Isn't the fashion industry mostly run by men?

[Ripley]

And aren't most of the male designers gay?

I know there are women like Vera Wang and Stella McCartney out there, but this bothers me. I am in no way homophobic, in fact I think we feminists defend gay men more than anyone else, other than other gay men and women.

A few years ago my sister and I were in Vegas and we walked through some of the hoity-toity clothing stores. It was entertainment of course, who the hell can afford a $3,000 camisole? We are very different in our styles, yet we both looked at each other and said "This is attractive?!"

I mean, how could a gay man know what is attractive on a woman to appeal to a man, since he himself is not at all attracted to them sexually? It seems the clothes horses they drape for runway shows are all boyish in figure - teenage stick girls with no curves and very tall. And when it comes to sexy stuff...it seems so Frederick's of Hollywood and over the top!

I know a lot of women like those "how to dress" shows, so I really don't mean to offend anyone, especially gay male designers. But frankly the men I've ever been with in my life also thought the clothing designed for women was absurd! (Who the hell thought Annie Hall was a good look? I mean neckties?! Oh how liberal.)

Geniph has a great rant in another thread about something so simple as pockets, and that inspired this thread.

Men or women who promote fashion that is unrealistic and not practical are part of the problem. They dictate what is made and what is on the racks. While Michelle Pfeiffer might look spectacular in anything ever made, it is ridiculous to try and convince the majority of females that they too can wear it. And wear it to work, or anywhere in public for that matter.

I'm not talking about lingerie either. I admit, I don't pay much attention to the fashion industry other than what I occasionally see on TV and read in the zines at dentist offices. But I do think high fashion is what dictates the women's magazines, shows and racks and damn. Why can't they be more diverse? It just seems to me that there is one "in" color or "in" sleeve length or "in" style and it becomes homogeneous. Aren't we in the Hippy phase now? How doubly absurd considering how many repuke women I see wearing those clothes while sporting Bush/Cheney stickers on their windows.

On edit: Sorry to bring Fashion into this Forum. But I don't think it is trivial, it is a matter of dictation.

[Beaverhausen]

1. I have been saying that for years

and yes, while there are some women designers I see the fashion industry stuck in the mode of idealizing sick figure women's bodies.

For a short while in the 90s there were some models with a bit more "meat" on their bones. Cindy Crawford comes to mind. She seemed to be a physically strong woman. But it's back to the sick figures lately. Stick figures with big fake boobs, that is.

[UCLA Dem]

2. Yeah, thats why clothes don't look good on anyone weighing over 100lbs.

[Warpy]

3. While they may dictate what is on the racks, they

don't dictate what actually gets sold. When miniskirts reared their ugly selves again a few years ago, sales of pantsuits went up.

Yes, designers make absurd clothing, especially when they're designing for the catwalk at the rag trade shows. However, being outrageous on the catwalk is what gets them noticed. Mostly, the catwalk fashions are good for drag shows, but don't tell that to Cher.

[cally]

4. I've often wondered if the trend for boyish figures

on fashion models (with fake boobs) is because many gay men set the style for women's fashion. I think if we had more women designers in fashion and in control of the money in fashion then there would be more diverse styles.

Fashion is just absurd. The clothes are so impractical and the shoes hurt your feet.

[Finder]

5. List of current fashion designers

http://www.newyorkmetro.com/fashion/fashionshows/designers/


I only recognized a few names and definitely not in my closet.lol