ShoeSense

Link round-up: From Fashion and Pain to the Croc Wars!

Busy as I am with home renovation and the World Cup (not rooting for anyone in particular, but oh boy, are the games exciting!), I thought I'd amuse you this weekend with a link round-up:

- Looking good never hurt so bad, an MSNBC article by Kim Carney about one of my favorite topics: fashion and pain. Not surprisingly, a large amount of that pain seems to be coming from 4+" heels. Hmmmmm.... The article is understandably somewhat superficial, but it serves as one of the few reminders these days of the dangers of heels. The answers to the question "why do we do it? (to ourselves)" range from "it's the media" (dismissed as too easy) to some ancestral or genetically encoded response to certain forms of beauty (you know, of the type, round is more attractive than rectangular, curves are better than flat, etc.). I will respectfully propose that we also blame it on the patriarchy for at least another 30% or so, seeing as to how we never see men breaking bones in 5" platforms or getting bruises, lacerations, and infections from those pesky corsets and thongs. I'd say that's only fair.

- Julie at Almost Girl (who was interviewed for the above MSNBC feature) has a few fabulous articles of her own. She reminds us why Plato and Prada meet on her blog by doing a piece on fur and Baudrillard and simulacra--brilliant as usual. I love how she manages to defend and own in true fashion-sophista style, her old rabbit fur coat. And another essay I LOVED--but didn't have the chance to mention it--is the one on Authority in the Fashion Industry, where she takes issues with the notion of "style expert," and I couldn't agree with her more! Bravo!

- Julie's post on authority was inspired by the fabulous Kathleen's post on authority at Fashion Incubator. Again, if you missed it, it's a must read.

- Another great post that this time questions the assumptions of an artist is over at Erin's A dress a day (one of the best written blogs on the Internet, imho). She makes a darn good feminist argument against a more radical but faulty feminist argument that "fashion has become the best/only way for women to express themselves." Erin exposes the straw man in her usual brilliant prose. Great read.

- Finally, you must NOT miss the Croc Wars saga, part I, II and III, over at Dooce's. It's bound to be a classic (in short, she's trying to make her husband's nasty clogs disappear). It's not clear that the battle against the pure footwear evil that is the Crocs has been totally won, but it surely does end in bloodshed. That graphic in part II, right there, should be my new masthead.

posted by Cristina Hanganu-Bresch @ 12:15 AM