Sunday 16 March 2008

It's a fug, fug world out there...

As many of you may know, the comedy geniuses behind the extremely popular fashion (or rather, anti-fashion, at times) website Go Fug Yourself, have for a while now been writing regular blog posts for New York Magazine's fashion blog The Cut. Well, I was checking the updates on Perez today when I cam across a particularly nasty review of Lauren Conrad's Fall 08 collection.
Lauren Conrad after her Fall 08 fashion show.

Of course, I soon realised that the review was written by the Fug Girls. Now usually, they're opinions are similar to mine, except more extreme (a lot more extreme. Lol) - but as I was reading, I didn't find myself thinking Oh this is harsh...but true (like usual). Instead I was just thinking, oh this is just unnecessarily mean. Obviously, there will be others out there (non-Hills fans of course) who will agree whole-heartedly with the Fug Girls. But I , for one, and not one of those others. Here are some 'highlights' of the review:

Attending last night’s Lauren Conrad Collection show at L.A.'s Fashion Week felt a lot like being dropped into the middle of an episode of The Hills — potentially juicy, questionably styled, ultimately a bit plotless, and yet strangely amusing.
Also absent from the venue was anyone recognizable from Lauren’s former place of employment (er, “employment”), Teen Vogue, any celebrities willing to admit they totally love The Hills, or any decent fashion. We don’t say that with (much) glee. We went into the show completely prepared to like it, to be embarrassed by liking it, and to spend the rest of the week being defensive about liking it. This did not happen.
...we got paper-thin leggings with lazy and plain triangle shirts, cheap-looking fabric more befitting a Target line than anything you’d pay boutique prices for, and a terrible color palette that would give Michael Kors an aneurysm.
We understand the desire to strike while the iron of her celebrity is hot, but, overall, the effort felt very young, in the sense that Lauren probably needs a few more years of design school before she’s ready to take on anything this ambitious.
Photos do the line more favors than an up-close look — hardly anything was properly fitted, many of the dresses bunched in the back, and one model’s boobs were totally squeezing out of the top of her dress.
So despite all that dramatic potential, in the end, we found ourselves aching for Spencer and Heidi to storm the fortress and cause some real shenanigans.

Jackie Tube Top -- Sophia dress -- Nicole skirt
All from Lauren's Spring 08 collection.

A look from Lauren Conrad's Fall 08 collection.
I haven't seen all of the collection, so I guess I'm not in much of a position to judge. But this is an issue that crops up regularly: celebrities turned designers, do they deserve the credit? In my opinion, the answer is always depending on the circumstance. In Lauren's case, I believe the circumstance is a little more forgiving, considering she did at least go to fashion school (unlike her 'rival' Heidi Montag, who has coincidentally also just released a fashion line).

What do you all think? Did the Fug Girls cross the line? Or am I just being way too sensitive?

Catch.

Romany

[photos courtesy of origin.mercurynews.com and laurenconrad.seenon.com]

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

What gorgeous dresses!

riz said...

WOWWWWWWW! HARSH to the core! I have to say though that it is kind of funny. I mean I sort of gloss over LAFW myself, since it seems to be a celebrity venue...I'm going to go read the article, as I generally think the fug girls are amusing.
I love reading your blog. Thank you again for all your wonderful comments and support.

Elizabeth said...

They're pretty harsh most of the time. I'm not sure who deserves credit here. I suppose if a star/celeb does the drawings and conceptualizes a look or line, she deserves credit. If she's just stuck her name on someone else's ghostwork, then it seems unethical to take credit. That's just my take. You take it from here.

Romeika said...

I've never heard of these reviewers, but they do sound a little harsh. The collection looks ok to me, although I never expect a lot from designer-to-be celebs:-)

Meg said...

I think there's a considerably more scathing comment coming from the Teen Vogue editors she knew who didn't show up. Celebrity fashion lines are tired and ill-thought out for most part anyway. I think the fact that someone so talentless could have shown at a fashion week (even if it is LA) is an insult to designers with talent who have lived, breathed and learned fashion so they can show their collections on the same catwalk's as this hack.
The fashion industry isn't kind, why should the Fug Girls be?
I think Lauren herself probably doesn't care because it seems her main aim in life is self-promotion, so any publicity is good publicity.

Molly :] said...

I didnt mind her collection- it was basic but not unpleasant! :) x

Anonymous said...

The collection is rather juvenile, very simple peices that probably could be found at any store. I think that lauren could have put a little more effort into her designs but i mean, she is making a name for her self and at such a young age is making a buzz in the fashion world. Like they say any kind of press is good press. And lets be honest... the go fug yourself girls are probably the leat respectable "fashion journalists" if they can even be called that.... bashing people accomplisments for a living is not classy to me. I think they were harsh and could have taken it easy on lauren i mean, she is a newcomer to the fashion world.

Wendy said...

I thought the clothes weren't too bad, just that they're not worthy enough for runway.

A.N said...

OUCH! HARSH HARSH! I don't think the collection was WOW! I felt it was too simple, and I'm not saying simple clothes can't look good. I'm all for simplicity, look at karl lagerfeld's collection, its so simple yet there's just this spark about it.

She's lacking that "spark" in the collection.

Secretista said...

Eh.. I partially agree. They are far too harsh though.

Romany said...

Wow. It seems this issue divides people more than I thought...
Thank you everyone for sharing your opinions, it's invaluable to me. :)

For the record, I believe Lauren's collection/label is different to your average celebrity-turned-designer: usually, one simply places their name on designs that someone else drew up. This is not the case with LC - she studied at fashion school, designed everything herself and was very hands on during the entire process. Sure she's getting unfair credit simply because she's famous (because, let's be honest, if she wasn't famous, this collection probably never would have made it to fashion week), but as far as celebrity-turned-designers go, she's one of the more deserving in my opinion. But those of the opposite opinion, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree lol!

Thank you again, everyone. :)
Romany
xx

SKYLA said...

her line is nothing spectacular and the only reason it is boosted to such a high level of media attention is because of the hills. But the Fug writers were very critical. Then again, that's what they do best!
I have to say, i think it's harsh when some work years to get to that place with 3 million times the talent of someone like Heidi Montag. anyway rant over- would you like to swap links?

Anonymous said...

I love the black and white with the black tights.