# Please explain why this high fashion stuff is news.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [September 21, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018 "2009-09-21T23:28:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Brainiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018/1 "2009-09-21T23:28:36Z")
[Goofy duds](http://i38.tinypic.com/2u89oqf.jpg) that were reported by today’s NY Times.
Does anyone expect to see any real person wearing one of these costumes outside the showroom? No.
And so why is it news?
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### Author:  [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018/2 "2009-09-22T01:23:08Z")
It’s like when Intel comes out with a new computer chip. No one is going to buy it, but everyone wants to know what is the best chip that’s out there.
Same with fashion shows. No one is going to wear the stuff, but women want to know what the top designers are designing.
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### Author:  [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018/3 "2009-09-22T01:53:31Z")
New York is the fashion capital of the US – I daresay, the Americas. Fashion – from the cutting edge stuff you see during shows to the 29.99 docker knockoffs you buy at WalMart, is a huge industry. Therefore, reporting on it in the NY Times and other national media is appropriate, just as reporting on car shows and the like is appropriate.
An explanation via _The Devil Wears Prada_: [http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi1254162457/](http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi1254162457/)
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### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018/4 "2009-09-22T01:56:05Z")
Wow–Mark Fast can make even a runway model look fat (the one in the knit “dress”).
I feel all Kansas and Toto now that I’ve looked at all that gingham.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018/5 "2009-09-22T02:07:20Z")
I read somewhere (maybe here) that designers who design for “normal” people will borrow bits and pieces (color, fabric, cut, length) from high fashion and incorporate them into their lines. Even low-end places like J.C. Penney and Sears will have some really odd clothes on their racks, stuff that won’t be “in style” for more than a season (and that doesn’t look good on anybody).
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### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018/6 "2009-09-22T02:11:06Z")
It’s my understanding that buyers and designers for the largest market (ie, not _haute couteur_–no idea how to spell that) take ideas from the runway models (meaning the clothes, not the women). That A-line dress, for example–we may see that next spring (in gingham or plaid) with a smaller flounce or puff sleeves–that sort of thing.
Then again, I could be completely wrong.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018/7 "2009-09-22T04:31:59Z")
Actually, the dresses in the OP aren’t as bad as some I’ve seen in “reality.”
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### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018/8 "2009-09-22T14:29:22Z")
Please explain why newspaper has entire section for sports?
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### Author:  [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018/9 "2009-09-22T15:07:23Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#):
>
> Wow–Mark Fast can make even a runway model look fat (the one in the knit “dress”).
>
> I feel all Kansas and Toto now that I’ve looked at all that gingham.
Actually, that Mark Fast story is [news](http://jezebel.com/5363574/stylist-and-casting-director-quit-after-designer-chooses-to-use-size-14-models-on-runway). He cast some plus-size models in his most recent show. Two of his staff members either quit or were fired because they couldn’t handle it. The press is abuzz as to whether this casting decision indicates a real desire for change in model selection, or just another publicity stunt.
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018/10 "2009-09-22T15:09:35Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#):
>
> Wow–Mark Fast can make even a runway model look fat (the one in the knit “dress”)..
Er, he actually got quite a bit of press (and had members of his team quit) over a decision to use a few models that were size 12 UK (size 8/10 US) and over. First link that came up [here](http://www.hellomagazine.ca/news/20090921896/mark/fast/london/1/). So she doesn’t just look fat, she _is_ fat – huge – by fashion world standards.
I was prepared to tel the OP to take the dresses as ‘art,’ thinking they’d be unwearable, but I’d don any of the dresses there, especially the second one.
Also, these are from London, but New York Fashion Week was last week and that was major news with good reason – fashion is New York City’s second largest sector of industry, behind finance.
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### Author:  [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018/11 "2009-09-22T15:21:11Z")
Please explain why this thread pops up every time Fashion Week rolls around?
Haute couture isn’t meant to be wearable. Basically, it’s the same idea as a concept car - hand-crafted conceptual art that will be used as the basis for the real product that will hit the market a few months down the road.
If I was looking at this collection and using it to predict the big trends for 2010, I’d make a few conclusions:
1. Chiffon is going to be seriously hot stuff next spring/summer
2. Plaid, already a hot trend for fall, will carry over into the next season in the form of bold gingham
3. The new silhouette is a defined waist and full skirt, moving away from the floaty empire-waist babydoll that dominated the last few seasons… while the fitted tunic top carries on for another year.
All of these concepts will be translated into a ready-to-wear line that’s actually meant to be worn by real people, which will be swiftly followed by knock-offs for H&M and Forever 21. It’s the circle of life. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018/12 "2009-09-22T17:38:32Z")
> [@Brainiac](#):
>
> [Goofy duds](http://i38.tinypic.com/2u89oqf.jpg) that were reported by today’s NY Times.
>
> Does anyone expect to see any real person wearing one of these costumes outside the showroom? No.
> And so why is it news?
Newspapers routinely report on new art exhibits at the local museums. But you’re never going to see a “real” person buying any of those Picassos or Matisses. So why is it news?
Because art is culture, and culture is news.
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### Author:  [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018/13 "2009-09-22T17:42:31Z")
Doesn’t following fashion, to some degree, have some of the same escapist qualities that film and TV have? I’m never going to wear 90% of that stuff, but I rather enjoy looking at it every now and then.
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### Author:  [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018/14 "2009-09-23T02:24:04Z")
> [@Miller](#):
>
> Because art is culture, and culture **is sometimes money, and money** is news.
FTFY.
Also, as pointed out upthread, fashion is an industry. A lot of livelihoods depend on people looking to appointed tastemakers for clues on what to wear, or watch, or buy. So it makes sense to reinforce that habit.
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### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-this-high-fashion-stuff-is-news/511018/15 "2009-09-23T02:28:22Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#):
>
> Er, he actually got quite a bit of press (and had members of his team quit) over a decision to use a few models that were size 12 UK (size 8/10 US) and over. First link that came up [here](http://www.hellomagazine.ca/news/20090921896/mark/fast/london/1/). So she doesn’t just look fat, she _is_ fat – huge – by fashion world standards.
I did not know that. I feel bad now. But I kept looking at the model, expecting the usual Skeletor and thought, wow–the camera really does add 10 pounds and the weight of the knit (and the cut and drape) must be adding bulk as well…
Good on him for using more normally sized people. It’s sad that someone a size 8/10 is considered huge by fashion world standards. I’m an 8/10. ☹