Monday, June 9, 2008

Making SATC Proud

I get it, I’m terrible, I've been very remiss in posting and I have no good excuse as to why! Perhaps I was saving up for the Sex in the City Movie!!! No worries, I won't write any spoilers and to be honest, the plot was secondary to the clothes anyway!!!

Anyone that watches the show, knows the clothes are principal to the plot and act as a 5th or 6th (if you factor in NYC) character. Though it felt a bit over the top in the movie, I'm all over it! Most of the ensembles the women wear I wouldn't dream of wearing, but in the same way that they revolutionized the idea of being female and single in the city, Patricia Field and SJP created a wonderful sense of freedom to the fashion we wear. On the one hand they introduced us to the impossibly expensive shoes of Manolo and the coveted bag of next season, but on the other they showed us real city dwellers that it is absolutely fine to throw caution to the wind, on occasion.

More than once, I've stood in front of my mirror thinking, jeez, can I really get away with wearing this? Isn't it too bold? Too sleazy? Too demure? Too much?

When I have these moments of doubt I only need to think of Samantha’s choices and think, if it floats my boat why not??? What exactly am I afraid of? Making a fashion faux pas? If we didn't experiment and enjoy the sometimes perilous trends where would our individual style come from?

I was especially struck by the plethora of exposed bras. Personally I’ve never been a “bra-less wonder” in fact many times I’ve thought I'd love to wear this, but I couldn't wear a bra, and with a sigh of defeat walk away. The SATC ladies simply rock it like they mean it and while I don’t necessarily care for this style, I applaud the fact that they did! Everything from their bras, to color choices and mix of style and texture was simply outrageous!

To that end, recently I’ve heard a lot of mumblings on the present day dilemma of matching? It goes kind of like this, "OK, so I don't want to match?" with a one-eyed tilt of the head, trying to grasp the fact that after 20 or 30 years everything we’d been taught about matching was in fact wrong? I won’t throw the universe off of its course and say that matching is a no-no, but I think we have to be conscious of overkill and looking like an overgrown 3rd grader...And I say 3rd grader, because before that, I think most of us were just lucky to be dressed. I spent much of pre-school in cowboy boots and a red t-shirt. I preferred to wear Easter hats with the ribbon forward, much to the chagrin of Grandmother Muse. And you know what, every picture indicates I was happy as a clam. I think so much of our lives are tied up in the details of client meetings, and budgets that we forget what it is like to color outside of the lines. When I'm in a subdued suit (rarely I admit) I feel not only uncomfortable but crushed of creativity and freedom to be me. I want to be the little girls I see with boldly colored striped tights and polka dot dresses that I look at with a mix of fondness and envy.

Who knew fashion could say so much? I'll end with the advice that next time you're wondering if you can "pull-off" an outfit think of our fashion-forward friends of SATC and go for it!