Comments on: Homeless Chic

By: Stage Inspiration: Fashion Inspired by Les Miserables – College Fashion

Stage Inspiration: Fashion Inspired by Les Miserables – College Fashion — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:32:17 +0000

[...] justly explain in a few sentences, so if you’re interested, click here for the full synopsis.Homeless chic style has understandably caused tons of controversy in the past, so musicals like Les Miserables [...]

By: Speaking of Over-Consumption « nettleburn

Speaking of Over-Consumption « nettleburn — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:55:10 +0000

[...] that it is now fashionable to dress as a homeless person. No really, I am not making this up. Check out this fashion show. There are dead sexy male models made up to look like their faces are covered with dirt and [...]

By: “Homeless Chic (for the Homeless)” – A super little sketchblog!

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:04:03 +0000

[...] York Times Time Online: Vivienne Westwood Socicologial Images: Westwood’s Homeless Chic Barney’s New [...]

By: A Blog is a Treat · hello, harem pants

A Blog is a Treat · hello, harem pants — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:14:26 +0000

[...] than I would make it if left to my own devices (everything I showed him at first was Vivianne Westwood homeless chic). He’s going for more fairy-tale-y-unsettling-y-spooky, like this [...]

By: Cover Me: Part One « Here it is

Cover Me: Part One « Here it is — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 19:03:54 +0000

[...] – Pulp: A song for the most of us. An angry anthem ahead of its time that cries out against Homeless Chic and the fetishization of poor. Shatner did it. It is awesome. Unless you’s someone who [...]

By: Annamarie

Annamarie — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 15:45:45 +0000

To anyone that assumes Dame Westwood is trying to re-create the homeless look on the catwalk, might I suggest you actually have a look into her back ground and her iconic influences in fashion, music and politics. 1985 being the year dubbed by fashion peers as The Year That Went Pouf. In that year Vivienne Westwoods staged her Mini Crini collection. A lot of her designes were quickly picked up, firstly by Jean Paul Gaultier, then by almost every other worthy designer in New York and across Europe in a less shocking maner for those more prudish folk out there. But may I just say that if it was not for her shocking and outrageous designs, fashion would not be what it is today, the generation of Almost Anything Goes.

By: Something for the Weekend » Blog Archive » Homeless Hottie

Something for the Weekend » Blog Archive » Homeless Hottie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:49:09 +0000

[...] rough. Homelessness in the fashion world seems to be having a zeitgeist moment. Vivienne Westwood latest men’s collection for A/W 2010 was inspired by vagrants. Last September saw a homeless-chic cover on Italian Vogue. [...]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:36:18 +0000

1. this has been done for years. One designer or other will do this look in their own way just about every year. Hell! it’s been done in movies as a spoof, (ie. Zoolander)
2. To me this shows that a designer has run out of ideas. I looked at much of what Vivienne Westwood has done in the past and well, frankly, this falls short of her abilities as a designer. I find I am disappointed.
3. I find it ridiculous and that’s just my plain honest OPINION.
4. As a person who makes cloths for a living I find it frustrating to see this sort of design on the runway. We are a people who have moved beyond our passed, overcome horrific things and advanced ourselves and others by the discoveries that we make. We make machines that can recycle plastic and make it into one of the finest most versatile fabrics in the world and THIS is what is being toted as fashion? A look that makes a person out to be less than what they are capable of? I am ashamed.

By: The Story of a Style Outcast « NightWalkingTruths

The Story of a Style Outcast « NightWalkingTruths — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 07:20:23 +0000

[...] reclaimed her again and she is no longer a reject. Now I have a new look to add to my wardrobe – homeless chic! Leave a [...]

By: James

James — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:33:17 +0000

What an insult. This woman is so full of herself. What’s next – “The Morning After Chic”? Complete with vomit, urine and excrement?

By: Sydney_Wooten

Sydney_Wooten — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:08:29 +0000

So… People are actually paying hundreds of dollars to look like a homeless person, when they could use that money to help a real homeless person? Wow… I think my brain just melted a little.

By: The Barajas

The Barajas — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:07:23 +0000

I found it utterly ridiculous that some one would take such a destitute state of being and attempt to shift it in a positive way. No one in society actually wants the “bum” look. Who would? As stated in the post, it’s only people that have alternatives that turn to this type of style. I don’t think that this “fashion statement” can be redeemed, they put it on display, but then what? They’re not doing anything to increase awareness or help, they’re just trying to glamorize a “looks.”

By: Sam and Emily

Sam and Emily — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:50:11 +0000

Not only is this ironic that this designer is profiting off of people that have no profit of their own, but it also exploiting the homeless. Has anyone seen Zoolander,where the idea of homelessness as a fashion campaign was used for comedy? It’s not funny to the homeless who struggle day in and day out to make ends meet and find a shelter to sleep in at night. And for those who sympathize with the poor, it is unbearable to watch the rich walk over the poor again, like they always have been doing. Besides, who wants to dress like a homeless person anyways?
That shopping cart was pretty sexy, though.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:57:15 +0000

Here’s a Craigslist Post for a new Reality TV show audition.
“A new Reality Show is casting Silver Lake’s rich, wealthy, hipster GUYS and GIRLS 21-30 whose personal style is homeless chic: Guys with beards, ratty hair and raggedy yet stylish clothing – and Girls dressed in fashionable, vintage hippie-type garb accessorized with large sunglasses and oversized tote bags. You must be incredibly involved in the Silver Lake social scene, enjoy a sensational nightlife Silver Lake style and be very outspoken with a vivacious personality. You must also hang with a racially diverse, intriguing group of friends who all live in Silver Lake.”

Posted on LA Curbed http://la.curbed.com/archives/2010/01/casting_call_the_real_hipsters_of_silver_lake.php

By: mc

mc — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:45:59 +0000

I am pretty baffled that anyone here would have the balls/lack of consideration/lack of thought about the social impact + implications of clothes, style, self-presentation, fashion as industry AND art AND daily sociological expression of norms and desires — i can’t fathom how in any world it makes sense to dismiss “fashion” as nothing other than filthy rich, clueless, and artistically bankrupt, or how “this is offensive” can pass, at all, for intelligent social commentary or analysis.

i agree with anonymous above in that a number of commenters here seem content to sit on their academic pedestals and refuse to examine how “fashion” might actually impact their lives, the world around them, and in fact be worthy of STUDY and therefore be able to make informed critique. personally i think an understanding of vivienne westwood’s past, career trajectory, history, personal politics, and economic position would yield a much richer analysis than “this is offensive, fashion is so disconnected and stupid and elitist.” (because…academia isn’t?)

perhaps claiming there is a “culture” of fashion is an exaggeration — but its impact and importance to culture at large is enormous. why is the fashion industry so easily DISMISSED rather than being EXAMINED? it’s really, really effing interesting — and it affects you far more than you realise.

basically those of us up in arms here are saying that we deeply resent this dismissal — because embracing it and then analyzing would yield far richer results than “these people suck and are shallow and spoiled.”