“All those old skanks in these tabloids all wear bikinis. Don’t you want to be different? Don’t you want to look more fabulous and glamorous? Aren’t you sick of the bikini?” - Simon Doonan

I couldn’t agree more, and yet I couldn’t pinpoint it before this bold, genius gay said it in this perfect way.

I still wonder what will be in next year, which will likely mark my return to bikini-ready-dom. (My decision on what to wear vs. trends or personal style combined with how often I go to the beach merely to show off, when I hate the beach, should say a lot about me, no? Who cares - fun fun it will be.)

So what about you, if you’ve got it to flaunt, is the one-piece good enough still?

My Twitter has become something very dear, and very personal for me; an outlet for deep thoughts. This has also led to me using the service so much I thought I’d plant seeds now to hope grow a Twitter section of our financial business. (Search Google if you don’t think Twitter can be monetized, that’s off-topic here.)

Up and pretty-much running is our fashion Tweet for Kiss Me Stace; located at: http://twitter.com/FashionBytes

I’ll update with a full list of our coming Twitter accounts when they’re all running. I will also set up a FriendFeed to “hub” them all.

Note, if your own Twitter messages are unrelated to fashion, I may still follow you, however from my personal username: laurelbyanyname.

Hope to see you @round! (Get it?!)

According to WWD, most magazines are selling fewer ad pages for their upcoming issues. This comes after years(?) of ads taking over magazines to the extreme points of there being more ad pages than content; huge, heavy books even bigger some months with no extra articles; and even Vogue, in my humble opinion, holds half its appeal in the beauty of ad photography and eye candy of the fashion accessories (handbags do it for me).

While an overabundance of visual stimulation when there are quality photographs in the ads, like with the case of Vogue, is perfect for fashion magazines and possibly other visually-centric entertainment, this “trend” is usually ridiculous. For months I didn’t even notice Vogue contained good content because those candy-licious designer ads were so shiny and distracting. I could probably continue subscribing only to those, but that’s me - I’m visual.

Even with targeted and artistically visually appealing adverts, ads competing with content space is a bad thing to most readers, and when it’s not, it speaks of a sad time in our society’s development.

Sure, the magazines may be in a rough spot initially as companies withhold their sponsorships, but there’s an equalizing factor when it comes to paying customers versus advertisers. Isn’t it true that customers are happier with a service displaying fewer ads, and shouldn’t that increase actual circulation? I do happen to have inside experience that printing magazines is costly, and therefore the profit in this product doesn’t come directly from selling the product, itself … but shouldn’t a higher subscription base attract advertisers again? This business, like others, has a built-in check and balance factor.

Also, this could inspire more magazines to offer subscriptions to their issues via the web, which is a much more cost effective means of distribution. So in the end, it won’t mean disaster, or even moot as things settle through their cycle, it could open more opportunities for both businesses and those of us who prefer the web or wish to save trees. Wow, so … this “crisis” could help the planet?

Perhaps everything does happen for a reason.

The trend for males from Miami Swim this past weekend, showcasing designer swimwear for Summer ‘09, is definitely a fright of sorts. Every designer that included men’s swim trunks (or lack of trunks) included short shorts.

Short shorts.

On guys. Male short shorts.

Every guy I know only wears shorts down to his knees, and swimwear is no exception. I don’t think any straight men, at least American ones, will adopt this look. First of all, straight men don’t follow trends in fashion, and boy do I love them for that! Consdering that, this isn’t such an actual fright with any danger to impact our view at the beach, right?

Yes, but it’s still a fright in and of looking at the photos, itself. If you look closely at the pictures, you should notice not only do these men wear short shorts, but they actually “nair” for short shorts.

Another thing one could never get any straight man I’ve ever known to do is to consider shaving at all, at least when it comes to their own legs. (I happen to wish men would shave their armpits, and have vocalized this to men in my life. 100% of them firmly rejected the idea, period [even trimming, silly boys].)

So either the designer fashion world’s male aspect is pure fantasy, product-less eye candy for girls’ dreams (I think most secretly do hate overly hairy bodies - no fair!), or actually all for gay men. I’m sure designer/expensive men’s apparel is actually all aimed to gay men, because straight men wouldn’t pay for it. I wouldn’t even ever subject a boyfriend to it with gifts, I see no need. Except there’s one sad flaw in this - in that the women looking at fashion shows and ads hope to be looking at straight men when it is men they see, right?, and they’re clearly not, at least not the character these models portray in these getups. So do women actually enjoy looking at the male models? (I don’t, but I personally am not attracted to the muscular type and even the rugged or pretty-boy types anyway.) I hope this doesn’t mess with women’s avoiding-gay-dar. Ouch.

If you’ve had enough cerebral discussion on silly fashion, or are just still interested or want a different view, especially one from a male himself, stay tuned for a snarky straight male’s POV on this “trend” a bit later!

We’re starting an anti blog of sorts, related to (too) expensive and fugly handbags. My friend and I will be working on it, but we can’t decide on its name (two minds can be slower than one). Please take this poll and feel free to leave comments. (Note you can add your own idea as a poll response.) Thanks!

Update: Poll is closed.

I came up with a third, and perfect, name. However the exact domain is taken by a spam page, and I have to make the final decisions with my co-blogger in the morning. I should sleep now, but I’m feeling sick and was anxious. Now that I had a good brain-storming session, my anxiety should go away, but name creativity was not my only issue I suppose…

This double-color cardigan by Marc by Marc Jacobs is pretty cute, but my eye can’t decide whether or not this halvsie effect is slimming or widening, and I don’t believe there’s been a set rule on this matter either.

What do you think?

n

Please leave more detailed comments, too!

(A public service announcement.)

There are times, days, and longer stretches when a woman doesn’t feel her best. When this happens to you, whatever you do, don’t lay around depressed. Get out there, do errands, meet friends or just take a walk. And no matter how you feel, exhausted, hot, sweaty, whatever—push through the “pain” and walk like you’re on the catwalk. Yes, find your supermodel strut every woman has. May I suggest, unless you prefer not, wedges or heels as well. Put one foot in front of the other, quite literally, hold your head up high, and this is a time when it’s okay (and will help you concentrate on keeping up the pace) to pout, also like on the runway. There might be a reason even models pout, they have woman problems, too, and it’s a chore to walk so perfectly - yet while it’s a chore it makes you feel as good as accomplishing such work. Despite that pout it will cheer you up, you’ll feel your womanly power and you might even get to your destination more quickly. I also bet it’s better than a leisurely stroll for burning calories and building muscle.

Find your inner supermodel strut and confidence will shine from you, and it will even seep into your mood!