The Wall Street Journal’s Christian Binkley argues that the ubiquitous lingerie-inspired looks on the Paris runways this season are a somewhat desperate attempt at grabbing shoppers’ attention. That’s important in These Times. But she highlights a glaring problem with all the panty diaper shorts, super-short miniskirts, see-through clothes, and “pointy Mad Men bras”:
These sorts of styles, shown by fashion houses including Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier, Giambattista Valli, and Yves St. Laurent, garner attention. But they risk turning off many professional or mature women, who can only imagine how embarrassing it would be to wear such things.
The Wall Street Journal’s Christian Binkley argues that the ubiquitous lingerie-inspired looks on the Paris runways this season are a somewhat desperate attempt at grabbing shoppers’ attention. That’s important in These Times. But she highlights a glaring problem with all the panty diaper shorts, super-short miniskirts, see-through clothes, and “pointy Mad Men bras”:
But, with the exception of some designers, like Phoebe Philo, a majority of this industry might not be thinking about the professional woman. Reuters reports:
Shelly Musselman, co-proprietor of the Forty Five Ten boutique in Dallas, was not surprised by the seductive trend.
Well, this may come as a shock to Shelly, but we certainly don’t want to look like we walked out of the house having forgotten to put our clothes on. When we get dressed, we want to get dressed — with pants and shirts and all sorts of other opaque things — and not look as though we’re heading to a secret after-hours side job. And we buy our own clothes.
Besides, isn’t now a lousy time to market to husbands with supposedly deep pockets? Far more men than women are losing their jobs in this recession, anyway.
At Paris Shows, Designers Hope That Sexy Sells [WSJ]
Crisis lesson for Paris fashion: sex sells [Reuters]
