinion, but like I said, this post isn't about that. Whatever you think of plus sized models, the fact is that designers and photographers have a choice whether to book them, instead of  "average" models or not. If Nicholas Routzen wanted to showcase the T shirts on a skinnier frame, why didn't he just ask a skinny model to do the job?

It makes no sense to me to go to the effort of booking Crystal Renn only to make her look like, well, not Crystal Renn. Plus it's incredibly dangerous and irresponsible in my opinion. Renn is a role model for being curvy, and with his comment that he is 'paid to make women look beautiful' he is implying that only thin is attractive and what kind of message is that sending out?

 So what do you think about this issue mes amies? Do you think Nicholas Routzen was out of order to ask her to be part of the campaign, only to then airbrush her down to size? Or is Crystal's outrage misplaced as, whilst unfortunate, it is to be expected? Hope you're all superduper.


Stay safe and chic mes chéries,
English Rose x

Quixotic

Definition: Possessing or acting with the desire to do noble and romantic deeds, without thought of realism and practicality; romantic to extravagance, absurdly chivalristic. 

Bonjour mes amies! Hope you are all having a super weekend and have lots of exciting things planned. I can't thank you enough for your phenomenal response and feedback on the last post. I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of you that read it all the way through, and even more so by your kind words about my style and content. You guys give me so much confidence in my abilities as a writer and in my chances of making a real career out of it, so thank you kindly. Whilst I am a never ending fountain of words, I don't want this to be solely an article based blog and like to have a variety of fashion related posts, so considering the heavy word content of the last one I decided to make this an outfit post and give your brain's (and mine) a break.

Before I showcase my outfit I just wanted to let you know about the subtle and not so subtle changes to the blog. Most of you would have noticed the dramatic change in the layout, which will continue to by altered slightly in the coming days. As the wise woman Sheryl Crow once said, "a change can do you good". It's good to mix it up one in a while and have a bit of variety in life, and the blog is no different. So it's out with the old layout, background and clichéd song lyrics for titles. Being the language lover that I am, I've decided to give you a new, genuine word per post, to add to your vocabulary and impress people. I love to be different and after racking my brains for something original, realised I haven't seen that on any other blogs. So from now on if you see words and accompanying definitions as post titles popping up all over the place, you know where they got the idea from first. I'd love to know what you guys think about the new changes - tu l'aime (Y) ou deteste (N)?

Back to the outfit post. The other day I went to a garden party and thought it was the perfect opportunity to wear my new gorgeous, intricate dress that I got for a bargain in the summer sales (more about those in another post). I paired it with my woven pattern hairband, monochrome heels, quilted patent clutch, grey floral ring and this amazing new grey floral bracelet from topshop:

 

Stay safe and chic mes chéries,

English Rose x

Just like Lauren and Whitney! Well not really...

BONJOUR MES AMIES!! I'm backk, have I told you lately that I love you? I don't know what I did in a past life to deserve such lovely, loyal and supportive readers but I consider myself a very lucky girl indeed and has missed you and your lovely blogs muchly during my break that was anything but a break.

 

I have been doing an internship at the HQ of British high street fashion retailers New Look, which although fun and useful has left me completely exhausted; I have a whole new respect for interns, especially the unpaid ones, who are basically left to do the worst bits of everyone else's jobs and then some without any real thanks, respect or recognition. I've been lucky in that I've been doing slightly different work to all the other interns, loads of whom are from places like America and are choosing to spend their summer here working for free (better them than me, although I can't really talk as I did the exact same thing last summer when I went to New York).

Last week I was working in the PR and advertising department and it was a real eye opener. First to the juicy fun stuff. I got to pick outfits for loads of British celebrities and send it to them in the hope that they will wear it and be photographed. Two of the stars, including model Daisy Lowe and a member of the British pop girlband The Sugababes were photographed at the weekend in my looks which was beyond cool and so in a roundabout way I guess you could say I was a celebrity stylist for the day. The assistant of a beyond famous star came in for some free swag too. Whilst I won't say who they are, I will tell you that they have somewhat of an empire state of mind, if you catch my drift ;)

 

It made me realize just how amazing celebrities have it. Depending on their status, they can get hundreds of companys and brands sending them the most amazing free stuff, in the hope that they can get some publicity. *Note to Karl Lagerfeld, if I ever become famous for something worthwhile (I can't stand people who are famous just for being famous) I will HAPPILY wear nothing but Chanel every day for the rest of my life, for free, just thought you should know*

I also got to have a snoop at their amazing upcoming Autumn/Winter collection in their incredible showroom which they have meetings in (how cool?!). Like any fashion fanatic, I always have one eye on the future and whilst i'm enjoying summer, I cannot WAIT for Autumn/Winter. Not for the cold, wet weather; that, I can happily do without, but for "The Fashion, dahhling". 

 

Nothing beats autumn/winter fashion for me, but I'll talk about that more in another post. The point is that it made me crave autumn and as a summer lover, that's a rare and beautiful thing. I was also allowed to sit in and give input on a meeting where they were discussing who to front their new campaign. They've had Alexa Chung and Lily Allen in the past and currently they have Taylor Momsen but they're looking for another famous person who's young, stylish and current. Whilst they didn't come to any firm decisions but the potential names involved sound exciting so watch this space.

 Onto the less than glamourous side. As both a person and a writer, I pride myself on my honesty and integrity and hope you guys appreciate it. I just wouldn't feel comfortable not showing you half instead of the whole picture. Whilst there was so much I loved, there was also a darker side that I didn't like and I feel it's my duty to report that too. If you only want to read how fabulous it was then skip to the end, if not then read on my friends.

 

There was something about PR that made me, being all self righteous and principled, incredibly uneasy. I know some people like the immense Kelly Cutrone of People's Revolution (who I ADORE) are born for it, and i'm not bashing the profession, I just don't think it's for me, so in that respect, something useful came out of the internship. Not to state the complete obvious but it just feels so dishonest.

 

For those of you that don't know, PR stands for Public Relations and it's all about how a certain brand or person is presented in the public domain. Most businesses, including celebrities have their PR reps and fashion labels are no different. Usually they promote a positive image and try to get their client as much publicity as possible (because there's "no such thing as bad publicity"), but sometimes they also have to do a fair amount of damage control (it's a shock Lindsay Lohan's PR team haven't all had strokes with the amount of work they must have to do).

 

Last week I had to go through this ginormous database with hundreds of thousands of paparazzi pictures of every A-Z list celebrity in the world and look through hundreds images of celebrities who New Look have sent free clothes to in order to see if they have been photographed wearing them. If they are, then the PR department will try and get those photos into magazines. I know it doesn't sound too bad, and quite interesting even, but after a while it just got creepy. 

 

I saw people's special private moments with their partners, children, friends, family; moments when they clearly didn't know they were being photographed. After about the 200th photo of a certain A-lister, I felt hugely uncomfortable, like a complete stalker and invading someone's most intimate moments when I had no right to be there. Even though I had a leigitimate reason and purpose, the exisitence of the database in the first place just creeped me out. However it does serve its purpose for the businesses that are fashion and fame. A few months ago New Look scored a huge coup when Beyoncé was photographed wearing one of their £20 dresses. It sold out within 5 hours. And she became even more down to earth in the eyes of the public.

 

I'm one of the most cynical, least naive people that ever existed, but it's different knowing something goes on and actually experiencing it first hand. It made me realise just how much of a business, and a sham, it all is. And to be perfectly honest, trying to pass off lies as reality to impressionable people who don't know better makes me quite angry.

 

Scores of people have gone into creating a single photo of a celebrity that you see in a magazine. From the PR department of the fashion brand who sent the clothes to them, to the PR department of the packet of gum they are holding to the celebrity's PR rep who tipped off the paparazzi as to their location, to the stylist who put the look together, to the magazine that airbrushed the image. If you thought the celebrity just threw on what they wanted and  "just happened" to be photographed and look amazing, think again my friend. You almost feel sorry for celebrities when you realise just how little control they have over their own lives and careers, then you think about all the free stuff and the sympathy fades...

 

  The fashion industry I adore, by its very definition, is all about illusion, selling you an unattainble, non existent reality but making it seem close enough that it is within your grasp. However as someone who thinks knowledge is power, I'm beginning to think ignorance is bliss. Like most people, despite being aware of it, I'm not ashamed to admit that I buy 100% into the lifestyle that fashion sells us. I devour magazines; wanting to look like the model on a yacht in St Tropez with her boyfriend, decked out in diamonds and designer gear. I happily allow myself to believe in the hour I'm reading that I can easily afford all the luxury items and holidays (what price tag?) before coming crashing back to reality only to fall right back into my dream with the next magazine I see. 

 

It's why I love the fashion industry, I'm enchanted by it, completely under its spell. But I'm beginning to think that I like the finished product rather than all the smoke, mirrors and underhand deals that go into creating the image of perfection. Whilst I want to be a fashion editor (Vogue or ID please =D) it made me question yet again whether fashion is something that I would be better off admiring from a distance and dabbling in rather than emmersing myself fully and making a career out of it. I'm still young and have time enough to work it out, but it is definitely something to bear in mind. One thing's for sure, I won't be working in the PR side of the industry.

 

This week I'm shadowing the Head Designer and Creative Director which is beyond fun and interesting, so i'll give you a report on that soon. For now however, I should probably take a break from this computer and shockingly long post which I don't for a second expect most of you to have read all the way through (no hard feelings darlings, I wouldn't either) and give my mind and eyes a rest. Hope you are all immense.

Stay safe and chic mes chéries,

English Rose x

Images Source: Google

"I'm mad about the boy..."

BONJOUR MES AMIES!! I'M FREEE!! Exams are finally over, thank you SO much for all of your kind words, well wishes and most importantly, patience. I promise that my blog posts will now become far more frequent and hopefully more interesting too. Plus it's a double celebration as my shopping ban is now over, and with summer sales around the corner, you know what that means...

Many of you may have read the findings of a recent survey that was released which described the 10 fashions that men hate to see on women, including Uggs, Harem pants, Neon anything and Leggings. It got me thinking; what do I hate and love to see on guys? As a girl who knows and loves her fashion, it's important to me that any guy I go out with, if not as passionate and knowledgeable about fashion as me, (that might be warning signs of a bigger problem, if you know what I mean) takes pride in their appearance, has a distinct (chic) sense of personal style, and knows what looks good.

What I find attractive style-wise on a guy has a lot to do with the type of guys I'm attracted to. Darlings, I love my geeks. Not puny, nerdy geeks, but hot, preppy geeks. Geek chic. I'm not personally into butch, 'macho' men with lots of muscles, chest hair and bravado, nor do I like guys full of ego that spend longer in the bathroom than you and more on hair products than you spend in a month. Nope. I like 'em skinny, sensitive and intelligent but able to totally defend your honour should the situation arise. Dandy and Dapper, Unaware and Uninterested in just how hot they are, choosing to care more about their chosen passion, be it movies, music, literature or art than the superficial. I'm not sure that guy exists, but being the hopeless romantic dreamer I am, I won't give up looking. I figure that they exist in movies and tv in the shape of hotties like Henry from Ugly Betty, Michael Cera, Artie from Glee, Seth from the OC and the perfect specimen that is Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl, so they totally do in real life. Right guys?

...

RIGHT GUYS?!

Whatever you go for in a mate, and whatever people say, looks although definitely not everything, are fairly important. It's the first thing you see, what captures and compels your attention. Before you get to judge someone's character or personality, it is human nature to first judge them on appearance, even if you are open to having the judgement changed once you get to know them. It's what the whole fashion industry is based on, and something even the least superficial person can't help doing. That being said, the second someone attractive opens their mouth, ugliness can escape and vice versa, but the old saying that "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" is completely true. Before talking to him, if a guy is wearing anything on my turn-off list, i'm unlikely to think he's mister right. Whereas if he's wearing any or, dare I dream, all of my male style turn-ons, well that's a whole other story....

Je Deteste:

Baggy Pants - urm mate...I think your belt is broken...

V neck T-shirts - put it away man, just put.it.away...

Earrings - who wants their boyfriend to be more feminine than them?

and the absolute cardinal sin...


Socks and Sandals - no words.

J'adore...♥

Bow Ties - SWOOOOOOOON- oh Chuck, why do you have to be fictional?

Preppy jumpers/cardigans - as if he couldn't get any more perfect...


 


















Geek Glasses - if they're real, even better

Converse High/Low tops - I'm an indie kid at heart, I adore boys in bands.

Skinny Jeans - like Zac Efron ...

...just not too tight okay dude?

























So darlings, what do you love and most importantly hate on a potential partner style-wise? Do any of you agree with my choices or does my turn off list reflect your turn ons or the other way around? Part of the beauty of being human is that we all like different things, different strokes for different folks and all that. What one style item "has you at hello"? Do tell, and whilst you're at it, have a fabulous week.

Stay safe and chic mes chéries,

English Rose x