Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.–Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900)
Next week, because of my freelance work, I am interviewing designer Isaac Mizrahi and What Not To Wear‘s fashion expert Clinton Kelly and makeup artist Carmindy.
Not that I’m terrified, or anything.
But it got me to thinking, of course, as most things do (that don’t revolve around Clive, Sean or Richard; they just get me to drooling). And, because my head is portioned between political debates, returning to an old writing project, waiting for the agent to let me know things, where are my cute sweaters and what will my son be for Halloween, I had a lot of different thoughts.
Play along with me:
–what would a What Not To Wear-type person advise one of our heroines?
–did shy debutantes feel as scared as I do to meet famous people, like dukes, and such?
–why weren’t there any designers, rather than modistes, in our era? Charles Frederick Worth is reputed to be the first designer with a house and all; why weren’t’ there any before then?
–what did poorer, but still fashionable, ladies do to stay a la mode (here I’m thinking of Isaac Mizrahi’s line for Target)?
–what makeup existed to enhance a lady’s looks without making her look like *that* kind of woman?
–were there lady reporters? I know there were in some of our fiction, but did they actually exist?
–and, what questions would you ask any of those three I’m talking to next week?
Thanks!
