The High Road has its place on Fashion Avenue

There have been a lot of petty accusations of "roostery" in the fashion industry as of late. In New York City, where it's a struggle to be seen much less heard, we have forgotten that achieving confidence is much simpler than it seems. By nature confidence is the single most attractive quality that a person can possess, so it is only natural that we all strive to achieve it.

Contrary to popular belief, the most confident person rarely demand the attention of the room or carries the most expensive handbag. In fact, oftentimes it is the opposite. The most flamboyantly dressed person in the room feels he has something to prove, therefore creating a false sense of esteem I like to call Johnny Bravado. Johnny is a borderline obnoxious persona that plagues many, many people in New York City and especially in fashion. For years editors (and now bloggers) have been adorned with gifts and trips on a regular basis in exchange for a good review or a deal on advertising pages when the people who really should be front and center at the shows are the buyers. This is bribery, and for editors to be angry about having to share a status they should never have reached in the first place. This is literally a fight over free handbags.

Fashion blogging is a relatively new phenomenon, so there's an influx of candidates taking a shot at succeeding in this blossoming industry, but few will last. The disappointment for me is in the magazine editors, who through out of insecurity are pointing fingers and talking sh*t, are perpetuating the horrible cliché the fashion industry unfortunately holds.

When I began this blog my friends suggested I make it about my experiences in the fashion, and I found that a little too self-important for my comfort level. I have more to offer than what shoes I'm wearing that day. It's just not what life's about.

In an industry where so much emphasis is on the surface, I want The Supermodel Method to be a breath of fresh air. An intelligent take on an industry that doesn't have the best of priorities right now. I believe that blogging is coming around to its potential, with blogs like Thought Catalog that keep the conversation going and allowing us to connect through this new medium that gives a voice to intelligent, genuine women. The negative stereotypes about models come from a place of insecurity that I reject completely. There are the select few who misbehave, but most use fashion as a stepping stone toward their true purpose. I know many models in the process of becoming engineers, doctors, and political activists between bookings. That is my fashion industry. Now if only the editors and journalists could learn how to share maybe they will be able to find contentment in the value of their own talent -as writers, not celebrities.
There are those who struggle desperately to beat everyone no matter what the cost (the Bravados) - and there's the high road. Make the right choice.

model gone vogue

Between my Russian bathtime and juice detoxes, I've been reading Grace Coddington's new memoir, "Grace".

I love a good story of a woman beating the odds- and her accomplishments are definitely impressive. Women of her generation have always interested me- it was the first time women went for what they wanted, there's a drive there that I admire, a rebellious independence I intrigued by. As a young woman today, I appreciate the struggles they faced as pioneers for generations of woman to be able to work if that's what made them happy. And who wouldn't be positively overjoyed to go from a small town in Ireland to the creative director of the biggest fashion magazine in the world? This isn't the first time she's found herself on the pinnacle of enormous change in fashon. She was on the forefront in the sixties when modeling first began to push the envelope with artistically liberated imagery, taking models from stiff mannequins to dynamic and intriguing creatures in the eyes of the American public and changing the industry forever.

So understandably I fancy Grace as a personal role model - not only for having quite possibly one of the most interesting positions in the industry but even more so for having turned her days propped in front of the camera into such an amazing career. It takes a very intelligent and confident woman to accomplish what she has, and that is precisely the kind of woman I truly madly deeply girl crush on. So as soon as I heard of her memoir I ran to buy the enormous book that very day and have been lugging the brick of a thing around to jobs with me all week trying to get to know her.

It's only around 350 pages, but it only comes in paperback and is full of illustrations which makes it seem enormous. The first chapter is a long description of her really quite bleak and depressing childhood in Ireland. Then the book completely changes pace (thank god) -when she moves to London and starts frequenting dinner parties with David Bailey and his many friends and conquests (he was a notorious flirt). She mentions none of the beauty of that freeing moment in time, where the world was suddenly open to all kinds of possibilities. No sexual liberation, political or social inspiration. She briefly mentions AIDS in the seventies, but it played no significant role in the book as a whole.

She does mention that the time when Yves Saint Laurent ruled fashion the seventies inspiring her greatly- she lived in Paris at the time and frequented cafe select, sipping on café with Karl Lagerfeld, and embarking deep, longstanding friendships with characters like David Bailey and Manolo Blahnik - in the case of those of you who don't know who David Bailey is, look him up. He was a super hot, immensely talented notorious flirt and womanizer who hang out with Andy Warhol and dated one of the first supermodels, Jean Shrimpton. But much to my disappointment there were no examples of wonder or extravagance, nor any of the edgy, creative.. or progressive talk I would have imagined swirled around the table of the "fabulous freaks in their seventies chic." Only a long list of her YSL outfits and descriptions of the fashion girls' obsession with anything and everything from his collections. Maybe I'm a little book snobby but it would have been SO much more entertaining if she had delved in on some of their wild times and actually developed a plot line! But she's not about to give away any of the nitty gritty details of her seemingly amazing life, which I sigh and accepted as I crawled through the end of the book.

There is one particularly beautiful photo I really would have liked a back story for -she's in the south of France with Helmut Newton, David Bailey, Anjelica Huston, and Manolo Blahnik looking beautifully tipsy and having a great old time. These are the moments I bought the book to hear about. I want to know who these iconic personas are as human beings, what they fought for, who they loved.

  As the book progresses it becomes more of a glorified list of all of the people she knew, her favorite outfits, and the drama that is the high school cafeteria culture of American Vogue. There are lots of cool photos from when she used to model and the shoots she directed at British and French Vogue, as well as many of her own personal sketches and shoots -but she hardly touches on her personal life- coldly mentioning first, second, third husband before moving on to her monumental YSL suit or Kenzo moment.

Truthfully I think that's what she thought the people wanted to hear - about the clothes and the business - the woman is her business. And thats alright. But she decided to write a memoir - which is to be personal in essence. The frigidity of her prose and lack of emotional description during pivotal moments in her life was completely estranging. Her life has an incredibly rich story line, that she could drawn me in with far more than "one time on this shoot.." "then another shoot.." its interesting - but there needs to be some kind of progression or personal growth in there somewhere. When her sister died (leaving a young boy for her to care for) would have been a great time to humanize herself into a flawed emotional creature like the rest of us and talk about her no doubt complex emotions. But she quickly changes the subject to less vulnerable topics.  I didn't end this book feeling like I understood any more of the genius behind the woman for which the book was named. Some kind of development in herself as a character, lessons learned, desires and passions, any insight into how she had evolved as an individual would have been nice.

Honestly, you could have opened up a little more, Grace. We look up to you.

She does get a little more into detail later on in the book, with Anna seemingly as the main protagonist - giving her credit for changing the way fashion operates (namely far more celebrity oriented), turning it into a much more successful marketing tool instead of a form of artistic expression. Which is what I think this book is.: a marketing tool.  She obviously doesn't trust the reader enough to actually share her life with us.

Her most prophetic moment in the book is a blurb underneath a chapter heading "In which our heroine recognizes that life is often a long series of losses." Quite telling as to why she didn't include any of life's ugliness. And she's right- it's not as perfect as fashion- its ugly and transient and flawed - but that's what makes life beautiful.

At the end of the day, I would recommend you giving it a try. I personally would appreciate a little more depth from her - but this way it' s quick read with plenty of picture booking.

Spa-at-Home: The Russian Method

January's so drab. It's freezing and we're all still broke from Christmas. I literally have been losing feeling in my fingers lately and can not get warm for the life of me. It's times like these that I take a page from the Russian girls, seeing as they're the experts on surviving through long, cold winters.

I once had a Slavic friend who liked to go to the bath house around this time of year. There she would warm herself in the sauna for as long as she could, then quickly jump into an ice cold pool. The Russians are not ones for subtlety, and let me tell you- this one's a real eye opener. I squealed like a little girl the first time I took the plunge. But afterwards, I noticed I could stay warmer for much longer. In addition to increasing your circulation, it is somewhat of a detoxifier - which some say rids you of contagions, keeping you from getting sick. Smart.

For me (ever the American princess) the bath house is a little too public. No offense, I'm just not about to pay to watch a bunch of half naked Russian men whip one another with tree branches while I'm trying to relax in the sauna. Or watch two guys make-out. Or have to listen to somebody else's drama..blah blah blah.

So for obvious reasons, I've turned the process into a more private, at-home spa experience. Here it is- I sit in a hot bath (read, listen to music, whatever) until I start to sweat, then I stand up and turn on the shower as cold as it goes. A couple seconds of cold and your body gets the message - your metabolism will rise to the occasion - on no uncertain terms.

Try it out! It's quick, it's free- it's exhilarating actually.
(not to mention really good for you)

Frenchpop Singer Yelle Rocks VEDA LiveLoveGive Charity Launch

 

The runway show for the launch of women's charity LiveLoveGive was not only a blast - with a live performance by French popstar and all around badass Yelle, but also supported a good cause. Taking place at Seven Bar on the water outside the United Nations, they debuted their charity to the world with a rockin' lingerie show and concert party.

The weather has been freezing here, so we all wore our coats (and socks!) until the last minute, but once that runway rush kicked in- none of us noticed. I always appreciate when women are able to use their love for fashion for a good cause, and this organization does just that. Their program enables women to live out their dreams by providing financing and support to start-up companies through VEDA Financial and member donation.

Since its the UN, security was super heavy, with airport level security and badges to go into each building - which was definitely a Lara Croft moment in my full length black wool coat and ruby red lips. There's something about national security that immediately brings the James Bond theme song to mind, bringing whole new meaning to "Agent Provocateur". The theme was "redefining the corset"featuring unique pieces from Guy Laroche, Erin Fetherston, and yes pun intended, Agent Provocateur for the six of us to wear. Not all of the "redefined" corsets were sexy though..

One of the models had to wear a "head corset" that she couldn't see in. It was like one of those ridiculous challenges off America's Next Top Model, no joke. She was freaking out at the end because she got so claustrophobic! 

But overall, everyone was alright and it was a really interesting show for a good cause.