Friday, 14 March 2014
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Isle N°5
"A girl should be two things: classy and
fabulous." The preeminent words of Coco Chanel that often find their way
around the Tumblr-sphere, usually with black and white landscape backgrounds.
Or more annoyingly, with pictures of ripped jeans and converse, that would probably leave Coco with a serious case of nausea. I'm not here to write a whole post on the aggregations that tumblr style quotes often cause me though (and trust me I could), I'm here to talk about the lady behind that quote. More specifically, I'm here to talk about the legacy she has left behind in the form of Chanel the fashion brand.
I was recently sitting and contemplating Chanel, a feeling I'm sure most fashion lovers will understand. Whilst doing so I thought about the key concept that Coco wanted to encapsulate within her clothes and came to the conclusion that it was most probably class. Black bouclé jackets are example enough of such a desire in my opinion. Then my thought process flashed forward to 2014. Trainers and knitted orange jumpsuits. Tweed covered sunglasses and cellophane wrapped handbags. Class?
Don't get me wrong ladies, Karl Lagerfeld is a genius. An angel placed among us mere mortals by the fashion gods. And, the whole concept behind the AW14 show is pretty spectacular. Allowing the audience to roam the isles of Chanel Shopping Centre before the show began, stacked high with "Tweed Soda" and various other supermarket essentials mixed with high fashion insanity. It's safe to say I wish I could have been there. Yet, the clothes didn't quite tick a box for me. The ever present commandment sent upon Chanel from day one - class - did not seem to be fulfilled.
In previous seasons, AW13 for example, the colour palette or the cut of outfits have at least alluded to the Chanel moto, whereas the most recent just doesn't. One of the only recognisable elements apart from those interlocking Cs was tweed, and even that was featured on chunky running trainers. Can you imagine Coco being happy with chunky running trainers? Honestly, can you envision Miss Monroe wearing nothing but "a pair of chunky running trainers"? It's almost a laughable thought. So, regardless of the fact that some of the clothing was dreamy - although some of it simply wasn't - I can't help but be a little disappointed at the sudden loss of Chanel-isms.
On top of that, some of the clothes simply weren't that nice. Don't hate me. I'm just not the kind of person to mindlessly fall in love with clothes due to the name on the label. In this case, I'm quite proud of that aspect of my fashion personality because I'm not sure I could forgive myself for lusting after those knee skimming trainer boot things. Not pleasant at all, in my opinion. Still, I do love those trainers (controversial, I know) and the pale pink leather gloves that made an appearance on Cara's stylish hands.
Maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe it's time for a change and a shake up as provided by Mr Lagerfeld. But maybe I feel obligated under the influence of Coco Chanel - The legend, the loved - to maintain her main principle of class and so obliterate the hole covered leggings and painful array of colours.
What do you think of the collection as a whole?
Bethany Paige X
On top of that, some of the clothes simply weren't that nice. Don't hate me. I'm just not the kind of person to mindlessly fall in love with clothes due to the name on the label. In this case, I'm quite proud of that aspect of my fashion personality because I'm not sure I could forgive myself for lusting after those knee skimming trainer boot things. Not pleasant at all, in my opinion. Still, I do love those trainers (controversial, I know) and the pale pink leather gloves that made an appearance on Cara's stylish hands.
Maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe it's time for a change and a shake up as provided by Mr Lagerfeld. But maybe I feel obligated under the influence of Coco Chanel - The legend, the loved - to maintain her main principle of class and so obliterate the hole covered leggings and painful array of colours.
What do you think of the collection as a whole?
Bethany Paige X
Saturday, 8 March 2014
International Women's Day
Today is International Women's Day, which means that for this 24 hour slot in the year you have my and the opposite sex's permission to do all of the following:
Go to the shops without feeling compelled to wear a full face of makeup. Why not embrace the bare face? And whilst in the process, you can call yourself "beautiful" without being branded in return as "vain", despite the apparent hatred of girls that talk badly of their appearance.
Go to shops wearing loads of makeup and not be called "image obsessed" or labelled as expressing your hatred of women through doing so.
Not make anybody a sandwich. Unless you want to, obviously.
Put the word "Feminist" in your Twitter bio/Facebook status/write it over your body for 24 hours without striking pure terror in many of the men that you associate yourself with. Feminists hate men, in case you were wondering why.
Talk about football or gaming or house DIY without receiving some kind of patronising reply from your fellow tweeters or male peers.
Wear blue and not pink. Or wear pink and don't wear blue. Whatever, really.
Not call other women ugly in order to heighten your own sense of self esteem and happiness within your body.
Use your strong linguistic skills to verbally beat up the man that just wolf whistled you in the street. Or any man that feels the only reason they would be nice to you is in order to "get a bit", for that matter.
Allow the wings of your eyeliner to dismantle the patriarchy.
Follow the lead of strong females around the globe whether they are famous or otherwise.
Drink a pint of beer in the pub, on your own or with a group of women. (Not advisable if you are under the age of 18 or prefer other drinks.)
Sing - with gusto - to Flawless by Beyonce. Because not only did you wake up like this, you were born like this. Plus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie successfully defines the term feminism for those of us still unashamedly ignorant and quite frankly, scared by the concept, mid song.
Go to shops wearing loads of makeup and not be called "image obsessed" or labelled as expressing your hatred of women through doing so.
Not make anybody a sandwich. Unless you want to, obviously.
Put the word "Feminist" in your Twitter bio/Facebook status/write it over your body for 24 hours without striking pure terror in many of the men that you associate yourself with. Feminists hate men, in case you were wondering why.
Talk about football or gaming or house DIY without receiving some kind of patronising reply from your fellow tweeters or male peers.
Wear blue and not pink. Or wear pink and don't wear blue. Whatever, really.
Not call other women ugly in order to heighten your own sense of self esteem and happiness within your body.
Use your strong linguistic skills to verbally beat up the man that just wolf whistled you in the street. Or any man that feels the only reason they would be nice to you is in order to "get a bit", for that matter.
Allow the wings of your eyeliner to dismantle the patriarchy.
(Still tweet of the year)
Follow the lead of strong females around the globe whether they are famous or otherwise.
Drink a pint of beer in the pub, on your own or with a group of women. (Not advisable if you are under the age of 18 or prefer other drinks.)
Be who you really are, regardless of sexual preference, appearance and whether your self-identity conforms with social expectations or not.
But most importantly, please remember that this day is exactly that - One day. Therefore all of the above are no longer applicable at the strike of 12:00 as the day shifts from 8th to 9th of March. It's a bit like a modern day Cinderella story except instead of losing a shoe, you lose all of your rights as a woman. But hey, at least we get to fall back into the comfort of conforming to social pressure, right?
Seriously now though Ladies, Happy International Women's Day! May you do all of the above not only today but everyday if you so desire. Remember just how much you're worth.
Bethany Paige X
Friday, 7 March 2014
Belated birthday treats
When I say that these birthday treats are "belated", I don't quite mean that they were given to me late. In fact, they were given to me way back in February on my actual birthday. It's really me that's belated in showing them to you all. Logically, I would have posted this up last month, but things got in the way (mainly my forgetful nature), so I decided to finally seize today as my opportunity. Let's just pretend it is my 17th birthday all over again.
I cannot deny that I have been an extremely lucky girl this year. In fact, I've been absolutely spoilt rotten. It seemed only right to show you some of the pretty things that were given to me - and they really are pretty - that prove just how well my friends know me.
Tigers on socks. Tigers on socks! In other words, the absolute epitome of cool. Alongside my lilac crochet socks and various school girl style lace trimmed ones, these beauties have a somewhat more urban feel. Who knew that was possible in the world of hosiery? I certainly can't wait to wear them.
Happy (late) birthday to me!
Bethany Paige X
I cannot deny that I have been an extremely lucky girl this year. In fact, I've been absolutely spoilt rotten. It seemed only right to show you some of the pretty things that were given to me - and they really are pretty - that prove just how well my friends know me.
Let's take a moment. Pale pink faux leather lita style boots, with clear perspex panels and gold eyelets. As I said, my friends know me shockingly well, right? These boots are literally my idea of perfection and could not fit more beautifully in my shoe collection! Right now I can't wait to rock these in summer with my white pencil skirt and some pretty lace.
I kind of have a thing for oversized clutch bags at the moment. Pair that with my obsession with the colour grey and you can see just why I love this snakeskin bag so much. It is beyond roomy which makes a change from the usual phone-and-card clutches for nights out. Yet again, another good choice on the part of Maria and Kels.
Tigers on socks. Tigers on socks! In other words, the absolute epitome of cool. Alongside my lilac crochet socks and various school girl style lace trimmed ones, these beauties have a somewhat more urban feel. Who knew that was possible in the world of hosiery? I certainly can't wait to wear them.
Happy (late) birthday to me!
Bethany Paige X
Monday, 3 March 2014
The 4:01 Show appearance
I love it when my blog opens up opportunities for me. It makes me feel as though all of the hard work that I put in does get recognised and that the messages I feel strongly about and try to present through Paige of Fashion get heard. So, as you can imagine, when contacted by the wonderful people at The 4:01 Show to be involved with an episode they were filming about body image (we all know how strongly I feel about that topic) I was more than a little excited. It was a "dancing around my room at 6am when I picked up the email" kind of moment!
The 4:01 Show is an online series aimed at young people, like myself, which focuses on the problems that we face. After writing my post a few months ago about "the bikini bridge" (here), I was contacted and asked to get involved due to the huge opinions I have on the matter of self esteem and the pressure on teens in terms of body image. For this particular episode which I was lucky enough to be involved with, TOWIE star meets designers Lydia Bright acted as a special guest - she was absolutely lovely by the way - and I had an amazing chat with her, Jimmie and Marcel about the issue. Honestly, I could not have had a better day. Everybody over at The 4:01 Show studio was amazing and it was great to meet people that shared some of my opinions on the topic of body image. Plus, it gave me a day of feeling famous!
If you want to check out Is there such thing as the perfect body? Plus other 4:01 Show episodes, here it is:
Thank you to The 4:01 Show for such an amazing and enjoyable experience! To all of those of you who watched, I hope you enjoyed it and maybe took something away from it too.
Keep smiling,
Bethany Paige X
The 4:01 Show is an online series aimed at young people, like myself, which focuses on the problems that we face. After writing my post a few months ago about "the bikini bridge" (here), I was contacted and asked to get involved due to the huge opinions I have on the matter of self esteem and the pressure on teens in terms of body image. For this particular episode which I was lucky enough to be involved with, TOWIE star meets designers Lydia Bright acted as a special guest - she was absolutely lovely by the way - and I had an amazing chat with her, Jimmie and Marcel about the issue. Honestly, I could not have had a better day. Everybody over at The 4:01 Show studio was amazing and it was great to meet people that shared some of my opinions on the topic of body image. Plus, it gave me a day of feeling famous!
If you want to check out Is there such thing as the perfect body? Plus other 4:01 Show episodes, here it is:
Enjoy hearing my voice for the first time (how weird)!
Thank you to The 4:01 Show for such an amazing and enjoyable experience! To all of those of you who watched, I hope you enjoyed it and maybe took something away from it too.
Keep smiling,
Bethany Paige X
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