Fetish vs. Retro; The Spring 2012 Debacle

It’s a seasonal issue Dear Reader; illustrated by women going slightly nutty with indecision over which trend should dominate their wardrobe. And the successes seldom outweigh the fails. There is always that group of women who go rogue and choose the most ludicrous trend, all in a sad attempt to “make it work”, tsk tsk ladies, you know better than to wear your underwear on the outside, this is not a Marvel comic book.




This season the battle is Fall’s Fetish up against the rather overworked Spring Mad Men inspired Retro shifts and embellished prints. Louis V’s handcuffs and glam take on bondage was contrasted by Sarah Burton’s ‘repressed angel’ Fall collection of restrainers and leather chokers, but of course, that’s just one end of this scale.

Swinging to the other extreme, Alexandre Herchcovitch’s Spring collection of vintage influenced dresses (both authentic and not) threw some of the most revered fashionistas off course (and by revered, I’m talking about the fashion Nazis that for a whole season pranced around in Emilio Pucci frills). They’ve been asking how to find a balance between fetish boots and that oh-so-pretty flared shift, but more importantly, if there even is one.

It’s at this point that many people want to shoot designers for being so bloody extreme, it’s a fashion debacle people, an utter crisis, and if we- the ahem, ‘intellectuals’- do not draw a line somewhere we’ll have a riot of mistakes: think champagne baby-doll satin meets black latex, a travesty I personally could never allow.

Ladies, some seasons are meant to be distinguished from one another, and please, I implore you, make that distinction in the pieces you put together.

A flared shift; gold handcuff bracelet and desert boots? Maybe.

A bubble shift with fetish boots? Over my dead body.