Are you a woman (or a man)? Do you wear your hair somewhere between your chin and shoulders? With bangs? You are, without knowing it, imitating a haircut given to model Karlie Kloss several months ago. Kloss, whose hair is bafflingly described in the Styles piece as "dark," is "already a fashion world veteran at age 20," whereas you are nothing of the kind. Maybe your hair has been in this style on and off since you can remember, the main obstacle being that hair grows and however chic this looks, it requires getting haircuts more often than twice a year. Never mind that - you are imitating Ms. Kloss, on account of she's a famous model and you're not. Even if you've been rocking "The Karlie" since before Karlie was born.
But do not despair! You can likely rest assured that your hairdresser isn't about to be quoted in the Style section, period, which means he won't be saying of you, “'I gave her a personality by cutting it.'”
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Anachronistic fashion-victimhood
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9 comments:
In very meek defense of the piece or the importance of Karlie Kloss' new look (though I didn't know about it until here), I suppose she was known for her long, sleek hair that could be manipulated in many ways in shoots and shows. I gather she's also a sort of 'darling' on the fashion scene--Teen Vogue seems to have kind of "raised" her, maybe trying to make her a sort of icon, since she has this sort of "All-American" appeal, like a wholesome Kate Moss or something (at least the American thing was how they would describe her--completely normal in that she attended school and was a cheerleader or something, from good old St. Louis, loved hanging out with her sisters, sweet and approachable, etc. etc.).
But yeah, this is weird--they're just artificially creating a new Rachel-type-hype cut since there really hasn't been one recently, on top of the claims that basically, she's old and was without a personality until this stylist came along. And this is coming from people who report that leggings are the new pants like 2 years ago (ok it wasn't that bad, but I remember an embarrassingly tardy article on that topic), so they come off as trying too hard.
But anyway, I just got this cut recently! I was trying to go for a cool K-pop star look (Son Ga-in) but I ended up looking more like an "old"/"veteran" J-pop star who did not make it in the US market (Utada Hikaru), or like the school bus is going to come pick me up soon. I need to work on my eyeliner!
Vanity of vanities, saith Koheleth; vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
...
9 That which hath been is that which shall be, and that which hath been done is that which shall be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.
Kei,
I'm totally prepared to buy your quasi-defense of this. I guess I'm not sure, though, what your angle is. That Kloss is rebelling against her girl-next-door image (or her image-creators are making it so)? Or that the girl-next-door now wears a shaggy bob?
Unlike the "Rachel," which was basically a huge amount of product and blowdrying, this is a cut that asks for natural texture, so unless one has Kloss's, one will have what looks like a very different hairstyle, either much straighter or much curlier. Part of what I wasn't thrilled with in the Styles article was that this look is only wash-and-go if your hair is, or if you're prepared for a look radically different from Kloss's. Also, yes, the whole thing about how Kloss was apparently personality-free until Vogue got her a haircut. Kind of offensive!
And, I also recently got this cut, if not all that recently, I suppose, given that it's grown out - I asked for this, with bangs because I've already got 'em. From the photos you link to, it looks like yours will grow out into what you'd asked for.
I didn't mean to imply anything about the girl-next-door look changing, but just that the cut is Styles-article-worthy, since she is a noteworthy model, in the sense that she has a particular look and image that seems to be consciously crafted. The 'All-American' look comment was more of a secondary matter. But now that you point it out, her look is still pretty much girl-next-door--like a "Buster Brown" cut but since it's on someone who is paid to resemble a clothing hanger (did you make this comparison once? whoever did, it has left a strong impression on me), it's stylish and should be copied. Or so says the Styles, so they can look like trendsetters or on target with trends.
The IntoTheGloss bob is a good one, with a nice sharp angle! I did the bang-less bob for a while but it got kind of annoying--I would always tuck in the front part of my hair behind my ears on both sides, so it didn't look as stylish. If only I'd been brave earlier on the bang-front!
Moebius,
Fair point.
Kei,
Ah, that makes sense. If Kloss is a big deal, her new hairstyle is one as well. Perhaps this serves as a reminder that when "the Rachel" emerged, there were no doubt tons of 1990s women who already wore their hair like that, and who were all, I didn't do this because of "Friends"!
I'm pretty sure that's almost exactly the haircut I had when I was five years old. I don't see how that qualifies as new in any way, shape, or form. I'll never understand haircuts, I guess (says the woman with hip-length hair, covered in a scarf).
Maya,
As Moebius alludes to, that's how it goes with fashion - nothing's ever really new. Hemlines vary, jeans either must or must not flare, hair needs to be voluminous or can't be, etc.
I suppose that if you cover your hair, you are not part of the target audience for hair stories in the Style section. But as a woman who is squarely in said audience, I was still left wanting.
From the article: In a strange twist, Ms. Kloss recently walked in the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, where she was given extensions to simulate long, wavy hair.
Based on my in-depth research into the subject (specifically, viewings of the first few seasons of America's Next Top Model), isn't this par for the course, ie, not a twist at all? I find it odd that models' haircuts and colours set trends at all, seeing as they tend to change whenever they book a new gig, and in ways generally not available to us civilians.
Granted, I'm sufficiently out of the loop as to not have even heard of Kloss before reading this post, but Google Images shows me a completely different cut, style AND colour for each picture, which makes the question "What is Karlie Kloss' hairstyle?" more poorly defined than these things generally are.
Moebius,
It's what Kei was saying - some models have a following as style icons, so regardless of what's put on them on the runway, they're admired for their look. Agyness Deyn comes to mind.
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