MADreads

What do sunglasses mean?

March 18th, 2008 Molly - Central

Why, they tell the world that the person wearing them is stylish and moneyed or tacky and cheap.  Protecting one’s eyesight from harmful UV rays is merely a byproduct.  Didn’t you know?

Hadley Freeman’s comical commentary on the fashion industry and living the fashionable life explains this and so much more.  The Meaning of Sunglasses:  And a Guide to Almost All Things Fashionable assures and reassures the reader that fashion is a business.  For the most part, real women can ignore fashion.  What really matters is style.  It may take years to hone your style, or you may have been blessed with a certain je ne sais quoi, but whatever the spring fashions may be, they should not rule your personal style. 

Best dressed lists focus on the celebrities that magazine editors would like to feature in their magazine, or who have been generous to the magazine in terms of interviews, or whose agent has another famous client the magazine would like to interview and so on.  Best dressed?  Not necessarily so.

Now that top designers are touting their wares at Target and really decent knock-offs are available for the basics (black trousers and skirts) and a great fitting pair of jeans can be worn most anywhere, save your dollars for the items that count.  Accessories.  Buy expensive bags.  Get the rest at H&M!

And the most important tidbit of all:  there is no new black.  It is always black and according to Freeman (a fashion editor for a British publication, did I mention that?) anyone in the business knows this.  Colors change with the season, but black is always in, always thinning, and always chic - there is no need to mess around with fuchsia trousers unless you really love fuchsia trousers. 

Some might find this type of humor obnoxious, but I found it endearing.  And surprisingly honest.  Like a conversation with a good friend (who is obnoxious, endearing and honest).

Entry Filed under: Nonfiction