Labor Chic
What’s plaid, involves knit caps in the summer, requires black workboots and carhart pants?
It’s not grunge, or so they say. It’s “Labor Chic.”
While the ensemble does not include outgrown hair, an “I don’t care” beard, and we cannot assess aroma/B.O. from a photo, they are not fooling me at all. This looks suspiciously like someone has run out of ideas and is already recycling the look of my college days and trying to repackage it back to me. The difference, they claim, is that army surplus is out and surplus from the local railroad workers union is in. Details magazine claims that we are going to like Schlitz.
My questions is: it is one thing to “mix in” elements of work clothing, or don your Pendelton 49′er, but if you walk into a club in “The Loop”, won’t someone think the owners called for a metro dallas slab leak repair company when you waltz in? All the while, the actual skilled trademen would be sitting back in their “going out” clothes and wonder what they heck you are doing?
If you are looking for a skilled tradeperson or repair company, you can go to clicksmart, where there is a directory or reputable companies. If you just look around, now that the fashion is moving towards work clothes again, you may sorely disappointed to ask an investment banker or a college kid who is passing by on the assumption that their clothes indicate that they know what you are doing, and your foundation repairs will be in capable hands.
If you are truly looking to just copy the fashion style of a more capable person yourself, the latest fashion magazines will have the latest on what you need to look like someone who works a little bit harder than you for a living.
Overstock Coupons
A few years ago when Overstock.com was launched, it was a great hope for sellers of vintage clothing. The site mostly revolved around offering closeouts and discounted new merchandise, but an auction segment was introduced also. At the time, “another auction site” (I won’t mention any names) went through another fee increase, and as it happens each time, sellers were looking for other venues. Today, the selection of vintage items on Overstock are limited, but you can still occasionally find something there without having the fight the crowd. Overstock has developed more into the “giant mall” of new items and it is more popular to buy vintage inspired fashion or accessories and designer goods.
Savings.com always has Overstock coupons, offers, and discounts listed. At the present time, the coupons are for non-auction items. For example, there are some deals on shipping and dollars or percentages off a certain size order. The site features an alert when a particular ecoupon is about to expire, so you don’t procrastinate.
They say that you are not really saving any money if a special offer entices you to purchase something you wouldn’t buy in the first place, that it is only good on saving on planned or necessary purchases. At the right price, is a purchase really frivolous?
Until next time,
Looks are Deceiving
Okay ladies, here is a question for you:
What do you think about the dress on the left? How would you describe it? It seems to me to be a very trendy selection for the rest of the summer. The straps are wide enough to not suffer from tacky bra strap syndrome. The vertical stripes are elongating without making a woman look like a retractable awning or an inmate. The colors sort of harken back to tribal designs or the tiki era.
Would you BELIEVE that this is a maternity dress? No way? Yes way! Maternity clothes have definitely come a long way from my mom’s photoprint “seagulls on a sunset” ruched blouse with navy rickrack trim!
Kiki’s Fashions has maternity clothes starting at $9.99. There is an offer of free shipping over $75 (coupon code: freeship). I usually advocate finding historical clothing, but finding authentic maternity clothing in any particular size is usually a big challenge as they were typically handed down and worn to threads. Just ask my aunts who all wore the seagull outfit in the early 70s.
Fashion on the Cheap!
I used to wear glasses when I was ten to twelve years old. All optical shops were the same. You got in, and for the “special” you got very unattractive frames. To get anything cool costs an arm and a leg. F orget the ads that encouraged people to buy multiple pairs so they can change “with their mood.” Most people do not live their lives like the imaginary people the models portray in fashion magazines. They don’t have one pair of studious looking glases, sport glasses, and sparkling ones for going out. You either stuck out a sore thumb at the grocery store with flashy glasses, or looked like you were going to play racquet ball at the theater because you couldn’t choose both.
I just got a tip about ZenniOptical.com. I have heard the name before, as I have read about their “too good to be true” $8.00 frame deal before. Apparently, its NOT too good to be true. The price is not a “come on.” Once you ad your prescription, you can reasonably expect to get a complete lens and frame package for under 20 bucks. Check out the consumer report about Zenni on Fox
What does this mean for retro fashionistas like us? Zenni has several retro inspired styles, but for purists, you can drop big bucks into a pair of authentic 1950s Buddy Hollys or horn rims, or 80s Wayfarers, but stock up at Zenni for your everyday kick around glases. That’s a different and economical way to preserve history!
Until Next Time…
The “R” Word
There has been much debate about replica watches and “designer inspired” versus “replica” in general. On one side of the debate, the argument is that it is a sort of copyright infringement against the original designer. Others say that imitation is a great form of flattery. Replica watches have been the start of many a “trip down to Tijuana story” where the watch stops working at the border.
Today, replica watches have come a long way from being cheap knock offs to “reproductions” of the real thing. The better ones seem to have their place as props in different products as well, where having the real deal is not possible or practical due to the conditions, but the prop coordinator or the wardrobe department wants something that looks convincing.
I wonder why some replicas (the “good” ones that are of higher quality) even have to use the designer name, as someone would be bound to purchase one on looks alone.
It will be interesting to see how fashion history regards replicas in the future. Will it be something swept under the rug, or it will be an interesting trend footnote for the decade? We won’t know for awhile.
Check out what the face of replica looks like today: Replica Watches Only $183! MonsterReplica.com