Good morning, friends. It's chilly outside but I got to work early to catch up on loads of stuff and I'm just happy for Thursday. It's one day closer to Friday.
I'm sure many of you out there are planning and plotting and perhaps waiting in line for your very own piece of the Isabel Marant for H&M dream. The fanatical fan following of Ms. Marant is well documented and for those of you not so fashion familiar, here's a primer: Isabel Marant makes cool clothes for cool girls at not so cool prices. Think French rock and roll/off duty model type gear, at supermodel prices.
I looked at the collection and though I liked it, I'm feeling very fatigued by this whole frenzy for fashion. I'm too old and pissy to wait in line for a coat, and besides that, the prices are not super cheap- last night was a preview in New York and all the celebs were out previewing and getting whatever goods they desired. If fashion is becoming so democratic, why is there still such a pecking order? For and H&M sponsored collection? Sigh. I mean, 400 dollar boucle jackets and 300 dollar boots are not exactly accessible for most. I can't wait to see what happens at noon when it goes on sale online. The crash will most likely be felt around the world. No 300 dollar fringe booties for you, my friend. Plus, as a dear friend of mine wrote me overnight- it sucks when some catty little chickadee is wearing the same purchase as you, plus there's another one in the same top across the subway platform. It's all just too competitive, and I guarantee said boucle jacket is going to be on many, many backs this Fall and Winter, as are those boots. And also, at what point will all of these designer collabs devalue the actual pieces from a designer's own collections? There's been talk of this for years- have not seen real evidence of it yet except for maybe a designer like Isaac Mizrahi- but he's so deep down the home shopping rabbit hole and I guarantee he's laughing all the way to the bank, just with, in my mind, a lot less equity for his brand as a big fashion player.
To me, there's just a big disconnect when it comes to the notion of value- my time is very important to me and I'm not going to stand in line for clothes that will most likely be auctioned off on Ebay and then largely forgotten about next season or worse yet (though that above oversized coat is inspired)- not wash well or have any kind of bang for the buck. As I grow out of disposable clothes that are too trend focused in favor of pieces I can live in for a long time, I'm not much of a flash sale kind of girl. I've stopped shopping on Gilt and all of those other sites, and I've stopped thinking about how to get a piece of the designer collaboration dream, even if it is Isabel Marant. I'm in it for the long haul with fashion, so I'm going to dress accordingly. Sure I still love a well priced fix from time to time and I am in no way in the league of having my ashes scattered at Bergdorf Goodman, but the mania surrounded with being first in line or first online hold no appeal for me at this very point in time. If you got your hands on something fabulous, good for you. And if some of you are still interested in some of the pieces and which ones to buy, Vogue gave a very nice roundup of the best pieces out there. I'm going to sit this one out, though I'm sure I'll try to jump online at noon, just for the thrill of it, because at least I don't have to wait in line and get bumped into by girls in platform sneakers. I do love a good sweatshirt, though. But if I'm feeling annoyed I may just go pop by The Helmut Lang sample sale across the street. Yes, please. (See you there).
Cause that's what's up this French fried Thursday in the 212. Yours, in (collab free) fashion. XO