Ugly Chic

Many people may not know this about me, but I'm a total fashion fiend. Seriously...I love looking at the fantastic fashion spreads in Vogue, and reading oh-so-hip fashion blogs.

My husband recently read a Yahoo! news excerpt on the "10 Worst Fashion Trends of 2009". I can't remember all of them...but a few were harem pants (gag...might as well call them 'diaper pants'. Who was responsible for that one?), neon colors, and *gasp* Uggs.

This got me thinking...have you ever noticed how ugly some fashion trends really are? Not just shoulder pad or granny-floral-print ugly...but genuinely ugly. This past seasons runways were full of ugly...

Now, I understand that runways are meant to be somewhat abstract and artistic...but really...how man of the above pieces would look good on their own? Meh...not so much.

However...there have been some trends this year that simply do not make sense to me at all...but I love them. I cannot pull them off, but I love them, nonetheless. For instance...boyfriend jeans with high heels. Who put ill-fitting man jeans with amazonian high heels together and said "Kismet!" is beyond me...but I kinda, sorta want to kiss them for it. If you've picked up a JCrew catalogue lately, you've seen the following repeated ad nauseam.
It's just so fantastically mis-matched that it totally works. Looking through the multitude of JCrew catalogues I have, you see the "mis-matched" idea duplicated page-after-page in fantastic new ways! Oh and does JCrew ever love to belt stuff. Skinny belts, thick belts, ribbon belts. Seriously...if I had all the money in the world, the only place I'd shop would be JCrew. Forever and ever, amen.

Back to "Ugly Chic" however...the Yahoo! article mentioned Uggs. Yeah, so what? I've got a pair, and I love them. Did I buy them because I thought they were precious and beautiful and lovely? Nope. I know they make my size 9's look like 14's, and I don't care. They are freakin' warm, and I like them. I like the way they look...even though I know they are ugly. Hence..."Ugly Chic." In a world of beautiful shoes, Uggs are the ugly stepsister. They are the English Bulldog of the shoe world. It's kind of like that couple you see at the mall, you know...the one with the super-attractive guy and the 'what happened there?' girl? That girl is an Ugg. She's comfortable, but not cute. You totally know what I'm talking about.
Let's keep with the footwear trend and bring up my next piece of 'muy feo' footwear. Tom's shoes. I have two pair, and I adore them. I'd sleep in them if my husband would let me. Great cause, comfortable shoe, totally 100% ugly. These shoes remind me of ace bandages. And the toe looks like the side of a wrapped package with the ends tucked into one another. All that's missing is the tape.

But, do I shun these to the back of my closet as a "what was I thinking?" moment? Heck no...I'm wearing them as we speak and am plotting which color I want next. These feel good on my feet and darn it if I don't LOVE the way they look. I have simply determined them to be ugly, but fantastically so. They transport me into another fashion reality where I am an easy-going, whatever-I-have-on-works, I-know-they-are-ugly-but-I-can-pull-that-off kind of girl.

It must be said, however...that it is in total bad form to wear your Tom's to the point where your big toenail saws through the canvas and pokes out, leering at passerby's. Go buy another pair of the ugly things and retire those, please. *gag*
So...maybe we are all becoming so self-confident that we can wear determinedly ugly items, or previously considered ugly trends (like mis-matching), with ease and grace. I have a feeling our future holds great new achievements in the Ugly Chic movement. I look forward to it, as long as it is done well, and is, above all, original.

Unlike the following picture. "Uh, Ashley? The 80's called...it wants it's outfit back."