Earlier this month, Urban Outfitters were forced to remove a t-shirt bearing the slogan “Eat Less” from their website (although according to some reports, the shirt is still being sold in-store), after complaints that the message was pro-anorexia, and therefore offensive. We guess the fact that the model wearing it definitely doesn’t need to “eat less” didn’t help matters there…
IS it offensive, though? After all, it seems to be perfectly acceptable these days to tell thin people they “need to eat a sandwich” and obesity is a huge (pardon the pun) issue too, so the counter-argument being made by those who don’t find the shirt in the least bit offensive, is that it’s simply a health message.
The fact that Urban Outfitters are hedging their bets by removing the shirt from the website but still selling it in store suggests they’re not quite sure where they stand on this issue (although, let’s face it, they’re no strangers to controversy either), and to be completely honest, neither are we. So we’re going to ask you to decide the matter for us, readers: is this shirt offensive? Tell us in the comments …
Q: What age do you think is the right age to start wearing heels?
A: First of all, we don’t necessarily think there IS a “right age” to start wearing heels: it’s something that will be different for everyone, and some people will decide that “never” is the right answer to this question!
With that said, heels are more damaging to your feet than some other types of shoes, so logic would dictate that you at least try to wait until your feet stop growing, although that’s probably not a realistic answer for many, as we all develop at different rates, and it can be hard to know when the growth spurt is at an end.
Let’s turn this one over to The Fashion Police jurors, then: what age were you when you started wearing heels (if you ever did, that is)? What age do YOU think is the “right” age?
Pyjamas in public: The Fashion Police have so far been fortune enough to avoid seeing this phenomenon in action, but we know from our spies on the ground that it’s becoming increasingly common – not just in supermarkets, but on college campuses and at the school gate, too.
Now UK supermarket giant Tesco has become the first supermarket chain in the UK to introduce a dress code specifically forbidding customers to shop in pyjamas: the St Mellons store in Cardiff has put up printed notices at the doors, and has already had several pj-clad patrons escorted from the premises for flouting the rules by turning up in nightwear, including dressing gowns and slippers. Meanwhile, the headteacher at a UK primary school has sent letters home to all parents asking that parents arriving to collect children after class at least take the time to put on some kind of clothing before leaving the house.
Tesco say their new policy has been introduced in response to customer complaints. The dress code states:
“To avoid causing offence or embarrassment to others, we ask that our customers are appropriately dressed when visiting our store (footwear must be worn at all times and no nightwear is permitted).”
What we want to know, then, is this: were Tesco right to turn real-life Fashion Police and ban nightwear from the aisles?
Well, readers, it’s January, which, for fashion-lovers everywhere means just one thing: sales!
The Fashion Police have something of a love/hate relationship with sale-shopping. On the one hand, everyone loves a bargain, and if that bargain happens to be a beautiful example of Shoe Porn, a fabulous dress or covetable coat, then so much the better.
So there’s lots to love about the sales, make no mistake. On the other hand, though: crowded, overheated shops, clothes racks that resemble a jumble sale, having to hunt through piles and piles of clothes only to find that they don’t have your size anyway and, worst of all, the frequent realisation that nothing you actually want has gone on sale, and instead the stores have simply rolled out all of their unsold summer stock (which was unsold for good reasons)… well, we can quite happily live without all of that, thanks very much. Also: we’re sure we’re not the only ones who go sale shopping and come home with armfuls of full-price items, are we? Oh.
Tell us, then: are you a professional bargain hunter, who loves nothing more than a good sale scrimmage or do you, like us, tend to lurk at home until it’s all over, and then resume your normal shopping habits?
For the past two years now, we’ve been running an end-of-year poll to find out what you thought was the biggest fashion crime of the year just gone – and both times, Crocs have been the clear winner.
Will they run (or rather, “waddle”) away with the title in 2009? Well, we actually think Crocs have been on the decline this year: they’re still high on our list of “fashion hates”, and always will be, but they seem to be less popular than they once were, which makes us wonder if it’s time to crown a new King of the Fashion Crimes?
What do you think? What was the biggest fashion crime in 2009? Vote in the poll below to let us know what you think. You’ll find a short description of each of the options under the jump.
(NOTE: You are NOT voting for the specific items shown in the image above – they’re there for illustration only!)
Every day (with the exception of the couple of brief hiatuses we’ve had this year), The Fashion Police bring your our Dress of the Day selection. Some dresses you’ve loved, some you’ve hated – and some you’ve wanted to see us publicly executed over. But of all these dresses, we think it’s time we picked a leader. A Queen. One dress to rule them all, if you will. And so today we ask you to place your vote and help us decide on the Dress of the Year 2009.
There was no easy way to select the dresses on the shortlist. In the end, we simply picked the dresses that seemed to get the best reaction when they were first posted, although obviously this isn’t an exact science, as not everyone comments/retweets (and a lot of comments were lost during the Black Friday crash), so we hope you’ll forgive us if your personal favourite isn’t included.
You’ll find larger pictures of all of the dresses under the jump – cast your vote in the poll below and help us decide on the Dress of the Year!
We've spoken about the issue of opaque tights in summer before, but lately the lines between "summer" and "winter" fashion seem to have become even more blurred, and while summer always brings the usual crop of people in shorts and cotton dresses, our officers are also reporting lots of sightings of people wearing more or less the same thing they'd wear in winter: thick tights, boots, you name it.
Take this picture of Alexa Chung and Kelly Osbourne filming Alexa's 'It's On' for MTV this week in New York. They both look fantastic, but if we didn't know it was the middle of July, we could easily have been convinced that this was shot in winter – and Alexa is far from the only one wearing black tights in July.
Of course, there's a definite argument that opaque tights are no warmer to wear than trousers or jeans – and lots of people wear those in the height of summer – so we're wondering what everyone thinks of this mode of "seasonless" dressing. Do you have distinct wardrobes for different seasons, reserving boots and tights for winter and shorts and sundresses for the warmer months, or is it a case of "anything goes", and totally dependent on what the weather happens to be doing that day? Tell us!
We love lingerie. In fact, it's one of our weaknesses in life, and the prettier and more extravagant it looks, the better.
Here's the thing, though: despite buying more than our fair share of luxurious lingerie, we hardly ever wear it. It just never seems to work out right: that frilly, frothy bra may have looked gorgeous in the store, and it'll probably look great on, too, but it'll also leave all kinds of lumps and bumps under our top, which will totally ruin the look. And those pretty little knickers may be the last word in luxury, but unless they're as comfortable as they are good-looking, we'll be reaching for something plainer but comfier and less likely to be clearly visible under our clothes.
And so it is that all of our lovely lingerie lies unused, while we stick to those plain old basics that are invisible under clothes and so comfortable we don't even know we're wearing them. We know there is a middle ground, occupied by gorgeous pieces that are also comfortable, and which can't be seen under our clothes, but we rarely seem to find it them these days (and when we do, we stock up!).
What about you? Do you share our love of beautiful lingerie, or do you stick to the plain-but-serviceable pieces?
