~Turban

I have a close friend whose fashion style I always look up to. The only problem is I dread every gift that comes from her. Why? This is why. She sees gift-giving as the ultimate opportunity to challenge my fashion skill. She would give me the oddest, the wackiest items that none of my other friends would ever be caught buying. She says that I am the only person she knows who can pull off any outfit, no matter how weird. That is quite a compliment actually, but sometimes I do wish she would stop. Well, sheer luck. She told me just the other day that she already got a “cool” gift for my next birthday. Now I am crossing my fingers that it would not be one of those female turbans. You know what I’m talking about. Those hideous head covers that I still blame Miuccia for. On one hand, it is a good option for a bad hair day or some fun in the sun. People who are blessed with high cheek bones might even look presentable in them, but me? I will be lucky if you can differentiate me from a bowling ball.

~di

~The colorful world of fashion

Fashion adalah dunia penuh warna yang banyak diminati oleh para wanita maupun pria. Cara berpakaian seseorang merefleksikan bagaimana kepribadian orang tersebut. Ada yang nyaman dengan gaya girlie, boho chic, dan lain sebagainya. Termasuk di dalam golongan orang-orang yang peduli pada fashion, adalah selebritis. Mereka dituntut untuk selalu up-to-date dan fashionable dalam setiap penampilannya.

Ada banyak selebritis yang dipuji penampilannya dan dicap memiliki selera yang baik dalam berbusana. Namun bagaimana dengan sebagian selebritis yang penampilannya selalu dianggap “aneh”? Sebut saja –maaf- Venna Melinda atau Agnes Monica. Pasti banyak yang setuju dengan saya kalau dua selebritis itu kerap berpenampilan aneh bin ajaib hampir di setiap penampilan mereka di depan publik. Seringkali mereka di-bash karena penampilan anehnya tersebut. Tapi sadarkah kita, bahwa di balik penampilan mereka yang kita anggap aneh bin ajaib tersebut ada sebuah karakter dan rasa percaya diri yang kuat? Minimal dua hal tersebut harus kita hargai, karena karakter dan rasa percaya diri yang kuat tidak dimiliki oleh semua orang. Saya pribadi, seperti kebanyakan orang lainnya, menganggap busana mereka seringkali “ajaib”. Namun saya juga menghargai mereka - dan para selebritis lainnya yang selera berpakaiannya “tidak umum”- sebagai bagian dari dunia fashion. Karena mereka jugalah dunia fashion yang kita cintai ini menjadi berwarna. Lagipula, coba kita bayangkan, seandaianya semua orang berpakaian dengan baik dan benar, bukankan dunia fashion ini akan membosankan? Jadi marilah kita menghargai perbedaan warna yang ada diantara kita.

~rin

~Late Entry

I have been living in US for almost 8 years now and I visit Indonesia especially Jakarta every year. Every time I come to Jakarta from US, I've always prepared with the "up to date" outfits that I bought from several high-end stores to impress my sisters. But what happened was my sisters who are always fashionistas, said that my outfits were out-of-date already. They were "hot" several months ago or even last year?? It happens every year. I didn't understand...until last year I met a Vice President of a big department store in Jakarta and he said that Indonesian fashion has gotten its style from Asia (HongKong,Korea, etc) not from US or Europe. He said again that his buyer went to US to buy samples and wait about 3-6 months to produce it for Indonesian market. From his point of view, the fashion will start from the run way in Europe and will be in US market in about 3 months then Asian market (HongKong,Korea,Japan,Singapore) before it hits Jakarta????? In that case, why my outfits were always "ketinggalan"?

~latie