Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Could Someone Tell Andre Leon Talley To Shut It? Thanks.

Christina Hendrick's look at 2010 SAG, Jennifer Hudson's A.L. Talley-styled look for 2007 Oscars, André Leon Talley with a typical look of his.

Recently I was insulted by some commentary from André Leon Talley. I read this commentary on "The Cut", NY magazine's fashion blog. The post mentioned his overall thoughts regarding fashion at the SAG awards. He said the following: "Enough of these choices of bad designer fashion and messy hair. Hollywood, call me! I have some tips for you." Hmmm...that's funny. Sounds like he's soliciting work. Maybe he's had a hard time finding jobs since the Jennifer Hudson mishap at the 2007 Oscars? I looked at the pictures he was commenting on and most of the people who he made disparaging comments about looked GREAT. This type of commentary makes me really offended. Additionally, I'm surprised that the fact that his past styling attempts have led to their own fashion faux pas won't stop Mr. Talley from flapping that trap of his. Like this mean comment he made about the beautiful Christina Hendricks (also pictured above):

(She)...looked like something from a bad bridal wear special on WE tv. Her red Carolina Herrera dress with a giant bow on one shoulder continued her unfortunate streak [from the Golden Globes]...My advice for this talented actress is to go to Lily et Cie for some sound advice on dressing for her body type.

Really? And what exactly advice would they give her at Lily et Cie, Mr. Talley? I hate to be repetitive, but if you haven't read my post on Lalah Hathaway's dress at the Grammies, you may not know that girls with a large bust like Christina's are the HARDEST body type to dress. Anything large enough for your boobs is huge everywhere else. Cleavage looks vulgar, but yet it's almost impossible not to show cleavage with all that breast to cover. Anything too loose all over makes you look like they might as well set you loose with the the cows to graze. Christina wore a well fitting, elegant dress in a color that was just divine. Her accessories also were right, simple and pared down. Her make-up and hair were great as well. It felt loose and free with out being fussy. So...if you can't wear a sleek dress from a well respected designer like Carolina Herrera, and have hair and make-up professionals work on every other aspect your look, what can you wear? Is there anything you can wear, Mr. Talley, with out being derided?

I also don't know why he is off the hook for dressing for his body type. All the huge fur accoutrements he's so fond of wearing just serve to make him more huge and ridiculous. So it's this whole no-one-can-do-anything-right-if-it's-not-styled-by-me-attitude I find negative. You are insulted if you don't work with this man, or are a follower that has obviously fallen prey to his cult of personality if you do. You wear an outfit chosen by the so called expert and it's placed in "worse dressed" the next day, a la Jennifer Hudson. You can't do anything right. It's people like him who give girls no space to maneuver and express personality through fashion. Attempts to do so obviously result in being torn down. It just made me so MAD. And I just think that Mr. Talley has sometimes missed the point.

Believe me ladies when I tell you this: fashion is about art, self-expression, and having fun. It's NOT what one huge, fur-mongering, fat man has forced us to wear. We serve ourselves better by not listening to man like this. Ms. Hendricks looked beautiful the other night. She looked elegant, full of class and grace. We all deserve the tools to look great. I won't let some job-seeking egotist like André Leon Talley take that away. Fashionistas, stand tall. Women: when this man makes a comment about fashion, I urge you not to listen. It's people like him who make fashion less fun.

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