Links à la Mode: “But if fashion were easy, wouldn’t everybody look great?” ~Tim Gunn

"But if fashion were easy, wouldn't everybody look great?" ~Tim Gunn

I usually open with a title for Links à la Mode.. but this week, it's a quote found in one of our links. Tim Gunn did say it best, if fashion were EASY, everyone would look great! But alas it's not. It's tricky, specific, fickle, and highly personal. We all spend our entire lives getting dressed, but how many truly have style? This week we have a mix of the things you need to find your own personal way to fashion. So grab your cuppa and read these links!

Links à la Mode: The IFB Weekly Roundup

• A la Modest: Chelsea Boots: From Victorians to Mods to You
• Al-Balsam Life: Tim Gunn's 60th Birthday: His Memorable Quotes
• Arash Mazinani: Are you searching for a style magic pill?
• Beauty and Sass: marc the many moments
• Burgundy Whispers: Best Fictional Boyfriends
• Catching Flight: eBay Finds 6 eBay Shopping Tips
• Dresss:Code: Wearable Avantgarde: Salvatore Ferragamo F/W 13/14
• Fashion is Evolution: 3.How to DIY tie-dyed distressed cutoffs
• Healthy Fashionista: Healthyfashionista's Guide To Naturally Perfect Skin
• Inexpensive Chic: Pantone's Fall Colors '13
• Inspirations & Celebrations: The Best White Jeans For Your Body Type - Style Guide
• Little J Style: Do's and Don'ts for Clear Skin!
• My Style Vita: Accounting 101 for Bloggers
• Rose & Pine: Do You Have The Time?
• Stilettos & Tequila: How To Haggle Like A Pro In 11 Easy Steps
• Style Bizzare: How to Find Your Personal Crystal
• Style for the Seasons: 10 Essential Items for an Overnight Work Trip
• Style Vanity: Mixing Prints Guide For Men
• Tickle Me Chic: Who's to blame?
• Wild Beauty: Wild Beauty Places: Bite Beauty Lip Lab

  SPONSOR: Shopbop Men's Morning Warrior, RVN, d.Ra, Velvet, Ohne Titel, Isa Tapia, EastDane, Notte, Casadei, Clo Intimo, & Paris House Wallets

Who's to blame?

In a recent interview with the always bold, sometimes a little too honest, Kelly Cutrone, The Fashion Spot gathered some interesting answers from the brazen PR mogul.

photo cred: levoleague.com

Cutrone believes it's the consumers fault for the way the fashion industry is portraying thinness.... "Society has a hyper emphasis on thin and that trend comes from the consumers — it does not come from the fashion industry. The fashion industry needs to make money, that's what we do. If people said, 'we want a 300 pound purple person,' the first industry to do it would be fashion," Cutrone said. She goes on to give advice for modeling.

1. If you're 5'6", just stay home. Don't pretend you're 5'8" or 5'9". 
2. If you're over 29 — 26 even — I would suggest you work regionally and not try to work nationally.
   -Kelly Cutrone, The Fashion Spot interview

These are the things that no one ever wants to hear or even acknowledge, but her "I-don't-give-a-fuck-what-you-think" attitude {pardon my french} has increased the saucy PR exec's fame. 

But let's look at the finger pointing a little more closely. Yes, consumers want to look beautiful, be stylish, etc but, the fashion industry hasn't budged much on the idea of expanding the look for models or allowed for more diversity for sizing. 

As I always say, there are those brave souls out there that don't conform. They try to make a change for a better image but there needs to be more voices. The way magazines portray fashion is very different from the every day girl. The magazines and designers want to create a sense of high fashion, understandably so, because let's be honest, everyone wants to be high fashion , but most of society cannot afford to have a $1000+ bag or $150+ pair of jeans... So is it really the consumer that is creating this false sense of what is beautiful?

Personally, I think both are to blame. Consumers constantly try to look a certain way or have this perception, "if I'm thin, then I'm beautiful" but the fashion industry is JUST as guilty, maybe even a little more so. You don't see many size 4+ models strutting their stuff on the runways. People have got to understand looks are just a superficial thing... it goes much deeper than skin. Dustin Hoffman's interview about his character Dorothy Michaels is the perfect example of this blurred perception everyone has on beauty: 

Hoffman tears up as he realizes how many good people he might have passed up because they weren't "beautiful" enough.

"And I know that if I met myself at a party, I would never talk to that character because she doesn't fulfill physically the demands that we're brought up to think women have to have in order to ask them out.' She says, 'What are you saying?' And I said, 'There's too many interesting women I have...not had the experience to know in this life because I have been brainwashed."

While Cutrone could be right, maybe we as the consumer need to stop feeding into the "thin" trend, but the fashion industry needs to shrink the gap between thin and "plus-size" and treat all consumers more equally.

People continually strive to be something they're not. There's so many people out there that have body image issues and there's many culprits that increase the worry surrounding what you're supposed to look like... learn to be comfortable in your own skin. 

Everyone deserves to be heard, and everyone will have an opinion when it comes to the ongoing "who's to blame" issues in the fashion industry. 

What's your thoughts? Do you fall in the same category as Cutrone?

Jill of all trades

Want to know the girl behind Tickle Me Chic?!

Meet Jody: 

Not only do I LOVE me some fashion, I also love to shoot video! My fiancé is into drifting so we go to as many events as possible. Here's the latest video I did for CFRC's, The Aftermath:

Aftermath 2013 from Jody Marich on Vimeo.

If that isn't enough, I just got back from a work trip to the BVI. As Social Media Director of Virgin Island Sailing, I constantly interact with users and build rapports to create lasting relationships. Traveling down to the BVI, we met with all of our bareboat companies and shot video of each base, for our website. Once the work was over, we had some fun, sailing the beautiful waters of the BVI! 

In my spare time I love to write. I went to school for communication and focused on multimedia journalism. With my passion for fashion and writing, I created the fashion column at Flagler and continued to write as Conscious Fashion Editor of Modern Hippie Mag. Unfortunately, MHM, closed at the beginning of the year, but I still try to keep up with my blogging. It brings me back to me. 

Anything else you want to know, just ask :)