Personal Style: Amy Turns Ladylike

Amy walking 2
Photo by Alli Cortes

This is me. And yes, I dressed up. I never dress up. Unless it’s for a big party, like Glamorama. Other than that, sneakers and a flowy top over tight pants has been my unofficial uniform for 2011. However, New York Fashion Week seeped into my blood like a virus and now I’m getting a huge kick out of dressing up like a lady. Or maybe, as my friend Alli mused, my friendship with Jena has rubbed off on me more than I realized. I actually like dressing up now. In other news, hell froze over and pigs are flying.

And apparently I’m not alone: fashion appears to be moving away from the rocker-chick towards a more ladylike silhouette. Jason Wu, Proenza Schouler, and Cushnie Et Ochs all riffed on the housewife archetype of structured knee-length dresses for Spring 2012. Sure, the easiest explanation is to blame it on the Duchess of Cambridge. An even lazier solution is to barely lift a finger and point at the Mad Men 1960s craze. But fall farther into the rabbit hole, beyond that lovely Banana Republic window styling offering to transform you into Betty Draper, and you’ll see that women are tiring of the Balmain “I just paid $5000 to seem like I rolled out of bed with a hangover” look for a much more important reason, one that is changing the way an entire generation dresses. This trend of ladylike dressing runs much deeper than a stylish TV show.

Amy walking
Photo by Alli Cortes

A primary element behind this movement is a reaction against the collective emasculation of economic crisis. Sure, my generation can’t find the well-paying executive jobs our college degrees were supposed to prepare us for. But we can find clothing that channels the image of successful adulthood. Women, especially young twenty-something women like myself, want to wear clothing to make us feel polished and powerful. Fashion inspired by the homeless (Olsen twins) or a rocker burnout (Kate Moss) was a lot more fun back in the mid-2000s when everyone had jobs and houses and credit cards. You know, back when we were playing “dress up” as this New York Times article from 2005 eloquently explores.

Nowadays we live in an era when a lot of previously middle-class people are actually homeless, jobless, and without credit cards. When the ideas referenced by fashion become too literal it becomes tasteless. On a more superficial level, and probably more important to the fashion set, the aesthetic loses its edge. I believe what we’re seeing today with this prim-and-proper revolution is fashion fulfilling its greatest mission; commodifying the hopes and dreams of a populace and making it available for purchase. There is no sarcasm – I mean that in the best way possible. Fashion has always been in the business of selling us dreams. After all, you can’t land that entry-level executive job since it no longer exists (outsourced to China), but you can land that tailored shift dress that would look perfect behind a desk in the corner office. It will be made in China, of course. Many designer clothing lines are today.

Fashion always exists in a state of tension. That’s what makes it fashion. The irony of all this ladylike attire is that our hair-styles are falling apart. Literally. In the October 2011 issue of American Vogue, Sarah Harris wrote an excellent article about the perfectly un-done seen on the Fall 2011 runways at Lanvin, Rodarte, and Balmain (page 268).

My hairstyle in the outfit above was inspired by Rodarte Fall 2011. I even clipped my Cynthia Rowley bow barrette in for extra “girly” points. I made a mistake by not asking Alli to take a close-up, because I was very proud of how well my hair came out. My manicure is a combination of Chanel ‘Peridot’ and Deborah Lippmann ‘Don’t Tell Mama,’ which made for the appearance of delightfully poison-tipped fingernails. I couldn’t just do ladylike. I had to do something subversive, so I kept my hands gloomy with noxious gas colors and a black, morbid ribbon ring by Cynthia Rowley. It’s like whimsy, inverted.

Photo via my Twitter, @ChiStreetStyle

Outfit Credits 
Jacket: Giorgio Brato exclusively for Sarca
Dress: vintage from Grey Dog Vintage
Shoes: Louboutin simple 85 pumps
Hair: Cynthia Rowley resin bow barrette (available at 1653 N Damen)
Ring: Cynthia Rowley resin bow ring (available at 1653 N Damen)
 Earrings: vintage faux pearls


6 Comments


  1. Amy you look great!! Love the ladylike look on you 🙂

  2. You look great
    Awesome hair

    —-

    This was a well written post,
    I enjoyed it

    Thanks!

    http://iartfashion.blogspot.com/

  3. you look totally amazing!!!!! the dress is so pretty and i liked he touch of the jacket to break a little the total lady look!

  4. andrea k (blonde bedhead)

    I absolutely love this! I'm also always in awe of your superb writing style. Photography, writing and you're cute? You got it allll, girl. <3 Miss you, let's hang soon.

  5. Well done, Miss Amy (an appropriate phrasing for your lady like niceness here)! I really appreciate the thought that went into/came out of this outfit and agree with a lot of what you wrote. I'm not entirely sure I agree with the positive aspect of fashion as commodification process for dreams (I think you're right about it being that, just not necessarily that it's positive), but I think this whole discussion is super interesting. And I dig the hairs. 🙂

    PS: You should check out a book by Colin Campbell called "The Romantic Ethic and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism." The last chapters do a fantastic job describing the dream-state, aspirational nature of fashion/consumption that you highlighted here.

  6. Do you see how the guy behind you is checking you out? you look amazing amy!

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