This was going to be a carefully crafted piece about the DC style scene and its online presence, blah blah blah. Lucky for you (and for me, because it’s been a LONG WEEK already) Jian’s Foot Traffic inspired me to cut the pretense and get to the point links:
The last 12 months have seen the launch of no less than seven separate DC fashion and style blogs:
DC Pleats, DC Culture and Fashion, 88DC, Do You, Project Beltway, Outrageously Chic, Listopad, and my own Panda Head.
On top of that there are also tons of local-designer and store blogs; they’re always good for keeping up on events, sales, and THE LIKE:
Unsung Designers, the City Paper’s Crafty Blog, Cusp, ugoseven, and Marimekko all update regularly, and there are more to check out on Foot Traffic. Even Urban Outfitters has a DC blog, but it’s written in Philadelphia by people who aren’t even here, so I’m not really sure how APPLICABLE it is. Oh, and DURKL might be the raddest DC design company you’ve never heard of, and their blog-style website updates are the highlight of my week.
Okay so on top of all the BLOGS, there are also a couple of “real” websites (ha!) featuring style and fashion columns (besides this one):
DC Style (the print version folded early this year and they’re now entirely online), and the Washington Post’s Fashion & Beauty online. The Post’s Suzanne D’Amato and Janet Bennett Kelly also run weekly “Talking Fashion” Post chats to field local and general style-related questions. Even if you can’t catch them live (which I’ve never managed to), the transcripts go back like, forever. Remember them next time you’re bored at work. Suzanne ALSO posts questions on her Post forum Trend Spotter & Co.; in a conversation earlier this month she noted that “the blogosphere has become my preferred place to get a fashion fix,” and I think that’s the case with a lot of people these days.
Fashion and trends move quickly (and I say that knowing “fashion and trends” and “STYLE” are two entirely different things) and I think that lately a lot of the SPEED has to do with how accessible the internet has made every aspect of mainstream fashion, indie design, and even personal style. Designers’ and companies’ press previews are leaked and critiqued long before they hit the shelves, which means that by the time they ARE available to the masses they may already be considered “over” by those who are (or consider themselves) tastemakers. (Case in point: the Anya Hindmarch bag. It sold berserkers but oh! the blog backlash.) Magazines like Nylon and Vogue have blogs that update daily in addition to their monthly print versions, and I think that’s out of necessity – I’m sure neither publication is hurting for money, but internet ad sales and developing an online readership NOW might help them down the road as more and more mags convert entirely to digital. And right on top of the digital fashion media are street style blogs. They make it possible to know who’s-wearing-what halfway across the world, and the style jet-lag between cities (”Stockholm is two years ahead,” etc) is closing because of it. DC’s online presence means that people who AREN’T here can witness out burgeoning style scene, and at the very least this latest influx of DC sites speaks very highly of our interest, when, let’s face it, most people assume we have none.
And back to DC!
Of the above sites, what are YOUR favorites? Which can’t you stand? Did I forget any? What do you love/hate about the DC style scene in general?
Lay it on me, people.
Being the most unstylish, untrendy person alive I don’t know if the following is even a part of the “DC style scene in general” but I’m not about to let that stop me:
The goddamned French Pedicure.
Please stop this. It is gross. The French manicure (and subsequent pedicure) weren’t even French to begin with. All I’ve found is that the manicure was invented by some company called ORLY in the 1970s to give nails a longer, cleaner look.
And then someone decided they wanted longer toenails. Now most people don’t want long toenails. Long toenails are for filthy hippies. Not only do they look gross, but they will cut through your socks or stockings. But hey, someone deided, and now thousands of women follow along.
Do you know what I think of everytime I see a French pedicure (and I mention this because now everytime you see one you will also think of this and hopefully this trend will end abruptly)?
I think of this: The Three Toed Sloth. I am going to link to a picture of a three-toed sloth so you can see it. It is a disgusting filthy creature covered in mold and moss and it’s defining feature is what, class?
Long toenails.
Seriously. The shit is gross.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~eca/sloth2.jpg
P.S. I also sometimes think that people can run up telephone poles with their super long super strong toenails. It really is a ridiculous image.
July 25, 2007 at 9:04 amGoddamnit. “its” not “it’s”
July 25, 2007 at 9:20 amum NO ONE EVER HAS SIZE SMALL…EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thus I have to resort to cutting the sleeves off everything…
since every dollar ( as few as that may be) I earn goes to clothes /shoes(and high tops can get pricey) I would think its in DCs best interest to submit to my one need of keeping one size small in stock just for me, in a bag behind the counter…and when you see a skinny boy franticly searching through the GIANT sized shirts, you come over and gently put your hand on my shoulder and say “everthing is ok …i have it right here for you”
also I would totally rock the Giant t-shit gowns and sinch it with a belt but I dont think that DC is that fashion forward.
July 25, 2007 at 10:49 amalso my newest shoe im searching far and wide for are Double Identitys White paten leather high tops with the two straps…….
they are last season and so they dont make them but…if anyone is selling anything from double identity….i woudl pay all of my prettiest pennys for them.
July 25, 2007 at 11:13 amalso DURKL is my new love…..
July 25, 2007 at 11:16 amthus far, only men have opinions on the fashion in our fair district. typical.
i just have one word of advice: BAN BUSINESS CASUAL.
just pick one.
no, you can’t have both.
I think they should just ban clothing.
July 25, 2007 at 12:04 pmThe french ped is more played out than unattractive.
July 25, 2007 at 12:34 pmI second the banning of business casual. It’s making me ill.
July 25, 2007 at 12:59 pmi, too, loathe the french pedi however i love the three toed sloth. please stop comparing snaggle toed hos to this sweet mammal.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/af/Sloth47.JPG
July 25, 2007 at 1:07 pmIt is not a sweet mammal, it is a vicious (albeit slow) fighting beast. Ever heard of Shaolin Kung Fu? Well there’s Sloth-Style which requires the practitioner to stand totally still (much like the filthy sloth) until mold and algae grow on it (much like the filthy sloth) until such time as an enemy comes too close (thinking they’re a statue) and then Sloth Form emerges and enemies are split open from the bottom to the top (or top to the bottom, I’m gonna rock ‘em while I still got ‘em – Our rappin shower has style and power – and this is our disco hour – I don’t know what all of you have heard – so it’s up to me to spread the word – about the man that we feel has got to be real,- Our crowned Prince on the wheels of steel, – He goes by the name of Grandmaster Dee, – so if it’s alright with you it’s alright with me, – We gonna rock you people’s minds with ease, – with some help from the Maestro if you please…)
So, uh, yeah, Sloths are nasty evil fighting rapping mad creatures.
And French peds make people look like them. Ew. Gross.
July 25, 2007 at 1:36 pmDon’t forget A Serious Job is No Excuse on the new fashion blog list!:
http://aseriousjobisnoexcuse.com
mikey i cant agree with you more on f. pedis. i think any color other than red or black on toenails should be banned, and that whole ‘lets airbrush our big toe’ should be illegal. i am afraid to say anything about it because i feel like the big toe could possibly be some sort of detachable weapon. or maybe the person having said toes knows kung fu and can slash me open with her toenails sideways.
July 25, 2007 at 6:08 pmhere’s what i think – i love when people are creative about their outfits. flamboyant as well as functional. something that is neither flamboyant nor functional is a flip-flop. flip-flops will not protect you from pulverized rats/pigeons/jumboslice. i fear for your feet. this is how the black plague started! wear heels or hightops.
July 25, 2007 at 7:50 pmAll this sloth talk makes me think of this SNL skit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LAZgcC3jgo
July 26, 2007 at 11:11 amYes, I saw a woman on the metro yesterday with the french pedi and it was for some reason appalling… but the sloth is cute guys!
I’m just wondering one thing… does anyone else think that project beltway is a joke? A really long running sad sad joke? Its my least favorite representation of dc style, for sure.
July 27, 2007 at 2:22 pmbitch is wearing my dress. that is all.
July 28, 2007 at 11:20 pm[...] are plenty of great fashion blogs that are worth checking out. There’s at least Pandhead, Brightest Young Things, Eightyeightdc, DC Culture and Fashion, Listopad, Do You Fashion, DC Pleats, and Ballerina Flats. [...]
October 15, 2007 at 10:37 pm
wrong listopad link. try http://listopadshop.blogspot.com/
July 25, 2007 at 9:01 am