Weekly Reading: Baked Goods Edition
Jul 19, 2011
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The Beauty Department. I have to admit, I was incredibly skeptical when I heard that Lauren Conrad was starting a beauty website. But who can blame me? So imagine my surprise when her site, The Beauty Department, turned out to be really good.
What drew me in were the fantastic, step-by-step tutorials. Want to try a new hairstyle? Or learn how to perfectly trim your eyebrows? This site can show you how.
The French Confession. Last week, fashion photographer Garance Dore made a startling confession on her blog, she loves anklets. Not exactly Earth shattering, but in the fashion world, anklets are considered de classe. But I don’t agree.
No, you’re not going to see me running around with a cubic zirconia charm bracelet on my ankle. The anklet that I sometimes wear in the summer was actually made out of a necklace that broke. It’s a simple gold chain with Van Cleef-like clovers similar to this one.
When Worlds Collide. The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) is working the marble halls pushing for legislation to make clothing designs intellectual property. The designers argue that their fashions should be protected from stores that knock-off their styles. If they get their way, they’ll probably put Forever 21, H&M and other discount chains out of business.
So what do you think? Are their designs worthy of legal protection or is imitation the sincerest form of flattery?
Recipe for Life. I’ve been on a bit of a baking kick lately. Okay, a lot of a baking kick. I’ll be cleaning flour out of the ducts for weeks. What have I been making? Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti, Peppermint Patties, and Idle Hand Bars. Thank God I’ve had the willpower to give most of them away. The Biscotti was too good to share.
From A to Zoe. Rachel Zoe’s new fashion line has hit Neiman Marcus for pre-order. Coquette has the details. I find the clothes a bit underwhelming, but the bags are really cool.
Weekly Reading is a complitation of the best of what Belle finds on the Internet. Topics vary but include style, beauty, career advice and more. For more from Belle, follow Capitol Hill Style on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook. If you have suggestions for Weekly Reading, e-mail Belle at capitolhillstyle (at) gmail (dot) com.
I'm interested in the CFDA issue, and it makes me wonder, “Who gets the white tee shirt? Or skinny jeans?” At what point does clothing go from something functional to a piece of intellectual property? The extremes are pretty easy – a 3-pack of tees on one end, a designer's atelier collection on the other – but the middle ground seems vastly more complicated. Where does inspiration stop and straight-up copying begin? Even in publishing, where there's a long precedent for intellectual property law, it can be almost impossible to prove that someone did or didn't steal another writer's idea, or that they were inspired by the same sources, or that the similarities are simply coincidence. So I'll be very curious to watch this unfold.
I was reading about the CFDA issue on Jezebel, and many readers pointed out that this could simply prevent customers on a tighter budget from dressing fashionably. I mean, if I had the money, I would like to buy from high-end designers, but as a student spending $100+ on an article of clothing is a treat, not something I can do on a regular basis. Shopping at Forever21, H&M, etc may not be so great for designers, but I think that being able to buy 100% from the “original” designer (whatever that means) is a luxury.