FabSugar

Fab Blab

FabSugar — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:00:22 PDT

During New York Fashion Week, a handful of attendees were asked a very important question: For whom do women dress? Here's what they had to say . . .

Carine Roitfeld (left): "I don't know for everyone else. For me, it's for myself. When you feel good about yourself, you feel good about everyone else."

Anne Hathaway: "Most women dress for their most fashionable friend."

Isabel Toledo: Women dress for men. I do dress for myself because it makes me feel empowered, but I'm definitely looking for [husband] Rubin's expression, not his approval. I do use clothes to speak - how I dress is a form of communication for me."

Sophia Bush: I dress for myself. There are days when I don't want to be dressed up so I'm not. And there are other days when I really want to be done from head to toe. You've got to dress for you."

So, for whom do you dress?

Source

What We Need to Talk About When We Talk About Sex and Feminism

The Good Men Project — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 08:00:00 PDT

We're happy to present this story from one of our favorite sites, The Good Men Project. Lisa Solod, who came of age during the sexual revolution, explores what feminism means to this generation.

My mother married my father because, she told me in a rare moment of candor, she wanted to have sex with him. She was 25 and tired of pre-sex fumbling and stolen kisses. My father was, of course, far more experienced, having been in the Pacific Theater during World War II; far less discreet about his former life (and life in general) he told his daughters inappropriate tales of the women he had met on shore leave. One I particularly remember had her front teeth filed into points. Well into their marriage, each of them managed to be unfaithful and they finally separated (but not because of infidelity) after twenty years of marriage. Yet, for another dozen years or so they would hook up here and there, travel together, and, of course have sex. In a further revelation, my mother told me that the sex was the best part of her relationship with my father.

I came of age at the tail end but the real beginning of the sexual revolution (1971-1974). At that point, sexual liberation was inextricably tied to the rise of feminism. Having sex like men, i.e., without attachment, was part of our freedom. But too many of us got hurt. We hadn’t yet factored in the biology of mating and how really hard it was to have that much sex without any real commitment. Most of the women I know who grew up during those years had far more sexual encounters than they were ever willing to reveal to their husbands. Those of us who divorced then dived back into the sexual market with the same abandon. I am not sure we were all the wiser. I hear STDs are on the rise in the over 50 group, which doesn’t surprise me. We all were pretty practiced in birth control but we took it into our own hands, with the pill and the diaphragm. This was pre-AIDS. Barrier methods were not our methods of choice then. They are not, apparently, our method now, either.

Should a Man Stand Up For His Woman?

But those of us who grew up in the trenches of the sexual revolution know that feminism was about far more than women having the kind of meaningless sex with men that men had been having with us for eons. Feminism, which is still being parsed in the media as well as our own homes, still being debated and discussed and accepted and dismissed, was about being able to control (to the extent that anyone can) our work lives, our love lives, our lives as a whole. It was about being able to have a career, being paid equally well for that career, and making our own decisions about marriage and childbirth without having to merely capitulate to what society had set out for us. I, for one, was happy not to have to marry to have sex. I was thrilled to be able to go to college and think about a career without worrying that it might make me unmarriageable. I was ecstatic about the notion that I could make decisions for myself.

All those ideas I passed along to my daughter. But, of course, she had no need to wrestle with those notions as the women in my generation had. She lived in a society where (she thought) feminism was taken for granted. Women her age did not talk about marriage, either as an option or something to reject. They saw it as fact that women could do anything.

Read the rest of the story below.

Ralph Lauren Fall 2012

Noria Morales — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:37:10 PST

Ralph Lauren's Fall 2012 collection focused on proper English style, from dapper menswear to glamourous, turn-of-the-century evening dresses. The select crowd of fashion editors - many of whom rarely even crack a smile at these shows -literally squealed with delight when the music began: it was the soundtrack to the PBS series and obvious editor obsession Downton Abbey. That show centers on a well-to-do British family in 1912, and the collection sought to bring that time to life. The only thing missing from the menswear looks was a cigar and scotch; there were tweed and herringbone double-breasted jackets worn with jodhpurs, and fair isle sweaters with flannel trousers styled with newsboy caps. From there the collection moved to more feminine grounds with a series of ultra-luxe evening dresses, like a beautiful one-shoulder fuchsia satin gown and a black satin evening dress topped with a gold-painted ostrich feather cape. It was rich with vintage glamour and the classic themes Ralph Lauren is known for.

Trends: Menswear, beading, culottes, vintage glamour.
Colors: Brown, black, fuchsia, gold.
Key Piece: A gold evening gown will be on the red carpet in no time; for day, people will flock to the double-breasted tweed jackets.
Accessories: Cloches and newsboy caps by Patricia Underwood, platform heels, Ricky bags updated with plaid.
Who Would Wear It: Classicists, menswear-loving women, Lauren Hutton types.

Interview: Frédéric Malle on '70s Paris, Imitation as Flattery, and More

Annie Tomlin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:00:28 PDT

If you have even the slightest interest in fragrances, you know of Frédéric Malle, the founder of Editions de Parfums. Since debuting 11 years ago, the collection has given some of the most creative noses in the business an opportunity to create scents outside of the usual constraints of marketing needs. This past Saturday, we caught up with Malle at Barneys New York to talk about his Parisian upbringing, copycat perfumes, and influences. Keep reading for the interview.

DKNY Gets the Gossip Girl Touch

Chi Diem Chau — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 07:29:23 PDT

Stockings used to be a somewhat boring Winter necessity - until Gossip Girl came around. Thanks to Blake Lively and Leighton Meester, both of whom were spotted wearing pretty hues and textures on the popular fashion-heavy show, legwear has become a cool outlet to show off your sleek styling skills. Perhaps that's why DKNY just announced a collaboration with Eric Daman, costume designer of Gossip Girl, to design a legwear capsule collection for Fall. “I feel like I grew up with legwear in the '70s and '80s, and it’s great to see legwear being part of a woman’s ensemble, a defining piece of women’s ready-to-wear, said Daman. . . . “Hosiery is quite sexy. What we try to do in Gossip Girl is lots of texture. It makes the characters come alive . . . it gives a character like Blair life when she’s wearing a pencil skirt with distressed rib tights. It gives her look something special.”

Prices and more details on the collection.