Is it possible to define your own fashion style?

Is it possible to define your own fashion style these days or do you follow the trends?In the days of Punk, dressing as an individual and anything goes was great. It meant you could be as creative as much as you wanted to be. There was no real dress code. So in 2007, can you still be a fashion individual and would you want to be?Peer pressure seems to dictate fashion trends, being part of a crowd.

But in today’s fashion scene it’s more about fashion collectivism rather then individual expressionism. Even with our most rebellious clothing we still conform to society’s notion of what is acceptable to wear. Have we have become a society of sheep, we have lost our identity and what makes us unique and stand out in a crowd.

Its very rare these days to come across a shop selling some thing a bit different. Whilst browsing for additions to The Big Fashion Bible directory of shops, I stumbled upon an online company called TankTheory.com This company specialises in taking art to t-shirts and other apparel. The t-shirts are all limited edition so as in keeping with the unique factor.

The company is comprised of group of artists called simply, The Tank Theory Artist Society. For contemporary artists to get their work shown in traditional art galleries is fairly hit and miss. Mediums like the internet is one way, but what better canvas and advertising then putting their work on T-shirts? This is an ingenious idea, wearing a limited edition work of art. Any graphic designer now has a new vehicle for promoting their talents.

These t-shirts must or should have enormous appeal to metal heads, punks and Goths.Actually, they have enormous appeal to thebigfashionbible.com editor. I don’t want to fit the t-shirt art to any particular music genre, its more about fitting the individual to the art, if that makes sense. There is some thing so appealing and strange about these t-shirts that I can’t quite put my finger on what it is that makes me want to buy them all. Perhaps it’s because they are so completely unique and in some cases very surreal in terms of the images. They have a real edge, fresh and raw, all those words that designers use without really understanding the true meaning of urban fashion, I call this cheap bandwagon expressionism the “trendy” middle classes. It’s not a bad thing but Designers like D&G wouldn’t know the term “raw” “edgy” “Urban” if it bit them on the ass.”

The artists themselves are based all around the world, mostly from the USA, but nice to see a British artist in the mix, Steve Wilson’s psychedelic pop art meets modern culture. One of his prints reminded me of the artist William Morris.

I can’t stop looking at the work of Asif Mian it’s the ultimate in art anarchy, I love it!

TankTheory.com is new and vibrant and different, how refreshing. We should be supporting online fashion shops like these, its what we need in a world full of same old, same old.

I think I’ll start a new fashion trend and call it anarchic fashion!

Celebrity Fashion

Following celebrity fashion has become a bit of a national obsession in recent years with numerous magazines dedicated to what the people we watch on TV, listen to or read about in magazines are wearing now cramming the shelves of newsagents. And whether we admit to it or not many of us will (if pushed) own up to secretly being interested in what famous people are wearing!

Wanting to emulate the style of celebrities is nothing new though. It all goes back to the golden age of film and in particular to around 1916 when the first costume designers were employed to work on the sets of films. Up until then many film stars had provided their own clothing!

Hard to believe now in the era of the celebrity stylist where film stars are styled to perfection to achieve the required image and the ones that get caught out dressed down on their days off wind up in ‘hall of shame’ type features in celeb magazines!

In the past people looked to film stars for inspiration copying the clothes hairstyles and make-up of silver screen sirens such as Veronica Lake, Rita Hayworth, Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe or Cary Grant, Marlon Brando and James Dean for the men.

Of course these days it’s not just film actors and actresses who are considered to be celebrities. ‘Celebrity’ today encompasses a wide range of people from classic film actors and actresses through to soap stars and all the way over to people who’ve made a name for them on the ever growing number of reality TV shows.

Like it or not the cult of celebrity doesn’t seem to be going away and finding celebrity inspired clothing or even the exact item your favourite celebrity is wearing has never been easier. Many celebs no longer wear their wealth on their sleeves by consistently appearing in designer labels with designer price tags but shop high street and internet like the rest of us!

For a great range of clothing that several A-List celebs have been spotted in try TruffleShuffle. Their website also features a gallery of the stars seen wearing their tees. You can also find similar over at Attitude Clothing (particularly for the guys) or EBTM.

Happy shopping! From all of us at The Big Fashion Bible.

The way we wore, a life in threads

I was reading a book called “The way we wore, a life in threads” by Robert Elms. The fashion obsessed author takes us through his early years of what it was like to live in Notting Dale in the 60’s, now known as Notting Hill in West London. He takes us on a tour through his youth and the Waddington estate where he and his two brothers grew up on. He shows us how fashion was and still is intrinsically linked in to class, race, gender and the very fabric of society.

Robert Elms writes of the time when he caught head lice and the stigma attached to having them, once considered the parasite of the poor and unclean. His father taking his son to the barber and having to have his head shaved and how the he cried and protested. Clearly distressed, but how the father has his head shaved too, as a show of support and love and so not to let his son think he was on his own. The irony being that Robert Elms would be protesting again a year or so later because he couldn’t have his head shaved, for the era of the Skin Head had begun. Robert Elms’s father died soon after the head lice event and we slowly begin to realise that a style of clothing is not just about the look and material, but how like minded young people come together, stick together and protect their own and in Robert Elms case, the “youth tribes” are almost like an extended family, providing him with an identity and sense of belonging. This book whilst telling a story of a young lad growing up in a working class area of London, gives us a glimpse of the real Skin Heads, Teddy Boys, Mods, Hippies and Rude Boys, the uniform they wore and what it stood for.

We are taken on a biographical fashion show through the Political climates and winds of change in post war Britain. How fashion and society was divided then and had been since time and memoriam. On a side note, I was tickled to find out that Robert Elms lives in Camden Town, famous for its clothing markets. I remember hanging out there in my Punk days late 70’s. A nice touch in this book is when Robert Elms as an adult, finally buys the Crombie coat he could not afford as a youth. A fantastic piece of literature.
The Way We Wore, A Life in Threads

TheBigFashionBible Editor

Music and Fashion

Fashion and music have been intrinsically linked since the birth of the teenager in the 1950’s. Advances in technology, a wealthier post war climate and more focus on leisure pursuits such as television, film, magazines and the music scene had created a whole new marketing group.

American Rock and Roll idols including Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Bill Haley burst onto the scene not only creating a whole new sound but changing the way we dressed forever. Austere, conservative and drab was out image conscious, relaxed or highly groomed was in.

Rock and Roll had brought with it the desire to create personal identity through clothing and music. Music had begun to represent love and sex, cars and status, dancing and fun clothes and image... it defined who you were

And so it has continued. In 60’s Britain the Beatles arrived with their skinny ties, pointed boots and Pierre Cardin designed collarless suits. As they went through their psychedelic phase the fashion for clothing became brighter and bolder. Men began to dress more flamboyantly and the ‘hippy’ was born. Over in the States Tamla Motown’s influence introduced a sleeker, polished but no less flamboyant way of dressing.

The 70’s brought along more glamour and glitz with wide legged flares and sky-high platform shoes copied from androgynous Glam rockers like David Bowie, Marc Bolan and Sweet being found on the high street. Hot on Glam rock’s tails was disco. Who can forget the iconic white flared trouser suit made famous by John Travolta in the film Saturday Night Fever which featured the Bee Gees soundtrack of the same name?

And then there was punk with Malcolm McLaren’s Sex Pistols buying their bondage trousers, ripped t-shirts and fetish clothes from Vivienne Westwood’s shop in London’s Kings Road. As the 80’s began Westwood’s new shop World’s End, featuring the pirate look epitomized by frilly shirts for men, helped define the New Romantic look of bands such as Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet.

It was perhaps inevitable after so much excess and flamboyance in the early part of the 1980’s that an era of dressing down would follow and this came through the birth of the dance music culture represented by the rise in popularity of hip hop music and also the late 80’s house and acid movements. Trainers and tracksuits were no longer simply sportswear but practical fashion for all night dancing.

Dressing down continued into the 90’s with the Seattle based music influenced grunge movement and continues to this day with what has come to be known as Emo.

Up to present a lot of mainstream fashion is influenced by celebrity and the UK phenomena known as WAGS (wives and girlfriends of footballers) but music still continues to influence what we wear. In fact music and fashion have never been more intimately linked with recording artists such as Gwen Stefani launching her own range of clothing and bags and Sean Comb’s Sean John range with the tagline ‘It’s not just a label, it’s a lifestyle.’

Two of the best websites around for music related clothing are Everything but the Music (EBTM) who have been featured in magazines Heat, Kerrang, New Woman, NME to name a few and DrJays. EBTM only sells band products sourced from official licensees so you can be sure of their quality. Stocking a wide range of band related clothing under the subheadings Metal, Indie Emo Rock and Cult for men, women and kids, we at The Big Fashion Bible are loving EBTM's band t-shirts. From the ubiquitous ‘lips’ Rolling Stones t-shirts through to My Chemical Romance and everywhere in between these are T-shirts with iconic images that will never date.

DrJays has to be the leading website for urban fashion. Its first store opened in the Bronx, New York 25 years ago and provided an outlet for the newly emerging hip hop influenced fashions. DrJays jeans range is extensive stocking 366 listings of jeans with over twenty five different brands available including Akademiks, Phat Farm, Sean John and Rocawear – it’s literally a goldmine for quality jeans. Phat Farm's Beta Denim jeans are on sale at the moment on the DrJays website and have recently been featured in, founder of the modern day hip hop movement, Russell Simmon's picks page on the Phat Farm website.

Until next time...

Welcome To The Big Fashion Bible Blog

Do you love fashion? Aimed at men and women, teens through to style conscious thirtysomethings The Big Fashion Bible Blog is about all things fashion. Featuring fashion news from all 4 corners of the globe focusing on clothes, style, shoes, bags, jewelery, sales, online shopping, where to get the best deals and other must-have news - you'll find it all here!