Showing posts with label what the fucking fug?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label what the fucking fug?. Show all posts

Sunday, March 28, 2010

J. Crew, the agony and the ecstasy

Oh, J.Crew. How can you swing so wildly from "What the hell are you thinking?"....

My love for pleats is only rivaled by my hatred for jumpsuits, so I guess I'm left shaking my head, thinking, "Oh, J.Crew, I can't stay mad at you!" I also want to mention that I was in the store over the weekend, and the mannequin wearing the pleated dress was styled really well--with a studded belt in a similar shade of pink, and a woven straw tote bag. This is a fabulous dress, totally appropriate for a warm weather wedding, but J.Crew styled it for a brunch and lazy errand Sunday.

I also want to point out two more things that caught my eye in the store. First, the world's most versatile dress, the Super 120s Andre dress, $188:
It's from J.Crew's office collection, and also comes in navy, black and grey--but the bright plum could definitely be smartened up for work. But the real power of this dress is that it can become that essential go-to for "I want to feel awesome tonight." You know, that one dress that you know is insanely flattering and hides ever sin, the dress that you want to wear on your birthday and a first date and to your high school reunions (since all the popular bitches will be wearing black, to hide the fact that they've gotten fat, while you're all, "Look at me, in bright purple! Aren't you jealous of the fabulous life that I must be living in order to wear this dress?"). It's not too revealing but couldn't be dowdy if it tried. Oh, if only it were machine-washable: then it truly would be the perfect dress.
The flutter flower clutch, $122, is not versatile at all. In fact, it's sort of silly and girly and too expense for something that you'll get so little use out of. But goddamn if I didn't squeal with delight when I spied this on a J.Crew mannequin. The gold chain and clasp look exquisite against the purple silk flowers, and wearing it would make me feel like a heroine in a high-quality chick lit novel.

By the way, the reason I was in the store was to return that white cable knit sweater I bought only. The fabric was a nightmare--so itchy and completely synthetic feeling. And, it was so loose-knit that it was totally see-through. It's gone even more on sale to $19.99, but ladies: do not be tempted!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Best, Meh, and Worst: The Golden Globes

I love the Golden Globes -- so much more relaxed than the Oscars, so much more legitimate than the SAG Awards. All the talent is drunk, and they have to hire tuxedoed men to escort tipsy actresses in heels up the marble stairs to the stage. There are no masturbatory film industry montages and no awkward, he's-usually-so-funny hosts (I'm looking at you, Jon Stewart).
I'm in a particularly good mood this year since Slumdog Millionaire swept (seriously, go see it), Kate Winslet won Best Actress AND Best Supporting Actress, and Mickey Rourke's cracked-out acceptance speech made me laugh, so, without further ado, I give you the best, worst, and should-have-been-better moments from this year's Golden Globe fashions.
Click on any picture to enlarge.

Best:

Kate Winslet
Good Goddamn, Kate. Sleek, polished, understated, and fierce in a very "Oh this old thing? I just threw it on" sort of way. She looks like a goddess.

Salma Hayek
It seems like it would be in poor taste to make a joke about Salma's (sigh) Golden Globes, but seriously, her curves won't quit. She's also one of the only people on the planet who can pull off this particular neutral.

Mary Louise Parker
The color is electrifying, she's well-styled, and the shape actually makes her look like she's got curves. A+.

Christina Hendricks
Everyone's favorite naughty secretary brings it. The structural neckline works in a really unusual way with her curves, and having skin and hair that perfect makes basic black look new and different.

Anna Paquin
I know there will be those who disagree with me on this, and I'll be the first to say that I don't like her blonde, but I'm having a love affair with the draping and the color of this dress. I probably would have worn a necklace with it, though.

Madeline Zima
The little girl from The Nanny grew up HOT. Unusual color -- there were a lot of dark jewel tones and neutrals on the red carpet this year -- and she looks like she just loves wearing this pretty Grecian dress.

Honorable Mention: Mindy Kaling
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fabulous Ms. Kaling, looking lovely in this understated toga-style number. Stay pretty, Mindy!


Meh:

Freida Pinto
Oh, Freida. I spent about two-thirds of Slumdog Millionaire wondering what genetic accident made her as stunning as she is, and nothing she wears, no matter how bad, is going to overshadow her beauty (just look at that smile). All the same, this is... not great. The color looks great on her, but I can't figure out the cut at all. Do better at the Oscars, Freida.

January Jones
Another instance of great color, bad cut. This particular sky blue couldn't be any more perfect on her, but the shoulder strap is weird and the dress as a whole doesn't look like it fits her correctly.

Angelina Jolie
This isn't bad, it's just boring. Angie, you're probably the most beautiful woman in the world. Were you just not trying?

Drew Barrymore
Pretty dress, Drew, but... what happened with the hair? Did you take a convertible to the red carpet?

Amanda Seyfried
A prime example of how not to do neutrals. In the thumbnail of this picture on my desktop, I actually can't tell where her skin ends and the fabric begins.


Worst:

Renee Zelleweger
What the fuck is this dress? Her bra/undershirt/thing is crooked, the cutaway shoulders look like she tore them on a doorframe, and the skirt doesn't fit. Combine that with that horrible hair and how strung out she looked when she was presenting and you've got... well, I don't even know. It's just bad. Also, she's making a fairly normal face in this picture, but in most of the other pictures from tonight she's making this truly bizarre, overly pleased-with-herself, on-some-serious-medication face. It's not pretty.

Olivia Wilde
I didn't actually know who Olivia Wilde was until just now, when I looked her up on Wikipedia. Turns out she joined the cast of House well after I stopped watching it. I will say that after seeing her in this dress, I never want to see her act in anything, ever. This thing could kindly be described as a chenille nightmare. It's a Barbie dress made out of grandma's bedspread. Also, girl needs to eat a Twinkie or three, because she's looking like she's about ready to take a bite out of the photographer.

Beyonce/Sasha Fierce
I have to say, I'm a little disappointed that Sasha Fierce didn't show up on the red carpet, because she would have been more likely to wear something that fit. This is too tight on the top -- she's holding her arms like she's worried her boobs are about to pop out, which seems to be a legitimate fear. There's extra fabric around her waist and the dress is lumpy over her hips. And did I mention the fabric is hideous?

Debra Messing
Wow. The top is fine, but from the hips down... wow. There's some awkward fabric bunching over her crotch and all that pleating along the bottom just looks straight up messy. Yuck.

Cameron Diaz
Man, I hate Cameron "Jokerface" Diaz. There's some quality about her that I can't quite put my finger on that makes me wish she'd just drop off the face of the planet. It might be different if she EVER looked good, but sadly, this... thing she's wearing is pretty typical, as is the poor styling. As Michael Kors would say, this dress is a whole lotta look, and she is not the person to pull it off. There are pleats and ties and bows in places where such things ought not to be, it's puffing out in odd ways, and I can't imagine what her left boob could possibly have done to deserve the treatment it's getting here. Go away, Cameron.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Guaranteed to Burn Your Eyes

A few weeks ago, I went to Central Park to try and go to the free Vampire Weekend concert put on by Summer Stage. It started pouring rain as we waited in line, and then they were at capacity and we couldn't get into the venue. But this experience was not at all a total loss, because, while waiting in line, we saw the most fugly, hipster-y young people in Manhattan. And we made fun of them. There was one girl, in particular, who was standing a few people ahead of us and was wearing such atrocities that I had to take a photo.
This is not the best picture, I'll admit. But you can see, obviously, the leopard print spandex shorts, and you can just make out (on the right side) the freaking raccoon tail hanging off of her purse! Who dresses for a concert and says, "I think I'm going to match my leopard shorts with the tail of a dead animal!"? Insufferable New York hipsters, that's who.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

The Joy of Fug

I don't know about you guys, but for the last few days I've felt stuck in this awful waiting game, just passing time until we finally get photos of the Beyonce/Jay-Z wedding. I have good money riding on hot pants being part of Beyonce's wedding outfit at some point in the night (because you know she's the kind of bride who'll go through 8 different costume changes). Also, sidenote, I'm kind of disappointed they tied the knot because I was nursing two wild hopes: first, that Jay-Z would leave Beyonce for Rihanna and Beyonce would record a double album of really, really angry songs that would be perfect to work out to about how all men are dogs and women are evil whores, and second, that Jay-Z would start dating Mindy Kaling.

So to distract me from the wedding dress/hot mess that Beyonce's mom no doubt designed for her daughter, I've been catching up on Fug Madness over on Go Fug Yourself. If you aren't familiar with The Best Fashion Blog Of All Time, then click on the link and don't come back until you've read every post for the last four years. Trust me, you won't miss anything here. If you already read it, then you know that for the past month they've been doing a basketball-style tournament of fug to determine who the fugliest celebrity in Hollywood is. It came down to Bai Ling and Victoria Beckham, and the chemically unbalanced model/actress (?) took it all over the crazily fabulous Spice Girl. I was kind of hoping for Chloe Sevigny to come out on top, since I'd say "The embodiment of Fug" should be on the top of her resume, above all those acting jobs.

So in honor of all this glorious fugliness, I thought I'd share a few things I've stumbled on recently that made me shriek with glee at the extreme fug.

I can't even begin to understand these Steve Madden Ice Suede shoes, $99.95. Why would you want to look like you're wearing leg warmers with heels? With a ribbon tied around your calf? Maybe if you were in sort of tap-dancing off-Broadway musical featuring the art of mime... but still, no.

Onesies, jumpers, rompers, overalls: there is not enough "no" in the world to describe how I feel about them. I'm pretty much categorically opposed to any outfit that requires you to get almost naked in order to pee, except one-piece bathing suits when you're swimming laps. Or, ok, if you weigh under 45 pounds (because you're a baby, not an anorexic). But no grown woman should wear a jumpsuit, and I promise, if you do, two years from now you're going to see it in the back of your closet and say, "What the hell was I thinking?" Or even worse, some potential crush is going to be combing through your Facebook photos, see you in a romper, and instantly know he was wrong about you being a girl with her head on straight. It's tough to pick the ugliest of the bunch (and there are way, way too many out there; rompers need to be exterminated like cockroaches), but I particularly hate this Twelfth St. by Cynthia Vincent Zip-Front Strapless Romper, $249. Not only is it an unflattering bronze color, the description says it's semi-sheer. What? Sheer is only good in the boudoir or by the pool. If you wear this out in public, not only will everyone think you're an idiot for wearing a romper, but they'll also think you're tacky for exposing your undergarments.

American Apparel is kind of my go-to store for "What the fucking fuck?" clothes. Their use of lame, especially, makes my soul hurt. There was a girl in my American Lit class last year who would wear bright purple shiny leggings every week, and Hannah and I referred to her as "that demented American Apparel girl." But at least I never saw her wear a gold lame suspender swimsuit, $36. Alex commented on the crazy-eyed models, and I agree that they make any piece of clothing look cracktastic. But even Elle McPherson couldn't make this "swimsuit" look anything less than ridiculously stupid. If anyone wants to see a hint of nipple, click on the link and check out the silver version of this, worn without the tube top.

This one is for my ladies in Colonial Williamsburg, who hopefully know better than to start wearing knickers. I'm willing to be the Lux Knickerbocker pant, $58, from Urban Outfitters, would be universally unflattering and not at all comfortable. They might be good if your preferred method of shoplifting is stuffing fruits and vegetables down your pants, but otherwise, no.

So all of the things I've posted have been fug in form, but this one is more fug in execution. From Free People, Alissa's Ikat dress, $138, has an entire craft's store of brick-a-brack and rickrack on it. It has the embroidered trim, little decorative mirrors under the bust, a tie in the back, ruffle hem, a solid pink panel down the front, and... is that cow print on the side? You guys, if I'm not mistaken there's black and white cow print on one hip and pink and white cow print on the other. So it's not even symmetrically fug! And this could be a decently cute dress if it had half as much going on, but right now it looks like Martha Stewart's craft barn got sick and vomited this dress out.

Here's one for the boys that also has way, way too much going on. The J.Crew patchwork plaid shawl cardigan, $199, looks like it was designed for the world's queerest lumberjack. I thought, surely, that this must be the fugliest thing J.Crew has ever made. But then I saw the patchwork tweed vest, $159.99, and I thought, ok, game over, this is the fugliest thing anyone has ever created ever.




But wait! Is it possible that the Patchwork Wool jacket, $349.99, is actually even fuglier? The patches are a little bigger, which helps make it look less like a piece of fabric you dug out of the earth, but it's also a full, $350 jacket of ugly ass patches. You decide.


I think that making this post has scarred my soul. Ouch.