Would You Fug Yourself?

classic mary kate.jpg Whether dressing up or down, your natural inclination is to always look your best. We’re pretty sure no one walks out of the house purposefully looking like a fashion disaster.

But according to Sienna Miller, bad dressing sometimes goes beyond an occasional poor choice — it’s a conscious form of rebellion.

In this month’s Nylon, she claims her “fashion icon” status drove her crazy - so much, that she started wearing bad clothes to get away from the label. Remember the leotard with no pants? She swears that was part of it.

Likewise, when Mary-Kate Olsen was hailed as a “fashion hero” by the Times, she adopted even crazier looks just to see whether pajamas-under-fur coats would really catch fire. They did.

And when Uma Thurman defended her 2004 Oscar gown, a billowing Christian Lacroix number, she used the old “stand out” argument: “Everyone had it down to such a perfect tee in their spaghetti-strapped, sequined or chiffon, body-hugging, gym-hour promoting things. You get bored. That’s when you have to say, ‘I will be worst dressed.’”

That’s fine for famous people. But if you’re “rebelling” against the safe masses by playfully donning an aerobics outfit to a swank party, is there a way to regain your usual fashion cred, or will you be black-listed as a leo’tard forever?

— NATALIE GUEVARA

posted by guest

Nov 15, 2007 3:36PM

I think the trick is to take risks. Look at people like Cate Blanchett, even Rihanna at times. Sometimes they screw it up, sure, but they always keep it interesting and fresh. If you are going to wear huge fur coats in July like the Olsens, yeah you are going to attract attention. Celebrities need to learn to be out there without being too out there. But I think that their egos probably couldn't ever handle that.

posted by Ginge

Nov 16, 2007 1:14AM

I read that Nylon article a few days ago and that part caught my attention as well.
I'm a big Sienna fan, especially as far as style is concerned, and I sometimes emulate her style. Or perhaps I should say, I'm inspired by it. I'm not gonna wear something just because someone else does, but I might if I like it (and Sienna, like potentially anyone, gives me new ideas as to how or with what to wear certain pieces).

There's a sense of approval that comes when someone wears something - whether it's embracing a certain trend or whatever. Like, "Oh, Sienna [or whoever] would like that." It turns the whole thing on its head if someone intentionally dresses badly.

The whole "fashion as rebellion" thing reminds me of an incident from Family Guy in which Stewie imagines himself talking to Colin Farrell. Stewie notices the holes in "Colin"'s jeans and says, "...that’s rebellious. You’re a bad boy. Society wants your jeans to be intact, but you’ll have none of it will you?"

I think people CAN bounce back from fashion faux pas; it's all about the ratio of hits to misses (and, I suppose, the severity of each - like, if somethings really bad or totally fabulous).
In the example of wearing aerobics gear to a fancy party, I think that person would just be seen as a fashion wild-card, for a while at least. If nothing like that happens again, people won't expect it to, but there's always a chance...