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posted by HK
Jun 19, 2007 4:34PM
Models should be considered style icons. The level of style for models, as for any profession, varies from each to each and should be assesed as such. Just because models can make anything look good doesn't mean they will choose too. That doesn't really make sense. What I'm trying to say models have a talent seperate from the stye quotient of the clothes they wear. A model opting to wear a peguin sweater should not be considered a style icon even if it does look good. A model constantly setting trends and breaking the style rules should. cough Kate Moss cough.
Also actresses on the covers of magazines are almost always boring because they have no style....stylist do not equal style.
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posted by Faran
Jun 19, 2007 4:39PM
I think I should have used a photo of Ikeleine Stange instead of Sasha for this post, because Ikeleine's clothes are insane, and maybe not in a good way.
She looks incredible in them because she has an incredible look, but if other, shorter, less beautiful people tried to pull them off, it would be laughable.
I think she's a perfect illustration of how a model can make anything work, because their bodies are built to display clothes. It's not necessarily connected to their aesthetic talents.
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posted by Ilene
Jun 19, 2007 4:47PM
ikeleine looks weird though. i saw her on bedford a few weeks ago and yeah, her outfit was "out there" but it didn't look good. it just looked forced. and i personally think she looks better in magazines than in person.
models, like anyone else, can be style icons. how about beth ditto? definitely not thin or conventional but heralded as a fashion icon....or peaches? the woman is like, 40 years old but still rocks gold lame like no other.
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posted by MH
Jun 19, 2007 4:48PM
In addition to Faran's comment, which I think is right on, it's interesting to consider that newer models (and some vets) are often paid partially in clothing, and are given discounts and access to sales all the time. Which begs the question, if you had free clothes from the best designers in the world, how much cooler would your style be? I know we all make an effort to highlight examples of people with great style in affordable clothes, but an expensive wardrobe, like razor-sharp cheekbones, great hair, and six-mile long legs, doesn't hurt in creating a great look.
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posted by Faran
Jun 19, 2007 4:55PM
Agyness has great style, absolutely, but remember we've invented the term "Agyness Neon" for a reason - it really only looks good on her! I think if she weren't as tall and thin, she might adjust her outfits a little more conservatively.
Also not sure she's my favorite model - that might go to Lily Cole...
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posted by leia
Jun 19, 2007 4:57PM
I think it all depends. It irritates me when Vogue puts a model in a best dressed list, when you know that the outfit was probably picked out for her...
But on the other hand....models are exposed to so much fashion as well as inspiration, so it could be believed that they could evolve into icons.
I think it's always obvious which models are in a league of their own when it comes to style, and which ones are just beautiful coat hangers
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posted by Georgia
Jun 19, 2007 5:46PM
I have a page cut from September's Marie Claire up on my wall, titled "Model Behavior," under Shopping. It's got pictures of models (Iekeliene, Sasha, Julia D, Dulia Stegner, Gemma, Adrijana Dejanovic, Milagros Schmoll, Irina L, Margane Dubled, and Suzanne Diaz) in the clothes they wear backstage at fashion shows. Their street style, you would say.
I think, thanks to Marie Claire's choice of this model and that model, who are only 11 out of hundreds, we see a lot of models who know how to put clothes together well.
Whether these models have obtained this "style" from working in the business, being born with style, or it has grown on them throughout life in general, most of these girls do know how to dress.
Do you really lose your style credibility because you have "the ideal" body, because you are tall and thin?
Not all models are stylish, a fair share of models dress the way they see on the runway, text book, or just blah, but I do think those models who can dress well, or have "style," should be celebrated, not condemned.
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posted by geneva
Jun 19, 2007 6:29PM
I think it depends on the model, but this discussion reminds me of something someone once said to me about Maggie Gyllenhaal: "she's not beautiful enough to pull that outfit off." And while I love Maggie G, in this case, that statement was true. Sometimes people can pull off crazy shit because the rest of them is so gorgeous, and that's not really being "well-dressed." It's being fortuitously gene-ed.
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posted by guest
Jun 19, 2007 8:22PM
just as we would celebrate other people with great style from spending hours and hours soaking it up behind the scenes, we should celebrate models as well.
re celebrities v.models- i think that celebritiesget just as much free stuff, are much more likely to have a stylist than a model, and yet they still dont have the same style (for the most part)
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posted by rollergirl
Jun 20, 2007 3:11AM
Totally agree with Geneva. If you are pretty, you can wear anything, whatever your shape/size/age. I love looking at those backstage-model pics. Off-duty models are way better dressed han celebrities. And celebrities on best dressed lists are FAR more likely to have been styled (or if not styled then advised on a day-to-day basis) than models. Models rock!
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posted by London Girl
Jun 20, 2007 6:17AM
"Sometimes people can pull off crazy shit because the rest of them is so gorgeous,"
And some people can pull it off because they're not pretty, or because they just don't care what you think. See: Diana Vreeland, Isabella Blow... Much as I love staring at pretty pretty things, when I see a fairly plain, non-model girl rocking and owning her style, really pushing the limits, it makes me SO happy. It's why I love Viceland's DOs & DON'Ts.
So yeah, I'd prefer to see non-professional-fashion-people in Streetwalker.
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posted by I don't just like you. I like you, like you.
Jun 20, 2007 12:36PM
I totally agree with MH above
if we all had free clothes from the most amazing designers in the world, time to travel endlessly in search of the coolest pieces, and $ to buy whatever we wanted we would all be fly as hell.
it's much more inspiring to see how regular people rock.
posted by Mrs. O
Jun 19, 2007 4:22PM
Why not? Having style has nothing to do with how good looking you are. Just because models wear clothes well doesn't mean they have innate style, and those who do deserve to be recognized for it as much as anyone else would.